3153 Private Alfred Edward Waters, 31, was a plumber from Inverell, NSW, who had completed his apprenticeship in Quirindi, NSW. He was married to Lemena Alice Waters and they lived at 23 Elsham Road, Auburn.
Waters enlisted at Warwick Farm on 18 August 1915. Neither the date nor the ship of embarkation is recorded in Waters’ records, nor is there any indication that he served on Gallipoli, which is unlikely given the date of his enlistment and the fact that he had no prior military service. It seems reasonable to suggest he must have reached Egypt by 30 December 1915 as he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star.
The first date indicating overseas service for Waters is 3 February 1916, when he was taken on strength of the 3rd Battalion, First Australian Division at Tel el Kebir in Egypt. He proceeded with his battalion to France, disembarking at Marseilles on 28 March 1916.
The 1st Australian Division started in the Nursery Sector of the Western Front but in July was brought down to join the First Battle of the Somme, raging around the tiny village of Pozières. Early in the battle, Waters was wounded and he spent the next two months in military hospitals in France with wounds and dysentry.
Returning to his battalion in Belgium in September 1916, he fought on until, in December 1916, he was wounded again. This was a more serious wound and he was taken to the Middlesex War Hospital in the United Kingdom. He was in the UK for 10 months during which time he was disciplined for two instances of Absent without Leave (AWL). For the first instance, he was away for three days and he had to forfeit seven days’ pay. For the second, he had to do five days Field Punishment No. 2 for being AWL for a night out.
Waters again returned to Belgium and his battalion, now involved in the terrible Passchendaele offensive, on 15 October 1917. He was killed in action 13 days later and was buried in the Belgian Battery Corner Cemetery near Ypres (Ieper). An image of his headstone is shown below.
Waters was one Auburn Memorial man who had a lot of time out of the line. Though he was in the AIF for two years and two months, his time in any area of danger was less than six months.