Sitting here in Battleford, having coffee with Harold Anderson, one would hardly suspect that you were in the presence of one of the brave men who helped push back enemy troops out of France, Belgium, Holland and England. Anderson was a pilot. He flew the Mosquito. It was a masterful aircraft to fly. Yet it took more than flight proficiency to do the work of a fighter pilot. It took split-second decision making and nerves of steel.
The Mosquito was used in every aspect of the Second World War - as a light bomber, night fighter, pathfinder, intruder and reconnaissance aircraft. It was a multi-purpose aircraft with a fuselage made of plywood covered with fabric. The Mosquito had two V12 Rolls Royce engines that had 2000 horsepower each and could reach a top speed of over 400 mph. Sitting between these engines was Anderson and his navigator, Art Elliot, flying into enemy territory in Europe.
On active duty, Anderson would be assigned an area to patrol, which might be anywhere in Western Europe. This area might have included a daylight trip down the Rhine River valley to Cologne, Germany and back to base. He would be assigned to watch for pockets of enemy activity that included convoys of tanks, active airfields and moving trains. Since the Mosquito carried 450 gallons of fuel and could consume 150 gallons per hour, a trip could last three and half hours "if you were lucky," says Anderson. Night patrols included the area of Essen, Germany, in the Ruhr Valley. On other missions, his target could have been Hamburg or the Kruppworks, a German airplane manufacturer just west of Hamburg, Germany.
Anderson started his military service by enlisting in the RCAF on July 15, 1942 at the age of 18. He started his training first in Edmonton, then trained in Regina and Yorkton where Anderson graduated as a pilot. Then he was shipped to England from Halifax, aboard the French ship the "Louis Pasteur" in a convoy of approximately 100 ships. During the voyage, a German U-Boat destroyed one of the freighters. After disembarking from the Louis Pasteur, Anderson was assigned to sleep in a room that had been attacked by a German Focke-Wulf FW 190 the night before. The windows were shot out. Anderson had the good luck to have missed that attack by one day.
After further training in England, Anderson was posted to Cranfield, England where he trained on Beau fighters, the stepping-stone to flying the Mosquito. While in England, Anderson's luck held fast. During practice on the Beau fighters, Anderson's crew gave up their turn to fly, to another crew that were short on practice hours. The plane that Anderson should have been flying malfunctioned and crashed off the end of the runway. The pilot was killed and the navigator spent several months in hospital with a broken back.
After serving in Cranfield, England, Anderson received a posting to the No. 410 Mosquitoes Night Fighter Squadron in Amiens, France. When the fighting moved to the north, their squadron was transferred to central Holland, where the squadron remained on active duty right until June 1945, when it was disbanded and Anderson returned to England.
During his time in Holland, Anderson rose quickly through the ranks. He was promoted from flight sergeant pilot to a warrant officer. A few days later, Anderson met with his commanding officer to be promoted again to pilot officer. Anderson quoted his commanding officer as saying "Anderson, this is becoming a habit!"
In May of 1945, Anderson went on a short leave to England. Anderson's leave plane failed to arrive. However, a DC3 landed at that same time. Seeing no other plane, Anderson asked the pilot where their plane was headed and asked if they could give him a ride. Anderson was invited to "jump in." He quickly discovered that he had hitched a ride on the private aircraft of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. When asked if he saw Queen Wilhelmina, Anderson said, "Yes, the Queen went by and said hello."
Anderson completed about a dozen missions during the Second World War. The 410 Mosquitoes Night Fighter Squadron was the last group of aircrew to finish off the operations in Europe. In summing up the interview Anderson said, "I often thought about what would have happened had Hitler occupied England instead of Russia and how life would have been different had we not won the war and stopped this enemy."
I think about people like Anderson, who fought to liberate people in Europe whose countries were under occupation. I think of people like Anderson and the sacrifices they made to give us the freedom we enjoy today. This article is written as a tribute to Harold Anderson, in honor of his service to Canadians and the Allied Forces during the Second World War.
