Alexander Lewis was the son of Alexander Dick Lewis and Margaret Agnes Lewis of Auckland. He was the husband of Eileen Mary Lewis of Ponsonby, Auckland.

He attended Auckland Grammar School.

His daughter Fay was13 years old, and his daughter Jean 9 years old when Jack Lewis was killed.

Served in D Company of 24 Infantry Battalion.

In February 1944 New Zealand forces, including 6 Field Regiment, were engaged in the attack on Cassino, Italy. Maps on pages 552 and 566 of W.E. Murphy's bookare useful in explaining the positions of the troops. Operation Dickens, in which Hector Brown died, began on the morning of 15 March with a tremendous bombing of Cassino. The violence of the bombardment was frightening even from a safe distance and as events were soon to prove, it was too much and the damage it did was more hindrance than help to the 6 Brigade infantry fighting their arduous way through the ruins (p. 568). Over the next ten days the fighting continued.Facing strong opposition, including paragroops with anti-tank support, the New Zealand forces picked their way towards the railway station.Smoke canisters were fired to screen the activity from the enemy.Before the battle for Cassino ended 6 Field spent 74 days fighting in cold and mud. The regularity of the smoke fire gave the enemy useful information on their positions. Accurate enemy fire on the New Zealand gun areas had the most severe effect on 6 Field which lost Bombardier Rashleigh on 22 March, Lance-Bombardier Tullock on 24 March and Bombardier Brown on 25 March.In the following days, in a fierce onslaught by enemy guns, three more men died.Other units also suffered casualties. Altogether Artillery casualties in the battle for Cassino were: 34 Killed, 132 Wounded, 2 Prisoners of War, 6 Field spent 74 days. What was to be the greatest artillery battle of the war as far as the New Zealand gunners were concerned, continued into April.6 Field spent another two weeks behind Trocchio and then withdrew to Isernia, higher up the Volturno valley than Venafro, where 4 Field were.There beside a river they had a short rest before moving on to the next battle, Sora-Balsorano. AWMM