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Gutenkunst, Douglas Hugo, LTJG.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada
Last Address Milwaukee, WI
Casualty Date Jun 30, 1944
Cause Non Hostile- Died Other Causes
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Papua New Guinea
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Forest Home Cemetery - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Military Service Number O - 145 737
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Doug was the son of Hugh Arthur Gutenkunst of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Gertrude Agnes Douglas Gutenkunst of Montreal, Canada. The family was living in Owen Sound, Ontario when Doug was born, where his father was a manufacturer.
On January 30, 1944 Lt. Gutenkunst was one of 17 pilots who escorted B-25's in a strike on a supply dump in the Rabaul area. Twenty or thirty Zekes were intercepted on this strike, with two being destroyed and another four reported as being probably destroyed. On this mission one of the F4U's was damaged by fire from a Zeke, but no bombers were lost to enemy aircraft.
Later in the day on January 30th Lt. Gutenkunst was one of 15 pilots who escorted TBF's in a joint SBD-TBF strike on shipping in Simpson Harbor, New Britain. According to an AviationSafetyNetwork accident report, on 30 January 1944, a Vought F4U-1 Corsair piloted by Lt. D. H. Gutenkunst, USNR was part of a VF-17 (Fighting Squadron 17) strike that was hastily arranged involving all readily available torpedo-bombers, dive bombers and fighters from the two Piva airstrips and Torokina. The strike force returned to Bougainville close to dusk after attacking Simpson Harbor.
The heavy concentration of planes caused considerable congestion in the air around the Cape Torokina air strips. Two Corsairs from VF-17 (one being Lt. Gutenkunst) were unable to join the landing pattern at their base and diverted to Piva Uncle. On the final approach to the runway the Corsair collided with an FG-1 from VMF-211 being flown by a seriously wounded pilot making a straight in approach (this was Maj. Robert Lee Hopkins, USMCR - see Find A Grave Memorial #2751112). Both Corsairs were destroyed in the resulting crash and both pilots died.
Lt. Gutenkunst's remains were buried in a grave on Bougainville, and his remains were returned to the States on June 3, 1948 for final burial at the request of his next of kin, which would have been his widowed mother. She was living at 3418 N. Summit Avenue in Milwaukee, which was the home of both Douglas and his mother when he entered the Navy.
Comments/Citation:
Service number: 145737
Distinguished Flying Cross
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant, Junior Grade Douglas Hugo C. Gutenkunst, United States Naval Reserve, for extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight as a Fighter Pilot in the Solomon Islands area from 27 October to 1 December 1943, and from 25 January to 30 January 1944. Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Gutenkunst ably assisted his section leader in downing three hostile planes near Bougainville. In a strike on Lakuani airfield he shot down two planes, and destroyed two more in a later attack on Tobira airfield. General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 329 (August 1944) Action Date: October 27, 1943 - January 30, 1944 Service: Navy Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
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Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTjg) Douglas Hugo Gutenkunst, United States Navy Reserve, Service Number: O-145737
Early Life
Douglas Hugo Gutenkunst was born on 19 January 1919 in Owen Sound, Grey County, Ontario, Canada. His family settled later in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County Wisconsin. His father, Hugh Arthur Gutenkunst, born 3 June 1883 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, died 18 June 1928 in Waukesha, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, was a Manufacturer. His mother, Gertrude Agnes Douglas, was born on 11 June 1894 in Montreal, Montreal Region, Quebec, Canada and died on 30 March 1968 in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She emigrated to the U.S. in 1922. Douglas’ parents were married on 8 April 1918 in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Douglas was the elder of two sons in the family. He attended the University School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1941, he was engaged to marry a Ms. Cudahy (first name unknown). It is unknown if they ever married.
Military
Douglas Hugo Gutenkunst entered the U.S. Navy Reserve as an enlisted man on 6 January 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He was later commissioned a Limited Duty Officer (LDO) Pilot. At the time of his death, he was assigned as an F4U-1 fighter pilot with Fighter Squadron 17 (VF-17), Commander Air Group 17 (CAG 17), operating in the Pacific Theater.
VF-17 was established on 1 January 1943, at NAS Norfolk, with Lieutenant Commander John T. "Tommy" Blackburn as its commander. It was the second Navy fighter squadron to receive the F4U-1 Corsair and the most successful of them all.
Blackburn wanted a squadron insignia that had a piratical theme to it to match the F4U's Corsair designation; hence the skull and crossbones were chosen. The original design was developed by Harry Hollmeyer, who became an ace pilot. The squadron helped during the development of the F4U Corsair resulting in some design changes, resulting in the F4U-1A. Unfortunately, the Navy still deemed the Corsair unfit for carrier service and instead of joining USS Bunker Hill, VF-17 became a land-based squadron in the Solomon Islands during most of its deployment to the South Pacific.
