Arthur Fleming-Sands (24^th June 1894 to 24^th May 1961)

While spending a few days Torquay I walked uphill for thirty minutes from the centre of town to the crematorium to see where particles of this brave man were sent heavenward.

Alfred - known as Sandy - wasn’t born in this seaside town but up in London to an Irish dad and English mum (he also had a younger sister.) Little is known about his early life but the family must have had a few quid as he attended Dulwich College Preparatory School and King’s School in Canterbury. He was joined the cadets and got a taste for the military.

World War One began on 28^th July 1914 and within one week 20-year-old Alfred enlisted in the army and by the end of October he was sent to France. By the following year he had been promoted to Second Lieutenant and was fighting in Auchy-les-Mines in France. On Wednesday 29th September 1915 he was at the Hohenzollern Redoubt in France (a German’s strong point on the Western Front.) He had been sent there to command a battalion in a critical position. The lads were already nervous wrecks having faced continual bombing and machine-gun fire. Though they were retreating Alfred gathered some bombs together and jumped on the parapet in full view of the Germans (who were only 20m away.) He was severely injured but managed to lob the grenades without being killed. Expecting sudden death he ran forward throwing more grenades and was wounded again by a bomb. His men couldn’t believe what they’d seen. The found new heart and rushed forward and saved the situation.

Alfred’s wounds sent him back to hospital to convalesce for a long time. He was on his feet on 15th January 1916 though - to receive a Victoria Cross from King George V at Buckingham Palace. He was physically damaged and for a while worked for the War Office. He was promoted to Lieutenant and three years after being injured in France was back there. He saw little direct action though as the war was coming to an end.

After being demobilized he was still in his twenties and became a teacher at Copthorne School in Sussex and for a while moved to the Sudan and joined the Sudanese Government (in the Education Department.) Aged 28 he was back in Britain to study law at university and then moved back to Sudan where he became a district judge (he was fluent in Arabic.) Aged 50 he retired, returned to Britain and became Chairman of the Pensions Appeal Tribunal. He died suddenly aged 66 at the White Horse Hotel in Romsey in Hampshire in May 1961 (presumably of a heart attack.) He was cremated at Torquay Crematorium where his ashes were scattered in the memorial gardens.

He was awarded eight medals in total but they were stolen from his bungalow in Sudan. Later on the case in kept them in was found and oddly the Victoria Cross medal was still in it. The other medals were replaced and are held by the Surrey Infantry Museum (they survived a fire that severely damaged the building in 2015 as they were held in a bank.)

I had a stroll around the memorial gardens and crematorium and even went round the back to the ovens/chimney. There are gardens to the front and rear of the building and I’m not sure where Alfred’s ashes were scattered. I did a hearty salute to both bits of grass so I did not miss him.