Alexander Gwyther Sanderson (1908 - 1942)

Ancestors

Biography

Alexander Gwyther Sanderson was born in 7th March 1908 in Claremont, Western Australia, Australia. He was the son of George Sanderson and Sarah Bradley. ^[1]

On 22nd October 1939 Alexander was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Second Australian Imperial Force for military service overses during the Second World War. ^[2] In March 1942, in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Alexander was appointed Quartermaster of 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion. In July the battalion returned to Australia and within weeks was disembarking in Port Moresby, Papua and preparing to advance against the Japanese Imperial Army on the Kokoda Track.

Aged 34 years, Alex was appointed commander A Company, however, was killed in action on 23rd October 1942 at Eora Creek and is buried in the Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby. Over 300 shells from his Schmeisser ('souvineered' from Crete) were later discovered around where he laid, but he had been cut down by machine gun fire. Alexander Gwyther Sanderson's name is located at panel 29 in the Commemorative Area at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra and on the Cenotaph at Ashfield, New South Wales. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Western Australia Birth Index #113/1908
2. ↑ Department of Veterans' Affairs nominal roll: NX7567 Captain Alexander Gwyther Sanderson; accessed 27 Jun 2021
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial roll of honour: NX7567 Captain Alexander Gwyther Sanderson; accessed 27 Jun 2021