FS Peer Bay Andersen

FS Peer Bay Andersen worked as a mine engineer in Tanganyika before the war. He volunteered for the RAF in late 1942 and served as an air gunner in 114 Sqn from mid-1944 until the end off the war, recording seventy-three operational sorties over Italy.

Peer Bay Andersen was born in Copenhagen on 28 October 1916, son of grocery owner Jens Bay Andersen and Anna Mathilde Andersen (née Pedersen).^[1] Andersen’s mother died on 18 July 1928, and his father married Johanne Marie Kirstine Andersen (née Zachariassen) on 19 January 1930.^[2] His younger brother Erik was born on 7 October 1930.^[3]

Having finished school in Copenhagen, Andersen left Denmark for Tanganyika (British East Africa) where he trained in mine engineering. At the outbreak of war, he was living in Dar Es Salaam as a mine engineer.^[4]

Air Gunner over Italy

Andersen volunteered for the Royal Air Force in the Middle East in late 1942.^[5] He was trained as an air gunner most likely at training facilities in Africa. There is no further information available about his training at this point. The first trace of his service is in Italy about one and a half year later.

By June 1944, the U.S. Fifth Army and the British Eight Army had breached the Gustav and Hitler Lines of defence and, on 4 June 1944, Rome itself was captured. The Germans retired in order to the Gothic Line of defence north of the Arno River.

Andersen was posted to 114 Squadron in late May 1944, however, the exact date is not available at this point.^[6] He was the air gunner of Plt Off. John Frederick Bull’s crew. Another Dane, Poul Henrichsen, had been with the squadron since November 1943. Henrichsen had flown his last operational sortie at the squadron on 31 May 1944 and was posted to the United Kingdom shortly after Andersen’s arrival. In addition a third Dane, FS Erik Mehlsen was posted to 18 Sqn, which was also part of 232 Wing, Desert Air Force, in July 1944. It is uncertain if they new about each others affiliation with the squadron. As a new crew, Andersen’s crew would have been posted to the Regina airfield north of Foggia for training before entering operations.^[7]

The squadron had moved to the Tarquinia airfield in the Lazio region of central Italy north of Rome on 25 June 1944, from where the squadron operated its Boston medium bombers. The task was to provide cover by night for both the Fifth Army and the Eighth Army to a depth of 80 to 140 miles with the object of keeping the armies informed about enemy movements. The aircraft covered roads and communications nightly from coast to coast while tagets of opportunity was bombed or strafed.^[8]

Andersen flew his first mission on the night of 10-11 July 1944. While six experienced crews were to bomb area north of the bomb line to Pontassieve and Bibbiena east of Florence, Andersen’s was one of two new crews briefed to bomb Pontassieve. Boston IIIA HK969 took off from Tarquina at 0115 hrs. They bombed the target but was not able to observe the results due to cloud over the target area. They returned to base at 0305 hrs. The crew flew another three sorties from this airfield.

Tactical support to the armies

On 19 July 1944, on the very day the Fifth Army captured the town of Livorno, the squadron moved to Cecina airfield about 40 km to the south. The first sortie from Cecina took place on the night of 20-21 July 1944. This was the first time that the crew flew the Boston Mk. IV operationally. BZ506 took off from Cecina at 0035 hrs. on an armed recco for shipping in harbours as well as road movement along the coast from Rimini to the Po Delta. They returned to base without incident at 0430 hrs. The sortie was representative of the operations Andersen participated in during this period. They flew another four operations until the end of July.

The squadron continued its night reconnaissance behind the Fifth and Eighth Army fronts as its main task in August, covering all roads within an area indicated by the following points: Lucca—Placenca—following the river PO—Ferrara—Pessaro with the base or the bombline as the southern boundary. Andersen flew thirteen operational sorties during the month.

The operations continued into September at which point the Allied armies prepared an attack on the Gothic Line, a series of fortified positions extending across Italy from south of La Spezia in the west, over the Apennines, to the Adriatic coast between Pessaro and Rimini. In the early hours of 13 September 1944, the Allies launched the attack on the Gothic Line. The Fifth Army advanced in the central sector and the Eighth Army advanced on the Coriano Ridge in the east. Andersen flew ten operational sorties during the month, the last being on the night 26-27 September 1944.

