Ronald Sanderson

File:Memorial to Ronald Harcourt Sanderson in Ripon Cathedral.jpg]]

Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Harcourt Sanderson (11 December 1876 – 17 April 1918) was an English rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/37458 |title=Ronald Sanderson |work=Olympedia |access-date=7 April 2021}} He was killed in action during the First World War.{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417055433/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi?id=65 |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War |access-date=3 August 2015 |work=Sports Reference}}

Early life and rowing career

Sanderson was born at Uckfield, Sussex, the only son of Rev. Edward Sanderson of Uckfield. He was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge.{{acad|id=SNDR895RH|name=Sanderson, Robert Harcourt}} Sanderson rowed for Cambridge in the Boat Race in 1899 and 1900 which were two victories for Cambridge.

He became a member of Leander Club and was a crew member of the Leander eight, which won the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/ronald-sanderson-1.html |title=Ronald Sanderson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418042027/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/sa/ronald-sanderson-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-18}}

Military career

Sanderson joined the Royal Horse Artillery in May 1900,{{London Gazette|issue=27196|page=3335|date=25 May 1900}} and served as Second Lieutenant in the Second Boer War in South Africa. He was promoted to lieutenant on 8 March 1902.{{London Gazette| issue=27431 |page=3013 |date=6 May 1902}}

Sanderson served in the Royal Field Artillery during the First World War. He was mentioned in despatches and was awarded the Chevalier, Legion of Honour by France. He was a lieutenant colonel when he was killed in action near Ypres in April 1918, aged 41. He was buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery nearby[https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/149125/sanderson,-ronald-harcourt/ Sanderson, Ronald Harcourt], Commonwealth War Graves Commission, retrieved 17 November 2017 and there is a memorial brass in Ripon Cathedral.