The fob watch containing the Tenth Doctor's Time Lord essence communicated with him and instructed him. It could do this because Latimer had low level telepathic abilities it could access. It also granted him a vision of the First World War which he used to escape a shell at a critical moment. After the Family of Blood was defeated, the Doctor let Latimer have his watch to look after and for good luck. He fought in World War I and survived. Like the Doctor, he did not like violence and refused to use a gun when the Scarecrows attacked, responding to a call of "Coward!" with "Yes sir! Every time!" an echo of the Doctor's answer to the question "Are you coward or killer?"