A M Anderson’s Story
Wing Commander A M Anderson, DFC – Commanding Officer, GCI 15082
Of all the personnel we know about who landed with GCI 15082 on the evening of 6th June 1944, the one officer about whom we know the least is the Commanding Officer of GCI 15082, Wing Commander A M Anderson, the most senior Royal Air Force Officer who landed on Omaha Beach on that day.
The first time there is any mention of him is when he is noted in the Operations Record Book, (ORB), for No. 21 Base Defence Wing (BDW), on 13th January 1944 as “Squadron Leader A. M. Anderson, DFC, posted in to 21 BDW for Operations ‘G’ duties”. From this it can be inferred that, at some point between that date and 21st February 1944 he was promoted to Wing Commander as he is next mentioned in the ORB on that latter date with the rank of Wing Commander, attending a conference at No. 21 Wing Headquarters to discuss “Self-Putting On Trials”.
The next mention in the ORB is on 21st April 1944 when he, together with Squadron Leader Frederick Joseph Trollope, left RAF Church Fenton with the Mobile Operations Room, GCI 15082 and “certain personnel from other units” to take part in Operation “Fabious”. No mention is made of the return of this group but, on 21st May 1944, the ORB records that Wing Commander A.M. Anderson left Sopley “with certain detached personnel”, without giving any further details. It is reasonable to assume that the foregoing detachments were directly connected with what was due to occur on D-Day since, on 27th May 1944, the ORB records that Wing Commander Anderson was to be Senior Controller and C.O. of the Landing Party of 21 BDS. 21 Base Defence Wing had now been re-designated as a Sector and was known as 21 Base Defence Sector.
On 1st June 1944, the ORB recorded that everybody was going to be briefed at 1500 hours but this was postponed three times as Wing Commander Anderson was not available for the briefing. (No reason was given for his absence.) The briefing was given by Squadron Leader Trollope at 2200 hours and related to “the job in hand”.
Evidently Wing Commander Anderson became available by the next morning as this was the day when the first three craft-loads of men and equipment left Camp D2, Sopley Park for Portland harbour. Wing Commander Anderson moved with the third and last Type 15 convoy with Squadron Leader Best at 1500 hours and after arriving, “settled down at 0100 hours (D-3)”.
On 6th June 1944, the first attempt at landing was made as planned at 1130 hours, but this was called off because of the conditions on shore. At 1700 hours, “the convoy again headed for the beach, an order having been given to land”. This landing was at St Laurent. This is about 1 mile to the west of Colleville beach which was the planned landing beach and the actual landing beach at St Laurent was reported to have been “under heavy shellfire from 88mm guns which had got the range of the beach”. There then followed various accounts of the events.
It is then noted that “All the serious cases were evacuated to the UK that night, (i.e. 7th/8th June), except Wing Commander Anderson who remained until the following day, to have his arm X-rayed, and also to see what was going to happen to the Unit.
The last mention of Wing Commander Anderson was made by Squadron Leader Best in his personal memoir as follows:
“We got our vehicles off and up the valley in to the quiet and comparative safety of a deserted village (Les Moulins). Here we made an emergency casualty clearing station, and for the rest of the evening and most of the night, went backwards and forwards to the beach collecting wounded. We, ourselves, had lost 12 men dead and 40 seriously injured. The Americans had suffered terribly and the beach driven-on was strewn with dead so thick that it was impossible to move a vehicle without crushing bodies. I think four thousand troops altogether landed on Omaha Red and that over half of them became casualties. Refused permission by ‘Andy’ to leave beach with convoy. Salvage operations on Omaha beach with other Tech Officers”.
The reference to ‘Andy’ must surely have been Wing Commander Anderson. If so, it does tend to indicate that he was still in command on the morning of 7th June 1944.
An 85 (Base) Group Operations Record Book account about the landing, (Air25-726, No. 85 Base Group Air Staff, Jun/Aug 44), was entered in the ORB of 21 Base Defence Sector, (21BDS), and this has so far been the only official account of the landing which has been located. The limited information that has been located which mentions Wing Commander Anderson is as follows:
“Wing Commander Anderson led the Unit ashore.”
He suffered wounds to his arm and leg on the beach, but we do not know when they were sustained. In his account of the landing, Squadron Leader Norman Best noted that “the crane went first, with a Corporal, an LAC and the Wing Commander. I went next with the Lieutenant AFS (Air Formation Signals) in the Jeep and the rest of the convoy followed”.
Later on in his account, Squadron Leader Best states: “Our Wing Commander had been hit in the arm and the leg…”, so it would appear that he sustained his wounds fairly early during the landing.
We do not know why or by whom the landing was ordered but the report states, “It was reported that in view of the fact that the Emergency Medical Services were almost wiped out and the fact that the beach was still under heavy shell fire, that it was decided not to land the elaborate beach organisation that was to be set up to deal with the disembarkation of the follow up Units. In spite of this fact, however, it was apparently decided that it was a fit time to disembark 21 (BD) Sector”. It is perhaps possible to detect a high degree of irony on the part of whoever wrote that piece!
