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Watson's Pier
Stan Watson never claimed to be the last man to leave Anzac Cove. On 20 December 1977, sixty-two years to the day since he last stepped from the Gallipoli shore, Watson takes a slow train to visit his family for Christmas and fragments of the long-forgotten truth come together in his mind. When his family gather to listen to his story of Gallipoli, Watson tells his tale with the same steadfast clarity of purpose that helped him get through the war all those years ago.
Leading a volunteer Signals Company, newly wed and with a young family, Watson felt compelled to enlist as soon as war broke out in 1914. Setting sail towards an unknown enemy, Watson trained for battle in Egypt while his wife expected their child at home. He was among the first ashore at the fateful landings at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, surviving the hazards of battle, fear and disease to build the pier from which so many men later escaped. Facing an impossible mission, Watson was one of a handful of Anzac officers who together decided to get every man out alive. Through to the very end he played his part and became a hero.
Watson's Pier is beautifully told, a mix of fact, fiction and veterans' stories reaching back across generations to trace one man's personal journey, and with it the history of a nation. It also challenges the historical record of the final moments at Anzac Cove and offers a new perspective on the meaning of Gallipoli.
Leading a volunteer Signals Company, newly wed and with a young family, Watson felt compelled to enlist as soon as war broke out in 1914. Setting sail towards an unknown enemy, Watson trained for battle in Egypt while his wife expected their child at home. He was among the first ashore at the fateful landings at Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, surviving the hazards of battle, fear and disease to build the pier from which so many men later escaped. Facing an impossible mission, Watson was one of a handful of Anzac officers who together decided to get every man out alive. Through to the very end he played his part and became a hero.
Watson's Pier is beautifully told, a mix of fact, fiction and veterans' stories reaching back across generations to trace one man's personal journey, and with it the history of a nation. It also challenges the historical record of the final moments at Anzac Cove and offers a new perspective on the meaning of Gallipoli.
- GenresWarNonfictionHistory
290 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2015
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 27, 2015
My interest in this book was triggered by hearing the author speak at a recent writers festival. Joshua Funder is an articulate speaker with a passion for his topic. The story of Stanley Holm Watson is a true one, and Funder is able to relate to it personally, as Watson was his great-grandfather. Funder explained that he had chosen to present his forebear’s story in novelised form to allow for greater freedom of expression and to reach a wider audience.
Stanley Holm Watson was an engineer and signals officer at Gallipoli, and played a major role in the secret evacuation of the ANZAC troops in December 1915. One of the great values in Funder’s book is that it throws light on the endeavours of soldiers working behind the front lines, whose contributions were essential to the campaign.
Personally I found the information about the work of the Royal Australian Engineers, and the Signals Corps in particular to be quite fascinating. My father was an engineer in WW2, serving in New Guinea, and I could relate to the activities of the WW1 soldiers described by Funder.
The novel is based on Funder’s memories of his great-grandfather’s yarns, and the manuscript memoirs he wrote after the war. The bibliography at the end shows extensive research into many aspects of the ill-fated campaign, from the official history written by C.E.W. Bean, the extensive documents relating to the Signals Corps, to the diaries and letters of those who fought. The novel form that Funder chose brings those 100 year old stories to vivid life, using imagined conversations and reported activities in an engaging way. I could not imagine reading an academic textbook about Watson’s adventures with anything like the interest that the novel evoked in me.
There is quite a lot of background before the Signals Corps gets to Gallipoli. Funder details the recruitment process, looking for suitably qualified men to train and deploy in a field which was quite new then - battlefield telegraphic and telephonic signals. The training transfers from Australia to the huge field camp outside Cairo, that fleshpot of the Near East. Finally the corps takes ship for the Dardanelles, and it’s game on! Funder offers an interesting perspective on the campaign, seen through the eyes of Stanley Holm Watson. In particular I was intrigued by the thumbnail sketches of the various officers of the general command, with whom Captain Watson had regular contact. There is no doubt about the disdain for the snobby, autocratic, anachronistic British officer class, whose ludicrous incompetence and reckless decisions caused so much blood to be spilt. (Honest to God I don’t know why Australia didn’t become a republic in 1919 after enduring all that suffering at the hands of the British overlords!!!) There is respect and affection for those senior officers who were compassionate with their men and judicious with their orders. In particular, Watson shows enormous regard for General White, who ultimately has responsibility for the evacuation of all the troops.
