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He researched a jail fire and found a war hero
Family of veteran who died in Saint John fire says he should get the honour fellow brigade members got
Devil's Brigade member Cpl. Russell Shaw, third from right, in an undated family photo. From left are: Hazel Williams, Russell's brother William Shaw, Benney Williams, Russell Shaw, Margaret Shaw and sister Jesse Shaw, who is Arty Watson's grandmother. (Submitted by Arty Watson)
Arty Watson was just six years old when a fire tore through the Saint John jail, taking the lives of 21 men in lockup.
His parents would talk about it in hushed tones over the years — "Your grandmother lost her brother in that fire" — and every year on June 21, on the anniversary of the 1977 blaze, he'd think of his great uncle and all the others who perished.
Watson never knew Russell Shaw. But as he grew up, he became more curious about the fire and about the relative he'd lost to it.
He started researching the fire and reaching out to others who had researched it.
And then one day, he stumbled across something that shocked him.
"I saw my great uncle's name, Russell Leonard Shaw, on a Facebook page about the fire, and someone was saying that he'd served in the Devil's Brigade," he said. "I had no idea. No one had ever said."
Russell Shaw in uniform. 'You can see the scars of the war in him, something in his eyes, in the line of his jaw,' Arty Watson says of this photograph of his great uncle. (Submitted by Arthur Watson)
The fearsome Devil's Brigade
The First Special Service Force, nicknamed the Devil's Brigade because of its stealth tactics and members' painted faces, was a joint U.S.-Canadian Force, established in 1942 and considered the pioneer of modern-day special forces.
The 1,800-man unit, 900 Americans and 900 Canadians, was tasked with going behind enemy lines to create chaos and sabotage enemy efforts.
The Devil's Brigade accounted for 12,000 German casualties and captured 7,000 prisoners during the Second World War.
In February 2015 it was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honour awarded by Congress.
"For every man they lost, they killed 25. For every man they captured, they took 235," Speaker of the House John Boehner said at the ceremony. "The force was so fearless that the enemy dubbed them 'the Devil's'."
This man was a war hero, and he didn't get his rightful recognition.
- Arty Watson, great nephew of Devil's Brigade member Cpl. Russell Shaw
About 40 of the surviving veterans of the First Special Services Force were on hand for the ceremony.
The discovery that the great uncle who died in anonymity had belonged to such a fearsome force shook Watson to the core.
"This man was a war hero," he said, "and he didn't get his rightful recognition."
Watson began looking into the lost chapters of his great uncle's life, his time in service, his life after the war, and the events that led to that fateful night in June 1977.
Canadian veterans part of elite unit given Congressional Gold Medal at Washington ceremony 46:16
Service, shell shock, marriage and tragedy
The family had never spoken of his great uncle Russell's time in the Devil's Brigade, and Watson thinks the fact that it was a "secretive assignment, you couldn't tell people you were in the special service force," might be partly responsible.
But once he started digging in and reaching out to people in various groups and on Facebook pages, pieces started falling into place.
He contacted Saint John historian Harold Wright, who went through the honour roll and confirmed that, indeed, Cpl. Russell Shaw had served with the Devil's Brigade.
The Devil's Brigade served as the prototype for the special forces that would come later — outfits like the JTF-2, Navy SEALs and Green Berets. (CBC)
"He was one of 25 Saint John men who served in the First Special Service Force," Wright said.
There are many gaps, but Watson learned that Shaw joined the service force in June 1944, that he served in France and Italy and stayed with the service until it disbanded.
"I've been able to find photos of him now, in uniform. He was a scary-looking guy," Watson said with a chuckle. "A tough guy. But you could see the scars of the war in him, something in his eyes, in the line of his jaw."
When he came home, he was suffering from what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
"Shell-shocked, my family called it," Watson said.
He turned to alcohol to cope but later got married, settled down in Pocologan and worked at the Port of Saint John.
Then in 1976, a crushing blow: Shaw's wife was struck by a car and killed.
