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William Watts, known by many as Bill or Wattie, was born on 27th February 1926 in the City Road Hospital London within the sound of Bow Bells. This made him a genuine Cockney, something in which he took great pride. It was a mystery to him why he was born in the City unlike his brothers and sister who were born near the family home in Barnet.
His army career started in December 1943 when he volunteered for the RAF. He had completed 3 years in the Air Training Corp studying aircraft mathematics, aircraft recognition and navigation and qualifying in the piloting part of the training.
A severe shortage of aircrew training services meant that Bill’s ambition to become a pilot never materialised and instead he ended up in the Parachute Regiment. Training started at the Albany Barracks in Cowes on the Isle of Wight and it was there that he received his coveted Red Beret. Next came a “toughening up” course at Hardwick Hall near Chesterfield followed by a course in advanced weapons training at Beverley. Finally, Bill made it to the Parachute Training School in Ringway, achieved his “Wings” and was assigned to the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment. In September 1945, Bill was posted to Palestine, the Regiment's aim being to keep the peace there. He was promoted to Sergeant and served in Palestine until 1948. He was saddened that, over 70 years later, peace had still not been achieved in the region.
Bill’s time with the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment, especially the camaraderie, was very important to him, so in 2002, aged 76 and without any prior knowledge of website design, he enrolled in a “Building Web Pages” course at the local learning centre. The result was this website, which was aimed at tracing members with whom he had served in Palestine. This, together with articles written by him and published in the 2017 and 2018 Pegasus Yearbooks, proved very successful in reuniting colleagues who had not been in contact with each other for over 55 years and the website now contains many photos from that time.
In April 2023, Bill sadly suffered a brain haemorrhage, which affected his memory and ability to look after himself. With the help of a daily visit from a carer, he was able to continue to live at home but after a second fall and admission into hospital, it became clear that he needed 24-hour care and in February he was moved into a nursing home in St Albans where he passed away peacefully on the 8th September 2024.
Everyone who has known William/Bill/Wattie will no doubt have fond memories of times shared with him. May he rest in peace.
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