Stanley Alvin Watson (1893–1962) was a Canadian soldier who was a field veteran of the First World War and served as an army administrator in the Second World War. In his civilian life, Watson was an educator who trained a cadet company and later transformed the curriculum and instructional techniques of the elementary schools of Ontario. He edited and wrote school textbooks and supplementary materials and published scholarly articles on education.
Background Stanley A. Watson was born in 1893 to Alexander F. Watson and Adelaide C. Wright in Orillia, Ontario. Watson married Teressa Oborne "Obie" Mullett in 1919 in Orillia. They had three children: Mary (1919), Clifford Gordon (1922), and John (1923). Obie Mullett died in 1923, a few days after giving birth to John.- , 1 June 1893. Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Births and Stillbirths, 1869-1913, Reel No. 118, Record Group RG 80–2, Folio 328, online image 14, Registration No. 030429. (Ontario, Canada Births, 1832-1918 at www.Ancestry.com via The Wikipedia Library. Accessed 10 May 2026.)- , 6 Feb 1919. Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928, Reel No. 505, online image 1362, Registration No. 023585 preceded on the reel by marriage licence. (Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1943 at www.Ancestry.com via The Wikipedia Library. Accessed 10 May 2026.)LAC, Census of Canada, 1931. Details of Stanley Alvin Watson and family, Item No. 8192540, Image No. e011685188, Line 23, Family 81. (Accessed 10 May 2026.)- Birth of Mary Watson, 23 Nov 1919. The Globe (Toronto), 28 Nov 1919, p. 8.- Birth of Clifford Gordon Watson, 5 Jan 1922. Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Deaths 1949, Series RG 2810, Registration Certificate No. 029032, 25 Aug 1949. (Ontario, Canada Deaths, 1869-1934 at www.Ancestry.com via The Wikipedia Library.)- "Three Young Children Survive Mother's Death", The Toronto Star, 7 May 1923, p. 3.(Accessed 11 May 2026.)Patrick Watson (Kenneth Patrick Watson). This Hour Has Seven Decades. Toronto, Ontario: McArthur and Company, 2004, pp. 1–14, 28, 51, 58. () (Accessed 10 May 2026.) Watson married Lucy Lovell Bate in 1927 in Toronto, Ontario. They had two children: Kenneth Patrick (1929) and Roger (1936). Stanley Watson died in 1962 in Toronto.- , 2 June 1927. Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928, Reel No. 797, online image 6026, Registration No. 003756 preceded on the reel by marriage licence. (Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826–1943 at www.Ancestry.com via The Wikipedia Library.)- Birth of Kenneth Patrick Watson, 23 Dec 1929. The Globe (Toronto), 25 Dec 1929, p. 14.- Birth of Roger Knox Watson, 28 Mar 1936. The Globe (Toronto), 30 Mar 1936, p. 12.(Accessed 10 May 2026.)Ontario, Report of the Minister of Education, 1962, "In Memoriam", p. 24. (Stanley A. Watson dies 6 May 1962.) (Accessed 1 May 2026.)
Education Watson attended school in Orillia, where he graduated from Orillia Collegiate Institute (high school). In July 1912, he received a second-class certificate to teach in elementary schools from the Ontario Department of Education following examination at the North Bay Normal School (teacher training college).Ontario, Report of the Minister of Education, 1960, Biographical sketch of Stanley A. Watson, p. 22. (Accessed 30 Apr 2026.)"656 New Teachers Leave Normal School", The Globe (Toronto), 12 Jul 1912, p. 8. (Accessed 13 May 2026.)
Following his service in the First World War, Watson continued his teacher training. During July–August 1919, he attended a refresher course at the University of Toronto for returning soldier-teachers."Splendid Work Is Done by the Soldier-Teachers", The Globe (Toronto), 23 Aug 1919, p. 9. (Accessed 13 May 2026.)"Adopts Higher Scale of Pay", The Globe (Toronto), 10 Sep 1919, p. 9. (Accessed 13 May 2026.) He attended the University in 1919–1920 to upgrade his teaching qualifications to a first-class certificate.University of Toronto Academic Divisions Calendar, 1920-1921, Appendix, "Faculty of Education, Register of Students 1919–1920", pp. 52–54. (Accessed 13 May 2026.)Torontonensis, 1920, pp. 260–261. (Accessed 13 May 2026.) Watson served as president of his class at the Faculty of Education.University of Toronto Academic Divisions Calendar, 1920-1921, Appendix, University of Toronto Associations and Societies, "Faculty of Education", p. 140. (Accessed 11 Aug 2026.)