Watson was the second-last person to leave Gallipoli on that landmark day of the evacuation. One of his key contributions to Australian military history was his careful, impeccably detailed plan for getting the very last 1,500 men away without the Turks knowing. It relied heavily on excellent communication - Watson’s forte. Watson went on to the Western Front, and was eventually repatriated to his home and family in Adelaide, having achieved the rank of colonel. Back in civilian life he rose to a senior position in the South Australian Railways. Throughout the book, his love for his wife and children shines through.
It is a stirring story, one which made me proud of an ordinary, mid-level Australian officer, whose contribution was exceptional. Well-written, with an easy prose style, Watson’s Pier is a valuable addition to the body of literature about WW1 which concerns itself with the importance of those who served behind the front lines. 4.5★s
Stanley Holm Watson was an engineer and signals officer at Gallipoli, and played a major role in the secret evacuation of the ANZAC troops in December 1915. One of the great values in Funder’s book is that it throws light on the endeavours of soldiers working behind the front lines, whose contributions were essential to the campaign.
Personally I found the information about the work of the Royal Australian Engineers, and the Signals Corps in particular to be quite fascinating. My father was an engineer in WW2, serving in New Guinea, and I could relate to the activities of the WW1 soldiers described by Funder.
The novel is based on Funder’s memories of his great-grandfather’s yarns, and the manuscript memoirs he wrote after the war. The bibliography at the end shows extensive research into many aspects of the ill-fated campaign, from the official history written by C.E.W. Bean, the extensive documents relating to the Signals Corps, to the diaries and letters of those who fought. The novel form that Funder chose brings those 100 year old stories to vivid life, using imagined conversations and reported activities in an engaging way. I could not imagine reading an academic textbook about Watson’s adventures with anything like the interest that the novel evoked in me.
There is quite a lot of background before the Signals Corps gets to Gallipoli. Funder details the recruitment process, looking for suitably qualified men to train and deploy in a field which was quite new then - battlefield telegraphic and telephonic signals. The training transfers from Australia to the huge field camp outside Cairo, that fleshpot of the Near East. Finally the corps takes ship for the Dardanelles, and it’s game on! Funder offers an interesting perspective on the campaign, seen through the eyes of Stanley Holm Watson. In particular I was intrigued by the thumbnail sketches of the various officers of the general command, with whom Captain Watson had regular contact. There is no doubt about the disdain for the snobby, autocratic, anachronistic British officer class, whose ludicrous incompetence and reckless decisions caused so much blood to be spilt. (Honest to God I don’t know why Australia didn’t become a republic in 1919 after enduring all that suffering at the hands of the British overlords!!!) There is respect and affection for those senior officers who were compassionate with their men and judicious with their orders. In particular, Watson shows enormous regard for General White, who ultimately has responsibility for the evacuation of all the troops.
Watson was the second-last person to leave Gallipoli on that landmark day of the evacuation. One of his key contributions to Australian military history was his careful, impeccably detailed plan for getting the very last 1,500 men away without the Turks knowing. It relied heavily on excellent communication - Watson’s forte. Watson went on to the Western Front, and was eventually repatriated to his home and family in Adelaide, having achieved the rank of colonel. Back in civilian life he rose to a senior position in the South Australian Railways. Throughout the book, his love for his wife and children shines through.
It is a stirring story, one which made me proud of an ordinary, mid-level Australian officer, whose contribution was exceptional. Well-written, with an easy prose style, Watson’s Pier is a valuable addition to the body of literature about WW1 which concerns itself with the importance of those who served behind the front lines. 4.5★s
May 20, 2018
I have always enjoyed stories based on historical events. This book is not fiction, even if many details are imagined, telling the true story of an Adelaide man, Stan Watson, the commanding officer of the first signals division of the ANZAC forces at Gallipoli. He was there from the first landings on 25 April 1915 to the very end, and was largely responsible for the establishment and maintenance of communication lines on the battlefield, the construction of a jetty ("Watson's Pier") which made getting people and supplies on and off the beach at Anzac Cove a whole lot easier, and most significantly the planning and carrying out of the extraordinary evacuation of Gallipoli in December 1915. His great grandson, Joshua Funder, has written an engaging and compelling story of those fateful 8 months, and Watson's role in it, based on the oral and written accounts left by his ancestor, as well as careful research into the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign that has so shaped the Australian consciousness and identity ever since. There is an immediacy to this account which made it real for me in a new way, a gritty story about an impressive man man of calm courage and fine leadership ability. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it as an easy access point to a deeper understanding of the Gallipoli story and the people who made it.
