Benjamin Peter Wikera
Sergeant Benjamin P. “Benny” Wikera was a Marine aviation radioman who flew with VMTB-233.
He was shot down on a mission to Simpson Harbor, Rabaul, on 30 January 1944.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 359570
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
The DPAA has not publicized this information.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
September 7, 1921
at Voluntown, CT
Parents
Mary (Stegowski) Wikera
divorced from
Piotr “Peter” Wikera
Education
Putnam High School
Occupation & Employer
Mechanic
Belding-Heminway-Corticelli Co.
Service Life
Entered Service
April 3, 1942
at Springfield, MA
Home Of Record
21 Buck Street
Putnam, CT
Next Of Kin
Mother, Mrs. Mary Wikera
Military Specialty
Aviation radioman
Primary Unit
VMTB-233
Campaigns Served
Northern Solomons (two tours)
Individual Decorations
Air Medal
Purple Heart
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
On 30 January 1944 took off from Piva Airfield as radioman for TBF1-C #24406 (Squadron Number 120), with Captain Paul E. Lamale as pilot and Staff Sergeant John H. Schillinger, Jr., as turret gunner. The mission called for bombing and strafing Japanese shipping at Rabaul; reports of an aircraft carrier in Simpson Harbor turned out to be false, so the strike force attacked other targets of opportunity afloat and ashore.
Japanese defense forces put up a screen of anti-aircraft fire from dozens of positions; a battery on North Daughter Mountain was known to be particularly “intense and accurate.” One of these guns hit TBF 120 as it approached the harbor, and Lamale was seen to “peel off suddenly and spin toward the water out of control.” An unknown Marine officer reported:
I flew wing on Lamale in the dive, diverting most of my attention to watching him for signals and trying to stick close to him. At an altitude of 6,000 feet, Paul's plane went out of control. I followed as closely as was possible and saw the plane crash into the mountainside North of the city. Due to the dense jungle, I was unable to see any of the wreckage.
Lamale, Schillinger, and Wikera were posted as missing after the mission, and ultimately declared dead on 13 January 1945.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; remains not recovered
Next Of Kin Address
Address of mother, Mrs. Mary Wikera.
Location Of Loss
The Lamale TBF crashed on North Daughter (Toyanumbatir) Mountain.
