Alexander Vass Anderson

Major-General Alexander Vass Anderson CB CMG MBE (17 November 1895 – 17 October 1963) was a senior British Army officer of the Second World War.

Alexander Vass Anderson
Alexander Vass "Sandy" Anderson, pictured here as a major general in 1947.
Nickname(s)"Sandy"
Born(1895-11-17)17 November 1895
Stonehaven, Scotland
Died17 October 1963(1963-10-17) (aged 67)
St Martin, Jersey
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1914–1949
RankMajor-General
Service number17247
UnitRoyal Engineers
Commands heldQueen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners
Battles/warsFirst World War
Second World War
AwardsCompanion of the Order of the Bath, Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, Member of the Order of the British Empire, Legion of Merit, Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau

Military career

Anderson was born in Poona, India, the son of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vass Anderson (1856-1933), of the Indian Medical Service.[1][2] He attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and commissioned into the Royal Engineers on 12 August 1914.[3] Between 1915 and 1918 he served in the First World War, during which he was Mentioned in Dispatches. He was promoted to captain on 3 November 1917.

In 1921, Anderson was attached to the 2nd Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners and saw active service in the Malabar rebellion. On 2 June 1923 he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services during the conflict.[4] Anderson remained in India, and from 1934 to 1937 was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for India. Between 1937 and 1939 he was Commanding Officer, Queen Victoria's Own Madras Sappers and Miners.[5] During the Second World War, Anderson returned to the United Kingdom where he was appointed Assistant Quarter-Master General (AQMG), Home Forces in 1940 and Colonel in charge of Administration, Home Forces until 1942. He then worked at the War Office, before serving as Deputy Quarter-Master General (DQMG), British Army Staff in Washington, D.C. In January 1945 he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath. From August 1944 to April 1947, Anderson was Director of Civil Affairs at the War Office and retired with the rank of major-general in June 1949.[6] He was awarded the Legion of Merit by the United States on 16 January 1947.[7]

Anderson married firstly, in 1918, Estelle Bell, daughter of George Henry Gasson, of Queenstown and East London, South Africa;[8][9][10] the second of their three sons was the director and film critic Lindsay Anderson.[11][12] He married secondly, in 1935, Aileen Elizabeth (1902-1981), daughter of Stanley James Stevenson, of Edinburgh, and widow of Major T. J. Barnes, of the 64th Pioneers.[13][14][15] Although Lindsay Anderson's friend Gavin Lambert writes, in 'Mainly About Lindsay Anderson: A Memoir' (Faber and Faber, 2000, p. 18), that Alexander Vass Anderson 'cut (his first family) out of his life', making no reference to them in his 'Who's Who' entry, Lindsay often saw his father and looked after his house and dogs when he was away.[16]

Birth - Stonehaven Journal - Thursday 12 December 1895, p 3

References
  1. Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1615-1930, Volume Two- 1800-1930, ed. Lt-Col D. G. Crawford, W. Thacker & Co., 1930, p. 484
  2. "Officers of the British Army 1939-1945 -- A".
  3. "No. 28867". The London Gazette. 11 August 1914. p. 6304.
  4. "No. 32830". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1923. p. 3949.
  5. 'Anderson, Alexander Vass' in British Army Officers 1939-1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 4 July 2015
  6. "No. 38628". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 June 1949. p. 2796.
  7. 'Anderson, Alexander Vass' in British Army Officers 1939-1945 at unithistories.com, accessed 4 July 2015
  8. The Royal Engineers Journal, vol. 78, The Institution of Royal Engineers, 1964, p. 94, 'Memoirs: Major-General A. V. Anderson, C.B., C.M.G., M.B.E.'
  9. Lindsay Anderson Diaries, Lindsay Anderson, ed. Paul Sutton, Bloomsbury, 2004, Introduction, p.13
  10. "Officers of the British Army 1939-1945 -- A".
  11. Lindsay Anderson Diaries, Lindsay Anderson, ed. Paul Sutton, Bloomsbury, 2004, Introduction, p.13
  12. Lindsay Anderson Revisited: Unknown Aspects of a Film Director, ed. Erik Hedling, Christophe Dupin, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, p. 120
  13. The Royal Engineers Journal, vol. 78, The Institution of Royal Engineers, 1964, p. 94, 'Memoirs: Major-General A. V. Anderson, C.B., C.M.G., M.B.E.'
  14. "Alexander Vass Anderson - National Portrait Gallery".
  15. "Officers of the British Army 1939-1945 -- A".
  16. Lindsay Anderson Revisited: Unknown Aspects of a Film Director, ed. Erik Hedling, Christophe Dupin, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, p. 120

Bibliography
  • Smart, Nick (2005). Biographical Dictionary of British Generals of the Second World War. Barnesley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 1844150496.
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