Fighting the Rain

On 2-3 October 1944, Cecina airfield was hit by heavy rain and became unserviceable. This continued for the following days and there were no further operations during the month of October. This was the beginning of a long pause in operations for the squadron. Only ten days later, the squadron succeeded in clearing up the runways in order for the aircraft to take off and move to Perugia pending a move to Falconara airfield, which was carried out on 21 October 1944. Falconara was positioned on the eastern coast to the north of Ancona. The non-operational nature of the squadron remained, however, as the new airfield was not yet ready to take the squadron’s aircraft at this point. During this period the operational record book reflects a sentiment of frustration that Andersen must have felt too. On 23 November 1944, the 114 squadron operational record book stated

It is now over six weeks since the squadron last operated, and the question is naturally on everybody's lips, "when are they going to find us an aerodrome from which we can operate?" To this question, however, we have as yet received no satisfactory reply.^[9]

Finally, on 9 December, the first operational sorties for more than two months were carried out. Andersen’s crew returned to operation on the night of 15-16 December 1944, when they took off from Falconara in Boston V BZ492 accompanied by another aircraft to carry out a road reconnaissance operation in the area from Lugo to Po River. They sae a fair amount of motorized transports which were bombed and strafed.

Then followed another pause in operations due to bad weather before Andersen was back in the air in the 23th. He recorded a total of six operational sorties in December 1944, binging his total number of operational sorties to thirty-seven.

The poor weather continued to trouble operations throughout January 1945. The airfield was unserviceable several days during the month. Andersen flew five only operations during the month.

The final Push into Northern Italy

The weather continued to disturb operations during February and Andersen did not fly operationally until the night of 20-21 February where a number of aircraft were briefed to bomb marshalling yards west of Udine in the very north of Italy. The previous night the wing had lost their Wg Cdr R. R. Thomson, DFC, and on this and the following nights the squadron loss another six crews, including that of Sqn Ldr Hampton, who had been appointed Officer Commanding following the loss of Thomson. In order to prevent further losses night-fighters from the Wing’s 600 and 256 Sqns were sent into the Northern area to deal with enemy night-fighters during the Bostons’ bombing operations.

On 7 March 1945, the squadron moved from Falconara to Forli airfield not far from Ravenna and the front line. The intensity of operations picked up in a combination of improved weather and continued intensity in the fighting on the ground. Andersen flew ten operations during the month.

As the artillery barrage began on 8 April, before the final push by the Eighth Army in north-east Italy, the noise shook the windows, and a continued red glow could be seen from the airfield to the north. The following day, the operational record book records

Today was a great day for the Squadron as indeed it was for all Squadrons operating in this theatre. During the day, while our ground crews and aircrews were preparing the machines for the night operations, heavy bombers, light bombers, fighter bombers & fighters were roaring overhead, on their way to bomb the enemy defences in the immediate vicinity of the front line. Until briefing time nobody knew officially that the long awaited push in this theatre was getting underway, although it was obvious that this was so. For the night operations very elaborate and careful plans had to be worked out and adhered to since 90 sorties were to be flown from this airfield alone. Little was left to the crews to work out on the ground exept to be at the right place at precisely the right time. So as to keep the aerodrome and circuit control working smoothly, crews were given a time to call up for landing instructions as well as a time to take off at a set course.^[10]

The became the busiest month operationally for Andersen during his tour. The crews were to give the ground forces the closest support possible without the assistance of radar control. Andersen and his crew flew a total of seventeen operations during the month many of which were double sorties on the same night. This was possible dur to the proximity of the airfield to the frontline.

Andersen flew his last operational sortie on the night of 29-30 April 1945, an armed reconnaissance sortie south of the foothills of the Alps. The armies were advancing very rapidly at that point and the war in Italy would soon come to a close.

Liberation

On 2 May 1945 a news arrived over the radio that the Germans in the area had surrendered unconditionally. A week later, on 9 May 1945, the the squadron moved to Aviano airfield south of the foothills of the Dolomites in mid-May 1945. The situation in this area of Italy was rather tense following Jugoslavia’s claims on the Treiste area. As a consequence the squadron moved large supplies of bombs and ammunition to Aviano from Forli. The claims on Trieste was not solved until 1954.

Andersen was transferred 114 Squadron to 56 Personnel Transit Centre on 20 August 1945.^[11]

There is no information about Andersen’s life after the war at this point. He died on 20 June 1995 in Luçon, France.^[12]

Endnotes

[1] DNA: Parish register, Islands Brygge Sogn.

[2] DNA: Parish register, Skt Stefans Sogn.

[3] DNA: Parish register, Kapernaums Sogn.

[4] Museum of Danish Resistance, 15B-15459.

[5] Andersen’s service number - 700960 - is part of a block (700871 to 700999), which was allocated in November 1942.

[6] The crew consisted of Plt Off. (later Flt Lt) John Frederick Bull, pilot (163044); Plt Off (later Fg Off.) B. Stevens, navigator; Sgt (later Plt Off.) Jack Stanley Jennison, WAG (1492813/195104); and Andersen.

[7] TNA: AIR 27/883. If nothing else is stated the operational information is from this source.

[8] TNA: AIR 29/292.

[9] TNA: AIR 27/883.

[10] TNA: AIR 27/883.

[11] TNA: AIR 29/1106/1.

[12] Information from the Danish Civil Registration System.