Andrew Anderson Co-Pilot

Andrew L. Anderson

Everything was going smoothly before German fighters appeared. Usually they would turn back by the time they reached the coastline, but this time they came full on. Six FW-190's and two ME-109's came right toward them with their guns ready. Andrew's (Andy) other companion plane, the Cornhusker, went down and hit the water hard. Andy and his crew on the Maternity Ward were left alone. A German plane came up behind them and shot the rear of the plane. The tail and elevator cables were damaged, and the plane quickly went into a steep dive. The flight was over—Maternity Ward went down 3,000 ft. at a speed of 240 mph and Lt. Ward and Lt. Anderson were the only men to survive.

Lt. Anderson was knocked unconscious from the impact, but quickly overcame it and quickly swam to the surface. About 50 feet away he saw Lt. Ward calling for help. They both swam toward each other and just waited. While floating in the water, an emergency life raft shot up out of the water and they climbed in. Ward and Anderson tried to remain calm and figure out where they were. They knew that they were somewhere between Italy and Greece. Anderson became nauseated from swallowing so much salt water and inhaling the noxious fumes. They began calling for help until they were hoarse, but no one answered. As the sweltering days and freezing cold nights went on, Anderson and Ward seemed to go crazy. They had no food, water, or any survival gear. Every other day a big boat would start to come near them, but turned away almost ignoring the screams coming from the two lieutenants. One day a big seagull came and landed on the raft next to Anderson. Ward sitting eyes wide open told him to catch it and kill it, for it would be the only food they would have. Anderson tried to catch it, but didn't have the heart to kill it. As the bird flew away Ward attacked Anderson and wanted to kill him! Ward stopped though to not lose any of the strength he had.

It was day twelve and two British Beaufighters spotted them and signaled that they would send a rescue team. Ward and Anderson collapsed