Private William Joseph Sanders was born on the 12th of August 1939 as the son of William James Sanders and Margaret Mary Sanders (née Kennedy). He had two brothers and two sisters and grew up in Bootle, Liverpool.

His daughter, Debbie, recalls that William was: "An intelligent man and I recall him buying "Teach Yourself" books of varying subjects. He was never without a pen or paper. He taught himself Italic handwriting. It was the most beautiful style of writing that I have ever seen. People often asked him to write letters or cards on their behalf". William enlisted into the British Army at Liverpool on the 3rd of May 1957, with 2 PARA. He promptly undertook Parachute Course 449A which ran from the 26th of July to the 26th of August, 1957. William's first operational deployment with 2 PARA was to Cyprus in the same year. In July 1958, 2 PARA was also part of the 16th Parachute Brigade intervention force that flew into Amman, Jordan. William's nickname in the Army was 'Scouse'. 

Whilst in the Parachute Regiment, William made good friends with Peter Ward. His daughter recalled: "My Dad remained friends with Peter Ward from the Parachute Regiment. Peter supported Manchester City and Dad supported Liverpool. Great banter between them. Dad loved his time with the Paras, often referring to them as his "Family"". Meanwhile, the Padre in William's battalion was a man named Canon Casey, who was greatly respected, as Debbie relates: "Canon Father Michael Casey was the Padre when my dad was in the regiment. My dad admired Canon Casey very much and often spoke about him. Just by chance, whilst working as a theatre nurse at Walton Hospital, Liverpool, I began to book in a patient who had arrived at the theatre prior to his operation. Lo and behold, it was Canon Casey. We never lost touch with Canon Casey after this and we visited him when we could at his parish, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Seaforth, Liverpool. In return, he often visited us at our home". 

William left the Army on 19th March 1960 after a memorable stint with 2 PARA. His military conduct was described as "very good" and his report card on leaving read, "Sanders has been employed in the battalion medical centre. He is a helpful and intelligent man who possesses tact and initiative. He is sober, honest and trustworthy and I have found him efficient in his work in the medical centre". His daughter reflected how he "instilled his professionalism, resilience, discipline, versatility, courage and self-reliance into our family...Before my brothers were born, my Dad took me out most weekends. I carried a Bergen rucksack and we ventured into woods and beaches and practised survival techniques. I was only around eight years old. Happy days". William would go on to have three children: Debbie, Christopher and Simon. He passed away in 2004. 

Information courtesy of William's daughter, Debbie Smith (née Sanders).