Michael Loder WATERS
Year of Birth: 1895
Place of Birth: Cooktown, Queensland
Date of Enlistment: 1 November 1915
Date and Place of Embarkation: 18 May 1916, Sydney, NSW
Ship: HMAT Demosthenes A64
Rank: Lance Corporal
Unit(s): 41st Australian Infantry Battalion – 1 to 6 Reinforcements
Regimental Number: 1103
Died: 4 June 1917
Michael Loder Waters was born in 1895, the second of four sons of Charles Henry Waters and Ellen Bridget Power. The eldest died in infancy and of the remaining three, Michael was the only one to enlist. His 2 younger brothers were too young to go to the First World War. However, his brother David Frederick Waters served in the Australian Army in the Second World War.
On his enlistment in Townsville, Michael gave his age as 19 years 10 months, occupation a Carpenter and next of kin his mother, Mrs. Ellen Waters, Bungalow, N.Coast Line Qld. He was 5 feet 4 1/2 inches in height, weighed 8 stone with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was Roman Catholic.
He enlisted with the rank of Private and was promoted to Corporal on 20 February 1916 and embarked on the HMAT Demosthenes from Sydney on 18 May 1916. He arrived in England on 20 July 1916 and proceeded to France on 24 November 1916.
Michael Loder Waters was wounded in action on 3 June 1917 and taken to No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station where he died the next day, 4 June 1917. He was buried at Trois Arbres Cemetery, Steenwerck, Nord Pas de Calais, France.
Online Resources
Photograph of Private M L Waters, RSL Virtual War Memorial
NAA: B2455, Waters, Michael Loder, National Archives of Australia
Photograph of HMAT Demosthenes A64, Australian War Memorial
National Library of Australia: Trove Digitised Newspapers
Queensland Registrar of Births Deaths & Marriages
If you have a photograph or further information about this soldier you would like to share and add to his biography, please contact the Society at projects@cdfhs.org or leave a comment below. Thank you!