"So I'm thinking the grief was too much to bear, and he started drinking again," Watson said, because one night in 1977, Shaw was picked up for public intoxication and taken to the police lockup inside Saint John City Hall.
Shaw was one of 21 men being held the night of June 21, many of them, according to news reports at the time, locked up for "minor offences" and unable to pay the fines associated with them.
Watson has been lobbying to get a memorial installed to commemorate the 21 victims of the Saint John Jail fire of 1977, including his great uncle Russell Shaw, who served in the Devil's Brigade in 1944. (Submitted by Arthur Watson)
The Saint John jail fire
Wright described the fire as "one of the most tragic events" in the city's history.
The men being held in the lockup weren't convicted criminals, he said. They were victims of circumstance, who "just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
A man who had been placed in a padded cell somehow started a fire, court later determined, although police had searched him twice for matches.
The cell padding was highly flammable, and the lockup soon filled with dense smoke.
Autopsies determined that all of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation, according to CBC reports.
Forty years later, Watson still feels gutted by the thought of how the trapped men died.
"It must have been absolutely horrific," he said.
Saint John historian Harold Wright, seen here in a file photo, describes the Saint John jail fire as 'one of the most tragic events' in the city's history. (CBC files)
Making a memorial his mission
Even before he'd learned about his great uncle's service in the First Special Service Force, Watson had already been thinking that something should be done to commemorate the lives of the men who died in the fire.
"But when I learned about my great uncle, how he died, and that no one even knew that he'd served in the Devil's Brigade," he said, the quest took on new impetus.
"I wanted to find a way to honour his life, recognize the fact that he was a hero. And I wanted to honour the other men's lives too. They all deserve to be remembered."
It's been 43 years since that fire. I think it's time.
- Arty Watson
Watson has been lobbying local and federal politicians to have a memorial set up as a tribute to the lost lives.
There has been no uptake yet, he said, but he plans to keep trying.
"It's been 43 years since that fire. I think it's time."
On Wednesday, Remembrance Day, Watson said, the memory of his great uncle will be heavily on his mind. He will also remember his great uncle Bill, Russell's brother, who served in the Air Force and died in September of 1977.
"I feel really proud to know I have family members who sacrificed so much so that we can live the lives we do," he said. "We are so fortunate, and it's thanks to people like them. We should never take that for granted."
About the Author
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Artie Watson was born in Saint John and grew up in the Rifl e Range area. His education started at St. Pius X / Crescent
Valley School. He has taken Sociology and History at UNBSJ (University of New Brunswick Saint John). He
believes that education is a lifelong process and feels that we are never too old to learn.
Beside his interests in writing and photography, Artie has an entrepreneurial spirit. He has owned a small business
called Errands-R-Us, a service business that has many facets from deliveries to transporting clients. Artie is a man
who is passionate about social justice issues and hates to see the poor and disenfranchised taken advantage of. He
loves democracy and believes that everyone should exercise their right to vote. “Voting is our voice and our power to
make a difference, not only in our lives,
Artie Watson To Seek Seat As Independent In Portland-Simonds
A Saint John man is going after the Saint John riding of Portland-Simonds in this September provincial election.
Artie Watson is running as an independent once again.
Watson was one of the many families that saw the provincial government bulldoze their public housing units in the Rifle Range neighbourhood in 2008, promising to build new ones.
A promise Watson says has yet to be kept.
“It’s one of the reasons driving me to pursue this endeavour and I think people need to understand that when a community like that gets thrown under the bus it feels like any government can keep on doing it, it’s not acceptable and they need to be held accountable,” says Watson.
When our newsroom asked him why he running as an independent candidate?
“I don’t like party politics it’s not about any particular party
ideology, it’s about the people and representing all of the people and
their interests,” Watson stated.
Artie Watson, Independent Candidate for Portland Simonds (Politics)
The Mandate of Artie Watson
Man who was charge with starting the Saint John Jail Fire is interviewed by the Blogger
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