Losing Bud Wilson

Heroes Remember

Losing Bud Wilson

Transcript

Interviewer: Did you ever hear what had happened to Bud Wilson? Yes, actually they were hit with ack-ack fire and they crashed and there was one person survived. I don't know what his name - I didn't know him personally that I can remember. But one person survived and apparently Bud, I'm not sure where the bomb aimer's position was, but he had a very difficult time. They had to try to get him out of the aircraft, to bail out and he did get out. But the rest of them, they had landed in a large water area someplace. And the rest of the crew, there was maybe seven or eight of them, they were all killed. And one Canadian survived, that's all I can remember now. Interviewer: He was a very good friend of yours, eh? Yes, he and I had been machinists together and had been in school together and he was my closest friend. Interviewer: It must have had quite an impact on you. It did yeah, but then, when I got back to the crew those kind of things I never told anybody about. I kept it with me. And then by the time I got to Ceylon and it took so long to get mail, that a boy, his name was Wilfred Wolfe, was in the Air Force. And he had been in England. And then I got mail from my girlfriend, or my family, or actually my girlfriend and my wife, that Bud Wilson had been killed. Wilfred Wolfe had been killed and I had grown up with him. And there was a third person, Palmerston boy, who was in the Air Force had been killed. Interviewer: It must have been tough. Yeah it was - they were difficult times.

Description

Mr. Goettler talks about the death of his best friend and other soldiers in his crew.

George Angus Goettler

George Angus Goettler was born in Palmerston, Ontario on October 23rd in 1923. Mr. Goettler’s father had a grocery store where he, his two brothers and his sister worked. He had a second sister who died at a young age. Mr. Goettler served as a wireless operator, radar operator and tail gunner with the 160 Squadron. After completing their tour, Mr. Goettler’s crew was put on a rest tour where they tested aircrafts. After the war, Mr. Goettler returned to the grocery business, running his own store in Palmerston, Ontario.

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