Sergeant Pilot Richard Frank Anderson RCAF

Richard Frank Anderson was born in Houston Texas on February 2, 1917 to Mr. and Mrs. R.O. Anderson. He attended St Thomas High School in Houston before enrolling at NMAMC which he attended from 1937 to 1939 majoring in Animal Husbandry. In December 1940 Richard enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and after training was shipped to England in September 1941 where he was assigned piloting Wellington Bombers. The day he died, February 6, 1942, was to have been his last in England as he was departing England to return to the United States to join the USAAF. On that day he volunteered to take part in a bombing raid against Germany, dedicating the flight to his Canadian brothers in arms. Returning from the bombing raid his plane approached the airdrome riddled in bullets with one engine out. When he requested clearance to land he was told that another bomber was in front of him. Struggling to regain altitude so as to not endanger the plane in front, his Wellington Bomber stalled and crashed killing all on board. He is buried near Gloucestershire England. He was his mother’s only son and 25 years old at the time of his death.