• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Searchable Lists
Operation: Circus 142
Date: 27th April 1942 (Monday)
Unit: No. 133 Squadron (motto: 'Let Us To The Battle') 12 Group
Type: Spitfire Vb
Serial: BM264 (1)
Code: MD-? 'Shetlander'
Base: RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire
Location: North Sea off Ostend
Pilot: Fl/Sgt. Walter Charles Wicker R/74415 RCAF Age 20. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
On the 12th March 1942 flying Spitfire Vb AD118 (2) when after 30 minutes of trying to lower the undercarriage and running dangerously l filtersw on fuel he had no option but to make a belly landing. A later inspection revealed sludge in the hydraulic filters preventing sufficient pressure to operate correctly.
Taking off at 14:00 hrs with 5 others on the first of four sweeps made by the squadron this day. Together with 616 and 412 Squadrons.
They rendezvous at Southend with the North Weald Wing. The Wing was top cover and 133 the top squadron. On reaching Ostend, about 30 FW. 190s were seen above at 21,000 ft. Blue Section of 133 became engaged with some of these as they dived at it, and Blue 1,
P/O. Robert Lewis Pewitt (3), flying Spitfire Vb BL988 claimed 1 FW.190 as being probably destroyed. About the same time, White Section was attacked from below, and White 4, P/O. William Henry Baker flying BL492, chased an FW.190 down to 10,000 ft. firing a long burst. The E/A was also claimed as probably destroyed.
Shortly after this, the Wing turned for home and Fl/Sgt. Wicker was heard over the R/T to say that he had been hit. It came through very faintly.
He did not land with the rest of the Squadron, and his body was washed up at Dover 2 days later. The remainder of the squadron had returned safely home by 19:20 hrs.
(1) BM264 manufactured at the Castle Bromwich factory and delivered to No. 5 Maintenance Unit on the 23rd March 1942. Assigned to 133 squadron on the 2th April 1942.
(2) AD118 manufactured at the Castle Bromwich factory and delivered to No. 4 Maintenance Unit on the 23rd March 1942. Assigned to 266 squadron on the 13th September 1941, 17 squadron 27th May 1942, 340 squadron as GW-M on the 20th August 1942, 453 squadron as RU-K, Son the 06th November 1942 overshot and tailwheel torn off at Southend airfield F/O John Barrien Aus/407747 RAAF safe and survived the war. Flown as a training aircraft from 17th October 1943 until struck off charge on the 30th July 1947.
(3) P/O. Robert Lewis Pewitt 100528 RAFVR (From Texas, USA born on the 19th February 1920 - died age 22): On the 19th May 1942 he was shot down by German fighters off Beachy Head, Sussex, England whilst flying Spitfire Vb BL988. His body was returned home for burial in 1950. Son of Estes Clarence Pewitt (1894 - 1964, age 70) and Ruth Clyde Pewitt née Paschall (04th November 1893 - 15th November 1976, age 82 ) brother of Edgar Lee and Mary Ruth of Tarrant County, Texas, USA.
(4) F/O. William Henry Baker O-885113 USAAF (From Texas, USA, born on the 13th September 192 - died age 22): Shot down flying Spitfire 1X BS446 on the 26th September 1942 by anti-aircraft fire at Morlaix, France. His remains were never knowingly recovered. Son of William Henry Baker (22nd November - 07th May 1976, age 89) and Mercedes E Baker (20th May 1890 - January 1981, age 90). Bell County, Texas, USA.
Burial and further information:
Fl/Sgt. Walter Charles Wicker. Hawkinge Cemetery. Plot O. Row 2. Grave 56.. Also remembered on the family grave in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Born on the 14th January 1922 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. A student, staying at the YMCA in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Educated at University of Virginia. Enlisted in the RCAF on the 02nd November 1940 in Ottawa. Trained with 55 Operational Training Unit. Joined 133 squadron on the 09th December 1941
The only son of Walter Charles Sr. (19th July 1898 - 03rtd May 1964, age 65) and Ireene Maud Wicker, (née Seaton ( 24th November 1900 - 19th Nov 1987, age 86) of 5 East 54th Street, New York City, USA As Ireene Wicker (she had added t, Illinois he extra ''e' to her first name on the advice of a numerologist who told her it would bring her prosperity), brother of Nancy Deborah Wicker (11th December 1925 - 02nd May 2016, age 90) husband husband, of Arieh Eilan (9 Apil 2009, age 83).
