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George Mellor SANDERSON

Main CPGW Record

Surname: SANDERSON

Forename(s): George Mellor

Place of Birth: Liverpool, Lancashire

Service No: 12820

Rank: Sergeant

Regiment / Corps / Service: Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)

Battalion / Unit: 'A' Coy 9th (Service) Battalion

Division: 17th (Northern) Division

Age: 26

Date of Death: 1916-03-02

Awards: ---

CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: Panel 20.

CWGC Cemetery: ---

CWGC Memorial: YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL

Non-CWGC Burial: ---

Local War Memorial: CROSSHILLS, YORKSHIRE

Local War Memorial: KILDWICK, YORKSHIRE

Local War Memorial: SUTTON-IN-CRAVEN, YORKSHIRE

Additional Information:

George Mellor Sanderson was the son of Thomas and Sarah Ann Sanderson, née Morris. Thomas was born at Waterloo, Great Crosby, Lancashire and Sarah at Winsford, Cheshire.

1891 Liverpool, Lancashire Census: 96, Medlock Street, Kirkdale - George M. Sanderson, aged 1 year, born Liverpool, son of Thomas and Sarah A. Sanderson.

1901 Liverpool, Lancashire Census: 2 & 4, Great Richmond Street - George Sanderson, aged 11 years, born Liverpool. [George and his elder sister Emma were living with their step-grandfather, John Lyon.]

1911 Glusburn, Yorkshire Census: 15, Croft Head Terrace - George Sanderson, aged 21 years, born Liverpool, Lancashire, son of Sarah Ann Sanderson, widow.

British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Sgt George M. Sanderson, 12820, West Riding Regiment. Theatre of War first served in: 1 - France. Date of entry therein: 15 July 1915.

Data Source: Craven’s Part in the Great War - original CPGW book entry

View Entry in CPGW Book

Entry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record:

SANDERSON, Sergeant George, aged 26, West Riding Regiment, son of Mrs. Sanderson, Croft Head Terrace, Glusburn, killed in action in France, March 1916.

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Sergeant George Mellor SANDERSON

Sergeant George Mellor SANDERSON

Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)

Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment)

Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 17th (Northern) Division

Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 17th (Northern) Division

Data from Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 - 1919 Records

Soldiers Died Data for Soldier Records

Surname: SANDERSON

Forename(s): George Mellor

Born: Liverpool

Residence:

Enlisted: Keighley, Yorks

Number: 12820

Rank: Sergt

Regiment: Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)

Battalion: 9th Battalion

Decorations:

Died Date: 02/03/16

Died How: Killed in action

Theatre of War: France & Flanders

Notes:

Data from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records

CWGC Data for Soldier Records

Surname: SANDERSON

Forename(s): George Mellor

Country of Service: United Kingdom

Service Number: 12820

Rank: Serjeant

Regiment: Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)

Unit: 9th Bn.

Age: 26

Awards:

Died Date: 02/03/1916

Additional Information: Son of Mrs. Sarah Ann Sanderson, of 15, Croft Head Terrace, Glusburn, Keighley, Yorks.

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Additional Photo(s) For Soldier Records

Sutton United A.F.C. 1907-1908

Sutton United A.F.C. 1907-1908

George Mellor Sanderson (third row from front - fifth from right) and his brother Arthur Sanderson (third row from front - seventh from right - goal keeper) who survived him. (Taken at the side of the Glusburn Institute)

Courtesy of Derek Holmes, Burnley

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Craven Herald and Wensleydale Standard Logo

17 March 1916

GLUSBURN MAN KILLED BY SNIPER

News was received at Glusburn last weekend of the death of Sergeant George Sanderson, son of Mrs. Sanderson, of Croft Head Terrace, Glusburn. Sergeant Sanderson, who was 26 years of age, was employed at Messrs. J. C. Horsfall’s, Hayfield Mills, Glusburn, enlisted as a private in the 9th West Riding Regiment, soon after the outbreak of war, and had been promoted to the rank of sergeant.

He was shot through the head by a German sniper while leaving the trenches last week. He was well known locally as a football player, having played as a full back for Sutton United some years ago, and also for the Keighley Celtic and Keighley Y.M.C.A. teams. Mrs. Sanderson has two other sons serving in the army Private Tom Sanderson, of the Highland Light Infantry, who is now in France, and Arthur Sanderson, who is training with the Royal Naval Battalion.

