KILL
or be killed
From Colonel Bud Anderson
Entering the Dogfight with a TRIPLE-ACE Pilot
Col. Clarence E.“ Bud” Anderson is a retired fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. During WWII, Anderson was the highest scoring ace in his P-51 Mustang squadron, credited with taking down 16 and a quarter German aircraft.
Nearing the end of his second tour in Europe, Anderson was promoted to Major at age 22, a remarkably young age for any airman to receive such a promotion.
Following a distinguished career, which included a combat tour in Vietnam, Anderson retired with the rank of colonel in 1972.
Recently, Col. Anderson sat down with the American Veterans Center & World War II Veterans Committee’ s weekly radio show, Veterans Chronicles, to share his story. The following article is adapted from that interview.
Although I was born in Oakland, I always considered Newcastle, California, my home of record. It was there that my parents operated the farm I grew up on and where I spent the entirety of my childhood.
On my 20th birthday, January 13, 1942, right after Pearl Harbor, I decided to join the Army Air Corps through the Aviation Cadet Program.
I always wanted to be a fighter pilot, which was probably influenced by watching Battle of Britain news reels and seeing pilots in dogfights with contrails in the sky. I think I also liked the control. If I was in a single engine, a single pilot airplane, I’ d be in control of my environment. I’ d be in control of my life. I’ d be the pilot, the navigator, the gunner, the radio operator, and I wouldn’ t have to depend on other people. On top of that, I thought fighters were a little bit cooler than bombers. So that’ s what I wanted to do. In those days, pilots were needed in every facet of military operations, from flight instructors to cargo, bomber, and fighter pilots. If you could convince your instructor that you would be a good fighter pilot, your chances were pretty good of getting an assignment.
After training with the 357th Fighter Group at several air fields in California and Nevada, we eventually ended up in Casper, Wyoming. Most of us wondered where we’ d go for combat. We did know that the P-39s we flew were increasingly employed for combat in the South Pacific and in North Africa. Before long, we got on a troop train and went to Camp Shanks, New York. From there, we got on the Queen Elizabeth, one of the two largest ocean liners in the world, and sailed to England.
The bomber pilots were trained to fly in large formations, during daylight, when they could use the Norden bombsight to go after military targets and destroy the war-making capability of Germany. The bomber air power enthusiasts figured the boots on the ground could then come in and close the war. Well it didn’ t exactly work that way.
The British told us that we would take terrible losses if we conducted these operations in daylight. They suggested we fly over the area and do the bombing at night. But because we could only effectively use the bombsight during the day, we stuck
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