Despite his great age, he was as sharp as a tack as he reminisced about his exploits in the First World War and he was one of just five worldwide survivors of the conflict.
During the conversation, I asked him about a planned motorway in France that was due to be constructed across one of the bloodiest battle sites in the country, which Mr Anderson had fought in.
Was this wrong, I asked, and should it just be left as an undisturbed wartime grave for ever more?
Son (at the age of 108 virtually everyone is son), he replied, if you want to halt progress to preserve the past, then there was little point in us all being there then really.
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It is a sentiment that is as true today as it was for the Black Watch veteran back then and comes amid two ongoing disputes in Scotland over developments.
In the picturesque village of Kenmore in Perthshire, all hell has broken loose in a row over the £300 million redevelopment of nearby Taymouth Castle by American real estate firm Discovery Land Company (DLC).
A protest group has been campaigning against the proposals for the 450-acre Perthshire estate – but the local community council say local residents are largely in favour of the plans.
DLC’s website says those proposals include the restoration of the castle and golf course, building 167 new homes, and landscaping park and woodlands.
DLC bought the castle in 2018 and since then has been buying nearby land and businesses.
These include the Kenmore Hotel and the village shop, which are both currently being renovated, as well as cottages earmarked for estate staff.
But DLC’s other international developments, which they call “worlds”, are causing concern for the protest group, Protect Loch Tay.
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These “worlds” are exclusive affairs in places like Dubai, the Hamptons in New York, and Barbuda in the West Indies. DLC describes them as “private residential club communities” but is emphatic Taymouth will not be a gated community.
However, Protect Loch Tay fears that the developer is creating a private resort for millionaires and is also concerned over access rights and the local environment.
Rob Jamieson, from the protest group, said: “Gates don’t have to be physical. It can be gated purely by pricing everybody out of the place.”
Protect Loch Tay’s petition calling for a halt to further and future development has attracted almost 150,000 signatures. This in a village of just 200 people is quite an extraordinary figure.
The campaign group says they have come from people with local roots, visit the area or just simply “love Scotland”.
Now, I’m quite fond of Scotland too but I recognise that to preserve fragile rural communities, there need to be jobs to keep the youngsters in the area so it can continue to thrive.
Without youngsters, every community will eventually wither and die – and that must not be allowed to happen, so when a development like this comes along then it should be welcomed.
Perhaps the protesters would rather walk past a ruined castle than see it fully renovated and back in use – even if the visitors are very wealthy.
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But what they forget is that many hundreds of staff will be needed to work at the resort, offering real opportunities for local youngsters, who will then spend their earnings at other local businesses.
Of course, none of that matters to people who have an ideological hatred of wealthy people and are deeply suspicious about their motives regardless of seemingly obvious benefits.
Even Sir Andy Murray is not immune from this as evidenced from a row over chalets at his luxury Cromlix House hotel near his hometown of Dunblane.
Murray and his wife Kim have won various awards for the hotel, which champions local produce and employs local staff.
There is no better ambassador for the town than the double Wimbledon champion and he should be applauded for giving something back.
But Kathryn Grant, of Falkirk, told her local paper after the plans were approved this week: “For a couple with estimated combined wealth exceeding £130 million, they know the price of everything but the value of nothing.
“Come the next tennis major, I will certainly be cheering on ‘Anyone but Andy’.”
In highlighting his wealth, this tells you everything you need to know.
Did she think he put his body on the line playing tennis for free? At least he’s using his winnings as a force of good and should be supported rather than heckled.