Sgt Cecil Anderson – Indigenous Soldier in Three Wars
While researching my book Men of Kapyong (in progress) I came across Sergeant Cecil Charles Anderson who served with 3RAR, but was wounded at Chongju and missed Kapyong. He was, like Reg Saunders, an indigenous soldier.
Sergeant Anderson was a Second World War veteran, having served with the 2/2nd Independent Company in New Guinea. He was killed on patrol with 2 RAR during the Malayan Emergency in 1956 – and was awarded a posthumous MID for his bravery and leadership.
Here I discovered a poignant connection. My uncle Laurence Turner was a journalist with the Melbourne Herald, and was ‘embedded’ with 2RAR in 1955-56. He was there when Sergeant Anderson was killed– and attended his funeral at Taiping.
Remember Them 