Hptm. Wilke, III. J.G. 53

[byron-]

Hptm. Wilke, passed from greek airfields as a "planegroup-leader III./J.G. 53" several times. (Dec.1941, Jan. 1942 , 05.42-11.42 )

Any more infos about this officer would be appreciated

[Larry deZeng]

I almost gave up, Byron, because you didn't spell the name correctly. The only pilot by the name of W I L K E in JG 53 was an Unteroffizier. Here is who I think you are referring to:

WILCKE, Wolf-Dietrich. (DOB: 11.03.13 in Schrimm near Posen). (RES, DKG). 1934 joined the army, served in a Cavalry Rgt. 1935 trf to the Luftwaffe, as an Oberfähnrich. 01.04.36 promo to Lt. (n.d.) trf to JG 132. c.10.37 trf to JFS Werneuchen as an instructor. 1939 served with the Legion Condor in Spain. 01.07.39 Oblt., trf from I. of J/88 Legion Condor to III./JG 53. 03.10.39 Oblt., appt Staka 7./JG 53 (to 18.05.40). 18.05.40 POW – in Bf 109 E-3 shot down by French fighters W of Rethel and bailed out; aircraft crashed at LaGravière, Doux.01.07.40 promo to Hptm. 07.40 re-appt Staka 7./JG 53 (to 12.08.40). 13.08.40 Hptm., appt Kdr. III./JG 53 (to 18.05.42). 06.08.41 Hptm., awarded Ritterkreuz, Kdr. III./JG 53. 19.05.42 trf to JG 3. 12.08.42 Hptm./Maj., appt Kommodore JG 3 (to 23.03.44). 09.09.42 Hptm., awarded Eichenlaub, Kommodore JG 3. 03.11.42 Maj., awarded DKG, Kommodore JG 3. 23.12.42 Maj., awarded Schwerter, Kommodore JG 3. 01.02.43 promo to Obstlt. 01.12.43 promo to Oberst. 23.03.44 KIA - shot down by P-51 Mustangs near Schöppenstedt by Braunschweig). Credited with 162 air victories in 732 combat missions.

Larry & Doug

[byron-]

Thanks very much Larry and sorry about the trouble i caused with the uncorrect name.
I took it from the wardiary of the "Befehlshaber Südost", as one can see, there are a lot of name-errors there as well.

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by byron-

Thanks very much Larry and sorry about the trouble i caused with the uncorrect name.
I took it from the wardiary of the "Befehlshaber Südost", as one can see, there are a lot of name-errors there as well.

Right you are, Byron. Since 1977, I have researched my way through millions of pages of Heer and Luftwaffe KTB'er und Anlagen and if there is one thing that sticks out above all else, it's that the wartime Germans were TERRIBLE spellers!

Larry

[byron-]

I think Larry, the same thing happens with other nations too.
You can not imagine, how twisted german names i found in official military books of the greek headquarters.

It is till now not easy (and very expencive) to find the right people in order to translate a military book. A perfect knowledge of the language is far not enough.

Apart from that, the soldier or officer who was responsible to keep the war diary, was not necessarily a linguist or an educated man.

In particular, the name Wilke, thats what my feeling tells, would be properly written without a "c". But obviouly, there are no rules in the german language how names have to be written.

best regards,
it was 36° Celsius today, we have a longer weekend, most of us escaped
to the beaches

[Larry deZeng]

Beautiful photo...........I hope that's a photo of YOUR garden overlooking the bay in front of YOUR home!

Cheers,

Larry

[VtwinVince]

Byron, my dad spent a lot of time on Mt. Athos, and I spent a year on Rodos. You are lucky to be there.

[byron-]

@ Vince,

I was September last year in Rhodes, it`s an impressive island. High quality hotels and service for permissible prices.

@ Bruce

I`ll make a recearch on KKpt. Hans Wilke and tell you about him.

@ Larry,

take a look on these two WebSites about Thessaloniki and the white tower.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Thessaloniki

http://www.google.gr/search?hl=el&q=...83%CE%B7&meta=

The town was surroundet, during the Byzantin time and after it, with high walls, 5 or 6 kilometers are still save, attached a pic. The white tower was a fortress of the whole.

@ pelagonia

thank you for the good will to help. I `ve allready written some books
about the "Kriegsmarine" and the "Heer" in Greece. Maybe later, if i can research what is needed, i`ll go ahead with "Luftwaffe". It needs time.

all the best

Byron

[Larry deZeng]

Larry,
take a look on these two WebSites about Thessaloniki and the white tower.

Thanks, Byron, very interesting! An Ottoman prison from about 1430.

Larry

[byron-]

@ Larry

regarding your question about the mole infront of the Seenot 7 base.
After the war, all the seafront of Salonica, from the white tower eastward, (about 3 km.) become wider (into the sea) some 100 meters, so the mole disapeared.

@ pelagonia

you may have seen a similar picture of the base, included in the book of Horst Thürling "Seenotstaffel 7"