Seized by the Sun

by Ure, James W. ; Ure, James W. ;

“My first flight was a stunning”: Cole, Women Pilots, 8.

  In May 1941: Stan Kolendorski, nephew of Stanley Michael Kolendorski, letter to author, 11 February 2003.

  Some women pilots got their licenses: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 11.

  In 1941, about 3,000 American women: Granger, On Final Approach, 6.

  7: THE WASPS ARE BORN

  There were many reasons women: Cole, Women Pilots, 7.

  “For each of us”: Cole, Women Pilots, 7.

  Like Gertrude, WASP Nadine Nagle’s: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 15.

  “In the summer of 1942”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 15.

  There was no formal recruitment: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 14.

  “it might be the straw”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 16.

  “Many of them … squeezed in”: Cole, Women Pilots, 13–14.

  “How many hours of signed time” and all quotes until “Have you got a pen?”: Cole, Women Pilots, 13.

  One woman with bad vision: Cole, Women Pilots, 14.

  8: WELCOME TO THE WASPS

  When Gertrude arrived: Cole, Women Pilots, 3.

  At Avenger Field Gertrude: Granger, On Final Approach, A-78/D.

  As they entered the gates: Granger, On Final Approach, 96.

  “Imagine an empty space”: Cole, Women Pilots, 24

  “Some thin young shoulders”: Alberta Fitzgerald Head, “General Arnold Comes to Avenger Field,” in West Texas Historical Association Yearbook (Lubbock, TX: West Texas Historical Association, 1994), 96–97.

  Her face was burned dry: Granger, On Final Approach, 228.

  Six women were assigned: Cole, Women Pilots, 24.

  For early trainees, the program: Cole, Women Pilots, xiii.

  For membership to flight training: “WASP Statistics,” WASP on the Web, www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/stats.htm; Granger, On Final Approach, A-100/N.

  Weak Women?: Granger, On Final Approach, A102/P.

  In 1944 Colonel Paul Tibbets: Cole, Women Pilots, 97.

  There were some silly rules: Cole, Women Pilots, 32.

  “We were all so anxious”: Cole, Women Pilots, 32.

  During the early flight classes: “Uniforms of the WASP of WWII,” WASP on the Web, www.wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/gallery/WASP%20Uniforms2.pdf.

  Gertrude had little difficulty: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.

  She heard lectures: US Army Air Force document, Uniform Code of Military Justice, date missing.

  “The plane won’t kill you”: Cole, Women Pilots, 36.

  Despite her distance: Mickey Axton, interview by author, 2003.

  Most of their instructors were male: Cole, Women Pilots, 26–27.

  “They were black and blue”: Cole, Women Pilots, 26–27.

  “My first instructor drank too much”: Cole, Women Pilots, 26–27

  “Mr. J. R. Smith, an instructor”: Cole, Women Pilots, 27.

  “great big fleece-lined”: Cole, Women Pilots, 36.

  Some of the men: Cole, Women Pilots, 113–114.

  Sabotage? Really: Cole, Women Pilots, 113–114.

  “I don’t think it was”: Cole, Women Pilots, 45.

  “The stories of sabotage”: Cole, Women Pilots, 114.

  The male officers made: Wood and Lewis, We Were WASPs, 17.

  Meanwhile, Jacqueline Cochran: Granger, On Final Approach, 135.

  9: BASIC AND ADVANCED TRAINING

  “all of a sudden”: Cole, Women Pilots, 40–41.

  The BT washed out: Granger, On Final Approach, A-104/Q.

  If Gertrude had mixed feelings: Mickey Axton, interview by author, 2003; Tony Holmes, Jane’s Historic Military Aircraft (London: HarperCollins, 1998), 198.

  “let go of what you feel”: Mickey Axton, telephone interview by author, December 2002.

  Some of the army air force men: Brinley and Cochran, Jackie Cochran, 210.

  “None of us ever”: Gertrude Tompkins, letter to Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, undated but probably August or September, 1944.

  “pulverized to jelly”: Granger, On Final Approach, 108.

  Each class sang its own distinctive song: Wood and Lewis, We Were WASPs, 24.

  10: PECOS

  Gertrude had applied: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, 2002; Granger, On Final Approach, 281, A-55/B.

  Gertrude was aware from her father’s letters: Laura and Ken Whittall-Scherfee, interview by author, November 2002.

  America’s Industrial Might: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 8–11.

  “If the wings stay on”: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.