Watson subsequently attended the University of Toronto part-time from 1921 until 1927 school year, when he was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Arts. At Keele Street School in 1927, Watson was the only one to hold a degree.University of Toronto, Appendix to Annual Calendars, "Register of Students" for 1921–1922, pp. 28 & 30; 1922–1923, p. 27; 1923–1924, p. 26; 1924–1925, pp. 26 & 28; 1925–1926, p. 56; 1926–1927, pp. 49 & 57. (Accessed 21 May 2026.)
Military service First World War Watson served as a front-line infantryman in the First World War. He enlisted on 23 December 1915 as a private with the 157th Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), which was organized under the Army Act of the United Kingdom as part of the Imperial British Army.General Sir Ian Hamilton, Report of the Military Institutions of Canada, "Liability for Service", p. 9; "Present State of Canadian Law", p. 31. (Accessed 22 Jun 2026.)Canada, "Militia Act", Revised Statutes, 1906, Chap. 41, sec. 2, 69, 71, 72, 74, 144, etc. (Accessed 19 Jun 2026.) His rank was raised to acting-sergeant on 1 March 1916.Watson, Stanley Alvin, Regimental No. 643986. LAC, First World War Personnel Records, RG 150, Accession 1992–93/166, Box 10146–12, online Item No. 302071. (Accessed 26 Apr 2026.)- United Kingdom, "Army Act 1881", Public General Acts, 1881, 44 & 45 Victoria, Chap. 58 (and subsequent annual amendments).- "Overseas Aid for the Motherland", The Toronto Star, 1 Oct 1914, p. 5.- "Arrested Soldier for Small Debt and Got Away With It", Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, New Brunswick), 9 Feb 1915, p. 10.- "Public Notice", Daily Standard (Kingston, Ontario), 27 May 1915, p. 5.- "Notice re Giving Credit to Soldiers", Brantford Daily Expositor (Brantford, Ontario), 4 Nov 1915, p. 3.(Accessed 19 Jun 2026.)
The 157th Battalion shipped to England in October 1916. Watson was transferred to the 116th Battalion CEF on 8 December 1916, where his rank was reverted on 9 January 1917 to acting-corporal for administrative reasons and restored on 6 February. His new unit was shipped to France on 11 February 1917. Watson's rank of acting-sergeant was made permanent (substantive) on 1 April 1917.
On 9 August 1917, the (of the ) was represented by its of , with Watson as Sergeant, in a skills competition (dress, drill marching, and target shooting) amongst nine battalions from the three brigades of the of the Canadian Corps. The 29 members of Watson's platoon won the competition at Ferfay, France, with 221 points.War diaries – 116th Canadian Infantry Battalion. LAC, MOMFC. Canadian War Records Office. RG9–III–D–3, Vol. 4945, File 458, on Microfilm T–10753. Diary for July 1917, Appendix 2: Narrative of the Raid on the Night of 22–23 July: Actions of Watson and No.1 Platoon of "A" Company during the attack. (online images 76–77). Diary for August 1917, entry for 9 August (online image 101), Appendix 10: Results of Inter-battalion Competitions at Ferfay on 9 August 1917 (images 105–107). (Accessed 29 Jul 2026.)"Simcoe Soldiers Won Lasting Glory", The Mail and Empire (Toronto), 5 Oct 1917, p. 2.- Government of Canada. 1918 Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) organization chart.- G. W. L. Nicholson. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914–1919: Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War (37.2 MB). Ottawa: Roger Duhamel, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, 1962, Appendix "B": Canadian Units in France and Belgium, Nov 1918, pp. 544–545 (online 599–600).(Accessed 15 Aug 2026.)
