The Lost Squadron Greenland Recovery Expedition

[Campgottagopee]

OK, here’s the story.

Despite having humble beginnings my dad and uncle worked hard and did well from themselves. My dad worked for IBM and my uncle was a veterinarian. They both had adventurous spirits and developed a passion for aviation. They became pilots and shared a private airplane. In 1985 they decided to go big and took off in their single engine Mooney in the New York to Paris Transatlantic Air Rally. They flew the northern route over the Arctic so they could make the necessary fuel stops. During the rally at a bar in Scotland my dad heard someone tell the story of the Lost Squadron in Greenland and that people were looking for them. When my dad returned home he told the story of his adventure to interested friends. Among them were the Pizzagalis from Vermont. They had a large construction company that did a lot of work for IBM that my dad project managed. In telling the story of the Air Rally he mentioned the Lost Squadron. A couple years passed and they called to say remember that story you told us about those WWII planes? They found them and we won the bid to get them out! We need you to come with us!

So, in 1989 my dad and uncle went up to join the expedition. They couldn’t stay the whole summer because of work commitments and after a couple weeks came home with plans to return later. When it was time to go back my uncle couldn’t make it. He was invited to speak at a veterinarian conference in Las Lenas, Argentina. Since the tickets were already booked and there was an empty seat I was invited to join. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. An experience that changed my life forever.

They will always be my biggest heroes.
View attachment 11184

Very cool
Chance of a lifetime for sure!!

 

[Face4Me]

What an amazing experience that must have been!!!

 

[Ripitz]

Digging through some old boxes I found the information packet that was sent to GES members.

In it there are details of the 1942 forced landing and photos taken by the pilots. It has satellite imagery from NASA, salvage rights from the USAF and permission from the Danish government. It chronicles the previous attempts to locate the aircraft and shows the engineering and recovery plans.

No one had ever attempted anything like this. There were a lot of unknowns. The team was a motley crew of polar explorers, mountain climbers, survival specialists, underwater divers, bridge builders, pipeline welders, pilots, aviation buffs and successful businessmen. The only thing certain was that it had to be done.

In the back of the packet is this.

 

[tirolski]

Digging through some old boxes I found the information packet that was sent to GES members.
View attachment 11191

In it there are details of the 1942 forced landing and photos taken by the pilots. It has satellite imagery from NASA, salvage rights from the USAF and permission from the Danish government. It chronicles the previous attempts to locate the aircraft and shows the engineering and recovery plans.
View attachment 11192

No one had ever attempted anything like this. There were a lot of unknowns. The team was a motley crew of polar explorers, mountain climbers, survival specialists, underwater divers, bridge builders, pipeline welders, pilots, aviation buffs and successful businessmen. The only thing certain was that it had to be done.

In the back of the packet is this.
View attachment 11193

Have ya checked out and/or helped write this book Ripitz?

19th Review- The lost Squadron - David Hayes - AviationBookReviews.Com

 

[Ripitz]

Have ya checked out and/or helped write this book Ripitz?

19th Review- The lost Squadron - David Hayes - AviationBookReviews.Com

Thank you Tski for the recommendation. The book looked familiar. Found it in my bookcase. I think I swiped it from my dad before he passed.

Lots of emotions reading this material. It was over 30 years since I was there. I wasn’t prepared to share the story.

A couple realizations, and the reason why writing things down is good practice.

I was there in 1990 not 1989.

The “airport” we flew into was Kulusuk not Ammassalik.

The plane we reached when I was there was the B-17 Big Stoop. The 50 caliber bullet I have was from the top turret machine gun.

I don’t think it was Norman Vaughn who rescued the pilots. He was brought in to retrieve the Norton bombsights with a dog sled afterwards. Hero.

When the pilots were flying towards Iceland over the Greenland Sea they received communication that the airport was closed due to bad weather. That is true and that’s why they had to turn around. When they radioed to ask to land on the desolate east coast they were told there was bad weather there too. That’s why they tried to keep going to the airfields to the south. They did not have the fuel to make it which forced the landing that they had to make together. What is not mentioned and what I heard was that the weather was actually fair on the east coast fields and that it was very possible German U-boats had intercepted their communication and had given them false information. Bastards! No one talks about that. Maybe I shouldn’t either.

These stories need to be told.

I struggled for years trying to tell them.

The day after I returned from the expedition was my first day back at school. One of my teachers asked what everyone had done that summer. She asked me why I was all sun burned. When I said I just got back from an expedition in Greenland everyone laughed. She said you can’t get a sunburn in Greenland! I laughed nervously and thought, what the fuck does she know?

Ironically, years later I was at a local air show. There was a booth about the Lost Squadron. I bought this piece of the P-38 ‘Glacier Girl’.

I told they guy manning the booth about how I had been up there to help dig up the planes. He laughed and said that’s not possible.

For the men that flew those planes towards the war anything was possible. For the men that dug one out years later it was the same. Now thanks to them I believe it myself.

 

[tirolski]

Once again, Thank you Mr. Ripitz.
Glad ya got to go with him to Greenland. It’s a tough place to be at even on good days.
Ya can learn a lot from what ya do, especially at an early age.

Ya must not have got yer fill of snow in Greenland, cause yer still Rippin it.
Keep it going with yer little Miss Peanut.

 

[Brownski]

This is so cool. Once in a lifetime adventure

 

[Harvey]

I was there in 1990 not 1989.

The “airport” we flew into was Kulusuk not Ammassalik.

Edited.

I wish we had put this on the front page, or in the magazine. It's awesome.

 

[Campgottagopee]

These stories need to be told.

100%%%%%

 

[gorgonzola]

Thanks for sharing, awesome story! My Dad spent a lot of time in Greenland when I was growing up working as civilian for the Navy/DoD , I have no idea what he was doing there - wish he was around to ask him.