Thomas William Saunders

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Pioneer Corps

Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945

Rank and number: Lance Corporal 13014974

Parents: Elizabeth and Ernest Saunders

Marital status: Married

Home address: Cann Lane, North Common, Warmley, Bristol Thomas lived in Siston Common, Kingswood, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Mill Hand

Date of birth: 05/12/1896

Place of birth: Bristol

Date of death: 28/03/1945

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried in Reichwald Forest War Cemetery (Ref 54. G. 15.), Germany and commemorated Warmley War Memorial

Age: 48

Further information:

Thomas was the son of a bootmaker and the eldest of 5 brothers and 2 sisters. He married Kathleen Peglar in 1920 and had 5 children, boys and girls, the youngest being 13 when he died. The Pioneer Corps was formed in 1940, and was heavily composed of men from the British Empire and Nazi-occupied Europe and their role was wide-ranging and supportive of the other services. Thomas would have taken part in the Normandy Beach landings and pushed on with the allies through the low countries to Germany. In March of 1945, about the time of Thomas’s death, the pioneers were involved with laying a smoke-screen to facilitate the Rhine crossing. Thomas was initially buried in Issum near the Rhine and he was later transferred to the War Cemetery.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
http://www.rlcarchive.org/ContentRPC
http://www.royalpioneercorps.co.uk/rpc/history_main3.htm
Also with kind permission of Jo Hurst, Volunteer Researcher for the Second World Stories Project, some information is based on the following source(s):
1911 Census
Civil Registration of Births Index
Select Church of England Parish Registers