James E Sanderson
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Son of Alfred and Alice Sanderson of 26 Byron Cottages, Quarry Lane, Mansfield. Alice died aged 34 in 1922 and Alfred died in 1925 aged 36.
Alfred had served with the Sherwood Foresters from 31st December 1914. He was discharged as medically unfit on 10th August 1917. He had received a gun shot wound to the left thigh on 16th August 1916 and returned to England for treatment. Due to sepsis his leg was amputated above the knee on the 2nd November 1916 and an artificial limb was provided on 26th June 1917. In 1921 he was being trained as a Boot & Shoe operative at a government training facility in Basford.
When Alice and Alfred died they had 4 children Edith Alice (1912), Doris (1913), Mabel (1915) and James Edward born in 1920. Another son, Alfred died at or soon after his birth in 1918. On the CWGC site it states James is the son of Alfred and Alice M Sanderson: nephew of Mrs M Allman of Mansfield.
M Allman is Alfred's sister Maud, and persumably she took the 4 orphened children in when their parents died. It could not have been easy for Alfred after Alice's death, severely disabled and with 4 children aged from 2 to 10.
James in his will left £293 13s 5d to his sister Mabel, wife of Arthur Taylor.
The 1/5th Bn Sherwood Foresters had been sent to Malaya to help with the defence of Singapore. They arrived on the 29th January 1942 and Singapore fell to the Japanese on the 15th February and the regiment became Prisoners of War. They were put to work on the infamous Burma-Siam Railway.
James was on one of the hellships, Kachidoki Maru. A Japanese ship taking 900 prisoners from Japan back to Singapore. They had been taken to Japan in 1944 to be used as slave labour and were being returned to Singapore. The ship was attacked by the USS Navy's submarine Pampanito, has they were unaware that the ship carried POWs.
James's family were unaware of the conditions in which he and his fellow prisoners were being kept.
Mansfield Chronicle Advertiser: 20/7/1944: Working for Pay
Nearly a year has elapsed since a card came from Pte J E Sanderson Sherwood Foresters prisoner in Japanese hands but he has again been able to send a very welcome assurance of his well being to his aunt, Mrs Allman and his three sisters with added information that he is now working for pay.
450 officers and men from the Sherwood Foresters regiment did not survive their time in captivity.
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