Draft:Eric Fletcher Waters

Eric Fletcher Waters (Surrey, March 12 1913 - Anzio, February 18 1944) was a British officer of the 8th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers, who was killed during World War II. He was the father of Roger Waters, bassist and vocalist of the Britsh progressive rock band Pink Floyd and his death influenced many of his son's songs.

Biography
Eric Waters was born on March 12 1913 in Surrey, England, and went to school in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, before winning a scholarship to Durham University. He and his wife Mary had two sons, Roger and John. Despite being a communist and a pacifist, he fought in World War II, serving the Company Z of the 8th Battalion of Royal Fusiliers, in which he received the post of Lieutenant. Eric was declared missing and presumably dead on February 18 1944, during Operation Shingle, or Battle of Anzio and is remembered on pannel 5 of the Cassino Memorial, in Cassino, Italy. On the pannel it is mentioned his body was never found. At the time, Roger was 5 months old. Little is known about Eric, except for Roger's songs, like "When the Tigers Broke Free", recorded by Pink Floyd and that tells the story of Eric Fletcher Waters. Songs written by Roger for The Final Cut, 1983 album by Pink Floyd, are also dedicated to his father whom he didn't meet. On the song "The Post War Dream", Roger sings "Was it for this that Daddy died?". In "The Fletcher Memorial Home", Roger talks about the "incurable tyrants" (those being Ronald Reagan, Alexander Haig, Menachem Begin, Ian Paisley, Leonid Brezhnev, Joseph McCarthy, and Richard Nixon)

On February 18 2014, Roger went to Anzio, where he received honorary citizenship and inaugurated the stele dedicated to his father.