In late August 1917, Watson was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty" during a raid by his battalion on German lines near the village of Avion, France, on the night of 22–23 July.War diaries – 116th Canadian Infantry Battalion. LAC, MOMFC. Canadian War Records Office. RG9–III–D–3, Vol. 4945, File 458, on Microfilm T–10753. Diary for July 1917, entry for 22 July (online image 66), Appendix 2: Narrative of the Raid on the Night of 22–23 July (images 70–81). Diary for Sept. 1917, entries for 18–30 Sept. (images 118–119), Appendix 3: List of Decorations Awarded for the Raid of 22–23 July (image 123), Appendix 4: Supplement to Narrative of the Raid (images 124–126). (Accessed 29 Jul 2026.)"Retake Letters of a Canadian", The Globe (Toronto), 3 Sep 1917, p. 2. (Accessed 29 Apr 2026.) Watson's decoration was authorized on 25 August and announced in a Division Routine Order of 28 August.Routine Orders, 3rd Canadian Division. LAC, MOMFC. RG9–III–B–3, Vol. 3790, Routine Order 2212 of 28 August 1917, Major-General L. J. Lipsett, Commander, 3rd Canadian Division. The investiture of Watson's decoration occurred behind the front lines in a field ( Farm) near Fraser Camp () on 30 September 1917 when 18 enlisted personnel were honoured for their actions during the July raid. The pinning of the decoration was done by Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie, Commander of the Canadian Corps.The Adjutant (E. P. S. Allen). The 116th Battalion in France. Toronto: Press of the Hunter-Rose Co., Ltd., 1921, pp. 46–48. (Accessed 29 Jul 2026.) Currie declared that the military action was "as successful a raid as had ever been carried out in France".The London Gazette, Supplement of 22 Oct 1917 to Gazette of 19 Oct 1917, Suppl. 30346, pp. 10869 & 10862. (Accessed 29 Jul 2026.) Watson's citation was subsequently published in the Gazette supplement of 26 January 1918 as follows:
A more detailed account was given in the War Diary of the 116th Battalion for July 1917.
On 1 March 1918, the 116th Battalion announced that Watson had been awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for the same raid as his original decoration. This Bar signified that his actions during the 1917 raid had merited two DCMs.116th Canadian Battalion, Daily Orders. LAC, MOMFC. RG150–1, Vol. 95, File part: 4, Daily Orders 17 of 1 Mar 1918, Item 1 – Honours & Awards. (Note: Contrary to standard practice, Watson's Bar was not reported in The London Gazette.)Ontario Minister of Education. The Roll of Honour of the Ontario Teachers who Served in the Great War, 1914-1918. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1922, pp. 10 and 63. (Accessed 7 Aug 2026.)"New Personnel Officer Here", Winnipeg Tribune, 16 Apr 1942, p. 13. (Accessed 21 May 2026.)
Watson was withdrawn from the field near the end of December 1917 and posted to the 2nd Central Ontario Regimental Depot (CORD) in England for the purpose of obtaining a commission as an officer. From February to April 1918, Watson attended the Canadian Training School (CTS) for officers at Bexhill. He was appointed lieutenant by an order of 25 April with effect from 28 April and posted to the 8th Reserve Battalion at Witley for a week. Watson returned to CORD on 4 May and was attached to CTS on 5 May for "instructional duty". He was promoted to Assistant Instructor on 11 July 1918.Canadian Training School, Bexhill – Part II Orders – Officers,LAC,MOMFC,RG150–7,Vol.410. Daily Orders 104 of 6 May 1918, Item No. 2 - "Attachments"; Daily Orders 229 of 30 Sep 1918, Item No. 3 - "Appointments"; Daily Orders 251 of 25 Oct 1918, Item No. 1 - "Seconding". 8th Reserve Battalion – Part II Orders – Officers, LAC, MOMFC, RG150, Vol. 381, File part 1.2. Daily Orders 130 of 10 May 1918, Item No. 1 - "Strength (Decrease)". 2nd Central Ontario Regimental Depot – Part II Orders – Officers, LAC, MOMFC, RG150–7, Vol. 390.