Memorable Manitobans: Frederick John Anderson (1916-1944)

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Frederick John Anderson
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War veteran.

Born at Winnipeg on 20 June 1916, the first son of Swedish immigrant Frederick Anderson and Irish immigrant Jenny Laird, he graduated from grade 11 at Carievale, Saskatchewan in 1932. He worked as a boat loader and pulp cutter for the Nipigon Lake Timber Company at Port Arthur [now Thunder Bay], Ontario.

He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on 7 January 1942. He qualified as a Bomb Aimer in the rank of Sergeant on 9 October 1942 and departed Halifax for Great Britain on 27 October 1942. He was promoted to the rank of Flight Sergeant on 9 April 1943 and on 10 September 1943, he was posted to 138 (Special Duties) Squadron at RAF Station Tempsford, England. He was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer Class II on 9 October 1943, and, on 29 March 1944, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer.

One day later, on 30 March 1944, Halifax aircraft LL287 departed RAF Station Tempsford on a mission to deliver resistance fighters to Belgium. After despatching two passengers, the aircraft was hit by flak. This caused the front of the fuselage to detach from the aircraft and fall into the Scheldt Estuary, where it immediately sank. He was killed along with two RAF crew members and two members of the Belgian resistance. In March 1947, his father was advised that the Missing, Research and Evaluation Service could provide no more information about the loss of the aircraft and its crew.

He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England. In 1995, the Province of Manitoba named Frederick Anderson Lake in his honour.

Sources:

This page was prepared by Robert Nash.

Page revised: 24 May 2024

Memorable Manitobans

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