Major General Edward W. Anderson (23 September 1903 – 12 April 1979) was an American military officer involved with flying operations, air education, and

command structure A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. Military chain of command In a military context, the chain of command is the line of authority and responsibility along which orders ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he commanded several fighter organizations. Post-war he was involved with air education and Air Force logistics.

Early life and education

Edward W. Anderson was born at

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, on 23 September 1903. He graduated from Long Beach High School, and then from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

in June 1928, majoring in

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. He entered the Army as a flying cadet on 30 October 1928. Upon graduating a year later, he was commissioned a temporary permanent second lieutenant. He received his pilot's wings at

Kelly Field Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-use airport, Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he ...

, Texas, on 13 October 1929. After receiving additional training at

Rockwell Field Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) military airfield, located northwest of the city of Coronado, California, on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California. This airfield ...

, California, he was assigned at

March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 m ...

, California.

Military career

From 1929 to 1933, Anderson served as an assistant engineering officer, flight commander, adjutant school officer, and assistant operations officer at various stations including

, California, and

Albrook Field Albrook Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility in Panama. It was closed on 30 September 1997 as a result of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which specified that United States military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zon ...

, Canal Zone. In 1933, he entered the Air Corps Technical School,

Chanute Field Chanute may refer to: *Chanute, Kansas, United States **Chanute High School *Octave Chanute Octave Chanute (February 18, 1832 – November 23, 1910) was a French-American civil engineer and aviation pioneer. He advised and publicized many aviat ...

, Illinois, graduating in June 1934. After serving with the 24th Pursuit Squadron at

from 1934 to 1936, during which time he was promoted to first lieutenant, he became flight commander and operations and intelligence officer of the

94th Pursuit Squadron The 94th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force 1st Operations Group located at Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia. The 94th is equipped with the F-22 Raptor. The 94 FS is one of the oldest units in the United States Air ...

Selfridge Field Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Un ...

, Michigan. Anderson was supervisor of the Civil Mechanic School, Air Corps Training Detachment,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, from July 1938, to June 1939. He then attended the Air Corps Tactical School at

Maxwell Field Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...

, Alabama, from which he graduated in June 1940.Staff, "S.B. Area Materiel Command To Change Hands", ''San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, City Page, Tuesday 8 June 1954, Volume LX, Number 241, p. 24. He was promoted to captain on 6 January 1940, major on 21 March 1941, and lieutenant colonel on 5 January 1942.

World War II

Circa 9 March 1942, Anderson became commanding officer of the

20th Fighter Group 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exch ...

at Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and held this capacity until August 1942. Anderson was promoted to full colonel on 22 August 1942, and went to England in September 1942, to organize the

4th Fighter Group The 4th Fighter Group was an American element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force during World War II. The group was known as the Debden Eagles because it was created from the three Eagle Squadrons of the Royal Air Forc ...

, composed of American pilots who had formed the famed

Eagle Squadron The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (1940), prior to the United States' entry into the war in December 1941. ...

in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. After commanding this group for one year he became commanding officer of the 65th Fighter Wing in England and on 3 March 1944 was promoted to brigadier general.

Cold War

In July 1945 Anderson returned to the United States and became chief of staff of the

I Fighter Command I Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces intermediate command responsible for command and control of the fighter operations within the First Air Force during World War II. It was initially established in June 1941 as the 1st Inter ...

Mitchel Field Mitchell may refer to: People and fictional characters *Mitchell (surname), including lists of both people and fictional characters *Mitchell (given name), lists of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mitchell, Australian Ca ...

, New York. The following year he entered the Air Force Special Staff School at

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, Florida, and upon completion of the senior officer course, was assigned as chief of staff of the

1st Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission i ...

Fort Slocum Fort Slocum, New York was a US military post which occupied Davids Island in the western end of Long Island Sound in the city of New Rochelle, New York, from 1867 to 1965. The fort was named for Major General Henry W. Slocum, a Union corps c ...

, New York. In April 1947 he became commanding general of the Air Force Technical Training School at

Keesler Field Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2nd ...

, Mississippi. After one year he was appointed deputy commander and chief of staff of the Technical Division of the

Air Training Command The Air Training Command (ATC) is a former United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command designation. It was headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, but was initially formed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was re-designated ...

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Originally Scott Field, it was one of 32 Air Service training camps established af ...

, Illinois. He was promoted to major general on 2 April 1948. In November 1948 he went to England where he served as chief of staff of the

3rd Air Division The 3rd Air Division (3d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 April 1992. T ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England and later as the commanding general of the 59th Air Depot Wing,

Burtonwood Burtonwood is a village in the civil parish of Burtonwood and Westbrook, in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the name Burtonwood is known worldwide as the location of the ...

, England. He returned to the United States in July 1950 as the assistant deputy chief of staff, comptroller, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington D.C. He left this position in July 1954 and 1 October 1954 assumed command of the San Bernardino Air Materiel Area under the

Air Materiel Command Air Materiel Command (AMC) was a United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force command. Its headquarters was located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. In 1961, the command was redesignated the Air Force Logistics Command ...

Norton Air Force Base Norton Air Force Base (1942–1994) was a United States Air Force facility east of downtown San Bernardino in San Bernardino County, California. Overview For the majority of its operational lifetime, Norton was a logistics depot and heavy-l ...

, California. He held this command until his retirement from the Air Force on 1 November 1958.

Effective dates of promotion

Source:

Death

Edward Anderson died on 12 April 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Edward W. 1903 births 1979 deaths Aviators from Kansas United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War United States Air Force generals United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit American recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Stanford University alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) American recipients of the Croix de guerre (Belgium) Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath People from Manhattan, Kansas Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni