Name
Victor William Saunders
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
04/11/1920
21
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
6449978
Royal Fusiliers *1
26th (County of London)(Service) Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
HITCHIN CEMETERY
South East Extension Grave 848
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour (Book), Hitchin
Pre War
His home was at Prospect Villas, Gaping Lane, Hitchin. He was an assistant scoutmaster in the 1st Hitchin Troop.
Wartime Service
He joined the army at the same time as his twin brother Frank in August 1917. He was given the Service Number 6449978 and posted to the 26th Battalion (Bankers) of the Royal Fusiliers, which was in the 124th Brigade of the 41st Division of XIX Corps in the 2nd Army. On the 28th October 1918 he sustained a gunshot wound in the right thigh.
This coincides with the involvement of the Battalion in the Battle of Courtrai and the action at Ooteghem. The Battalion was involved in violent attacks east of the Courtrai - Bossuyt Canal towards the Scheidt, but the German barrage was very heavy and machine gun fire intense so that the line was held up west of Ooteghem. The Battalion was relieved on the day he received his injuries. He was transferred to Edmonton Military Hospital where he died.
He is buried in Hitchin Cemetery, Grave SE 848.
It should be noted that although Armistice Day was the 11th November 1918, the ‘Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act’ specified that the Great War would officially cease when the Order in Council declared that the war had ended. This was made declaring the 31st August 1921 to be that date. It was therefore decided that Commonwealth personnel who died within the period 4th August 1914 and 31st August 1921 would be classified as casualties of the 1914-1918 War.
Additional Information
His brother Bernard was in the Merchant Marine Service.
*1 Believed more correctly, (County of London) Bn. London Regiment (Bankers).
Acknowledgments
Adrian Dunne, David C Baines, Jonty Wild
