Clement Gordon Watson

Clement Gordon Watson (5 April 1912 – 17 April 1945) was a notable New Zealand communist, journalist and soldier. He fought in World War Two, serving in the Italian campaign as a private in the 2nd New Zealand Division.

Biography

Clement Gordon Watson was born in Mangaweka, Wanganui, New Zealand in 1912. His mother died when he was young and his father moved to Fiji to run a plantation, so he was brought up by his aunt in Wellington. He was an excellent student, winning a Junior Scholarship at Wellington College in 1929 and graduating from Victoria University College with a MA (second-class honours) in languages and literature in 1934. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Watson and CPNZ would switch to supporting the war.

Watson would enlist in November 1941 as a private. He would serve in the Pacific and then in the Italian campaign. He was killed in action near Faenza, Italy on the 17 April 1945, aged 33.

The Wellington branch of the now-defunct Socialist Unity Party of New Zealand was named in his honour.