February 14, 2023
A brilliant portrayal. Thank you, Joshua for honouring the life of Stanley Holm Watson and his colleagues so well.
January 30, 2022
This novel about the Gallipoli landing was well worth picking up. It’s based on the true story of Stan Watson, an engineer and sapper in the war who was the great-grandfather of the author. He also designed and constructed a pier which aided the evacuation of the ANZACs. This is not my usual genre of read, but I found myself invested in the characters and feeling an eerie sense of place. I learnt a lot. Joshua Funder’s writing was well researched, thoughtfully descriptive and a real testament to the life of his great-grandfather, Stan. I am so pleased I read this.
August 2, 2024
‘Gallipoli. Gallipoli was a fiasco. It was a sideshow to the war.’
Stanley Holm Watson (1887-1985) was one of the first ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and amongst the last to leave on the night of the 19-20th December 2015. The withdrawal from Gallipoli used the pier at Anzac Cove which Watson had built and which provides the title for the book, written by Watson’s great-grandson, Joshua Funder.
‘One Christmas, when I was a small boy, I sat with my brother at the feet of our great-grandfather, Stanley Watson, to hear his account of Gallipoli.’
Sixty-two years after leaving Gallipoli, Stanley Holm travels to Melbourne on a slow train to spend Christmas with his family. He was then aged 90, and it was the account of him shaving with a cutthroat razor whilst on the train that reminded me of my own grandfather, also at Gallipoli, and who was also still using a cutthroat razor until he died aged 80. From that point on, I was spellbound.
‘The war. It was horrible. All the mud and shells and gas.’
This book is a blend of fact and fiction. Joshua Funder states that the events closely follow the historical accounts in Charles Bean’s ‘Official War History’ and in Stanley Watson’s ‘Gallipoli: Sapper Signalmen’. These historical accounts provide the framework for Joshua Funder’ s account of his great-grandfather’s life, for his experiences of Gallipoli. While Gallipoli is the major focus of the book, Stanley Holm’s long life (he was 97 when he died), it is not the only aspect of his life covered.
There’s an account of Stanley Watson’s return to the Gallipoli peninsula in 1977, of his consciousness of what actually happened there in contrast to how it might have been:
‘It had taken Watson more than sixty years and less than two hours to conquer the peninsula.’
And yes, there are mentions of the mistakes made, including (is it fact, or fiction?) that the Anzacs were disembarked at the wrong destination. There’s mention, too, of the bravery, of the disease, fear and injury that was so much a part of the Gallipoli experience.
‘Even in an army, each man has to fight his own battle.’
I read this book, not so much concerned about differentiating fact from fiction or in trying to ascertain what went wrong. I read this book because it enabled me to get a sense of what these men experienced. My grandfather never spoke of his war experiences, never wore his medals and never returned to Gallipoli. But for a short while, thanks to a 90 year old man using a cutthroat razor to shave whilst on a train, I felt some sense of his experience.
This book does not glorify war, not is it a romantic accounting of the Gallipoli legend. It is about one man’s experiences and the impacts on his family. It’s a story worth reading, and remembering.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Publishing for an opportunity to read this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Stanley Holm Watson (1887-1985) was one of the first ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and amongst the last to leave on the night of the 19-20th December 2015. The withdrawal from Gallipoli used the pier at Anzac Cove which Watson had built and which provides the title for the book, written by Watson’s great-grandson, Joshua Funder.
‘One Christmas, when I was a small boy, I sat with my brother at the feet of our great-grandfather, Stanley Watson, to hear his account of Gallipoli.’
Sixty-two years after leaving Gallipoli, Stanley Holm travels to Melbourne on a slow train to spend Christmas with his family. He was then aged 90, and it was the account of him shaving with a cutthroat razor whilst on the train that reminded me of my own grandfather, also at Gallipoli, and who was also still using a cutthroat razor until he died aged 80. From that point on, I was spellbound.
‘The war. It was horrible. All the mud and shells and gas.’
