Robert Watts

Robert M. Watts was born on October 3, 1918 and grew up in
the coastal town of Seabrook in New Hampshire. Before the war
he was a shoemaker. He was called up for service and
trained as a paratrooper. He was assigned to
the intelligence section of 506th Infantry Regiment As a paratrooper he subsequently fought in Normandy during Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. He was tragically killed on April 13, 1945 by friendly fire when his combat patrol was shot at by men of Easy Company, 506th PIR (better known as the Band of Brothers). Robert Watts' body was never found. His name is on the Walls of the Missing in Margraten. Robert Watts was 26 years old.

Robert's childhood

Robert M. (Minard) Watts was born on October 3, 1918. He grew up in the coastal town of Seabrook in New Hampshire. Robert's father, Stephen W. Watts, was a shoemaker. He married Georgia M. Eaton.

Robert was the sixth child of seven. His siblings were: Edna May Watts (1908 -), Irene Marjorie Watts (1909 -?), Ellen E. Watts (1911 -?), Stephen Watts (1913 -?), James Austin Watts (1915 -?) And Lilian A. Watts (1924 -?).

He attended Amesbury High School. After finishing school Robert went to work at the Barr & Bloomfield Shoe Company where he, like his father before him, became a shoemaker.

Training to be a Paratrooper

Early 1942, Robert - 23 years old - was drafted into the army. On May 20 he enlisted in nearby Fort Devens, Massachusetts. On May 25 he arrived at Camp Bowie (Texas), where he received his basic army training. His rank was Private First Class. Then he went to Fort Benning in Georgia to train as paratrooper.

Being a paratrooper was a big deal. Everyone knew that the training was very tough, both physically and mentally. Only half of the recruits who started training, completed the training.

Jump School lasted 4 weeks: week A, B, C and D. Week A separated the wheat from the chaff during the almost impossible arduous training, which included rope climbng, push-ups, long marches, judo, hand to hand combat, etc.

Week B focused on how to jump from a plane, how to steer in the air and how to land safely. In this week the physical training became even more rigorous.

In week D the physical training continued and the first real jumps from an airplane were made. Anyone who completed this gruelling four weeks, automatically received his wings (paratroopers license). Robert earned his in 1941. He was part of one of the best military units of the US Army, an elite team. He was a paratrooper.

Paratroopers needed to follow a heavy training. On the one hand they trained to be a paratrooper, and in addition they had to follow a further training in the infantry, where they gained experience with various types of weapons, communications equipment, vehicles, anti-tank guns, mortars, etc. After this training they were assigned to one of the components of the airborne division: infantry / artillery / engineer / anti-tank / medical / information, etc.

Paratrooper with 506 PIR

After earning his, jump wings he was assigned to 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment (short: 506 PIR), which was part of 101 Airborne Division. Within 506 PIR, he was part of theIntelligence Section S-2 (at regiment level called the Intelligence section S-2), which was part of the (Headquarters, HQ) of the regiment. These sections had the task of gathering information on the situation in the conflict area. Often this information came from prisoners of war and local resistance members.

Another part of 506 PIR - E Company was the legendary Band of Brothers on which Stephen E. Ambrose based his book , published in 1992 and which was made into a 10-part television series in 2001. Robert Watts' immediate boss was Colonel Robert Sink, who pops up frequently in the book and the TV series.

After his training at Fort Benning, Robert moved to Camp Mackall in North Carolina, where the headquarters of 506th PIR was based before leaving for Europe. It was probably during this time that Robert became good friends with Vincent 'Vinnie' Utz, with whom he would form an almost inseparable duo until the end of 1944.

Participate in the invasion

The invasion and the story of the participation in the war by 506 PIR will be well known to many from the story of Band of Brothers. On September 5, 1943, the unit was transferred to England, where they arrived on September 15th. They were stationed in the county of Wiltshire in villages such as Aldbourne, Ramsbury, Froxfield, and Chilton Foliat. Until early June 1944 the unit trained for the imminent invasion of the European mainland.

In the early hours of June 6, 1944 - D-Day – the men of 506th PIR in Greenham Common air field (in nearby Berkshire) stepped into the waiting aircraft that would transport them to the coast of Normandy. They were dropped into Drop Zone "C" north of Hiesville behind Utah Beach. In the following month, the men of PIR fought in the land around Normandy, including at Carentan on 11 June.

