15 Railway Street

Lawrence Edwards Watts

The Watts family lived at 15 Railway Street. Oliver and Florence May Watts had nine sons, and six of them served in the Second World War.

Lawrence Edwards Watts, who was born in 1920. Unlike his brothers, he enlisted in Brantford and served as a Leading Aircraftsman with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He must have been surprised, then, when he was assigned not on an aircraft, but on various Royal Canadian Navy boats plying the North Atlantic. There is a photo of Olly with the crew of one of those ships, one airman among over 100 Canadian seamen.

In 1944, the ship he was serving on was in Halifax harbor for repairs, and Olly was sent to receive further training. He did not make it back to his ship before it sailed on another mission. That ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat and sank. Because he was not on that ship, he was able to marry his wife, Helen Bailey, of North Bay, in Halifax, and return to Paris to raise their family. She predeceased him and is buried in Penetanguishene. Lawrence died in 2008 at the age of 87 and is buried in Beaverton.

(Most of this information comes from Robert Hasler” book, Paris Junction, vol. 5, The People Who Lived in The Junction)

Watts Brothers:

• Watts, Mervin Henry
• Watts, George Eldred
• Watts, Howard Wesley
• Watts, Clarence Cecil
• Watts, Lawrence Edward
• Watts, Leslie Archibald