Philip Drake Anderson
Graduating
Class of 1937
Served in
World War II
![Attached photograph of Flight Officer Anderson](https://cdn.uwgoldstarhonorroll.org/2023-02/UploadsAbout-GoldStarHonorRollWebFormUploads6ED9B256-604D-4F7F-9E58-FBF3FE8AA953.jpeg)
Flight Officer
Philip Drake Anderson
Army
369th Bombardment Squadron
306th Bomber Group
Hometown
La Crosse, WI
Date of Birth
Location of Death
Germany
Date of Death
Location of Burial
Tablets of the Missing, Luxembourg American Cemetery, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
More About Flight Officer 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.