Reginald was the only son of Henry Sanderson and his wife Edith Woolley. He was born in Garforth near Leeds in 1897. He had a younger sister. In 1901, Henry described his employment as “colliery clerk” and was, later, a colliery agent.
Reginald was educated at Leeds Grammar School and came up to Christ Church in 1918 as a Kitchener Scholar. He played in the rugby XV, the Nondescripts and the Warrigals (cricket), and was a member of both the Cardinal and Mermaid Clubs.
He had served in the East Surrey Regiment before he came up, but was invalided out.
Reginald went to the Gold Coast in the Civil Service. In 1925, the Gold Coast Review published an article by him “The History of Nzema up to 1874.”
He returned to England on leave, travelling First Class from Lagos in May 1934.
His English address was Fairlea, Collingham, Leeds, Yorkshire.
He came back to England, again, arriving at Liverpool on 18 May 1940. On 23 July he boarded the passenger liner Accra at Liverpool. Owned by the Elder Dempster Line, she was part of Convoy OB-188 of 37 ships, and was carrying over 300 passengers and general cargo for Freetown and other West African ports.
On 26 July, the day before the Convoy was to disperse, the Accra was torpedoed by U-34 (Wilhelm Rollman) in the Atlantic, 320 miles West of Bloody Foreland and sank in position 55' 40N 16' 28W. The Accra's Captain, 153 crew and 311 passengers were rescued by various ships - Hollinside (British), the Loke (Norwegian), the sloop HMS Enchantress and the corvette HMS Clarkia.
Ten passengers and some crew were lost when a lifeboat capsized in rough seas. Reginald was one of them.
Administration of his estate was granted to his sister Ina Clara. He left £1457-16-10.
She never married and died in 1982.
Seven of the crew of the Accra are commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London on Panel 2.