‹ Long Range Desert Group — Roll of Members

Edgar “Kiwi, Ted, Sandy; Somme” Sanders

Sergeant · NZ #598 · T Patrol · MM

Edgar “Kiwi, Ted, Sandy; Somme” Sanders
RankSergeant
Service numberNZ #598
PatrolT Patrol
Regiment34 A/T Bty, 2NZEF
Known as“Kiwi, Ted, Sandy; Somme”
Born1915-12-29
Died1987-01-05
HonoursMM
Campaign medalsWar Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal
Recordhttps://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C144491

What this roll records

HE DIED AT CHRISTCHURCH ON 5 JANUARY 1987, AGED 71, a week after his seventy-first birthday: the Press obituary of 6 January opens “Mr Edgar Sanders, DIED IN CHRISTCHURCH YESTERDAY. He was aged 71”, and 71 on 5 January 1987 agrees with the birth date on this card, 29 December 1915. AND A NICKNAME WITH A STORY, WHICH THIS ROLL DID NOT HAVE. “He was known to his friends as Sandy or SOMME. The latter name came from a German school teacher who could never remember his name and would call him ‘son’ with a German accent.” WHAT BECAME OF HIM AFTER THE WAR, which no service record holds: he left New Zealand a few months after it ended, reached England in 1948, and with Mr and Mrs Norman Edwards bought a 15-metre converted North Sea fishing vessel, the Heather Glen, to sail home in. A hurricane drove her onto a beach at the deserted COCOS ISLAND, south-west of Costa Rica, and wrecked her; they salvaged what they could and used her sails for tents. After four months the Edwardses were taken off. SANDERS STAYED ON ALONE FOR ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS — eleven on the island altogether — waiting for dry weather so that he could hunt for the seventeenth-century pirate treasure Cocos is supposed to hold. He lived on birds, fish and pigs, built a shack out of gear left by earlier treasure expeditions and an outrigger canoe to get round the island. THE DRY SPELL NEVER CAME AND HE NEVER FOUND ANYTHING. He was picked up by a boat carrying settlers to the Galapagos, worked there for U.N.E.S.C.O. and set up a business supplying fish to an American firm, and in 1960 married an Ecuadorian. He came back to New Zealand in 1964 and worked for the Municipal Electricity Department as a cable joiner. He was educated at Waltham Primary School and the Christchurch Technical College, and was survived by his wife MARIANA and three children. His family said that after 1964 he “had kept fairly much to himself and did not often talk about his war exploits or the events surrounding his medal”. Source: the Press, 6 January 1987, page 6, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand). The cutting is on this card and on this site’s Newspapers page.

Portrait "Gunner M.M. Sanders of the L.R.D.G." by Peter McIntyre published in Current Affairs 20 Dec 1943 - likely this man (sheet initials/rank differ: Edgar, Sergeant); initials flagged for verification. "Current Affairs" periodical, 20 Dec 1943.

On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): T — A/T Gunner T; A(NZ) Sqn LRDG HQ. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).

March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): A/T Gunner?

Barce Raid, Sept 1942 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): A/T breda Gunner — Picked up by S2

AKA “Sandy” added. Source: Brendan O’Carroll.

Born 29 December 1915 at Christchurch. Seaman in civilian life. Embarked/served with 34 Anti-Tank Battery. Also served with the LRDG and with Popski's Private Army (No. 1 Demolition Squadron). A portrait of Sanders by Peter McIntyre is held in the National Collection of War Art. Later promoted Sergeant. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Sgt E. Sanders, MM — seaman; born Christchurch, 29 Dec 1915.

One of the eight New Zealanders who trekked eight days to Augila after Nofilia (December 1941); awarded the MM for bravery shown on previous occasions. At Sidi Haneish (July 1942), raiding with Captain Wilder’s T1 patrol and the SAS, knocked out four enemy vehicles. Source: ‘Raids Behind the Enemy Lines’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Seaman; born Christchurch, 29 Dec 1915. MM. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).

Took part in the Barce Raid with T1 Patrol, 13/14 September 1942. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Kiwi Scorpions’ (Appendix VIII, T1 Patrol members who took part in the Barce Raid, September 1942).

His Military Medal was announced on 9 September 1942, the same day as Francis Richard Brown’s. The recommendation survives at The National Archives, Kew, in series WO 373 (War Office, Military Secretary’s Department: Recommendations for Honours and Awards for Gallantry), reference WO 373/20/372. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

SEAMAN in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

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Not By Strength But By Guile