William St. G. Anderson

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* ROYAL NAVY SUBMARINE MUSEUM *

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British Officers 

ANDERSON W St G DSC AND BAR (RNR)  

DATE OF BIRTH                      30 April 1919  

DATE JOINED NAVY              Midshipman: 1 December 1936 

DATE JOINED S/M                   6 May 1940 

RANK ON LEAVING NAVY   Lieutenant (RNR)

SUBMARINE CAREER: Joined DOLPHIN as Sub-Lieutenant (RNR) for training in submarines on 6 May 1940 and on completion, joined 'H34' as temporary Sub-Lieutenant, still at DOLPHIN on 22 May 1940. Over the next few months he took various courses at DOLPHIN until in November of that year he was sent to MEDWAY in Alexandria and there, on the 11th of that month, joined HMS/m 'OLYMPUS'. A month later, 'OLYMPUS' withdrew from Alexandria and joined the new 8th Submarine Flotilla in Gibraltar. Using-the Polish training ship 'ISKRA' as a tender, the boat was there as part of a force guarding the Azores from an Axis attack and to prevent the Axis from establishing a fuel dump there. In the only series of orders ever issued directly from the Admiralty, 'OLYMPUS' was ordered home for a refit after one patrol at the end of January 1941. Anderson then joined HMS/m 'REGENT' on 17 April 1941 in Malta and later, Alexandria. One of the first missions of 'REGENT' after he joined, was the rescue of Mr. Ronald Campbell, the British Ambassador in Kotor (Yugoslavia) which had fallen into Italian hands. Since they had no information on the whereabouts of Mr Campbell and his staff, they proceeded to Zeleika where they negotiated with an Italian Army captain who arranged an interview with an Italian admiral while he stayed aboard 'REGENT' as guarantor. While they were there, 'REGENT' was attacked by Italian aircraft, bombed and strafed, three members of the crew being wounded. The final decision of the 'REGENT' commanding officer was to leave, and the party was rescued by other means. Anderson won his first DSC for this action. Lieutenant-Commander Browne the commanding officer of 'REGENT' recommended him for his cool-headedness during the attack and the example set to younger members of the crew. (ARCHIVES: 1980/162.) He remained with 'REGENT' until December 1941 and then returned to Britain and DOLPHIN for a course in training boat 'H28' where he served as 1st-Officer. In July 1942, he transferred to HMS/m 'TRESPASSER' and covered the QF Convoy to the USSR on the 11 and 12 November of that year. He returned to DOLPHIN 15 March 1943 for his COQC remaining there for 4 months. His first command was HMS/m 'STURDY' which he joined in October 1943 and almost immediately took it to the Far East after a short training period patrolling off the coast of, Norway. He arrived in Fremantle, Australia,' in June 1944. The bar to his DSC was won for his patrols in the south east Pacific, working off the coast of Burma, the Flores and Java seas.- Anderson carried out one more patrol on 'STURDY', returning in January 1945 to 'MAIDSTONE' at Fremantle. A month later he left 'STURDY' and returned to the UK and HMS DOLPHIN. In March 1945 he took command- of HMS/m 'TRUSTY' in and around Britain and three months later moved to Northern Ireland and 'FERRET IV' to command a captured German U-boat 'Ul171', one of 51 such boats at the base. He became an Acting." Lieutenant Commander from late 1945 to late 1947, and he remained on the Navy List"-until Retirement with the rank of Lieutenant in July 1950.

After leaving the navy, he became a Colonial commissioner and later ran a yacht chartering business. He died in Guildford in 1985

PERSONAL DETAILS  

Nicknamed 'Singey' Anderson by his fellow officers. Probationary Midshipman (RNR): 1 December 1936. Sub-Lieutenant (RNR): 30 April 1940. Lieutenant (RNR): 1 April 1942. Acting Lieutenant-Commander (RNR): December 1945 - December 1947 approx. Awarded the DSC: 30 September 1940. Awarded a Bar, 24 July 1945 (for 7 patrols in the South East Pacific). Placed on Retired List: 1 July 1950.

HMS Sturdy
The crew at a dinner

Lt. Commander William St. G. Anderson DSC +Bar (RNR)

Singey relaxing on a boat with friends

HMS Sturdy