Philip Drake Anderson

Philip D. Anderson enlisted into the Royal Canadian Air Force in October 1941 in Toronto, Canada. He was transferred to the RAF and received his rank in October 1942. Anderson was sent to England on Dec. 1, 1942, and trained in London and Scotland. While in London, he was married. When his training was complete, he was transferred to the US Army Air Force on July 1, 1943. On Aug. 18, 1943, he reported to the European Theater of Operations where he was assigned to the 396th Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bomb Group “The Reich Wreckers” of the legendary 8th Air Force. He was first assigned as a navigator on B-17F s/n 42-30065 where it was damaged during a raid over Stuttgart, Germany, on June 9, 1943. For unknown reasons, he was reassigned to B-17F s/n 42-30707 nicknamed “Piccadilly Commando.” He completed several missions before he was lost on Oct. 14, 1943, on the infamous Schweinfurt Ball Bearing Factory Raid. The high casualty rate of this raid earned it the name “Black Friday.” No surviving member of Piccadilly Commando knew what happened to Anderson after the order was given to bail out. He is still missing in action and has not been repatriated. Flight Officer Anderson is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Luxembourg American Cemetery in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg.