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{{Infobox military person
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| name = William J. Anderson
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|allegiance = {{UK}}
|branch = {{flagicon|British Raj}} [[British Indian Army]]
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| commands = [[25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion|25th Cyclist Battalion]]
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| battles = [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]
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| awards = [[India General Service Medal (1909)|India General Service Medal (1908)]]
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'''William John Anderson''', was a British [[Sergeant]] attached to the [[25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion|25th Cyclist Battalion]], and the personal bodyguard to [[Reginald Dyer]].

==Career==
On 13 April 1919 Anderson became eyewitness to the [[Jalianwalla Bagh Massacre]].<ref name=Lon25>{{cite web |title=London 25th Regt |url=https://www.25thlondon.com/wja.htm |website=www.25thlondon.com |access-date=15 February 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260215165618/https://www.25thlondon.com/wja.htm|archive-date=15 February 2026}}</ref><ref name=Snow>{{cite book |last1=Snow |first1=Philip |title=The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-10373-1 |page=451 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Um5eZLwurzoC&pg=PA451 |language=en}}</ref> That day he had travelled to [[Jallianwala Bagh]] in [[Reginald Dyer]]'s car along with [[Frederic Cecil Currer Briggs|Captain Briggs]], [[Mountiford Hickman Llewellyn Morgan|M. H. L. Morgan]], and Dyer's other bodyguard, Arthur William Pizzey.<ref name=Wagner.159>Wagner, pp. 159-160</ref><ref name=Collett.258>Collett, pp. 258-260</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=London 25th Regt |url=https://www.25thlondon.com/soldiers-p.htm |website=www.25thlondon.com |access-date=15 February 2026}}</ref>

From 23 May 1919 to 20 September 1919, Anderson served in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]], for which he was awarded the [[India General Service Medal (1909)|India General Service Medal (1908)]].<ref>{{cite book |title=War Office: Campaign Medal and Award Rolls 1793-1949 ( |date=5 October 1921 |publisher=National Archives of the UK |location=Kew |page=3}}</ref>

==Recollection==
Just after completing his book, ''Six Minutes to Sunset'', [[Arthur Swinson]] was contacted by Anderson and interviewed.<ref name=Ilahi2020>{{cite book |last1=Ilahi |first1=Shereen |title=Imperial Violence and the Path to Independence: India, Ireland and the Crisis of Empire |date=2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-350-15306-6 |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQBbEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10|language=en |chapter=Introduction}}</ref><ref name=Swinson1964>{{cite book |last1=Swinson |first1=Arthur |title=Six Minutes to Sunset: The Story of General Dyer and the Amritsar Affair |date=1964 |publisher=Life Span Publishers and Distributors |page=210 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uoR0AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA210|chapter=Postscript|language=en|isbn=
978-81-039094-3-0}}</ref> Anderson confirmed that he was a sergeant in the 25th Cyclist Battalion and was Dyer's personal bodyguard.<ref name=Swinson1964/> He recalled that on 11 April 1919, he accompanied Dyer from [[Jalandhar]] to Amritsar by car, and that on 13 April, during the [[Jallianwala Bagh Massacre]], he stood a few paces behind Dyer as the firing began.<ref name=Swinson1964/> He described how the crowd first fell and then scattered, and that the shooting paused intermittently, with "low moans" audible from the crowd.<ref name=Swinson1964/> Dyer targeted the fire at specific areas, while Anderson noticed Captain Briggs tugging at Dyer's sleeve, as Dyer remained calm and composed.<ref name=Swinson1964/> Anderson reported feeling no fear and saw no immediate threat from the crowd.<ref name=Swinson1964/>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Collett |first1=Nigel |title=The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer |date=2007 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=1-85285-575-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C|language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Wagner |first1=Kim A. |title=Amritsar 1919: An Empire of Fear & the Making of a Massacre |date=2019 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24546-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bziIDwAAQBAJ|language=en}}

[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Jallianwala Bagh massacre]]
[[Category:Interwar India]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]

William J. Anderson (bodyguard) - Revision history

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