Wayne H Gotke

Military
media-6991.jpeg UPL 6991 Prisoners of War of the 44th Bomb Group at Stalag Luft III with a USAAF insginia made of stones. Left to right : Bob Walker, Wayne Gotke, Bob McPhillamey, Bill Wockenfuss, Leo Frazier, John Mooney.

Image found at The Writing 69th

Object Number - UPL 6991 - Prisoners of War of the 44th Bomb Group at Stalag Luft III with a USAAF insginia made of stones. Left to right : Bob Walker, Wayne Gotke, Bob...

Shot down 26 February 1943 in B-24D #41-23777 'Maisey', 44BG/66BS while serving as Navigator. He baled out and was captured as a Prisoner of War (POW).



Journalist Robert Post was a journalist passenger on this flight. Gotke wrote a letter about being shot down to the father of Robert Post, after the war: 'Our ship was under constant fighter attack from the time we reached the Island of Texel until we were shot down. We had fought off the planes with very minor damage until we were almost to Oldenburg, then all hell broke loose. I spent most of my time with position reports trying to get short cuts filled into the flight to allow us to gain and catch the rest of the formation. However, I'm reasonably sure no one was injured up to this point, except Sgt. Welsh the belly gunner who had passed out from lack of oxygen and as far as I know never regained his senses. When we were almost to Oldenburg fighters hit us from all sides. Sgt. Vogt the engineer and top turret operator shot the first fighter down and I shot the next down however not until he had sent 20 mms. into the nose and cockpit. Sgt. Mifflin shot down the third from his waist gun position. At this point my left gun jammed and I know at least two planes made direct hits on nose and flight deck. Someone I'm sure was hurt on the flight deck and I was hit twice in the nose of the ship operating a jammed gun. Engines #3 and #4 had been hit and were on fire. I believe fire spread to the wing tank and caused the ship to explode.

I was working on my guns when all at once it seemed someone pushed me from behind and all went black. I woke up falling through space and pulled my rip cord and no results so I reached back and tore the back of my chute out. My last look at the altimeter showed 26,000 ft. and the Germans claim they saw my chute open at 5,000 ft. They picked me up after I had sat between two trees about 20 ft. in the air for about 25 minutes and took me to a first aid station for treatment of cuts around the head and 20 mm. wounds. It was here I saw Sgt. Mifflin. The copilot of the other ship shot down the same time as us said he saw Capt. Adams leather jacket and it appeared the man had been killed. The ship's loading list was removed by the Germans from the jacket. The Germans asked me about your son as they could not identify him from the loading list. I gave them no information whatsoever as my orders were to say nothing in hopes if men were at large their chances of getting home would be better. The Germans asked questions about Bowie and Hannan and from that I believe those two men could not be identified. They asked questions about Johnson, because they could not find any information on him. My belief is that your son was wearing his Mae West and perhaps through that lead you may get some information. I'm under the impression all bodies were not found and if found they could not identify them.

I regret this is all I can say which I have made clear in my own mind. Rest assured anything I feel in the future more clearly and of some help to you I will forward the information to you. We all felt that your son was doing something beyond his call of duty to fly with us and held the highest respect for him. We knew him as a very swell person and I regret his loss greatly. I can understand how you feel as boys on a mission are like brothers. I'm sorry I can't give you more information. I hope this information will help.'



POW/ AM/ PH

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

The insignia of the 44th Bomb Group.
  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment
A B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-95260) nicknamed "Lili Marlene" of the 66th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group flies in formation with two comrades. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'B-24 H & B-24 J OF 44th B.G. 66th Sqdn'
  • Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: The Writing 69th
  • Role/Job: War Correspondent

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
  • Nicknames: Maisie
  • Unit: 44th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron

Missions

Places

  • Site type: Prisoner of war camp
  • Known as: Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Germany

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

San Antonio, Texas 1 June 1905

Other

Prisoner of War

Zagan, Poland 26 February 1943 - 1 June 1945 Held at Stalag Luft 3, Sagan-Silesia (now Poland) moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser. Officially Returned to Military Control (RMC) 1-Jun-45.

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added a connection to Stalag Luft 3 per WW2 POW records at the National Archives (NARA).

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added punctuation to the "Summary biography" to aid clarity.

Date
ContributorLee8thbuff
Changes
Sources

Lee Cunningham 21-Jun-2015 Added decorations and made connections to Place and Mission within existing website data; Added POW event and location per National Archives Records Administration (NARA) WWII POW database; Added A/C model number and Unit designations in Biography. MACR 16067.

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Gotke's experiences at The Writing 69th

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / MACR 16067, Losses of the 8th and 9th AFs Vol. 1 by Bishop and Hey p. 81, The 44th BG Roll of Honor and Casualties by Lundy pp. p. 52-54 with qotes from letter regarding Feb. 26, The Writing 69th by Jim Hamilton p. 156

Wayne H Gotke: Gallery (1 items)