James William Waters

A Private with the 16th Battalion, James died on 5th of September 1918 aged 19. 

James was born at Lowestoft in 1899, a son of James and Lavinia Waters. He was baptised at Saint Margaret’s Church on 5 May 1899, and his family lived at 223 Clapham Road. By 1901 his family were living at 26 Reeve Street and this was James’ home for the rest of his life.

James enlisted in the Army at Lowestoft. He joined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, service number 38291, and was posted to the 16th Battalion in France. 

On 2 September 1918 the 16th Battalion took part in a brigade attack at Beugny. The attack began at 5.20 a.m. and soon came under machine-gun fire from the flanks. They planned a second push at 11 a.m. but artillery fire made this impossible. During the evening some units had to withdraw due to high casualty rates and the Germans retaliated with gas shells. On that day James received gunshot wounds to his back and right thigh and was taken to 14 Field Ambulance before being transferred to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died of wounds.