The Queens Own Royal West Kent R

The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment

Private T J Waters

Private Theodore James WATERS, G/23096, 10th Battalion, Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, killed in action, Flanders France, 7th June 1917, age 20.

Born Tonbridge, Kent, son of James Henry and Elizabeth Jane Waters, 1, Wincliff Road, Tonbridge, Kent.

1911 Census - 25 Waterloo Road, Tonbridge, Kent - James Henry Waters, head, age 49, married, general carrier, own account, born Lingfield, Surrey; Elizabeth Jane Waters, wife, age 44, married 21 years, 6 children, all still alive, born Cowden, Kent; Bertram Waters, son, age 17, single, carriers help, workers, born Golden Green, Kent; Bessie Waters, daughter, age 15, single, born Tonbridge, Kent; Theodore James Waters, son, age 14, parcel boy, worker, born Tonbridge, Kent; Edwin Conrad Water, son, age, 12, school, born Tonbridge, Kent; Jack Franklin Herbert Emery, boarder, age 13, school, born West Kensington, London.

21st October 1915, Notice give to a Man at the time of his offering to join the Territorial Serevice - rejected by Kent Cyclist Battalion as medically unfit.

7th August 1916, Medical History - examined Maidstone, age 19 years & 330 days, height 5ft 3¾ inches, weight 108lbs, own upper dentures, operation for undercended testicle.

13th July 1916, Notice paper to be sent to a man who offered himself for enlistment and was rejected since 14th August 1915, under the Provisions of Thge Military Service Act, 1916, (Session 2).

Enlisted Maidstone, Kent, age 20 years & 2 months, height 5ft 3¾ inches, weight 108lbs. Resided 1 Wincliff Road, Tonbridge, Kent. Formerly gardener.

Separation Allowance 1/5 a week, Allotment of Pay 3/6 a week, payable to mother.

Home, 11th October 1916 to 5th January 1917; BEF, 6th January 1917 to 7th June 1917.

11th October 1916, enlisted; 14th October 1916, posted 3rd Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment; 6th January 1917, posted BEF; 19th February 1917, posted 10th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.

13th October 1919, Statement of Rellatives - Widow, none; Children, none; Father, James Henry Waters, 1, Wincliff Road, Tonbridge; Mother, Elizabeth Jane Waters, 1, Wincliff Road, Tonbridge; Brothers - Bertram Waters, age 26, 1, Wincliff Road, Tonbridge; Edwin Corad Waters, age 21, 4 Cornfield? Lane, Eastbourne; Sisters - Edith Waters, age 29, 4 Southfields Roadm Eastbourne; Rose Waters, age 28, Heamilton House, Upperton Road, Eastbourne; Bessie Waters, age 24, Burnt House Farm, Forest Row; Annie Pickering?, age 36, 98 Amiens Street, Dublin; Kate M Harmer?, age 33, 28 Mabledon Road, Tonbridge; Amy Alice Waters, age 31, Greenways, Sunningdale.

Commemorated at Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Panel 45 and 47, Ieper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Commemorated on Tonbridge War Memorial - Tonbridge War Memorial - The original World War I memorial at the Junction of Pembury Road and Quarry Hill. The names were later re-inscribed in the new Memorial Garden in Bradford Street.

From Tonbridge History - Theodore James was born in Tonbridge in 1896, the son of James and Eliza. In 1911 the family were recorded as living at 25 Waterloo Road and Theodore James worked as a parcel boy. When he enlisted on 11th October 1916 he was working as a gardener and lived at 1 Wincliffe Road, Tonbridge. He served as Private G/23096 Royal West Kent Regiment, doing his basic training with the 3rd Battalion, then posted to the 10th Battalion [“C” Company] when he went to France on 6th January 1917. He was killed in action on 7th June 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres [Menin Gate] Memorial.

This page was last updated on 21-Feb-2023.