James Anderton (RAF officer)

Flight Lieutenant James Lawrence Anderton AFC was a company director, motorcycle dealer, pilot and RAF officer.

James Lawrence Anderton

AFC
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch Royal Air Force
RankFlight Lieutenant
Service number122994
Awards

James Anderton founded Anderton Bros Motor Cycles Ltd of Bolton, Lancashire with his brother Syl Anderton in 1935.[1] He qualified as a pilot before World War II but was drafted into the RAF Volunteer Reserve at the outbreak of hostilities, and remained in RAF service until the surrender of Japan in September 1945.[2] He served in several RAF squadrons and an Operational Training Unit, as a heavy bomber pilot—flying Vickers Wellingtons and B-24 Liberators. While serving in 37 Squadron he participated in the bombing of the German battleship Gneisenau.[3] When an instructor at No. 21 Operational Training Unit he participated in the first Thousand-Bomber Raid over Cologne, Germany.[4] In 1944, he was posted to 99 Squadron in Dhubulia, India. There, he participated in the longest formation mission of the war, to bomb targets in Burma—including the Burma Railway.[5] He was awarded the Air Force Cross and was three-times Mentioned in Despatches.[4][6]

References
  1. Motor Cycles Not a Thing of the Past, Bolton Evening News, 29 Oct 1968
  2. Flying is Congenial to Them, Bolton Journal and Guardian, 19 Feb 1943
  3. 37 Squadron Operations Record Book, Public Record Office
  4. A.F.C. for Pilot, Bolton Journal and Guardian, 15 Sep 1944
  5. Each Tenacious — A History of 99 Squadron (1917-1976) by A G Edgerley, Square 1 publications; pages 211,219 and 227
  6. London Gazette; 23 June 1942, p.2762; 15 December 1942, p.5513; 29 December 1942, p.42; 3 May 1944, p.2702; 16 May 1944, p.5513; 2 June 1944, p.2649
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