We do not know the actual time when Wing Commander Anderson handed over command of the GCI 15082 operation to Squadron Leader Trollope, his deputy. The citation for the gallantry award made to Squadron Leader Trollope states, “This officer was second-in-command of a Unit which landed on the Beaches of Normandy on ‘D’ Day. When the Officer Commanding had become a casualty, he took over command of the Unit”. This could be interpreted as the Wing Commander handing over command to his deputy fairly soon after the landing, but reference to the memoir excerpt by Squadron Leader Norman Best, (above), seems to indicate that he did retain command until he went for the X-ray to his arm immediately prior to being evacuated back to England. He is stated as staying with the Unit until D+1 in order to have this X-ray before being evacuated back to England. We must assume that the X-ray was carried out by the Americans since there are no reports of any UK ones – indeed, the Medical Officer was known to lament the paucity of his stocks and equipment as compared to that supplied to his US counterparts.
—oOo—
Wing Commander ALEXANDER MELVIN ANDERSON, DFC. Service Number 75893
Until 2024, we knew little of W/C Anderson’s background: he was referred to in reports only as A. M. Anderson – we did not even know his first names. However, there is only one A. M. Anderson listed in the London Gazette as having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War 2. In an instant, we learned that he was Alexander Melvin Anderson DFC, and his service number was 75893. That discovery “unlocked” all the information that follows. Much of that information comes from Mr Anderson’s entry in the MyHeritage Family Tree managed by Sandra Anderson: she lives in Canada and is believed to be in her 80s. She accesses the Family Tree every few months and we hope to make contact with her in due course.
Alexander was born on 9th July 1899 in the military town of Aldershot to Major James Mitchell Anderson and Mrs Annie Melvin Anderson née McCabe. Both Alexander’s father and grandfather served in Scottish regiments. In the 1911 Census Return, Alexander was shown as living in Sialkot, Uttar Pradesh, India.
He turned 18 on 9th July 1917, and 8 days later he is shown as having enlisted for Military Service. On 18th April 1918, he was granted a temporary commission as a 2nd Lieutenant (Observer Officer) after completing a Cadet course.
In June 1918, the Distinguished Flying Cross was instituted for bravery for RAF Officers. On 21st August 1918, Alexander was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation is as follows: “2nd Lieut. Alexander Melvin Anderson (Observer, No 6 Sqn). This officer performed most gallant and meritorious service on the 21st August when on contact patrol. In the morning, flying in the mist at 200 feet, and subjected to heavy hostile fire, he located our cavalry and the enemy positions. In the afternoon he made a valuable and accurate report and situation map. While on this duty his pilot was wounded and forced to land just west of our lines; Lieut. Anderson extricated him from the machine under heavy fire and carried him to a dressing station.”
NOTE. This award was gained less than 2 months after the DFC was introduced and made him one of the earliest recipients of the award.
His Service Record states that he was fit for flying duties as a pilot. The Record goes on: “Avros very good, DH9 good, Category II. A steady pilot made consistently good slow landings throughout course. Suited to similar types or aeroplanes to the DH9”.
In September 1924 the Record states “ DH9 good. A steady pilot whose landings have been very good. He is suited to 2-seater fighter planes. Cat 2.” He is shown as having flown Bristol DH9, a Fighter, and Avro. The final entry on this sheet states “Trans to Class ‘C’ on account of ill health”.
Between May 1923 and 14th November 1933 he was transferred between various types of Reserve service until on that latter date he was recorded as “Relinquished Commission on account of ill-health and permitted to retain his rank.”
In 1939 he can be found on a list headed Officers Serving on the Active List of the RAF, sub-headed Administrative and Special Duties Branch (Special Duties): Anderson, Alexander Melvin, (RAFVR) P 10 Nov.
The London Gazette also shows him on 10th November 1939 as being “granted a commission for the duration of hostilities as a Pilot Officer”. The London Gazette on 14th January 1941 shows his rank as Pilot Officer being confirmed.
He is later listed on an Air Force List Index, (page 1309), with the rank of Flight Lieutenant dating from 21st January 1941. On this list, he is also shown with ASD in brackets, denoting his Trade still as Administrative and Special Duties. On 13th January 1944, he is shown in the Operations Record Book of 21 Base Defence Wing as Squadron Leader A.M. Anderson, DFC being posted in at RAF Church Fenton for Operations ‘G’ duties.
On 21st January 1944 he is listed on Page 412 of a Supplement to the London Gazette which shows a listing: A.M. Anderson, DFC (75893). This would have been about the time he was promoted to Wing Commander, shortly after arriving at 21 Base Defence Wing, RAF Church Fenton.
He died in Lancashire in 1971.
It is not clear from the service details we have found whether he did any flying in World War 2. Given that his Trade is invariably given as ASD, (i.e. Administrative and Special Duties Branch), it is hard to escape the conclusion that he was “desk-bound”. His posting to 21 BDW for Operations ‘G’ duties tends to confirm that he was a Radar Controller and possibly specialised in that from the outset.
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Alexander Melvin Anderson was promoted 4 times up to the point at which he assumed the rank of Wing Commander not long after joining 21 Sector. It was not so unusual in wartime given the casualties suffered and expansion of the RAF. I do not know for certain but I would suggest that his substantive rank when joining 21 Sector was probably Flight Lieutenant with his then rank of Squadron Leader being ‘Acting’. Unless his Acting Squadron Leader rank was confirmed as Substantive before he was promoted to Wing Commander his rank would have been Acting Squadron Leader, Temporary Wing Commander. If his Squadron Leader rank was substantive then his rank on promotion to Wing Commander would have been ‘Acting’. All of this was paperwork, since he would have been paid according to the rank he held, ie as a Wing Commander. As far as the men he commanded were concerned, they would not have been aware of this – he was a Wing Commander.
Research and commentary by Ron Muggleton