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Lt. Richard Douglas Sandford VC.
Royal Navy HMS C3
from:Devon
(d.23rd Nov 1918)
Lt. Richard D. Sandford died on 23rd November 1918, aged 27. He is buried in in Eston Cemetery in Yorkshire He was the son of Ethel R. Sandford, of 15 The Beacon, Exmouth, Devon, and the late Ven. E. G. Sandford, Archdeacon of Exeter.
An extract from the fourth supplement to The London Gazette of 19th July, 1918, referring to the raid on Zeebrugge on 23rd April, records the following: "For most conspicuous gallantry. This officer was in command of Submarine C.3. and most skilfully placed that vessel in between the piles of the viaduct before lighting his fuse and abandoning her. He eagerly undertook this hazardous enterprise, although well aware (as were all his crew) that if the means of rescue failed and he or any of his crew were in the water at the moment of the explosion, they would be killed outright by the force of such explosion. Yet Lieutenant Sandford disdained to use the gyro steering, which would have enabled him and his crew to abandon the submarine at a safe distance, and preferred to make sure, as far as was humanly possible, of the accomplishment of his duty."
