Lest We Forget: In Memory of Maidenhead and Maidenhead Norfolkians Players Who Lost Their Lives in The Two World Wars Part Seven: Second World War

15/12/2022  -  6.59

Mark Smith and Matthew Shaw

This is the final article in a series of articles that commemorates the lives of Maidenhead and Maidenhead Norfolkians players who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War One and World War Two, based on the Maidenhead United FC match day programme series entitled Lest We Forget.

Sidney William Owen Spratley

Source: Heather Spratley (Family)

Sidney William Owen Spratley was born in Maidenhead on the 24th November 1921, the son of Owen Albert Spratley and Annie Elizabeth Spratley of 49 Alwyn Road. Owen and Annie had six children and the youngest, Keith, was born in 1945. Sidney was educated at the Boyne Hill Church of England School and before he joined the Navy, he worked as a driver for the Grenfell Laundry.

Sidney first played for, and captained, the Maidenhead United Minors team in the 1938/39 season – records are incomplete but it is known that he made at least 11 appearances scoring six goals, with his first appearance being in the trial match between Probables and Possibles on 22nd October 1938. Sidney played for the Probables and scored in a 3-1 win and home matches were played at either Maidenhead Boys School, North Town or St Luke’s School. Records are still incomplete for the 1939/40 season, but it known that Sidney played a minimum of 11 times scoring 6 goals, whilst brother Owen played in goal for the Minors at least four times. Sidney’s final known game for the Minors, who were champions of the Slough and Windsor Minors League, was on the 27th April 1940, against a representative “Rest of the League XI”, a match which ended 2-2.

In the Royal Navy, Sidney was an Active Leading Stoker on board HMS Walney. On the 8th November 1942, he was on board as part of “Operation Reservist” which was an Allied Military operation associated with “Operation Torch”. HMS Walney was partnered by HMS Hartland as part of an attempt to land troops directly into the harbour at Oran in Algeria, with the purpose of capturing the valuable facilities and ships in the Vichy French port.

This operation was considered extremely risky although it was hoped that the French defenders would be taken by surprise or actually co-operate with the landing forces. Between them, the two ships carried two companies of US Combat troops and British and US Naval Anti-Sabotage parties.  As they approached the harbour, sirens began to wail and all shore lights were extinguished but, undeterred, the loudspeaker on HMS Walney made an announcement in French explaining what was taking place and the reasons for it.  The reply was instantaneous with bursts of machine gun fire, so HMS Walney turned in a wide circle to run at the harbour boom and crashed through it.  HMS Hartland, meanwhile, had come under devastating fire from a shore battery wiping out the entire guns’ crews and it then came under point blank fire from the French destroyer Typhon.  HMS Walney proceeded up the harbour at slow speed but there were 31 French ships in the port and it immediately encountered a destroyer on a reciprocal course which raked her broadside and, with shells and ammunition exploding inside the boiler room, HMS Walney was disabled. The carnage was indescribable although the French continued to machine gun fire the upper decks. HMS Walney managed to make it alongside the jetty and succeeded in landing a small number of men who were immediately captured, before both HMS Walney and HMS Hartland sank. Over 90% of those on board both ships were casualties or lost their lives.  Sidney was laid to rest in Le Petit Lac cemetery in Oran (photo below).

Source: Heather Spratley (Family)

Known Minor team appearances = 21
(would have been considerably more but our records are incomplete)

Presumed Competitive Debut – 29th October 1938 v High Duty Alloys
(Slough and Windsor Minors League)

Presumed Final appearance – 27th April 1940 v “Rest of the League XI” (Representative game)

Clarence Alexander Vassall Calder

Source: Maidenhead Cricket Club

Clarence Alexander Vassall Calder was born on the 19th September 1894, in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica to James Calder and Marion Calder (née Smith). Passenger lists show that he came to England from Jamaica, landing at Bristol in September 1922. He married Doris Gertrude Gray Mills at St Luke’s Church, Kensington on the 10th April 1926. He was a General Practitioner on Castle Hill in Maidenhead and was appointed the Honorary Medical Officer to the Football Club in July 1935, following the retirement of the previous incumbent, Dr E. C. Montgomery, to Bognor Regis. Dr Calder, now living at 1 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, was the club’s Honorary Medical Officer until 1939. He was a keen cricketer and played for, and captained, the Maidenhead Cricket Club.

Serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Major Calder’s unit was deployed throughout Europe and, in 1942, he was working at the British Military (Alexandra) Hospital in Singapore.

On the 8th December 1941, the Japanese forces invaded Malaya and drove the British troops from the Malayan Peninsula after seventy days of fighting. By February 1942, the Japanese were poised to strike their final blow on Singapore and, under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita, they crossed into the country on the 9th February. Five days later, it was obvious that the Island would be captured and the British Military Hospital was caught between the advancing Japanese troops and the retreating British forces. On the 14th February, it became the site of a massacre, when between 150 and 200 staff and patients were killed. The Hospital had a normal capacity for 550 patients but because of casualties of war, this number had swelled to around 900.

