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Star (Christchurch), Issue 18958, 2 January 1930, Page 8

An Auckland returned soldier has drawn attention to the recent death in England of a man to whom many soldiers in the Great War owe their lives. This was Mr Alfred Bates, who designed the headgear first issued to the troops in France in 1916, and later worn by the entire army. A member of the firm of Willis and Bates, watch stampers, of Halifax, and a director of many companies, Mr Bates was found drowned near the pier at Bournemouth—a tragic fate for a man whose name will go down in history as a valued contributor to the Empire in time of stress. He was fifty-two years of age, and is survived by his wife, son and two daughters.