Sanders was born in Charleville, Cork, Ireland. He was educated at
Eton and
Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Sanders,
Maxwell Eley,
Robert Morrison and
James MacNabb, who had rowed together at Eton, made up the
coxless four that in 1922 at Henley won the
Stewards' Challenge Cup as Eton Vikings and the
Visitors' Challenge Cup as
Third Trinity Boat Club Sanders
stroked the
Cambridge in the Boat Race in 1923 which was won by Oxford. The coxless four won the Stewards' Challenge Cup at Henley again in 1923 crew won Steward's at Henley again in 1924 and went on to win the gold medal for Great Britain
rowing at the 1924 Summer Olympics. In 1925 Sanders became a Fellow of
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and lectured in engineering. He was active in the Territorial Army at the university. He also served as honorary treasurer of the University Boat Club from 1928 to 1939. With G.C. Drinkwater he produced
The University Boat Race: Official. Centenary History 1829–1929 in 1929. He was in the
Leander Club eight that won the
Grand Challenge Cup at Henley in 1929. In 1936 Sanders was appointed University lecturer in engineering. He was a Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Sanders joined the Ministry of Supply in 1941 and in 1946 he was appointed Principal Director of Technical Development (Defense). Maintaining his army role, he was active in
Operation Crossbow which was concerned with the threat of V2 rockets. In November 1944, the "Sanders mission" led by Colonel T. R. B. Sanders inspected the site at
La Coupole.- Later he was Assistant Controller of Supplies at the
Ministry of Supply. He was awarded the
CB in 1950. He left the Army the following year with the rank of colonel. He later became Chairman of the Buckland Sand and Silica Co. and in 1967 he was appointed
High Sheriff of Surrey and
Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Surrey. Sanders died at
Dorking,
Surrey at the age of 83. ==Publications==