Alexander Watt was a farmer from Wendon Valley, Southland and enlisted in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles in July of 1917. His ship, the "Tofua" left Wellington that November and Alexander disembarked with his Regiment at Suez. A few months later, in March 1918, he was in hospital with measles. He was out of action for two months and then joined the 8th (South Canterbury) Squadron of the Canterbury Regiment of the NZ Mounted Rifles. The Squadron almost immediately moved to the Desert Corps School of Instruction at Richon le Zion. On July 10, Alexander and his Squadron rejoined the Mounted Rifles Brigade in the Jordan Valley.
The "New Zealand History" website has this to say about the day Alexander was killed, in the timeline of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles:
- 14th – The CMR moves to ‘Wax Post’ at 1 p.m. to help the 1st Australian Light Horse Brigade repel an attack by a German battalion on Wadi el Auja. The regiment moves back to its bivouac at Ain ed Duk at 4.30 a.m. One man has been killed and five have been wounded.
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| Andersons Bay Cemetery, Photo Allan Steel |
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