Lt William Edwin Sandys 32 Sqn RFC

[Ravrick]

Hi,

can anybody help me out with some information about the loss of Lt WE Sandys RFC, he is listed as Died in Sept 1917 however i can't find much information about how he died?

Thanks in advance,

Rick

[Starlight]

Hi Rick, According to Trevor Henshaw's "The Sky Their Battlefield", Lt William Edwin Sandys was killed in action whilst on an offensive patrol on 5th September 1917 when his DH5 No: A9374 was shot down by an enemy aircraft and crashed in the Ypres canal. Lt Sandys was flying with 32 squadron, which was based at Droglandt at the time.

Regards

Steve

Addendum 1: Chris Hobson's "Airmen Died in the Great War" states that Lt Sandys was ex Lord Strathcona's Horse, ASC, was a native of Calcutta, India and Blackheath, London. He was aged 26 when he was killed and is buried at Lijssenhoek in Belgium

Addendum 2: Flight magazine for 6th December 1916 has the following entry from the London Gazette of 1st December 1916: "Temporary Appointments at War Office.

Nov. 8th : Temp. Lieut. W. E. Sandys, A.S.C., and to be

transfd. to Gen. List"

[auchonvillerssomme]

Do you have a picture of him? theres one on ancestry.

Mick

[Le_Treport]

I was in Lijssenthoek (sp) in March, and stopped to do my shoelace up - only to find myself at this chaps grave. Sandys is a name in my family, so I snapped this photo.... I then found out that sure enough, he's a distant cousin.

[Guest]

I have a picture of him when he was promoted to Lt.....I'll find it an upload it for you. It's a picture of him holding a book under his left shoulder. Is this the same picture as mentioned above?

[Le_Treport]

Probably. The photo on Ancestry attached.

[Ravrick]

Apologies for the late reply but thanks to all, very much appreciated,

Rick