Joffre Douglas Waters

A Private with the 4th Battalion, Joffre died on 14th of June 1943 aged 26. 

Joffre was born at Lowestoft on 7 October 1916, a son of Thomas and Alice Waters. In 1921 his family lived at 2 Love Road and by 1939 their home was at 75 Love Road. 

In 1939 Joffre married Dororthy Ellen Maud Benton, this was registered in the Lothingland district. Dorothy came from Padstow, Cornwall.

In autumn 1939 the 4th Battalion Suffolk Regiment was on guard duty in the Lowestoft area and from July to September 1940 had various local deployments, including guarding Great Yarmouth. The Battalion then moved to Bedfordshire and then Scotland until April 1941. Next the Battalion moved to Bury, Lancashire, and Hereford, before embarking on the S.S. Andes at Liverpool and sailing for Halifax, Nov Scotia. The Battalion changed ship, to the American liner Wakefield, and sailed for Trinidad and then Cape Town, arriving on 9 December 1941. The Battalion was given three days shore leave.

The Battalion was part of 54 Brigade in the 18th (East Anglian) Division. 

With the Japanese entry into the war the Battalion was now allocated to the Far East and sailed for India, arriving on 5 January 1942. The Battalion had three weeks of training before embarking at Bombay and sailing for Singapore, arriving on 29 January 1942. The Battalion had orders to defend the Golf Course and then fell back to defend the perimeter before the Singapore garrison was forced to surrender on 15 February 1942. Ninety men of the Battalion were killed, or died of wounds, in the defence of Singapore and 865 were taken prisoner.      

Joffre was attached to the 18th Division Provost Company when he was captured at Singapore on 15 February 1942. He was taken to Thailand to work on the Burma Railway and was being held at Kannyo Number 1 Camp when he died from malaria. In 1946 Joffre was re-buried Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.