Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke

Wounded, he led his men back and silenced three machine guns

Willward Alexander Sandys-Clarke, known to his family and comrades as Peter, was born at Southport on 8 June 1919. His parents were William Edward and Edith Isobel Congreve Sandys-Clarke. The family had interests in the Lancashire cotton industry and later lived at Darwen. He attended preparatory school and Uppingham, where he played cricket, rugby and fives before leaving in 1937.

After his mother's death he moved with his father and sister to his grandfather's home near Bolton. He worked in the family business and joined the Territorial Army, receiving a commission in the 5th Battalion, Loyal Regiment, in 1938. Mobilisation in 1939 brought home-defence duties.

A motorcycle accident near Tunbridge Wells in September 1940 caused severe head injuries, impaired vision and deafness on one side. Long treatment and repeated medical examinations followed. He persisted in seeking a return to active duty and eventually joined the regiment's 1st Battalion. In July 1941 he had married Irene Deakin, who served in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. When he sailed for North Africa in March 1943, she was expecting their first child.

On 23 April his battalion attacked Guiriat El Atach in Tunisia. A German counterattack devastated B Company. Already wounded in the head and its only remaining officer, Sandys-Clarke assembled a mixed platoon and volunteered to retake the position. When machine-gun fire stopped the advance, he arranged covering fire and attacked the first post alone. He repeated the action against two more posts, putting all three guns out of action and enabling his men to secure the objective.

The London Gazette citation of 29 June 1943 praised his "brilliant leadership" and described his final attempt to clear snipers firing on the consolidating platoon. He advanced alone again and was killed within a few feet of the enemy (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/36071/supplement/2937/data.pdf). He was twenty-three, and his last action restored a position that had appeared lost.

He was buried in Massicault War Cemetery. His son Robin was born on 1 May, eight days after his death. Irene received the posthumous Victoria Cross from King George VI at Buckingham Palace on 14 June 1944. Their son's childhood thus began without his father, while the Cross and the letters preserved by the family recorded the brief military career that had ended in Tunisia.