Anderson, Henry Gordon

Service highlights

  • Service number J6490
  • Born 15 April 1914 in Exeter
  • Enlisted: 28 October 1940 in the Royal Canadian Air Force, North Bay
  • Civilian Work: Teacher
  • Commissioned as a pilot officer in 1941 and posted overseas to England
  • Posted to No. 419 Squadron RCAF on 1 January 1942
  • Reported missing in February 1942 after operations connected to the Channel Dash
  • Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial and on the World War II plaque at St. Marys Town Hall

A Life and Service Remembered

Henry Gordon Anderson was born in Exeter, Ontario on 15 April 1914. He grew up with a strong connection to home and school, attending S.S. No. 10 Usborne and then Exeter High School. He later studied at University of Western Ontario from 1930 to 1932. After university, he taught at the Thames Road School and at Chemins in Northern Ontario, then worked at Kerr Addison Gold Mines Ltd. of Rouyn before the war changed the direction of his life.

He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force at North Bay on 28 October 1940. Training took him across Ontario, including time at 1 Manning Depot in Toronto and at RCAF Station Trenton. On 28 January 1941 he attended 1 Initial Training School in Toronto, then 3 Elementary Flying Training School at London starting 6 March 1941. He continued on to 1 Service Flying Training School at Camp Borden, graduating 31 July 1941. He was commissioned as a pilot officer, a milestone that reflected real ability and real effort, then posted overseas on 14 August 1941. After training on the Vickers Wellington III bomber at 23 Operational Training Unit, he was posted to 419 Squadron on 1 January 1942.

In February 1942, two German battleships, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, broke out from Brest and raced through the English Channel toward the German naval base at Kiel. Bomber Command squadrons were sent to try to stop them, even though the conditions and the type of attack demanded low level precision that crews were not trained or equipped for. The attacks were unsuccessful and several aircraft were lost. Pilot Officer Anderson and his crew are believed to have been shot down at sea off the Dutch coast, and no wreckage or bodies were ever recovered.

The loss was not only a military fact, it was also a long, aching uncertainty for the people who loved him. A family letter written later, in November 1942, shows how intensely they searched for any definite word. The writer asked that he not be presumed dead until further information came through, holding onto reports that German E boats had picked up survivors and that the International Red Cross was still looking. The letter carries that familiar mix of careful hope and fear, the kind that families lived with for months and sometimes years, wanting to believe there was still a chance. Even after presumed death further letters show the family struggling with getting his effects returned and mix-ups in the items received. Showing the confusion a family can endure when they loose family in a war a world away.

Henry was commemorated by name on the Runnymede Memorial at Egham, Surrey, England. His parents, James and Louise Anderson of Lot 24, Concession 8, Usborne Township, along with a brother and two sisters, survived him. The book also notes that he was well known locally, with many friends in St. Marys. His name is included on the World War II plaque on the south wall of St. Marys Town Hall.

Major battles and operations

  • Aircrew training in Canada, 1940 to 1941, including elementary and service flying training
  • Overseas posting to England, August 1941, training at 23 Operational Training Unit on the Vickers Wellington III
  • Operational service with 419 Squadron, from 1 January 1942
  • February 1942 operations connected to the Channel Dash, during which he was reported missing and believed lost at sea off the Dutch coast

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