Editing Tasker Watkins (section)

==Second World War==
Following the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] in September 1939, Watkins joined the [[British Army]], initially as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in the [[Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry]], in October.<ref name=ODNB/><ref name="VC.org death announcement">{{cite web|last=Stewart|first=Iain |title=THE DEATH HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED OF MAJOR THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR TASKER WATKINS VC, GBE, 5TH BN, THE WELCH REGIMENT, WHO WON HIS VICTORIA CROSS IN NORTH WEST EUROPE IN AUGUST 1944.|url=http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/bbwatkin.htm|publisher=VictoriaCross.org|access-date=23 January 2013|date=10 September 2007}}</ref> After serving for over a year as a private he was sent for officer training and was [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]], with the rank of [[second lieutenant]], into the [[Welch Regiment]] on 17 May 1941. He was given the [[service number]] 187088.<ref name=GuardianObit/><ref name="LG 27 May 1941">{{London Gazette|issue=35175|date=27 May 1941|pages=3081–3083|supp=y}}</ref> He was posted to the regiment's 1/5th Battalion, a [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] (TA) unit. The battalion was one of three (the others being the 4th Welch Regiment and the 2nd [[Monmouthshire Regiment]]) which formed part of the [[160th Infantry Brigade]], itself being one of three brigades (the others being the [[158th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|158th]] and [[159th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|159th]]) forming the [[53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division]]. The division, then commanded by [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[Gerard Bucknall]], was serving in [[Northern Ireland]] until moving to Wales late in 1941, and then to [[Kent]] in April 1942, where it remained for over two years before it saw action, until then being engaged in training and [[military exercise]]s.

As a [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]], Watkins departed for France with the rest of the 53rd Division, commanded by Major General [[Robert Knox Ross]], arriving in late June 1944, just weeks after the [[D-Day landings]]. The division participated in a number of engagements, such as the [[Second Battle of the Odon]], and, in August, the [[battle of the Falaise Pocket]]. By mid-August Watkins, commanding "B" Company in his battalion, which had by now been transferred from the 160th Brigade to the 158th Brigade, was one officer in a group leading an assault on a [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German]] machine gun post. After the other officers were killed in the approach, Watkins continued to lead the group, leading a [[bayonet]] charge against 50 armed enemy infantry and then single-handedly taking out a machine-gun post to ensure the safety of his unit.<ref name="Telegraph1">{{cite news|last1=Gallagher|first1=Brendan|title=Campaigners press for gallant Mayne to join VCs|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/ireland/2340410/Campaigners-press-for-gallant-Mayne-to-join-VCs.html|access-date=10 January 2016|work=The Telegraph|date=12 July 2006}}</ref>

He was the first Welsh member of the British Army to be awarded a VC during the Second World War. His citation read:

{{Cquote|quote=In North-West Europe on the evening, of 16th August, 1944, Lieutenant Watkins was commanding a company of the Welch Regiment. The battalion was ordered to attack objectives near the railway at Bafour. Lieutenant Watkin's company had to cross open cornfields in which booby traps had been set. It was not yet dusk and the company soon came under heavy machine-gun fire from posts in the com and farther back, and also fire from an 88 mm. gun; many casualties were caused and the advance was slowed up.
<p>Lieutenant Watkins, the only officer left, placed himself at the head of his men and under short range fire charged two posts in succession, personally killing or wounding the occupants with his Sten gun. On reaching his objective he found an anti-tank gun manned by a German soldier; his Sten gun jammed, so he threw it in the German's face and shot him with his pistol before he had time to recover.</p>
<p>Lieutenant Watkin's company now had only some 30 men left and was counter-attacked by 50 enemy infantry. Lieutenant Watkins directed the fire of his men and then led a bayonet charge, which resulted in the almost complete destruction of the enemy. It was now dusk and orders were given for the battalion to withdraw. These orders were not received by Lieutenant Watkin's company as the wireless set had been destroyed. They now found themselves alone and surrounded in depleted numbers and in failing light. Lieutenant Watkins decided to rejoin his battalion by passing round the flank of the enemy position through which he had advanced but while passing through the cornfields once more, he was challenged by an enemy post at close range. He ordered his men to scatter and himself charged the post with a Bren gun and silenced it. He then led the remnants of his company back to battalion headquarters.</p><p>
His superb gallantry and total disregard for his own safety during an extremely difficult period were responsible for saving the lives of his men, and had a decisive influence on the course of the battle.</p> |source=Citation in the ''[[London Gazette]]'' on the award of the Victoria Cross<ref name=LG>{{London Gazette|issue=36774|date=2 November 1944|pages=5015–5016|supp=y}}</ref>}}

Watkins' active service ended in October 1944 when he was badly wounded in the battle to liberate the Dutch city of [['s-Hertogenbosch|'s{{Non breaking hyphen}}Hertogenbosch]], where a memorial service was held for him in [[St. John's Cathedral ('s-Hertogenbosch)|St. John's Cathedral]] in 2007. He rarely spoke about the war. Of the event which led to him being awarded the VC he simply stated, in a 1955 radio interview:<ref name=ODNB/>

{{cquote|A good memory is a fine thing but for those who were there it should not be too good. It should be good enough, however, to recall the great comradeship we had and which we shall never experience again.}}

He stated in another interview with ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2001:<ref name=ODNB/>

{{cquote|You must believe me when I say it was just another day in the life of a soldier. I did what needed doing to help colleagues and friends, just as others looked out for me during the fighting that summer... I didn't wake up the next day a better or braver person, just different. I'd seen more killing and death in 24 hours−indeed been part of that terrible process−than is right for anybody. From that point onwards I have tried to take a more caring view of my fellow human beings, and that, of course, always includes your opponent, whether it be in war, sport, or just life generally.}}

Wales rugby coach [[Graham Henry]] had Watkins' citation pinned up on the wall of the Welsh changing room before [[Six Nations Championship|Six Nations]] encounters.<ref name="Telegraph1"/>

Watkins' VC is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery in the [[Imperial War Museum]].