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Roger Waters
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==Early years== Waters was born on 6 September 1943, the younger of two boys, to Mary (nΓ©e Whyte; 1913β2009) and Eric Fletcher Waters (1914β1944), in [[Great Bookham]], [[Surrey]].{{sfn|Thompson|2013|p=7}} His father, the son of a [[coal miner]] and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] activist, was a schoolteacher, a devout Christian, and a [[Communist Party of Great Britain|Communist Party]] member.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p=13}} In the early years of the [[Second World War]], Waters's father was a [[conscientious objector]] who drove an ambulance during [[the Blitz]].{{sfn|Blake|2008|p=13}} He later changed his stance on [[pacifism]], joined the [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] and was commissioned into the 8th Battalion, [[Royal Fusiliers]] as a Second Lieutenant on 11 September 1943.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36253 |date=16 November 1943 |page=5071 |supp=y}}</ref> He was killed five months later on 18 February 1944 at [[Aprilia, Lazio|Aprilia]], during the [[Battle of Anzio]], when Roger was five months old.<ref>{{harvnb|Blake|2008|pp=13β14}}</ref> He is commemorated in Aprilia and at the [[Cassino War Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Waters, Eric Fletcher |publisher=[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] |url=http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2099066/WATERS,%20ERIC%20FLETCHER |access-date=1 March 2013 |archive-date=22 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622051636/https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2099066/WATERS,%20ERIC%20FLETCHER |url-status=live }}</ref> On 18 February 2014, Waters unveiled a monument to his father and other war casualties in Aprilia, Italy and was made an honorary citizen of Anzio.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wanted in Rome |url=http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/roger-waters-made-honorary-citizen-of-anzio/ |date=18 February 2014 |access-date=17 January 2017 |archive-date=18 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118051622/http://www.wantedinrome.com/news/roger-waters-made-honorary-citizen-of-anzio/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Following her husband's death, Mary Waters, also a teacher, moved with her two sons to [[Cambridge]] and raised them there.{{sfn|Manning|2006|pp=5β6}} Waters's earliest memory is of the [[Victory over Japan Day|V-J Day]] celebrations.<ref name="DID">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011j39v|title=Desert Island Discs, Roger Waters|date=29 May 2011|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]|access-date=29 May 2011|archive-date=13 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313052539/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011j39v|url-status=live}}</ref> Waters attended Morley Memorial Junior School in Cambridge and then the [[Cambridgeshire High School for Boys]] (now [[Hills Road Sixth Form College]]) with [[Syd Barrett]].<ref> "Town vs Gown: The Perse School and Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2023.</ref> The future Pink Floyd guitarist [[David Gilmour]] lived nearby on [[Mill Road, Cambridge|Mill Road]] and attended [[the Perse School]].{{sfn|Watkinson|Anderson|1991|pp=15β18}} At 15, Waters was chairman of the Cambridge Youth [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] (YCND),{{sfn|Mason|2005|pp= 12β13}} having designed its publicity poster and participated in its organisation.{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=13}} He was a keen sportsman and a highly regarded member of the high school's cricket and rugby teams.{{sfn|Watkinson|Anderson|1991|p=23}} Waters was unhappy at school, saying: "I hated every second of it, apart from games. The regime at school was a very oppressive one ... The same kids who are susceptible to bullying by other kids are also susceptible to bullying by the teachers."{{sfn|Blake|2008|pp= 14β19}} Waters initially considered a career in mechanical engineering.{{sfn|Blake|2008|p=36}} In 1962, after a series of aptitude tests suggested he was suited to architecture, he enrolled at the [[Regent Street Polytechnic|Regent Street Polytechnic School of Architecture]], London, where he met his future Pink Floyd bandmates [[Nick Mason]] and [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]].{{sfn|Povey|2008|p=320}}
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