Cpl Niels Aage Andersen
(1915 - 1968)
Profile
Niels Aage Andersen enlisted in the USAAF in 1942. He served in the Eighth Air Force in the England from March 1943, but was seriously injured in an accident while in the line of duty. He was discharged a year later. His brother served in the USAAF as well.
Niels Aage Andersen was born on 14 January 1915 in Sangstrup in Voldby parish near Grenaa, to carpenter Otto Marentius Andersen and Kristine Christiansen. [1] Andersen was raised in Sangstrup, where is father was a master carpenter.[2]
Emigrating to Racine, Wisconsin
The family emigrated to the United States in the early 1920s. Andersen’s father travelled to the country in April 1923 to join his brother in Racine, Wisconsin. [3] Andersen, his mother and siblings followed, arriving in New York from Copenhagen onboard the SS United States on 14 October 1924.[4]
In October 1940, at the time of his draft, he lived in Racine, Wisconsin, working as a carpenter in his father’s contracting company, the Andersen Construction Co.[5]
Injured in the line of duty
Andersen enlisted as a private (36279543) in the U.S. Army in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 30 October 1942. [6] There is little information on the nature of his service.
Andersen was send overseas in March 1943, [7] serving in the 9th Depot Repair Squadron at Honington in Suffolk, England.[8] The former RAF Honington was transferred to the USAAF in June 1942 and assigned the designation Station 375). West of the main airfield an area known as Troston housed the 1st Strategic Air Depot. This depot, which included among other subunits the 9th Air Depot Group and its repair squadron was specialized in the repair of badly damaged B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. It was a support unit to the 3rd Bomber Division.[9]
Andersen was seriously injured on 9 October 1943 while in overseas service. The circumstances are not known. The documents suggest that he was injured and seriously burned in a gasoline explosion.[10] He was hospitalized in England and later in New York, [11] before being discharged on 9 October 1944. He held the rank of corporal at the time of discharge.[12]
After the war
Andersen married Grethe Høyer on 9 June 1948. [13] He was naturalized as a United States citizen a few months later, on 27 October 1948.[14] He died on 5 August 1968.[15]
Andersen was the brother of Vernon Andersen, who served in the US Army Air Force as well. A third brother served in the U.S. Navy.
Endnotes
[1] DNA: Parish register, Voldby sogn.
[2] DNA: 1916 Census of Denmark.
[3] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[4] Ancestry: New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957.
[5] Ancestry: U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
[6] Ancestry: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985.
[7] Blandt landsmænd, Den Danske Pioneer, 28 October 1943.
[8] Ancestry: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985.
[9] RAF Honington, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Honington (accessed on 12 March 2024).
[10] Ancestry: U.S. WWII Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954.
[11] Blandt landsmænd, Den Danske Pioneer, 6 July 1944.
[12] Ancestry: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985.
[13] Obituary, The Journal Times, 6 August 1968.
[14] Ancestry: Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991.
[15] Ancestry: U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1861-1985.