14419180 Private Archibald Anderson was born on 18^th April 1925 in Baghdad, Iraq, the son of Archibald Anderson, an English Church of England Irrigation Engineer then working in Iraq under the British Mandate of Mesopotamia, and his wife (also English) Alice Hannah Anderson (née Popkin). Archibald Jnr's birth was registered by his father on 13^th July 1925.

British Armed and Overseas Births and Baptisms record that Archibald Snr was born on 8^th April 1889 in Simla, India.

Archibald Snr and Alice Popkin married in the Autumn of 1923 in Newton Abbott, Devon. Alice was born on 30^th July 1894 and baptised on 7^th October 1894. Her name when baptised was recorded as Hannah Alice, whereas her birth registration names her Alice Hannah. Her father was John Popkin and her mother Alice Popkin. Her father's occupation when she was baptised was workhouseman.

Just under twelve months later, on 1^st April 1926, the infant Archibald arrived at Plymouth on board the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company vessel SS Rawalpindi, travelling with his father, then aged 36. Also listed on the passenger manifest in the entry immediately following the two Archibalds, sharing their class and point of embarkation, was a Ruth Brodie, described as a governess, whose home address was given as My Lady's Cottage, Cranbrook, Kent. It seems probable that Ruth was travelling as part of the Anderson party, caring for the infant on the voyage. His mother Alice is not recorded as travelling on this occasion.

Although we have been unable to find any documented record of her death, it looks likely that Alice Hannah (Archibald Jnr's mother) died in or shortly after giving birth to Archie. Shortly after returning on the SS Rawalpindi, Archibald Snr married Violet Victoria Hutchings in 1926 in Shoreditch, London. On 20^th October 1928 Wendy Diane Anderson was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Her mother's maiden name is listed as Hutchings.

At some point after April 1926, Archibald returned to Iraq with his father. On 1^st August 1930 the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company vessel SS Malwa arrived in London from Bombay. Aboard, having boarded at Port Said, were Violet V. Anderson, aged 28, Archibald Anderson, now aged 5, and Wendy Diane Anderson, aged 2. All three gave Iraq as their country of last residence and England as their country of intended future permanent residence, with an address of 97 Haslemere Road, Southsea, Hampshire.

By the time of the 1939 England and Wales Register, Archibald, then aged 14, was living at 5 Brightlands Avenue, Bournemouth, Hampshire, and was recorded as a Student. He was not living with his parents; his household comprised Edith Anna Dew (born 1875) and a Leslie J. Webb (also born 1925). The circumstances of this arrangement have not yet been established.

The 1939 register lists: Violet V. Anderson born 20^th September 1901 (married, unpaid domestic duties); Priscilla M. Anderson born 21^st October 1921 (seeking work, not previously employed, single); and Archibald Anderson born 8^th April 1889 (Assistant Engineer Irrigation, married). They were all living at 84 Torrington Road, Portsmouth.

Archibald served with the 11^th Parachute Battalion and took part in Operation Market Garden in September 1944. On 20^th September 1944 he was taken prisoner of war, reported wounded and missing. He was held at Stalag XII A, Limburg, Germany, under POW number 75474. Stalag XII A served as the principal transit camp through which the majority of British prisoners captured at Arnhem were initially processed.

When his campaign medals were issued on 22^nd August 1949, his home address was recorded as "The Nook", Chidden Holt, Hambledon, Portsmouth.

On 18^th January 1952, an announcement appeared in The Daily Telegraph recording the engagement of Archibald to Sheila Anita Smith of Clewer Hill, Windsor. The couple married in early 1952, and on 1^st March 1952 they sailed from London aboard the Blue Star Line vessel SS Uruguay Star, bound for Santos, Brazil, via Las Palmas and Rio de Janeiro, travelling First Class. Both gave their address as 47 Clewer Hill Road, Windsor, Berkshire, and both listed their country of intended permanent residence as Brazil. Archibald's occupation was recorded as Accountant. Brazilian immigration records confirm his arrival in 1952 and record his parents as Archibald Anderson (father) and Alice Anderson (mother) — Archibald's own declaration. The couple had no children with them at the time of their arrival. When and why they returned to England has not yet been established.

Archibald Anderson died in December 1998 in Maidstone, Kent, at the age of 73.

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