This book is a blend of fact and fiction. Joshua Funder states that the events closely follow the historical accounts in Charles Bean’s ‘Official War History’ and in Stanley Watson’s ‘Gallipoli: Sapper Signalmen’. These historical accounts provide the framework for Joshua Funder’ s account of his great-grandfather’s life, for his experiences of Gallipoli. While Gallipoli is the major focus of the book, Stanley Holm’s long life (he was 97 when he died), it is not the only aspect of his life covered.
There’s an account of Stanley Watson’s return to the Gallipoli peninsula in 1977, of his consciousness of what actually happened there in contrast to how it might have been:
‘It had taken Watson more than sixty years and less than two hours to conquer the peninsula.’
And yes, there are mentions of the mistakes made, including (is it fact, or fiction?) that the Anzacs were disembarked at the wrong destination. There’s mention, too, of the bravery, of the disease, fear and injury that was so much a part of the Gallipoli experience.
‘Even in an army, each man has to fight his own battle.’
I read this book, not so much concerned about differentiating fact from fiction or in trying to ascertain what went wrong. I read this book because it enabled me to get a sense of what these men experienced. My grandfather never spoke of his war experiences, never wore his medals and never returned to Gallipoli. But for a short while, thanks to a 90 year old man using a cutthroat razor to shave whilst on a train, I felt some sense of his experience.
This book does not glorify war, not is it a romantic accounting of the Gallipoli legend. It is about one man’s experiences and the impacts on his family. It’s a story worth reading, and remembering.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Melbourne University Publishing for an opportunity to read this book.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 22, 2015
Watson's Pier
Joshua Funder’s book ‘Watson’s Pier’ is a story about the successful ANZAC retreat from Gallipoli. Stanley Watson Holm is the book’s central character who was a key figure in the retreat from Gallipoli and was also the author’s Great Grandfather.
The characters throughout the book are described and remembered without the soppy sentimentality that can sometimes come with describing acts of courage or heroism but through facts, personal insights which were passed down (or craftily invented), good humour and dignity and for me I was just as interested in their fate as I was in Stanley’s. It was because of this that I was left a bit of a blubbering mess a few times!!
For me there was a bit of a ‘Game of Thrones’ element to the book in so much as there was tension over who lived, who died and the utter randomness of battle. This tension almost dared you NOT to form a deep attachment to any of the characters. Except that totally unlike Game of Thrones – these men were real , these events were real and you couldn’t help but get utterly attached to them and be moved by their stories. On my next visit to the War Memorial in Canberra, I’ll be looking up their names.
The story line about the building of the Pier, and the detailed planning and communications that enabled the successful retreat from Gallipoli gives the history of these events a new perspective and you can just imagine the powerful emotions these men must have felt when it came time to leave– from the gut wrenching tension these men must have felt when it came time to leave, the guilt about leaving alive when so many of their mates didn’t and the fear for those who were last to evacuate. So much is left for the reader to imagine.
A chapter in which Stan revisits Gallipoli was an especial highlight for me and there is a passage in the book about the magnanimous behaviour of the Turkish people that made me literally cry with hope that maybe ‘world peace’ isn’t just a hollow wish Supermodels bandy around. A minor storyline around the news from home was also very, very powerful and the inclusion of personal letters produced the waterworks again! Raw and authentic.
This is a beautifully written book and I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes a personal touch to their history, anyone who is interested in better understanding the mateship that drove the ANZAC engine, anyone who wants to understand the pure brilliance behind the evacuation from Gallipoli. A beautiful tribute and remembrance.
Joshua Funder’s book ‘Watson’s Pier’ is a story about the successful ANZAC retreat from Gallipoli. Stanley Watson Holm is the book’s central character who was a key figure in the retreat from Gallipoli and was also the author’s Great Grandfather.
The characters throughout the book are described and remembered without the soppy sentimentality that can sometimes come with describing acts of courage or heroism but through facts, personal insights which were passed down (or craftily invented), good humour and dignity and for me I was just as interested in their fate as I was in Stanley’s. It was because of this that I was left a bit of a blubbering mess a few times!!
For me there was a bit of a ‘Game of Thrones’ element to the book in so much as there was tension over who lived, who died and the utter randomness of battle. This tension almost dared you NOT to form a deep attachment to any of the characters. Except that totally unlike Game of Thrones – these men were real , these events were real and you couldn’t help but get utterly attached to them and be moved by their stories. On my next visit to the War Memorial in Canberra, I’ll be looking up their names.
