Anderson, Peter Murray

Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Peter Murray
Surname Anderson
Gender M
Age 24
Decorations DFC, MiD
Date of Death 11-04-1945
Next of Kin Son of Peter and Lorena Jane Anderson, of Union Point, Manitoba, Canada.
ANDERSON PM

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ME472
Markings EM-O

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Belgium
Burial/Memorial Place Brussels Town Cemetery
Grave Reference X. 21. 5.
Epitaph GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT HE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 2

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/16379
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 207
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Anderson Island, Manitoba; Anderson Island is within Tadoule Lake, which is an isolated northern feature in Manitoba reachable by plane, snowmobile, dog team sleds, and in winter by winter road.
Country Canada
Memorial Type Island
Memorial Text
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Location St. Mary the Virgin Church, Bottesford, Leicestershire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Tablet and Roll of Honour within wooden case
Memorial Text Roll of Honour and memorial to the members of 207 Sqn RAF who served at RAF Bottesford during WW2
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Location X, Great Steeping, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed group of Memorial Stones with adjacent info board
Memorial Text In memory of 207 Sqn RAF which served at RAF Spilsby and of 10 Sqn Armourers killed in an accident on 10th April 1944
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Location All Saints Church, Great Steeping
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Marble Tablet and Roll of Honour within wooden case
Memorial Text Roll of Honour and memorial to the members of 207 Sqn RAF who served at RAF Spilsby during WW2
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Location Stn Church, RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Tablet
Memorial Text In memory of 207 Sqn RAF which served at RAF Waddington between 1 November 1940 and 18th November 1941
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Location Harby Rd, Langar, Nottinghamshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Memorial Stone
Memorial Text A memorial to 207 Sqn RAF which served at RAF Langar during WW2
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Location St. Andrew's Church, Langar, Nottinghamshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Brass Plaque & Roll of Honour within wooden case
Memorial Text Roll of Honour and a memorial to the personnel of 207 Sqn RAF who were killed flying from RAF Langar during WW2
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Miscellaneous Information

An account given to IBCC by one of the air gunners, Sgt. John Pearl (aged 19 at the time of the incident), follows:
‘Pathfinder marker flares were going down as we began moving across the target - the railway yards at Leipzig. Some light flak appeared ahead of us but it was spread thinly around the sky and did not look too formidable. However, black puffs of smoke from the bursting shells of predicted heavy flak seemed dangerously close and as we continued our run across the target it was one of these shells that exploded alongside, between the two starboard motors. It shook the plane, throwing us around the sky, causing me to slip off the little hammock that served as a seat in the mid-upper turret. I fell backwards on to the floor of the aircraft. I lay there for a few seconds as shrapnel ripped through the aircraft, sounding like hail stones on a tin roof. The skipper steadied the aircraft and I climbed back to my turret to find it badly holed with most of the cupola Perspex blown away. A lot of the metal framework which had been supporting the Perspex was twisted and mangled and I sat there like a World War I air gunner with my head out in the fresh air. Had I not been thrown off my seat, the top of my head would have been sliced of like a breakfast boiled egg. It was freezing in the shattered turret now and it could only be rotated by the winding handle as the hydraulics had been shot away. My guns did not work either, so I was reduced to the role of lookout. Both starboard engines were damaged, losing oil, and had to be feathered but after a quick discussion amongst the crew as to what we should do, we continued on two engines and bombed the target from 14,000 feet. Leaving the target area, we were hit by flak on the port side. Ninety, limping minutes later, oil pressure began dropping fast on the port inner engine and the pilot told us to prepare for baling out.” The crew baled out successfully, except for the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Peter ‘Andy’ Anderson, who was killed when the aircraft crashed near the village of Burgbrohl. The rest of the crew were picked up by American GIs and quickly repatriated.’
Mentioned in Despatches June 1944

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Last Operation Information

Start Date 10-04-1945
End Date 11-04-1945
Takeoff Station Spilsby
Day/Night Raid Night (4% moon)
Operation Leipzig
Reason for Loss Successfully released bomb load on second bomb run despite serious damage. Further damaged by flak but the pilot valiantly kept control until oil pressure failed. All but the pilot bailed out.
 
 
 
 

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.