On 8 November 1943, the squadron executive officer, Roger Hedrick, led a flight which intercepted 39 Japanese fighters over Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville. As the Japanese fighters fled back to their base, VF-17 was responsible for downing 3 fighters and damaging 4 others. Though outnumbered, the squadron survived the encounter with no losses. This action was typical of the squadron's land-based service in the Solomon Islands in 1943 and 1944, when it went up against the cream of Imperial Japanese Navy pilots then based at Rabaul.
In its two tours of duty in the Solomon Islands, VF-17 had 152 aerial victories and produced 11 aces. VF-17 finished its combat tour on 10 May 1944, was equipped with the F6F-5 Hellcat and moved to the USS Hornet. Here, the squadron amassed 161 victories, and produced 12 aces. Overall, the two combat tours of VF-17 were credited with 313 victories, the most of any US Navy squadron.
On 30 January 1944 Lt. Gutenkunst was one of 17 pilots who escorted B-25's in a strike on a supply dump in the Rabaul area. Twenty or thirty Zekes (Japanese fighters) were intercepted on this strike, with two being destroyed and another four reported as being probably destroyed. On this mission one of the F4U's was damaged by fire from a Zeke, but no bombers were lost to enemy aircraft.
Later in the day on January 30th Lt. Gutenkunst was one of 15 pilots who escorted TBF's in a joint SBD-TBF strike on shipping in Simpson Harbor, New Britain. According to an Aviation Safety Network accident report, on 30 January 1944, a Vought F4U-1 Corsair piloted by Lt. D. H. Gutenkunst, USNR was part of a VF-17 (Fighting Squadron 17) strike that was hastily arranged involving all readily available torpedo-bombers, dive bombers and fighters from the two Piva airstrips and Torokina. The strike force returned to Bougainville close to dusk after attacking Simpson Harbor.
Upon returning from this mission, a heavy concentration of planes caused considerable congestion in the air around the Cape Torokina air strips. Two Corsairs from VF-17 (one being Lt. Gutenkunst) were unable to join the landing pattern at their base and diverted to Piva Uncle. On the final approach to the runway the Corsair collided with an FG-1 from VMF-211 being flown by a seriously wounded pilot making a straight in approach (this was Maj. Robert Lee Hopkins, USMCR. Both Corsairs were destroyed in the resulting crash and both pilots died.
Death and Burial
Douglas Hugo Gutenkunst was Killed in Action on 30 January 1944 near Bougainville, Papua, New Guinea, when his plane collided with another aircraft while landing. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart Medal. Initially buried on Bougainville, he was later reinterred at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in June 1948.
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.
If you have any details, photos or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name. CDR Robert Mulvanny – [email protected] Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars.
Description The Bougainville campaign (Operation Cherry Blossom) was fought by the Allies in the South Pacific during World War II to regain control of the island of Bougainville from the Japanese forces who had occupied it in 1942. During their occupation the Japanese constructed naval aircraft bases in the north, east, and south of the island; but none in the west. They developed a naval anchorage at Tonolei Harbor near Buin, their largest base, on the southern coastal plain of Bougainville. On the nearby Treasury and Shortland Islands they built airfields, naval bases and anchorages. These bases helped protect Rabaul, the major Japanese garrison and naval base in New Guinea, while allowing continued expansion to the south-east, down the Solomon Islands chain, to Guadalcanal.
The Allied campaign, which had two distinct phases, began on 1 November 1943 and ended on 21 August 1945, with the surrender of the Japanese.
Before the war, Bougainville had been administered as part of the Australian Territory of New Guinea, even though, geographically, Bougainville is part of the Solomon Islands chain. As a result, the campaign is referred to as part of both the New Guinea and the Solomon Islands campaigns.
The Battle of the Treasury Islands was a Second World War battle that took place between 27 October and 12 November 1943[2] on the Treasury Islands group; part of the Solomon Islands as part of the Pacific Theatre. The Allied invasion of the Japanese held island group intended to secure Mono and Stirling Islands so that a radar station could be constructed on the former and the latter be used as a staging area for an assault on Bougainville. The attack on the Treasury Islands would serve the long term allied strategy of isolating Bougainville and Rabaul and the elimination of the 24,000 strong garrison in the area.
The invasion, to be conducted primarily by the New Zealand Army, supported by American forces, was codenamed Operation Goodtime. The New Zealand 8th Infantry Brigade Group, assigned to the United States' I Marine Amphibious Corps, launched the invasion of the Treasury Islands at 06:06 hours on 27 October. 3,795 men landed in the assault wave with the remainder of the Allied force landing in four waves during the following 20 days. The operation was the first amphibious assault launched by New Zealand troops since the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915.
On 1 November the flag was raised over the ruins of Falamae, the islands' capital, and civil administration was restored. Eleven days later the islands were declared clear of Japanese forces; although Japanese holdouts were sighted in the jungles into January 1944.
The operation, in conjunction with Operation Blissful, served to divert the attention of the Japanese Seventeenth Army from the next major Allied target in the Solomon Islands campaign. The success of the operation also helped to improve the planning of subsequent landings in the Pacific.
