Lieutenant Patrick Wright Anderson

atrick Wright Anderson was born in Arbroath in Scotland on 7 October 1892 and ,after schooling in the town , attended the University College at Dundee , then part of St Andrews University . He joined the University Officers Training Corps attending a large OTC Camp at Ilkley in 1913. There they used a wireless over the surrounding hills for a distance of four miles. On the Outbreak of the Great War he volunteered for a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th (Service ) Battalion , Black Watch . One of the Battalion Officers was Captain Hon Fergus Bowes-Lyon, brother of the Queen Mother. Captain Bowes- Lyon was killed in action at the Battle of Loos. Patrick transferred to the 10th (Service) Battalion and continued training at Bristol and at Sutton Veny; by this time he was appointed Lieutenant with the Battalion. He did not go overseas to France with the Battalion during September 1915 but became the Chief Instructor at the Grenade School at Villiers Bretonneux, which is 10 miles east of Amiens. He had a number of Lieutenants and NCO's from each Brigade on his staff . His Battalion was posted to Salonika as part of the 77th Infantry Brigade , 26th Division. At the end of December 1915 he was sharing a room in billets with a Lieutenant A. Don in Aivatli near Salonika . Lieutenant Don died a few months later of malaria . During the months of January to March 1916 Patrick was Chief Instructor of a new Grenade School at Aivatli ; from April to July of that year he was given the Temporary rank of Captain whilst employed at the school . During the following months he returned to active service with the Battalion and was involved on night raids near Dolozeli . On one night operation he was on active service with Lieutenant R.M. Don , brother of Lieutenant A. Don. Lieutenant RM Don was killed in action during a night raid in 1917. Patrick left Salonika in November 1916 for training with the Royal Flying Corps . He attended the No 1 School of Aeronautics at Reading and the No 1 Auxiliary School of Aerial Gunnery at Hythe. He was posted to 18 Squadron Royal Flying Corps then based at Auchel in France. He continued to wear his Highland Officers uniform . On 21 April 1918, the day the Red Baron was killed , Patrick together with Canadian pilot , Lieutenant A C Atkey , who was later promoted and decorated , shot down out of control an enemy machine. They are mentioned in the RAF Communiques for 1918. On 27 June 1918, Patrick was on a morning patrol over Flanders with another Canadian pilot , Lieutenant R.C. Bennett (who was later decorated) in their DH4 ( A 8048) when Patrick was seriously wounded to the stomach and thigh. They managed to return to their lines so that Patrick could receive medical attention . Patrick was returned to England and remained in hospital for a year before returning to his home. He relinquished his Commission due to wounds received in war but was authorised to retain his rank. He required further medical treatment but after another operation in the Arbroath Infirmary he died of wounds on 2 November 1921. In 1922 the War Office forwarded his Three War Medals to his relatives in Arbroath . These medals are : 1914/1915 star ; British War and Victory Medals . The 1914 /1915 star is impressed Lieutenant P W Anderson , R Highlanders , the British War & the Victory Medals are impressed with Lieutenant P W Anderson ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Below this Obituary are the words : PRESENTED TO TAYFORTH U.O.T.C. By P. W. ANDERSON / 1994