After the war, Robert's pal Frank Palys recalled how Robert somewhere in Normandy had shot, with two shots, at two Germans who suddenly appeared.

506th PIR was sent from the front on June 29 to Cherbourg. On July 10, they returned to England to rest and to continue training. Of the approximately 2,000 paratroopers of 506th PIR who jumped on June 6, 231 were killed,183 taken prisoner and 569 wounded. The dead and wounded amounted to around 50% of the unit.

Robert Watts and Vinnie Utz used their rest well: in a letter to his family, Robert writes that they went to London for a week.

Operation Market Garden

The second mission for the men of 506th PIR was Operation Market Garden. They took off in the late morning of September 17,1944 from Membury airfield in Berkshire.

Operation Market Garden was (and until now) the largest airborne operation ever: that day a grand total of 41,628 paratroopers jumped. Unlike D-Day, this time they jumped in the daytime so that the paratroopers – could regroup and quickly advance.

The men of 101 Airborne Division The men of 101 Airborne Division were dropped between Eindhoven and Veghel and there were tasked with taking several bridges, roads and towns. The men of 506 PIR were dropped in Drop Zone 'B' in Son, north of Eindhoven. In that landing area there were also large number of gliders, which had been used to transport jeeps, anti-tank and artillery guns.

Not long after the paratroopers landed, the Dutch people came out of hiding and helped their liberators wherever possible. The Americans had had a bad experience with the help of the local population in France, but quickly found out that the information provided by the local Dutch was useful. From his role in the intelligence section Robert Watts would have spoken. at length with the local inhabitants, as evidenced by a surviving photograph, where he is surrounded by several local people and some comrades of 506th PIR (including Al Tucker, about which more later).

On September 18, 506 PIR took the bridges over the Dommel in Eindhoven and in the days after they freed St. Oedenrode, Uden, Veghel and Koevering. Unfortunately the operation did not go as hoped. After the failure of Operation Market Garden101 Airborne Division was not sent back to England, but remained on the continent. In October and November the division was deployed in the Betuwe (at Opheusden / Randwijk). The battles here are chronicled as the battle for The Island.

The Ardennes offensive

At the end of November, 506 PIR was in a former French artillery garrison, outside the city of Mourmelon. Here they could rest, reorganize and were provided with new supplies and reinforcements. Robert Watts and his inseparable friend Vinnie Utz probably went for a week long vacation in Paris in this period.

In the early morning of December 16 the Germans launched a majpr attack with a barrage of about two thousand guns, aimed at breaking the allied advance: the Battle of the Bulge. The paratroopers of 101 Airborne Division were rushed to Bastogne, which was a critical junction and had to stay in Allied hands at any cost.

They arrived there on December 18 and were almost immediately completely surrounded by German troops. What followed was a week of heavy fighting. For a few days the situation was critical: the German bombing persisted and there was a shortage of everything: ammunition, fuel and food.

But the tide turned for 101 Airborne Division when they were supported on 23 and 24 December by C-47s. On December 26 the 4 Armored Division under General George Patton relieved Bastogne.

Robert Watts and Vinnie Utz were both injured on December 25 during one of the many German artillery attacks on the city. Vinnie lost his left arm, which for him meant that the war was over. Robert's injuries were not very serious, and he recovered and resumed his duty.

In the following month, 506th PIR remained at the front and steadily gained on the German troops. On 15 January, 506 PIR in Noville (Belgium) On January 20 they were moved to the Alsace.

February 23 - after over two months at the front - 506th PIR returned to Mourmelon for a much needed break.

Robert Watts was killed by friendly fire

On April 2 506th PIR was transferred to the Ruhr area, on the the front line on the west bank of the Rhine River south of Dusseldorf, near Dormagen.

On the night of 12 to 13 April Robert Watts went with a combat patrol, led by Major William H. 'Billy' Leach. Leach had been bullied by his fellow officers because, since the beginning of the war, unlike them, he had spent very little time behind enemy lines. That annoyed him so he decided to see some action by conducting a night patrol behind enemy lines.

The end of the war was now in sight. Leach was chief of the Intelligence Section S-2 of 506 PIR and so was Robert Watts' direct commander. Robert was one of the men chosen by Leach to accompany him on patrol. The other men were Private Michael B. Koval, Private Frank Pellechiar, Corporal Al Tucker, Private Angelo F. Kalograkos and there was probably a seventh member, whose name is not known.

