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Auction: 24112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 558

Three: Acting Sergeant S. L. Watts, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry

British War and Victory Medals (2162 Cpl. S. L. Watts. Oxf. & Bucks. L. I.); Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19 (2162 Pte. S. L. Watts. Oxf. & Bucks. L. I), mounted on velvet backing, light contact wear, otherwise good very fine (3)

Sidney Leonard Watts was born on 13 June 1897 in Oxford, one of eight children of Thomas Watts, a labourer, and his wife. The family appear on the 1901 census as residing in Oxford, with Thomas then working as a money collector, and again on the 1911 census as living in Osney, Oxford with thirteen year old Sidney working as an assistant in the printing trade.

Though the circumstances of Watts' enlistment are unclear, he must have volunteered with the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry for overseas service before 30 September 1914, and subsequently completed service abroad. Prior to the end of the Great War, Watts was appointed Acting Sergeant of No. 24 (Tank Corps) Officer Cadet Battalion on 25 September 1918.

After the War, Watts married Margaret Annie Johnson at the Summertown Parish Church in Oxford on 26 December 1925. The 1939 register records the couple living together in Oxford, with Watts working as an insurance agent and assisting with the Oxford Air Raid Precautions. Watts later died in Osney, Oxford on 4 November 1983 at age 86; sold with copied research, including medal rolls.

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Sold for
£240

Starting price
£140