The story line about the building of the Pier, and the detailed planning and communications that enabled the successful retreat from Gallipoli gives the history of these events a new perspective and you can just imagine the powerful emotions these men must have felt when it came time to leave– from the gut wrenching tension these men must have felt when it came time to leave, the guilt about leaving alive when so many of their mates didn’t and the fear for those who were last to evacuate. So much is left for the reader to imagine.
A chapter in which Stan revisits Gallipoli was an especial highlight for me and there is a passage in the book about the magnanimous behaviour of the Turkish people that made me literally cry with hope that maybe ‘world peace’ isn’t just a hollow wish Supermodels bandy around. A minor storyline around the news from home was also very, very powerful and the inclusion of personal letters produced the waterworks again! Raw and authentic.
This is a beautifully written book and I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes a personal touch to their history, anyone who is interested in better understanding the mateship that drove the ANZAC engine, anyone who wants to understand the pure brilliance behind the evacuation from Gallipoli. A beautiful tribute and remembrance.
May 12, 2015
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
>The story of the campaign that almost lost the Anzacs and the retreat that saved a nation.
Stan Watson was among the first ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and survived battle, fear and disease to build the pier at Anzac Cove from which so many men later escaped. He faced what seemed like an impossible mission: to get every man out alive. Watson never claimed to be the last man to leave Gallipoli, but through to the very end he played his part and became a hero.
Sixty-two years to the day after he stepped away from that fatal shore, Watson took a slow train to visit his family for Christmas and decided to finally tell his life story.
A beautifully told mixture of fact and fiction, Watson's Pier traces not just one man's journey, but the history of a nation. It also challenges the historical record of what happened in the final moments at Anzac Cove. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the meaning of Gallipoli.
A brilliant book. I started out reluctantly, wondering if this was a fiction book. With the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli this year, I was concerned that it may have been a cash-grab kind of book...
It most certainly isn't.
Without giving too much away, I just want to recommend this book to every single Australian - and every reader of good books anywhere.
Paul
ARH
>The story of the campaign that almost lost the Anzacs and the retreat that saved a nation.
Stan Watson was among the first ashore at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, and survived battle, fear and disease to build the pier at Anzac Cove from which so many men later escaped. He faced what seemed like an impossible mission: to get every man out alive. Watson never claimed to be the last man to leave Gallipoli, but through to the very end he played his part and became a hero.
Sixty-two years to the day after he stepped away from that fatal shore, Watson took a slow train to visit his family for Christmas and decided to finally tell his life story.
A beautifully told mixture of fact and fiction, Watson's Pier traces not just one man's journey, but the history of a nation. It also challenges the historical record of what happened in the final moments at Anzac Cove. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the meaning of Gallipoli.
A brilliant book. I started out reluctantly, wondering if this was a fiction book. With the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli this year, I was concerned that it may have been a cash-grab kind of book...
It most certainly isn't.
Without giving too much away, I just want to recommend this book to every single Australian - and every reader of good books anywhere.
Paul
ARH
April 12, 2015
As a small boy Australian writer Joshua Funder listened avidly to his great-grandfather’s accounts of his time at Gallipoli, where he was one of the last men to be evacuated from the peninsula. Some years later his aunt passed on to him a manuscript written by his great-grandfather when he was almost 90 recounting his exploits. Now Funder has used these reminiscences to tell in fictional form Stanley Watson’s history and the history of the Gallipoli campaign. With a combination of historical fact, veterans’ war stories, his great-grandfather’s memories and narrative fiction, the story of Gallipoli comes alive in this retelling with a strongly human angle. I found the overall story very interesting and moving although I’m not a fan of campaign details, and sometimes the dialogue felt a little stilted. However, knowing this book was based on a true story gave an added dimension to the narrative, and the book is both well-researched and on the whole well-written. Certainly worth reading to find out more about the whole Gallipoli episode.
August 30, 2015
An extraordinary tale of a man unheralded in the years that followed the war. On the beach on the first day and virtually the last off that famous beach on the very last day, a selfless professional who exemplifies how a generation stood up when it felt it had too. I defy anyone to put this book down without finishing it.
July 1, 2015
To say that I enjoyed Watson's Pier, that it moved me and completely consumed my thoughts feels like an understatement. It was a fantastic and captivating read. Highly recommended.
January 29, 2018
A really interesting book based on a true story - an important part of Austrlain history told by a family member.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews