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Fold3 HQ May 1943: War Department Announces the Rescue of Aviators Lost in Greenland May 1, 2024 by Jenny Ashcraft | 29 Comments In November 1942, an air transport crew ferrying a B-17 Flying Fortress to England diverted to Greenland to participate in a search for an overdue plane. During the search, the Flying Fortress crashed on the Greenland ice cap. Before the epic ordeal was over, five men died (including three rescuers), and the others spent months on the ice before being rescued the following Spring. Left to Right: S/Sgt. Don T. Tetley, Lt. Harry E. Spencer, and Capt. Armand L. Monteverde On November 6, 1942, pilot Lt. Armand L. Monteverde , co-pilot Harry E. Spencer , and navigator William F. O’Hara , along with their crew, were flying near Greenland when military officials asked them to divert and assist in a search for a missing aircraft. The aviators landed in Greenland . Foul weather made the search difficult and often grounded the crew. On November 9, the clouds broke, and the crew, including Sgt. Paul J. Spina , Pvt. Alexander F. Tucciarone , Corp. Loren E. Howarth , and Pvt. Clarence Wedel took off for another search. Sgt. Alfred C. Best and S/Sgt. Lloyd Puryear came along to help. Heavy cloud cover moved in during the flight, and the line between sky and land became indiscernible. Suddenly, the plane lurched. A wingtip had brushed the ground. Before the pilot could react, the plane crashed violently and skidded, and the fuselage broke apart. Crew members were battered and bruised but survived. The most seriously injured was Spina, who broke his wrist and was thrown from the plane. The men huddled together in the fuselage for warmth. The extreme cold and biting wind made the situation miserable. After a few days, the weather eased up, and crew members ventured out to assess the situation. After taking a few steps, Spencer fell 100 feet into a deep crevasse. Fortunately, an ice block wedged in the gap stopped his fall. Fellow crew members used a parachute harness and rope to hoist him to the surface, but the men soon realized they were surrounded by deep crevasses that threatened to swallow the plane. O’Hara also suffered from frostbite, having gotten snow in his boots while helping Spina and Spencer. After six long days, Howarth got the smashed radio working and sent an SOS message. Back at the base, rescuers worked frantically to develop a plan. In the meantime, they dropped supplies when the weather allowed. Over the next five months, rescuers tried repeatedly to reach the men with multiple attempts using dog teams, motor sleds (a type of snowmobile), and aircraft. Extreme weather and the dangerous crevasses made conditions treacherous. During one rescue attempt, a plane managed to land on the ice and picked up Tucciarone and Puryear. They were flown to safety, but while attempting to rescue Corp. Howarth, the plane went down, killing both crew members and Howarth. Another failed attempt took the life of a rescuer, Lt. Max Demorest , who died after he drove his sled into a deep crevasse. About one month into the ordeal, six men remained at the crash site. A seventh man, rescuer S/Sgt. Don T. Tetley joined them after reaching the site on a sled. O’Hara’s feet were in bad shape, so Tetley, Spencer, and Wedel loaded O’Hara on a sled and decided to try to make it to the base. As they were crossing the ice, Wedel suddenly broke through and disappeared. He had fallen through a shallow ice bridge over a deep crevasse. The ice had claimed another victim. The sled’s motor failed a short time later, leaving the men stranded. To make matters worse, O’Hara had developed gangrene in his feet. Rescuers kept both groups resupplied with airdrops when the weather allowed. The men at the sled camp built a snow fort, and the driving snow made further rescue attempts impossible until February. Dubbed Hotel Imperial, here is where Tetley, Spencer, and O’Hara awaited rescue in a snow cave. When the weather cleared in February, rescuers landed a pontoon plane on the snow and picked up Tetley, Spencer, and O’Hara. It had been three months, but the men were now safe. All three were hospitalized, and O’Hara had to have both feet amputated. The focus now became the men back in the wreckage. The glacier was moving at the wreck site, and the plane was slowly slipping into a crevasse. Rescuers decided to land another aircraft at the sled camp , where they would use a dog team to make their way to the wreckage. In late March, rescuers reached the site. The men had been on the glacier for five months. They were taken back to the sled camp and loaded in a pontoon plane. On April 6, 1943, the plane successfully took off from the ice field. With most of their fuel spent, the aircraft made a safe belly landing back at the base. Consolidated PBY after an unsuccessful take-off from the Greenland ice cap during the rescue attempt. On May 4, 1943, newspapers across the country published the heroic story of survival. Three of the survivors , Monteverde, Spencer, and Tetley, were invited to the White House to meet President Roosevelt. If you would like to learn more about this incident and the heroic survivors, search Fold3® today. Categories: History , US , WWII , WWII Europe | Permalink What Can You Learn From the War of 1812 Pension Files April 15, 2024 by Jenny Ashcraft | 25 Comments Do you have an ancestor who served in the War of 1812? The digitization of the War of 1812 pension files continues and is now 86% complete. If you find your ancestor’s pension file, here are some tips on using these amazing records to research your military ancestors. Find the Pension File : From the War of 1812 Pension Files publication page , enter a soldier’s name in the search box OR select Browse to search for files by state. Remember that many War of 1812 veterans received bounty land, so the state where your ancestor died may not be the state from which he served. Try a variety of search parameters until you locate the correct pension file. The First Page : The file’s first page contains a summary and may include many details. Spelling Variations for the Soldier’s Name : This pension file shows that the soldier’s records might be found under two different spellings (Alger or Elger). However, as we dive deeper into the manuscripts in this file, a third spelling is also used (Alaer). These are all great clues for further research. Where the Soldier Served/Enlistment and Discharge Dates: After learning which regiment your ancestor served in, you can do further research on that regiment. Which battles did they participate in? Who commanded the regiment? Sometimes, pension files give details about the regiment’s service, but if your ancestor’s file doesn’t contain those details, search the commanding officer’s pension file or the files of others who served in the same regiment. These can all help build the narrative of your ancestor’s service. The Veteran’s Residence: Knowing where our ancestors lived is crucial to finding additional records. This pension file shows that the soldier relocated from Virginia to Indiana and that, by 1878, he had passed away, but his widow survived him. Sometimes, these boxes are left blank on the first page, but take the time to read through the manuscripts in the pension file, and you will likely learn more about the soldier’s residence. The Widow’s Maiden Name and Marriage Date : In the example below, we are lucky to find this information right on the first page. Often, it requires reading through the file very carefully. Researching women can be particularly difficult, so learning that this soldier was married twice and that the file contains the maiden names of both women is extremely valuable. A widow had to prove her marriage to the veteran, so you may find an affidavit from the person who performed or witnessed the marriage. We have even come across pages from the family bible in the pension file as proof of marriage. Did the Widow Apply for a...