LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Laurence Vivian WOTZKO
Service No: 2366
Born: Brighton SA, 2 August 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 May 1938 (at RAAF Station Laverton VIC)
Unit: No. 6 Service Flying Training School, Mallala SA
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 6 Service Flying Training School Anson aircraft R3542), Monteith SA, 4 August 1942, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Francis and Phoebe Ada Lillian Wotzko; husband of Mavis Rosevere Wotzko, of Unley, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 5, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 117, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0950 hours on 4 August 1943, No. 6 Service Flying Training School Avro Anson aircraft R3542 and W2165 collided over Monteith, killing all eight crew members on board both aircraft. The crew members were:
R3542
Leading Aircraftman Leslie Cadd (416929) (Trainee Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Cooper (413187) (Observer)
Leading Aircraftman Norman Dudley Haines (416956) (Trainee Pilot)
Flying Officer Laurence Vivian Wotzko (2366) (Instructor Pilot)
W2165
Sergeant Mervyn John Nichols (413018) (Observer)
Sergeant Hugh Godfrey Phillips (406625) (Instructor Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman James Brignall Richardson (420056) (Trainee Pilot)
Leading Aircraftman Colin McCall Say (409484) (Trainee Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 100
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992