Glacier Girl

On Tuesday, July 7, 1942, Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared "Europe First", and Operation Bolero began it's first phase in history as a massive buildup and moveMent of Allied Aircraft into the European theatre. It was only seven months since the attack on Pearl Harbor had thrust the U.S. into the war.

Glacier Girl

Glacier Girl

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Glacier Girl

Glacier Girl

Twenty-five crew members took flight from the Presque Isle Air Base in Maine and headed for the United Kingdom. Piloting six P-38s as escorts for two B-17s, the flight overseas required stops to refuel in Labrador, Greenland and Iceland on the way to England. The path from Greenland to Iceland required the squadrons to fly over mountains on the east coast of Greenland, across the Denmark Strait and over the ice cap to Reykjavik, Iceland.

As the squadrons soared over the ice cap at twelve thousand feet, a heavy blanket of clouds obscured their view. They rose above the clouds to improve visibility. Temperatures in the thin atmosphere dropped to minus ten degrees Fahrenheit. Still ninety minutes from Iceland, the planes entered a large mass of cumulus clouds and were forced to climb another two thousand feet. As one of the pilots lost feeling in his hands, he ripped the plane's defroster from it's mounting and used it to heat his gloves to make them warm enough to feel the controls. As the flight progressed, their feet became too numb to feel the rudder pedals.

The smaller P-38s struggled to maintain contact with the B-17s as ice formed on their wings. Radio operators tried desperately to raise the Airbase in Reykjavik or the weather plane that was supposed to be flying an hour ahead of them. As the weather became worse, and lacking any outside communication, the squadron decided to return to the Airbase in Greenland and wait for better conditions. An hour later, as they approached the east coast of Greenland, the weather conditions became worse.

After ninety minutes of flying in dense cloud cover, the squadron began to run low on fuel and decided to search for a place to land. Brad McManus, pilot of one of the P-38s, decided to land with wheels down. He hoped that landing on wheels would enable him to take off again after more fuel was dropped for the aircraft. Everything seemed to go well for the first several hundred yards. Then suddenly, the front landing gear crashed through the ice and the plane flipped over, pinning the cockpit in the Snow. McManus managed to cut his way out of his parachute harness and his safety belt as smoke filled the cockpit.

Watching the scene from above, pilot Robert Wilson retracted his landing gear and slid to a smooth stop on the ice. He raced the half mile back to the site of the crash to check on McManus. Wilson's breath billowed in wispy white clouds behind him as he ran toward the smoke from the crashed plane. McManus walked out from under one of the wings of the downed planes and said, "Didn't think I'd make it, did you?" As the two pilots waved, the remaining squadron responded with slow rolls and other aerial acrobatics.

One by one the other P-38s landed on the ice. The B-17s remained aloft for nearly another half hour, expending the remaining fuel before joining the other planes on the frozen surface. Not a single crew member was lost during the landings, but there was no time to celebrate. The crewman turned their focus to survival and rescue.

The Lost Squadron

Rations were gathered and divided to last for two weeks. The Men wore Sunglasses at all times to prevent Snow blindness, and avoided eating too much Snow as it would result in sore throats. The crew hack sawed holes into both ends of oxygen bottles and linked them to engine manifold pipes, with oil drained from engines and wicked through the device on parachute straps the assembly became crude space heaters to combat the freezing temperatures.

After three days on the ice, one of the radio operators received a Morse code message to confirm their condition and position. Later that day, exciteMent mounted as Supplies were dropped by parachute. The excitement waned as the crew members Watched strong winds carry the parachutes and the Supplies far out of site on the horizon. As additional attempts to provide Supplies resulted in similar catastrophe, the stranded airmen created scavenging parties to search for the scattered Supplies. When supplies were finally gathered and organized, the crew members celebrated with a square dance on the wing of one of the B-17s.

Back at the airbase, people coordinated supplies and devised plans to rescue the Lost Squadron. Meanwhile, on the ice, the men passed several more days listening to radio broadcasts from England. Another favorite diversion was to sit on burlap sacks and hold on to parachutes, racing one another as strong winds pulled their parachutes across the ice. Eventually a ship, ski and dogsled team were dispatched to retrieve the crewmen.

The P38 Pilots retrieved personal affects, fired .45 slugs into electronic equipment to keep it from falling into the hands of Nazi scavengers, and prepared for the long trek to meet their rescuers. McManus removed a clock from his instrument panel as a keepsake. The men marched through knee deep Snow and ice for hours, finally collapsing at the edge of a cliff on the ocean's edge. They took turns watching over each other as they slept. Once they were picked up by a Coast Guard Cutter, the men were treated to showers, dry Clothes and a nice meal before being dispatched to new assignments.

Fifty Years Later

On July 15, 1992, 74 year old Brad McManus stood on the ice cap surrounded by the pieces of a P-38 flown by his late friend Harry Smith. The plane was buried under 268 feet of ice. The goal was to rescue one of the planes from the Lost Squadron. Special equipment was used to dig a hole and melt the ice by circulating hot water and pumping it out. It took more than one month to complete digging the hole to the aircraft. It took twenty-five minutes to descend to the bottom of the hole, where steam hoses carved out a cave around the aircraft. After another four months, the aircraft was disassembled and carefully removed from the icy grave.

The process of restoring the P-38 has been said to be "the finest restoration of any warbird ever done." Several specialists contributed expertise in goods and services to the effort. Among these efforts, B. F. Goodrich Aerospace in England rebuilt landing gear and brakes. A Pennsylvania company fabricated a new canopy. The Smithsonian Institution supplied eight reels of microfilm and stacks of photocopies of era aviation maintenance and handbooks, parts and repair manuals.

At the time of this writing, Glacier Girl is currently at the Planes of Fame in Chino, California, where installation of modern avionics includes a GPS navigation system, gyros and a radio. The Lightning's Allison V-1710 engines will be examined and extra fuel tanks attached. Once the airplane is ready, it will be flown home to the Lost Squadron's home base in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Then it will retrace the original flight path from Presque Isle, Maine through Goose Bay Labrador, Greenland, Reykjavik Iceland, Prestwick Scotland and on to England for the 4th of July Duxford Airshow. The purpose of the trip is to complete a journey started in July 1942.

To find out more about the Planes of Fame in Chino, California, visit http://www.planesoffame.org/

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Words of Wisdom

"There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still."
- Franking Delano Roosevelt

"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."
- Sir Winston Churchill

"Here is the answer which I will give to President Roosevelt... We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or Tire. Neither the sudden shock of battle nor the long-drawn trials of vigilance and exertion will wear us down. Give us the tools and we will finish the Job."
- Sir Winston Churchill

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Glacier Girl