[1][2] Aboriginal people at the time suffered significant discrimination and disadvantages in Australian society, such as restrictions on movement, residence, employment, and access to services and citizenship.

He flew P-40 Kittyhawks in the South West Pacific theatre, where he completed ninety-five missions, mainly close air support.

Leonard Victor (Len) Waters was born at Euraba Mission, near Boomi in northern New South Wales, on 20 June 1924.

He was the fourth child of eleven born to labourer Donald Waters and his wife Grace Vera (née Bennett).

[3][4] They belonged to the Kamilaroi group of Aboriginal Australians, whose traditional lands encompassed southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

[5] Grace's father George Bennett was a veteran of World War I who had served with the 29th Battalion AIF on the Western Front.

[13] Waters' teacher had hoped he would continue his education in Brisbane but he left school, aged fourteen, to support his family, working alongside his father as a ring barker beginning in April 1938.

[1] Although the military had officially barred or restricted the recruitment of Aboriginal people in earlier periods, these impediments were significantly relaxed after Japan entered World War II, and Australia came under direct attack for the first time.

[2][12] He was also asked to imagine himself as the tail gunner in a Lancaster or Halifax heavy bomber, to which he replied, "I had a very disappointed look on my face, sir!

"[12] So convinced was he that he would not achieve his dream of becoming an aviator, Waters made three separate bets against himself being selected, and had to pay out £15 when he was nonetheless chosen.

[3] Once, while he was on leave, Waters was briefly gaoled in Moree, New South Wales, for not carrying an identity card, which was one of the racially discriminatory institutions[broken anchor] affecting Aboriginal people at the time.

[12] With the end of the Pacific War in September 1945, Len considered volunteering for the Australian component of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, if his brother did also.

Jim declined at the time (he later changed his mind),[21] so Len left the Air Force with the rank of warrant officer on 18 January 1946.

[23] After his discharge, Waters attempted to start a regional airline serving South West Queensland, but he was not able to secure finance or bureaucratic agreement.

[19] Although racism in the military during World War II was considered to be minimal, Waters and other Aboriginal people who had served their country found that the skills they had acquired were not valued in peacetime.

In 2003, Balonne Shire Council erected a monument to Waters and another local RAAF identity, Squadron Leader John Jackson, in St George.