  The Paperback Book Goes to War: Yoni Applebaum, “Publishers Gave Away 122,951,031 Books During World War II,” Atlantic, September 10, 2014, www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/publishers-gave-away-122951031-books-during-world-war-ii/379893/.

  11: ON SILVER WINGS

  His name was Duncan Miller: Duncan Miller, interview by author, December 12, 2009; Laura and Ken Whittall-Scherfee, interviews by author, 2002 and 2003.

  “ooh-la-la figure”: Miller, interview by author, December 12, 2009.

  “She had a great personality”: Miller, interview by author, December 12, 2009.

  “was considered a good pilot”: Miller, interview by author, December 12, 2009.

  Music and World War II: Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 376.

  “Once you could do”: Gertrude Tompkins, letter to Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, undated but probably August or September, 1944.

  Several hours later: Miller, interview by author, December 12, 2009.

  There are tales: Axton, interview by author, 2003.

  The year before, Henry’s sister: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003; Laura Whittall-Scherfee, interview by author, November 2002; Ann Vreeland Wood, interview by author, July 2003.

  Beauty Is a Duty: Caitlin L., “When Beauty Was a Duty: Cosmetic Appeal During WWII,” XO Vain, December 2, 2014, www.xovain.com/makeup/womens-makeup-and-hairstyles-in-the-forties-world-war-two.

  “carry the inherited burden”: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.

  12: FLYING FOR HER COUNTRY

  Mabel Rawlinson was a graduate: Granger, On Final Approach, A-105Q.

  Ferrying Airplanes: Granger, On Final Approach, A-103/P.

  “were ferrying the majority”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 23.

  Some WASPs helped Russia: Granger, On Final Approach, 326.

  WASP Hazel Ying Lee, flying a P-63: Granger, On Final Approach, 451.

  Byrd Howell Granger, author of: Granger, On Final Approach, 326.

  “Say, now, have you seen” and all quotes until “Don’t speak the same language”: Granger, On Final Approach, 326.

  “All WASPs wondered”: Noggle, A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II, loc. 23.

  In Russia, women pilots: Noggle, Dance with Death, loc. 213–280.

  Hundreds of letters of commendation: The WASP Program: An Historical Synopsis, Lt. Col. Dora Dougherty, cited in Merryman, Clipped Wings, 149.

  General Hap Arnold wrote: Letter to each member of the WASPs, October 1, 1944, cited in Merryman, Clipped Wings, 115.

  13. DILEMMA

  From the beginning the WASPs: Quotes and material following are from Merryman, Clipped Wings, 31.

  “I had expected militarization”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 33.

  The women were trained: Army Air Force Central Flying Training Command, History of the WASP Program, (Washington, DC: 1945).

  There was at least one proposal: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 39.

  “loved to hate”: Encyclopedia.com, “Cochran, Jacqueline,” www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/cochran-jacqueline-c-1910-1980.

  Both Nancy Harkness Love: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 31.

  “as stenographers, telephone operators”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 36.

  “insult society women”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 36.

  “You are going to
start”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 37.

  “Are we to deny”: Merryman, Clipped Wings, 37.

  “taking the jobs”: Granger, On Final Approach, 392.

  “The government has spent”: Granger, On Final Approach, 429.

  “embarrassing to women pilots”: Granger, On Final Approach, 149.

  “represents a very curious”: T.M.P., “Movie Review: At Loew’s Criterion,” New York Times, March 16, 1944, www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903E4DA113CE03ABC4E52DFB566838F659EDE.

  Gertrude sensed the growing desire: Ken and Laura Whittall-Scherfee, interview by author, 2002.

  After sending his initial letter and material following: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews by author, 2003.

  “The atmosphere was heavy”: Whittall, From There to Here, 21.

  “Obedience was the norm”: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.

  “She had made a promise”: Laura Whittall Scherfee, note to the author, 30 November 2015.

  After her marriage and all quotes until “Henry was very much pleased”: Gertrude Tompkins, letter to Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, 20 October 1944, Whittall family collection.

  14: SEIZED BY THE SUN

  A month had passed: Teletype, Sixth Fighter Group, Long Beach, US Army Air Force, dated October 26, 1944.

  The next day she would: US Army Air Force, Report of Major Accident, Form 14, dated October 26, 1944.

  “Tower, this is Mustang 669”: Missing Aircraft Report, US Army Air Force, date on document obscured.

  The weather was good: Pat Macha, telephone interviews by author, 2003.

