WALTER JANEK was just a teenager when he joined the U-Bootwaffe of the Kriegsmarine and was posted as Matrosengefreiter aboard U-67. They were returning from a Feindfahrt (war patrol) in the Caribbean to their homeport of Lorient where U-67 was part of the 2nd U-Bootflottille, when they were detected in the Sargasso Sea, and attacked by US Navy aircraft of VC.13 flying off the escort carrier USS CORE and was sunk by one of the AVENGER torpedo bombers on 16 July 1943.
Only three men lived out this action - 48 did not.
WALTER was taken prisoner and was placed in Papago Park POW Camp in Arizona for the duration of the war and a bit afterwards. He came to like the United States because shortly after his release, he became a US citizen and lived in the USA the remainder of his life.
"Yesterday's Enemies - Today's Friends!"
When the Red Army came through WALTER's hometown in Germany, they destroyed everything in the place and so there are no wartime photos of Walter on file, but here is a shot of him (right) sightseeing with his good friend, Morris Grinstead - the navigator and radioman of the AVENGER that sank U-67!
WALTER was very helpful and sent us copies of the patrol reports of U-67, crew lists, USN reports of the attack and sinking of the boat - and a lot more.
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