What happened next is very reminiscent of the episode "The Last Patrol" in the series of Band of Brothers, only with a much worse outcome.

The patrol itself was uneventful, but that changed when Robert and his comrades were on the way back. They were seen and came under fire from German soldiers (on the east bank).

At that time it seemed that Major Leach had forgotten one crucial thing: he had informed no one at 506th PIR that he was conducting this patrol. The inevitable happened: since the guards of Easy Company (Band of Brothers men) who were on the west bank knew nothing of the patrol, they assumed that the Germans were attempting to cross the Rhine. And so they opened fire. With disastrous consequences ...

Leach and his men came under the crossfire coming from both banks. The soldiers were hit by bullets from flying past their ears. At least four men died from their injuries and fell into the Rhine. The gunmen ignored the groans of the wounded drowning in the water and continued firing until the bodies drifted downriver.

In the days that followed several bodies were swept downstream. The bodies of Robert Watts and Michael Koval were not found. Robert Watts died on April 13, 1945, 26 years old, the day before US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Watts family received the telegram on April 28 informing them of Robert's disappearance.

After this tragic event, 506th PIR continued on to southern Germany and on May 4 and 5 carried out its last combat mission: the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

The Walls of the Missing

After the war, the US military led an investigation into the disappearance of Robert Watts and Michael Koval in an attempt to find their bodies. However, this was not successful. In 1949, both men were declared missing:Missing in Action.

Many soldies were declared missing in action, which meant that there was no body to bury. The desire for a memorial place for the deceased, however, is universal, and so it was decided to erect a wall in all American WWII cemeteries on which the names of the missing soldiers are inscribed - these are called the Walls of the Missing.

The name of Robert M. Watts was placed on the Walls of the Missing in Margraten. The name Michael B. Koval is on the Walls of the Missing in Henri-Chapelle (B). William H. Leach and Frank Pellechia both were reburied in the United States.

Al Tucker was seriously injured, but survived, although for the rest of his life he suffered from intense pain and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the terrible events of that night on the Rhine. Only Angelo F. Kalograkos was unhurt. What happened to the unknown seventh member of the patrol is unclear.

For his deeds Robert Watts was decorated with a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. The Bronze Star Medal was awarded to soldiers who demonstrate heroic acts or meritorious achievements in the war zone. One or more bronze or silver Oak Leaf Clusters can be added as evidence of long and faithful service.

Herinneringen

On September 8, 1945 the commander of 506th PIR - Lt. Col. Charles H. Chase - wrote a letter to the Watts family. He describes their son as 'a fine soldier; calm and courageous in the face of enemy fire and an inspiration to his fellow men. A splendid fighter, Robert was always a credit to the Regiment, and he was well liked and respected by other soldiers for his excellent character. He performed his duties in a soldierly manner and always measured up to the highest of military standards.'

Chase continued and mentioned that Robert is buried in an American military cemetery after a religious service. That's not quite correct, as in fact Robert was missing. Probably this kind condolence letter was routine for Chase and he had not checked what had really happened to Robert. So you might doubt Chase's description of Robert as a soldier.

Fortunately someone recorded it and Robert's pal Frank Palys' has good memories of Robert. He describes Robert as "a very good soldier and, like most paratroopers, quite carefree and little reckless. He was an excellent marksman. While patrolling in Normandy and the Netherlands, he served as lead rifleman..

After the war, Robert's best friend Vinnie Utz contacted the family. A letter from 1953, which has been preserved in the archives of the Watts family, shows that Utz himself investigated what exactly happened on the night of 12 to April 13. He could tell the Watts family all sorts of facts about Robert's death, which they had not known before. He also writes about their trips to London and Paris, the fact that they spent countless times together in a foxhole, and almost never went on patrol without the other. If Utz had not been injured in Bastogne he might well have been with Robert on that night on the Rhine.

The Margraten adoption foundation asks for adopters for the names of the soldiers on the Walls of the Missing as well adopters for the graves. The name of Robert M. Watts was adopted by Jeroen van Hees. Together with his father Arie-Jan, he has done extensive research into the life and death of 'his' soldier. What you have just read is the result.