  It was four days before: Gary Patric Macha and Don Jordan, Aircraft Wrecks in the Mountains and Deserts of California, 1909–2002, 3rd ed. (Lake Forest, CA: Info Net Publishing, 2002), 169. This later edition is dedicated to Gertrude Tompkins Silver.

  There was confusion over the number: Brig. Gen. Bob E. Nowland, US Army Air Force, letter marked CONFIDENTIAL to Commanding General, Air Transport Command, 31 October 1944, author’s collection.

  15: SEARCHING

  It was assumed that Gerturde: 31 Teletype Messages (TWX) on search, October 30, 1944–November 20, 1944.

  On November 16: Teletype, Sixth Fighter Group Long Beach, US Army Air Force. November 17, 1944.

  By November 18: US Army Air Force fatality report, November 30, 1944.

  Henry wrote to the air force: Henry Silver, letter to US Air Force, 14 December 1944.

  “Your letter to WASP Gertrude”: US Air Force, letter to Duncan Miller, 12 December 1944.

  “memory of those WASP” and all quotes until “I hope you will always feel”: General H. H. Arnold, letter to Henry Silver, 12 January 1945.

  Macha, a retired Huntington Beach: Pat Macha, interviews by author, 2002–2015.

  Macha began building a database: Website for Macha’s work: www.aircraftwrecks.com.

  “We contacted him”: Ken and Laura Whittall-Scherfee, interview by author, November, 2002.

  “The 51 is a very hot plane”: Macha, interviews by author, 2002–2015.

  Meanwhile, Laura contacted: Laura Whittall-Scherfee, letter to Dana Rohrabacher, 9 July 1998; Dana Rohrabacher, letter to Laura Whittall-Scherfee, 28 July 1998; Rear Admiral Gene R. Kendall, letter to Dana Rohrabacher, 24 September 1998.

  “It is metal, all right”: Jim Blunt, interview by author, 2003.

  In 1999 Gary Fabian: UB88 Project website, http://ub88.org.

  Using MBS, in 2001: Gary Fabian, interviews by author, 2014–2015.

  “This event left a very strong” and all quotes until “It was definitely that year”: “Memory Assists in the Search for Lost Plane,” February 27, 2005, Daily Breeze article posted on www.aircraftwrecks.com.

  “We took a heading on it and began to search” and all quotes until “We were crossing targets off our list”: Macha, interviews by author, 2002–2015.

  “We’ve scoured the bay”: Fabian, interviews by author, 2014–2015.

  “It’s fascinated all of us”: Fabian, interviews by author, 2014–2015.

  EPILOGUE

  “Be sure and look for Gertrude!”: Whittall, From There to Here, 20.

  At a WASP reunion in 2002: Laura and Ken Whittall-Scherfee, Mickey Axton, Winifred Wood, Betty Tackaberry Blake, Lela Lowder Harding, interviews by author, 2003.

  “I can’t forget that there” and all quotes until “Perhaps it was because she was older”: Laura and Ken Whittall-Scherfee, Mickey Axton, Winifred Wood, Betty Tackaberry Blake, Lela Lowder Harding, interviews by author, 2003.

  “We need to find Gertrude”: Axton, interview by author, 2003.

  AFTERWORD

  “so many stories”: Ann Vreeland Wood, interview by author, July 2003.

  “It was an experience”: Laura Whittall-Scherfee, interview by author, September 2015.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  BOOKS

  Brinley, Maryann Bucknum, and Jacqueline Cochran. Jackie Cochran: The Autobiography of the Greatest Woman Pilot in History. New York, Bantam Books, 1987.

  Cole, Jean Hascall. Women Pilots of World War II. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1992.

  Davis, Larry, and Don Greer. Walk Around: P-51D, Walk Around No. 7. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signals, 1995.

  Granger, Byrd Howell. On Final Approach: The Women Air Force Service Pilots of World War II. Scottsdale, AZ: Falconer, 1991.

  Gilbert, Martin. A History of the Twentieth Century. Vol. 2. New York: Avon, 1998.

  Kinzey, Bert. P-51 Mustang. Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1996.

  Landdeck, Katherine Sharp. “Experiment in the Cockpit: The Women Air Force Service Pilots of World War II.” In The Airplane in American Culture, edited by Dominick Pisano, 165–98. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003.

  Manchester, William. The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932–1972. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown, 1973.

  Merryman, Mollie. Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II. New York: New York University Press, 1998.

