Alexander Bathurst Watts was born in 1893 in Bathurst, New South Wales, to parents Alexander and Susan. He was 22 when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 10 August 1915, giving his occupation as draper. Watts embarked from Sydney with the 2nd reinforcements to the 30th Battalion aboard HMAT Berrima on 17 December 1915. He later joined the 13th Battalion, and in August 1916 he was wounded in France. Despite this, he re-joined his unit that same day and continued to serve with the battalion for the rest of the war. He was also part of the 13th Battalion Band, playing the clarinet. He returned to Australia in May 1919 and married Ella Nunn in 1927. By 1930 he was living in the Riverina region of New South Wales, later moving to the northern suburbs of Sydney.