Basil George Watson
Basil George Watson was an Australian aviation pioneer who died in an aeroplane crash while testing his self-constructed plane on the day before a Red Cross fund-raising carnival at which he was scheduled to give a display of aerobatics.
Family
The son of James Isaac Watson, and Isabel Ada Watson, née Knight and the grandson of the mining magnate, John Boyd Watson, and nephew of the Australian cricketer Billy Murdoch Basil George Watson was born in Bendigo on 12 October 1893.Education
Watson and his two brothers Eric James Watson and James Rudyard Watson attended Haileybury College at Brighton Beach, Victoria.Aviator
Watson's family had an early interest in Aviation. On Monday morning, 21 March 1910, some 30 spectators witnessed Harry Houdini make an extended flight at Diggers Rest of 7min. 37secs., covering at least 6 miles, at altitudes ranging from 20ft. to 100ft. Basil Watson's father, mother, and younger sister, Venora, then aged 14, were among the spectators; and their names were included in the list of 16 spectator signatures on the certificate that verified Houdini's achievement.England
Watson travelled to England in 1914 on the S.S. Mooltan in the company of two other Australian aviators, Harry Hawker and Harry Kauper and, upon the recommendation of Hawker, he joined the Sopwith Aviation Company as an engineer and, at the same time, he undertook flying lessons. Watson received his official aviator’s certificate following his training with the Hall School of Flying at the London Aerodrome, at Hendon, in October 1915.Soon he was employed as a military test pilot. However, following the injuries he sustained in a crash on 22 June 1915, he was declared medically unfit for service; and he returned to Australia.
Australia
Upon his return to Australia, he began constructing his own biplane, using a Gnome rotary engine he had purchased from Horrie Miller, and "modelled on the Sopwith Scout", at Follacleugh, in St Kilda Street, Elsternwick, the family residence; and, at the end of 1916, he received permission to test his plane which he flew between Point Cook, Bendigo, and Melbourne.In 1917 he set up an air mail experiment, where he delivered 1,300 postcards to Melbourne from Mount Gambier. Discussions begun to expand the service to other towns.