  Noggle, Anne. A Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2002. Kindle version.

  Whittall, Elizabeth Tompkins. From There to Here. Smithtown, NY: Exposition Press, 1981.

  Wood, M. Winifred, and Dorothy Swain Lewis. We Were WASPs. Printed by authors, 1978.

  INTERVIEWS

  Jim Blunt, telephone interview with author, 2003.

  Dr. Judith Duchan, telephone interview with author, January 20, 2003.

  Gary Fabian, telephone interviews with author, 2014–2015.

  Pat Macha, telephone interviews with author, 2003–2015.

  Duncan Miller, telephone interview with author, December 5, 2009.

  Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews with author, 2002–2005.

  Laura Whittall-Scherfee and Ken Whittall Scherfee, telephone and personal interviews with author, 2002–2015.

  DOCUMENTS

  Driscoll, John J., Lieutenant, US Army Air Force, letter to Duncan Miller, 12 December 1944. National Archives, Veterans Service Records.

  Geary, Terence, and Andy Hailey. Report of Major Accident, October 26, 1944. US Army Air Force. 2003. www.icc.net/‘cahailey/WASP_KIA/GVTTompkins.html. Website discontinued. Printout in author’s collection.

  Kendall, Gene R., Rear Admiral, US Navy, letter to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, 24 September 1998. Author’s collection. Cites costs of search.

  Kolendorski, Stanley Michael, letter to author containing Royal Air Force information about his uncle, 1 August 2003. Author’s collection.

  Rohrabacher, Dana, letter to G. Pat Macha on navy response, 22 October 1998. Author’s collection.

  Rohrabacher, Dana, letter to Laura Whittall-Scherfee regarding request for navy assistance in search for Gertrude Tompkins, 28 July 1998. Author’s collection.

  Tompkins Whittall, Elizabeth, and Paul Whittall, letter to Laura Whittall-Scherfee, 2 April 2010. Aut
hor’s collection.

  US Army Air Force. Academic Training Record—WASP Training Course, Gertrude Tompkins, Class 43-W-7. Date missing. Author’s collection.

  US Army Air Force. Missing Aircraft Report. Date on document obscured, but probably October 31, 1944.

  US Army Air Force. Pilot Operation Instructions, North American P-51 Mustang. 1943.

  US Army Air Force. 31 teletype messages (TWXs) on the search. Dated from 30 October 1944 to 20 November 1944. Author’s collection.

  Yount, Barton K., Commanding General, US Army Air Forces Training Command. Speech to last graduating class of WASPs. December 7, 1944.

  NEWSPAPERS

  New Zealand newspaper clipping. c. 1933. In possession of Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall’s granddaughter, Laura Whittall-Scherfee. Newspaper’s name is unknown.

  Merl, Jean. “Aviation Buffs Hope to Discover Fate of Female War Pilot Who Vanished After Takeoff in 1944.” Los Angeles Times. September 19, 2002.

  WEBSITES AND OTHER RESOURCES

  Bond, Jill. We Served Too: The Story of the Women Airforce Pilots of World War II. Documentary film. www.wstthemovie.com.

  Bravo 369 Flight Foundation website. www.bravo369.org.

  Duchan, Judith. “History of Speech-Pathology.” State University of New York at Buffalo. May 12, 2011. www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~duchan/new_history/overview.html.

  Fabian, Gary, multibeam sonar searches, http://ub88.org/. Photos of historic wrecks using US Geological Service data. Also www.bathymetricresearch.com and www.facebook.com/bathymetricresearch. The seafloor revealed with multibeam sonar.

  “Kermie Cam—P 51C Mustang—Part 3.” YouTube video. 11:45. Posted by “Kermit Weeks Videos.” October 7, 2012. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOXxUApaaWo&feature=youtube.

  Landdeck, Katherine Sharp. Texas Women’s University faculty page. November 7, 2016. www.twu.edu/research/katherine-sharp-landdeck.asp.

  Macha, G. Pat. “Aircraft Wrecks in the Mountains and Deserts of the American West.” www.aircraftwrecks.com. This site has numerous photos and videos of airplane wrecks in the Western states, as well as comprehensive information on each downed aircraft.

  “Nancy Harkness Love.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Harkness_Love.

  National Public Radio. “A Contraband Camera: Photos of World War II WASP.” The Picture Show. March 10, 2010. www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2010/03/a_contraband_camera_photos_of.html.