24 March 1916

A GLUSBURN SERGEANT KILLED

Mrs. Sanderson, of Croft Head Terrace, Glusburn, has received official news that her son, Sergeant George Sanderson, has been killed at the Front in France on the 2nd of March. She received her son’s wristwatch and ring by post last week but with no explanation. On the same day another letter was received in Glusburn by Mrs. Willie Greenwood, whose husband is a sergeant in the same regiment, with the news that his friend George Sanderson had been killed in the trenches by a sniper.

Prior to the war Sergeant Sanderson was employed by Messrs. J. C. Horsfall and Sons, Hayfield Mills, Glusburn, and he enlisted in the 9th West Riding Regiment soon after war broke out. He was well known in the district, having been a player with the Sutton United, Keighley Celtic, and Keighley Y.M.C.A. football teams.

31 March 1916

THE LATE SERGEANT SANDERSON, GLUSBURN

Mrs. Sanderson of 15, Croft Head Terrace, Glusburn, has received a very kind letter from the officer commanding the A Company of 9th Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, referring to the death of her brother. The letter, which is dated 18th March, reads as follows:–

“Your letter dated the 12th has reached me today; alterations have taken place and this accounts for the post being irregular. It is unhappily only too true that your brother has made the supreme sacrifice; he was killed in action on March 2nd quite close to me. You will be glad to know, as I was, that he could have suffered no pain. I had a keen regard for your brother, as he was one of the best N.C.O.s in my Company, and it was because of his sterling qualities that I selected him to go to Étaples with me. We returned from there together. He had just spoken to me about applying for a commission, and I had urged him to do so and would have assisted him in his application, for he was just the type we want; full of courage, very cool and well informed.

I regret this loss more than I can say: to your Mother and yourself it must be a very heavy blow. Sympathy is but a poor thing under such circumstances, but you have ours to the full.”

“With deepest regrets,
Believe me,
Yours very truly,
P. R. SIMNELL Capt. O.C. A Company.”

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17 March 1916

GLUSBURN SOLDIER KILLED IN THE TRENCHES

On Thursday morning last, the residents of Glusburn were in a state of great anxiety and fear regarding the fate of one of their fellow villagers, Sergeant George Sanderson, of Croft Head Terrace, when it was made known that Mrs. Sanderson (his widowed mother) had received by post her son’s wrist watch and ring, without any explanation. These fears were allayed during the morning when it was made known that valuables had been returned the same way to others in the district. However, later in the day Mrs. William Greenwood received a communication from her brother, a sergeant in the same regiment, that his friend Sergt. George Sanderson had been killed in the trenches by a sniper. Sergeant Sanderson is the first Glusburn soldier to make the supreme sacrifice. Much sympathy is felt with the widowed mother, whose three sons out of four, the youngest being a boy, and her son-in-law have all joined the Colours. They are:– Private Tom Sanderson, of the Highland Light Infantry, at the Front (eldest son), Sergeant George Sanderson (deceased), of the 9th West Riding Regiment, and Private Arthur Sanderson (quite recently enlisted), in the Royal Naval Division, now stationed at the Crystal Palace, and Harold Senior (son-in-law), a member of the Army Service Corps.

Prior to joining the Colours, Sergeant Sanderson was employed at the firm of Messrs. J. C. Horsfall and Sons. He was well-known in the district, having been a member of the Sutton United, Keighley Celtic and the Y.M.C.A. football teams. The deceased was in his 27th year.

03 August 1917

SUTTON

DEDICATION OF ROLL OF HONOUR – A special service, reverent and very beautiful throughout, the dedication of the roll of honour, was conducted in St. Thomas’s Church on Sunday evening last by the vicar, Rev. A. R. Light. The roll of honour is a triptych, the top panel, a beautiful inlet picture representing ‘The Great Sacrifice.’ It contains the names of the fallen heroes, viz., Arnold Healey, F.W. Thompson, Norman Riley, Lyall Taylor, J.G. Bancroft, E. Wilkinson, Nelson Petty, W. Haggas, G. Sanderson, R. Whitehall, W. Hargreaves, T. Summerskill, A.W. Tune, C.F. Horsfall, Lewis Binns,Albert Binns, E. Fisher, and W. Blake Spencer. The left panel represents ‘The White Comrade,’ and the right ‘The watch on many waters,’ in very artistic colours. The large centre space contains the names of all who were residents in the Sutton parish and are still serving their King and country. The sermon was from the text, “Through God we shall do valiantly.” The large congregation left the church to the strains of the French National Anthem.

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