Joseph (Joe) Watters was one of 9 commandos killed on 19th August in the Dieppe raid. I read on this site that someone took the remains of the nine dead and buried them in Sainte Marguerite. My dad, James Watters, was born 8 days before Joe was killed. He has never been to Dieppe, but would love to go and if anyone can give me any more information about locating the buriel place, if Joe is buried there, we would be very grateful. Thanks. Linda Watters
I visited the Common wealth war graves website and found the following. Joseph Watters rifleman service number 7012390 aged 26 1st served Royal ulster rifles 2nd unit 4 commando son of james and mary, husband of jean Troon, ayrshire He is listed as been commemorated at Brookwood Memorial Panel 14, column 3 I hope this is of service to you. I strongly recomend you visit the war graves website and carry out a search yourself. You may find out more. Best regards Hugh
Dear Hugh Many thanks for your message. I will certainly do as you advise and I hope one day to take my father to visit Dieppe and hopefully the site where he is actually buried. Thanks again. Kind regards Linda
Linda, Hello and welcome to the forum. I too can only find the one casualty as already posted. Good luck with your research. Tom
Panel 14 Column 3 of the Brookwood Memorial. (Photos taken by Forum Member CL1) J Watters is listed under his Parent Regt. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=32963&d=1280165224 http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=33099&d=1280168596
The identified casualties from the raid appear to have been concentrated in Dieppe Canadian Cemetery and there are a substantial number of unidentified graves. Geoff's Search Engine Regrettably, careful identification and recording was not always a priority in occupied Europe, despite the best efforts of the locals.
Welcome Linda, here is yor Grandfathers entry on the Special forces ROH. Joseph Watters - ARMY CDOS - Special Forces - Roll Of Honour
Hi Linda. Welcome to the forum. Unfortunately your Grandfather's grave could not be positively identified or located and that is why his name is recorded at Brookwood. Perhaps he is one of those unidentified in Dieppe Canadian Cemetery mentioned by Rich above. Or his grave may have been lost due to later fighting in the war. Sadly this sometimes happened. I hope you and your dad still make the trip to Dieppe.
Worth looking at The Fighting Fourth - No. 4 Commando at War 1940-1945 by James Dunning (former member of 4 Cdo) Published by the History Press
