ALEXANDER WATTERS
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In August
1916 he was once again transferred, this time to Grey Towers, which was the New Zealand Convalescent
Hospital in nearby Hornchurch. After three months or so he was deemed
sufficiently recovered from his wounds to be fit enough for active service once
again, and he returned to France on the 16th November 1916.
He seems to have survived unscathed for the next eight months, until on the 31st July 1917, by which time he was in Belgium, he was wounded for a second time, with a gunshot wound to the scalp. His wound can't have been significant because he was able to rejoin his battalion only 4 days later after being treated in a field hospital. Sometime in August 1917 he was disciplined for failing to attend 1.30 p.m. parade and received 14 days forfeiture of ordinary pay, his only recorded misdemeanour. On 12 October 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal. In November he was able to go to London for 2 weeks leave. On returning to the front, re-joining the battalion in France on 7th December 1917, he saw out what were to be the final months of his life on the Somme. Alex was killed in action on 27 March 1918, aged only 28. His mother hadn’t lived to learn of his death – she had died one month earlier, aged 54, on 22 February, and had been buried in the Karori Cemetery, Wellington, not far from the family home. Alex Watters is amongst those buried at the Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France, in Grave IV.A8. Colincamps is a small village about 25 kilometres south and slightly west of Arras, and the name “Euston” seems to have derived from the cemetery’s location on a road junction just outside the village. There are now 1,293 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War in this cemetery. Alexander Watters death is commemorated at Colincamps, France; on the Brooklyn Memorial in Wellington, New Zealand; on his parent’s grave memorial at Karori Cemetery, Wellington ; on the War Memorial Hall Roll of Honour Board in Kumara, Westland, New Zealand; and the Roll of Honour Board of the Audit Department in Wellington. Alex’s father, who was nearly 20 years older than his wife, died in November 1921, and he too was buried in Karori Cemetery. Alex's service meant he was entitled to both the British War Medal and the Victory Medal – these were sent to his older brother Arthur in 1923, Arthur being the oldest surviving member of the family since the death of both their parents. |
Alex’s brothers Allan and John both survived, and are also commemorated on the Brooklyn War Memorial. Their oldest brother, Arthur William, also signed up for active service, in 1917, and returned to New Zealand in 1919.
Research conducted by Ann Walker, with additional input from Nancy Watters, Barbara Mulligan and Zane Kidd.
Main sources for information were:
Nancy Watters, Watters family records
Archives New Zealand: http://archway.archives.govt.nz
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/locations
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org
Main sources for information were:
Nancy Watters, Watters family records
Archives New Zealand: http://archway.archives.govt.nz
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database: http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/locations
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: http://www.cwgc.org