Wiley, George William (Flight Lieutenant)

Prisoner of War Executed 1944-March-25

Flight Lieutenant George William Wiley RCAF

Birth Date: 1922-January-24

Born: London, Ontario

Parents: Son of Morley Riley and Ethel May (nee Root) Wiley of Windsor, Ontario. Brother of Marjorie Rhea. Flight Lieutenant Wiley was taken Prisoner of War in March 1943 after escaping from his Kittyhawk airc

Spouse:

Home: Windsor, Ontario

Enlistment: Windsor, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1940-December-04

Mentioned in Dispatches (1)

Service

RCAF

Unit

112 (F) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Swift In Destruction

Base

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Pilot

Service Numbers

J/7234
PoW: 930

Home
Google MapWindsor, Ontario
Final Burial
Google MapCmentarz Wojenny Wspolnoty Brytyjskiej w Poznaniu
7 D 2

112 Squadron (Swift In Destruction). Kittyhawk aircraft was shot down on March 10, 1943 forty- five miles north-west of Tatauin, Egypt. 112 Sqn lost 6 pilots this day.

Flight Lieutenant Wiley was taken Prisoner of War and was one of seventy-six Allied Officers that attempted an escape from Prisoner of War Camp Stalag Luft 3. 50 were killed, 15 were recaptured, and 11 escaped. Canadians, F/Ls G.E. McGill, H. Birkland M.i.D., G.A. Kidder, P.W. Langford M.i.D., J.C. Wernham M.i.D., and Flight Lieutenant Wiley were six of the 50 killed by the Gestapo on personal orders from Adolph Hitler.

Flight Lieutenant Wiley had been slightly injured on October 7, 1942 when he made a wheels up landing in his battle damaged Kittyhawk at El Daba, Egypt.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Supplemental Story

Stories and Videos

The Great Escape: Canadian Airmen Role

The Movie by the same name implies that The Great Escape was an American operation. It was not. It was primarily a British Commonwealth Operation and Canadian airmen had a very prominent role. In fact six Canadian airmen who were captured after escape were executed by German forces.

YouTube The True Story Of The Great Escape

Further Reading:

  1. THE GREAT ESCAPE: A CANADIAN STORY by Ted Barris
  2. THE GREAT ESCAPE by Paul Brickhill

The Escape

Seventy-six Allied Officers escape from Prisoner of War Camp Stalag Luft 3. 50 were subsequently murdered in retaliation for their escape attempt on the order of Adolph Hitler. 15 were recaptured, and 11 escaped.

6 - RCAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant GE McGill
  2. Flight Lieutenant H Birkland MiD
  3. Flight Lieutenant GA Kidder
  4. Flight Lieutenant PW Langford MiD
  5. Flight Lieutenant JC Wernham MiD
  6. Flight Lieutenant GW Wiley

4 - RAAF

  1. Squadron Leader J Catanach
  2. Flight Lieutenant AH Hake
  3. Flying Officer RV Kierath
  4. Squadron Leader JEA Williams

2 - RNZAF

  1. Flying Officer A Christensen
  2. Flying Officer PPJ Pohe

2 - SAAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant N McGarr
  2. Lt RJ Stevens

2 - Norway (RAF)

  1. Flying Officer H Espelid
  2. Flying Officer J Fugelsang

1 - France (RAF)

  1. Lt BW Scheidhower

1 - Greece (RAF)

  1. Flying Officer S Skanziklas

32 - RAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant E Brettell DFC
  2. Flight Lieutenant LG Butt DFC
  3. Squadron Leader RJ Bushell
  4. Flight Lieutenant MJ Casey
  5. Flying Officer D.H. Cochram
  6. Squadron Leader IK Cross DFC
  7. Flight Lieutenant BH Evans
  8. Lt Gouws
  9. F/Ls WJ Grisman
  10. Flight Lieutenant AD Gunn
  11. Flight Lieutenant CB Hall
  12. Flight Lieutenant AH Hayter
  13. Flight Lieutenant ES Humphreys
  14. Flight Lieutenant A Kiewnarski
  15. Squadron Leader TG Kirby-Green
  16. Flying Officer W Kolanowski
  17. Flight Lieutenant TB Leigh
  18. Flight Lieutenant R Marcinkcus
  19. Flight Lieutenant HT Milford
  20. Flying Officer J Mondschein
  21. Flying Officer K Pawluk
  22. Flight Lieutenant HA Picard
  23. Flight Lieutenant CD Swain
  24. Flying Officer RC Stewart
  25. Flying Officer JG Stower
  26. Flying Officer DD Street
  27. Flight Lieutenant E Valenta
  28. Flight Lieutenant GW Walenn
  29. Flight Lieutenant JF Williams
  30. Flight Lieutenant JLR Long
  31. Flying Officer S Krol
  32. Flying Officer P Tobolski

The Great Escape

  1. From which Prison Camp were the Canadian and British Airmen trying to escape and where was it located?
  2. How deep was the escape tunnel?
  3. How long was the tunnel?
  4. How many men expected to escape?
  5. How how many did escape?
  6. How many were re-captured?
  7. How long did it take to plan and execute the escape?
  8. What special skills were required to facilitate the escape?
  9. Was the Gestapo's treatment of the re-captured prisoners legal under the terms of the Geneva Convention?

Additional Projects

  • Compare and contrast the 1963 movie with the actual events
  • Compare the differences between Internment and Prisoner of War
  • Were there allied prison camps for Captured German and Japanese?
  • Were there detainment camps for non-combatants?