The 32nd company, Royal Army Medical Corps, ran the Hospital in trying conditions as water was rationed and torches and lights were only used for medical procedures. The Hospital came under heavy shelling on the morning of the 14th February and by 1.00pm that day the first Japanese soldier was sighted. A British Officer walked out to meet him wearing a Red Cross armband which was an internationally recognised symbol meant to protect medical personnel but the Japanese soldier shot at him. More Japanese soldiers arrived and attacked and entered the Hospital going from room to room shooting, bayoneting and beating up the doctors, orderlies and patients indiscriminately and even killing an anaesthetised patient lying on an operating table. In mid-afternoon around 200 men were rounded up and marched towards buildings some way from the Hospital and the gravely injured were not spared being killed if they fell on the way. The men were held in appalling conditions overnight but the following morning they were told they could leave the buildings to obtain water but, as they did so, they were executed by the Japanese. On the 15th February 1942, the British surrendered Singapore to the Japanese.

Dr Clarence Alexander Vassall Calder was killed between the 13th and 15th February. His memorial headstone is situated in the Kranji War Cemetery in Northern Singapore (photo below).

Source: Brian Dixon

Postscript

We could never understand why, if Clarence was born on the 19th September 1894 and was killed between the 13th – 15th February 1942, that his age is given as 46 on his headstone. We have doubled-checked everything and after considerable extra research can only conclude that an error was made somewhere along the line. On the inscription it should have read “Age 47”.

Frank Manders

Source: Dave Cannon

The obituary in the Maidenhead Advertiser (below) states that Frank Manders played twice for Maidenhead FC but, unfortunately, we can find no record whatsoever of these appearances having checked all of the information that we have on the 1st team, Reserve team and Minors. However, we feel it is appropriate to include rather than exclude him from this series just in case, as we know the club records are incomplete in places.

Source: Maidenhead Advertiser

Frank Manders was born in 1912* and played for Crystal Palace as an inside-forward between 1931 and 1935 making 102 appearances and scoring 34 goals. He then joined Norwich City and between 1935 and 1939 made 137 appearances, scoring 43 times. At the outbreak of war, Frank enlisted with the Royal Auxiliary Air Force with the 911 County of Warwick Balloon Squadron. The Balloon Command, set up on the 1st November 1938, was responsible for maintaining the barrage balloon defence system throughout the British Isles. Large balloons, some containing explosives, were tethered around key targets, such as industrial areas, ports and harbours to protect them from dive bombers, forcing these to fly above the balloons into the concentrated anti-aircraft fire.

In 1940, Frank married Beryl Cox, but he died in tragic circumstances on the 18th March 1942 when his body was found in Powell’s Pool, Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield. At his inquest the Coroner delivered a verdict of “…suicide while the mind was unbalanced”. He was laid to rest in Maidenhead Cemetery (photo below).

Source: Nicola Carpenter

Footnote

*A date of birth has been found for the 13th June 1914, which would have made Frank, 27 in 1942 (to support that age given in his obituary), although he is listed as aged 30, on his headstone, which would suggest a birth year of 1912.

Additional Information and Sources

Berkshire Yeomanry Museum website
Emma Barnett
Mary Bentley
Dave Cannon
Nicola Carpenter
John Dance
Brian Dixon
Gillian Healey
Tony and Beryl Herman
Dave Lawton
Paul Melia
Steve Mundy
Lesley Norris
Carrie Pike
Steve Roberts
Steve Rolls
Keith and Heather Spratley
Malcolm Summers
David Tubby of the Great Yarmouth History and Archaeological Society
Erica Tyler-Mollen

Biographies

Mark Smith attended his first Maidenhead match in March 1976 and continued to watch games fairly regularly for the next forty years. He was responsible for producing the club’s first ever “Handbook” in 1978, and has researched and chronicled the club’s history ever since. He was responsible for organising five exhibitions on the club, two at Maidenhead Library and three at the Maidenhead Heritage Centre (“The Magpies Story”). He has also written four books – Maidenhead FC 1870 – 1914; Maidenhead United 1919 – 1995; Maidenhead United 1995 - 2005, and, to coincide with the club’s 140th anniversary, published a 352-page detailed history entitled “One for Sorrow, Two for Joy” in 2011.

Aside from writing many series for the match programme (such as “Past Maidenhead Greats” and “An A-Z of Maidenhead United”) together with standalone articles, Mark also compiled “One of the Fifteen” on the fifteen players who appeared in the first ever Maidenhead FC match in December 1870, and “Lest We Forget” on those associated with Maidenhead FC and Maidenhead Norfolkians who lost their lives during the two World Wars. He also arranged to have the Maidenhead United Heritage website created - www.mufcheritage.com in 2009.

Matthew Shaw has played for several local football teams and became interested in the history of local football as members of his family have always been involved in football in the Berks and Bucks Counties as far back as the 1870s.

When researching family involvement in clubs in the combined counties, Matthew focused on pre First World War local football and the impact the war had on local teams.

Matthew has researched the Maidenhead Norfolkians FC in depth and helped the Maidenhead United FC Historian Mark Smith on all things Norfolkians. This meant he was also greatly involved in Mark's series "Lest We Forget" that was featured in Maidenhead United home programmes, as Matthew had already researched a large number of the town's footballers from both Senior and Junior clubs who had lost their lives in the Great War.