On 16 March 1915, Watson was awarded his Royal Aero Club Certificate, No.1,117, the equivalent of achieving a pilot's licence in the L & P Biplane, having achieved it "...in excellent style" according to an entry in the 24 March 1915 issue of "The Aeroplane". At the bottom of page 145 in the 26 February 1915 issue of "Flight" is a photograph of students and instructors of the London and Provincial School; Watson can be seen wearing a leather flying cap standing next to a sheepish looking Clive Collett, later Capt. Clive Franklin Collett MC, Great War fighter ace from Spring Creek near Blenheim, New Zealand and the first member of the Royal Flying Corps to parachute out of an aeroplane.