Tom Reginald Waters was born in Goldcliff, Monmouthshire, in 1899. The second of seven children, his parents were Claridge and Alice Waters. Claridge was a farmer-turned-school attendance officer, and, according to the 1901 census, the family lived on Chapel Road, next door to the Temperance Hotel.
Tom – who was better known by his middle name – was too young to enlist when war broke out, but he was keen to play his part. He had joined up by the summer of 1916, and, as a Private, was attached to the 11th (Service) Battalion of the South Wales Borderers, also know 2nd Gwents.
Little information is available about Reginald’s time in the army, and there is no evidence that he spent any time overseas. By the start of 1916, he was based in Brecon, Powys, and it was in the camp there that he became unwell.
Private Waters had contracted meningitis, and this was to prove fatal. He passed away on the 20th January 1917, at the age of just 18 years old.
The body of Tom Reginald Waters was taken back to Monmouthshire for burial, and he was laid to rest in the tranquil graveyard of St Mary’s Church in Nash, not far from where his family still lived.