His father's first marriage was to the film actress Valia Kereelova Wickerin 1937 (née Venitskya, 09th December 1899 - 26th June 1993, age 93, her third marriage) Shown right
Epitaph: 'A Valiant Soldier Who Died So That Democracy May Live'.
(Los Angeles Times (California) - Thursday, 19th November 1987 - Expanded by Aircrew Remembered.)
Radio's 'Singing Lady' has died in West Palm Beach, Florida at age 86.
Ireene Wicker Hammer, who starred, wrote and produced a story-song program for children through 20 years of radio and on into television, died Monday night in a convalescent home where she had lived since the 1985 death of her second husband, Victor J. Hammer, a New York art dealer and brother of Dr. Armand Hammer, chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corp.
As Ireene Wicker (she had added the extra "e" to her first name on the advice of a numerologist who told her it would bring her prosperity), she starred in some of radio's first soap operas--"Judy and Jane," "Painted Dreams" and "Today's Children"--before creating what came to be one of the most popular shows in radio history. It went on the air in 1931 in Chicago and moved to the NBC Blue network the following year.
Lasted Till 1975
For the next 20 years it was heard regularly and then seen periodically on television until 1975.
Working with only a pianist, she wrote, acted and sang thousands of stories over the air to an audience once estimated at 25 million. Her brightly told tales ranged from medieval fables to true stories about contemporary celebrities. Mrs. Wicker (her first husband Walter was a writer and actor on NBC) was narrator, dialectician and singer on her one-woman show, opening each segment with this theme:
Children, you who wish to hear
Songs and stories, come draw near:
Both young and old come hand-in-hand,
And we'll be off to story land.
She retold Indian legends, recited poetry and wrote original stories for the early evening show for which she received countless awards, including the Peabody, radio's highest. The program consistently ranked at the top of juvenile show surveys, primarily because mothers appreciated its contrast to the adventure programs of the day.
Mrs. Wicker came to children's radio through a Kellogg's cornflakes executive who handed her a list of nursery rhymes and asked if she could put together a program from them. (Kellogg's became the show's long-running sponsor.) She did, played all the parts herself and became known across the country as "The Lady With a Thousand Voices."
By 1937 she was doing four shows a week for NBC and a 30-minute Sunday program. She attributed her success to her younger years when she began telling stories to her own infant children. ' loved being a child myself,' she told Radio Stars magazine in 1937. 'I never wanted to grow up....
Used Puppets on TV
When TV replaced radio as a favoured medium, Mrs. Wicker used puppets to act out her stories and she became their voice.
But her life had a darker side too. In 1942 her 20 year old son was killed in action with the Royal Canadian Air Force. In the early 1950s she and stripteaser Gypsy Rose Lee were falsely accused by Red Channels, a private publication capable of blacklisting actors and writers, of being Communist supporters. The accusations were later withdrawn.
In 1986 a claim was filed on her behalf by her daughter to remove Armand Hammer as executor of her husband's $1.5-million estate, but a court ruled in Hammer's favour.
Her daughter, Nancy Eilan of Stamford, Connecticut, survives her.
In 2013 the Shetland Amenity Trust published a book, 'The Shetlander'. ISBN: 9780957203105. This 70 page book describes how a little island community of Shetland decides to raise £5,000 (equal. today of £250,000) to buy a 'Presentation Spitfire'. This is the story, as reported week by week in the Shetland News, of the enormous fun raising effort made by everyone in the islands, from young to old and from rich to poor.
A collection of newspaper articles, a photo and letters together with a box of medals sold at auction recently for $640.
The granddaughter of Charles Gustavus Wicker, Nancy Deborah Wicker-Eilan, designed and created this statue as a reminder to you and future generations of their hope that you will follow in the Wicker tradition. They depend on you to continue the legacy, to give your time and diligence freely, to join in and work to do what needs to be done for your community to thrive and enrich the lives of others, no matter how small or large the challenge.
Charles Gustavus Wicker 1820 - 1889. Wicker Park in Chicago is named after him and his brother Joel Hoxie Wicker 1812-1888
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the National Archive Kew. AIR-27-945-16, Government of Canada WW2 Service records, Paradie RCAF Archives.
Other sources as quoted below:
KTY 18-01-2025
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed
by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior
permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2025
Last Modified: 19 January 2025, 12:35