W H.W. Watt joined the Royal Naval Reserve in 1914. From 1914 to 1916 he took part in naval patrols, then transferred to the R.N.A.S. (Airship Section), becoming Captain of Non Rigids. In 1918 he was appointed Captain of R26 and then transferred to Pulham taking part in airship mooring experiments and retired in 1920 to New Zealand. However, with the launch of the R100/R101 airship projects, he came back to The Royal Airship Works at Cardington in 1929. He was trained to take charge of Karachi Airport, an anticipated stop-off point for the proposed new commercial airship service.
