Gertrude Tompkins Silver: the last of the WASPs
Posted By SEAN CHASE
Updated 5 months ago
The Women's Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, were instrumental in the allied victory over the axis despite having never flown in combat.
In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbour, the U.S. Army Air Forces found themselves short of pilots to fight in the skies over Europe and the Pacific. When war broke out, the Americans were scrambling to build long-range pursuit fighters to protect its bombers and to recruit the pilots to fly them. The WASPs, some 1,100 civilian and military pilots, not only freed up their male counterparts for combat but ferried aircraft of various types from factories within the United States to airfields on both coasts. In addition, they towed drones and aerial targets during anti-aircraft practice flights and instructed male pilots.
President Barack Obama signed a bill last year awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the 300 surviving WASP pilots. In his address, the president said, "the WASP answered their country's call in a time of need, while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation."
As the president spoke this glowing tribute in Washington, 3,900 kilometres away the search was underway for the squadron's last missing member. An expedition of divers and aircraft archeologists were exploring the waters off the California coast wherein they believe lies the wreckage of a P-51-D Mustang fighter and, possibly, the remains of its pilot. Should they be successful, they would close the chapter on one of the Second World War's most intriguing mysteries.
G ertrude Tompkins Silver
grew up in New Jersey but was sent to live on a farm in West Virginia. It was a move, her parents hoped, that would cure her stuttering problem, a factor that contributed to her social withdrawal. She eventually graduated from an agricultural school before going to work for her father in New York City. Early in the war, Gertrude fell in love with an American aviator who was killed in action.
After his death, she was inspired to join the air force and, after obtaining a private pilot's licence, reported to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. Under the famous aviator Jacqueline Cochran, she trained hard as a fighter pilot and enrolled in the WASP program. In September, 1944, the 32- year-old married Henry Silver, a New York businessman who had also joined the military. Two days after the wedding, she returned to duty. Henry would never see his wife again.
On the afternoon of Oct. 26, Gertrude arrived at the Long Beach control office in Los Angeles along with 39 other pilots. After a briefing, they proceeded to Mines Field at Inglewood where the planes rolled off the assembly line at North American Aviation. Aircraft bound for Europe were flown to Newark, New Jersey, a journey of three days, weather depending. To avoid flying at night, the pilots would be staying over at Palm Springs, California.
Although weather conditions were clear, a layer of haze had built up over the airfield up to 2,000 feet and a fog bank had rolled in over Santa Monica Bay. One pilot, Dorothy Hopkins, reported the haze was so thick that she could not see the ground or water below her.
Gertrude was preparing for takeoff scheduled for around 3 p.m. However, her P-51-D Mustang was rolled to the side of the flight line for a minor repair to the cockpit hatch. Gertrude took the delay in stride, telling Merle Dobbings, a North American leadman on the delivery line, that she was only going as far as Palm Springs.
Once inspectors gave her the thumbs up, she jumped into the Mustang's cockpit and prepared for departure. The control tower cleared Gertrude, designated Flight 669, to taxi down the field and take off. Nelson Hass, a fireman for North American, logged her as taking off at 3:42 p.m. After Gertrude Tompkins Silver lifted into the sky, she seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth.
Numerous errors prevented an early search for the pilot. Later that afternoon, the dispatch office at Long Beach Army Airfield called Mines requesting the departure time of Gertrude's flight. The control tower responded, incorrectly, that she had not yet left. The following day, Long Beach made a second call and was told Gertrude had left but no departure time was given.
It wasn't until four days later, on Oct. 30, that her home station, the 5th Ferrying Group at Love Field, Dallas, sent a message to Mines Field wanting to know where their pilot was.
Officers quickly discovered Flight 669 had not been
included in the flight plan list of names that had been given to the control tower at Mines Field.
In fact, her flight plan had not been filed with any air traffic control.
A search began on Oct. 31 covering southern California eastward to Arizona.
The U.S. Air Force was joined by the Civil Air Patrol, while the U.S. Coast Guard scoured the California coast.
A total of 156 aircraft over 1,067 flying hours could not find a trace of the Mustang.
Two days later, her family was told Gertrude was missing.
A probe was launched by the air force to answer several questions.
Why had no one kept track of Gertrude's flight, thus delaying what could have been a potential rescue?
And where did her plane go down?
Investigators discovered a "Form 23" had not been properly filled out prior to the planes taking off that afternoon (in their briefing the pilots found only the weather portion of the form was filled out).
A Form 23 documented all relevant events and data for the flight.
It was partially filled out by base operations and partially by the pilot.
They also couldn't find the original list of pilots that had been sent from Long Beach to Mines Field to pick up the shipment of Mustangs.
Apart from eyewitness accounts, namely Nelson Hass' log, there was no record of her departure or flight plan.
They did find notes made by the control tower, however, it incorrectly identified
Gertrude's plane as Flight 692. Investigators theorized her
aircraft probably nosedived into the Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff.
She flew into the wind but hit an offshore fog bank that the other pilots also experienced that afternoon.
Engine failure or pilot disorientation due to this fog was most likely the cause of the crash.
With visibility being so poor, there would have been no witnesses.
In November, 1944, the military classified Gertrude Tompkins Silver as missing-presumed dead.
Her husband, Henry, mourned her until his death in 1965.
But that's not where the story ends.
In 2002, airplane archeologists began searching the bottom of Santa Monica Bay off the site of former Mines Field, now Los Angeles International Airport.
If Gertrude had crashed on land it would have been in the mountains to the east of Palm Springs, a theory archeologists have never discounted.
However, side scan sonars did detect likely targets on the bottom of the bay.
Last year, the expedition was continuing its efforts.
Should the wreck of the Mustang be located, it will not only bring closure to Gertrude Tompkin Silver's surviving family members but will close the book on one of the Second World War's unresolved puzzles.
Sean Chase is a Daily Observer reporter
