The
Gertrude Tompkins Expedition
World War II Pilot, last missing WASP -
ABC7.COM
Search
Underway for
Missing Heroine of World War II
and her P-51 Mustang
Divers, explorers and aviation archaeologists from the
Missing Aircraft Search Team (MAST) and from around the
country have launched an expedition off Los Angeles to
search for Gertrude Tompkins, the last missing member of
the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II.
According to expedition spokesman Lew Toulmin, a co-founder
of MAST and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society,
“The WASP were absolutely vital to the war effort.
They ferried all types of aircraft over 60 million miles
from factories to shipping locations on the east and west
coasts. Gertrude “Tommy” Tompkins was one of
these heroic WASP, and she disappeared in the Los Angeles,
California area on 26 October 1944, in her powerful P-51D
Mustang. She is the last missing member of this famous and
dedicated group, and her disappearance is one of the great
remaining mysteries of World War II.”
Stated G. Pat Macha of Los Angeles, who has written three
books on airplane archaeology, and has been researching the
Tompkins case for over 11 years, “We hope we can
solve this case soon, so that we can bring closure to the
family, including Gertrude’s 100-year-old sister, who
is very much rooting for us. We interviewed a possible
eyewitness to the crash, who was only a boy at the time,
and that has helped our analysis quite a bit. ”
Robert E. Hyman, a member of MAST and one of the leaders of
the expedition, noted that the WASP are still very much in
the news. “On July 2, 2009, President Obama signed a
bill awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to the 300
surviving WASP for their service. 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 since.’” Hyman is an expert in
expedition management, and led an expedition which found
evidence of an ancient civilization in the remote Darien
Gap of Panama, previously thought to be uninhabited.
According to Chris Killian, the leader of the expedition
and a co-founder of the Missing Aircraft Search Team,
“Gertrude Tompkins had only been married a month to
Sergeant Henry Silver when she took off at about 4 pm on 26
October 1944 from Mines Field -- now Los Angeles
International Airport – and headed for the East Coast
in her Mustang. She took off into the wind, into an
offshore fog bank, and was expected that night at Palm
Springs. But she never arrived. Due to a paperwork foul-up,
the search did not get under way for several days, and
while the eventual search of land and sea was massive, it
failed to find a trace of Silver or her plane.”
Gene Ralston, a well-known search expert who has found the
bodies of over 60 drowning victims in the US and Canada,
and who worked on the famous Laci Peterson and Natalee
Holloway disappearances, is leading the sonar detection
effort. He said, “Our role is to exactly locate each
underwater site and do preliminary screening using side
scan sonar and our remotely operated underwater vehicle, to
see if we can rule out that particular target.”
FBI Special Agent and diver Mike Pizzio, taking a vacation
from his normal job as a member of the FBI’s
Underwater Search and Evidence Response Team in Miami, is
leading the dive team. He stated, “Some of the
underwater targets are over 270 feet down. So we utilize
special gear and have recruited some of the top divers in
the country to work on this important case.”
Gary Fabian is an expert maritime historian who found the
elusive World War I German submarine UB-88 off Long Beach,
California. He stated, “We have been searching on and
off for Tompkins and her plane for years, but I think that
our expanded team has a comprehensive approach that will
sort through all the high probability targets. So we are
very hopeful.”
According to Colleen Keller, a pilot, co-founder of MAST
and expert in search theory, who just returned from working
on the June 2009 disappearance of Air France flight 447 off
Brazil, “There are several possible causes for the
Silver crash. The most likely cause is pilot disorientation
in the fog. But other possibilities include distraction due
to a faulty canopy, problems with the center of gravity in
the Mustang, and problems with the engine. If we find the
plane and are very lucky indeed, an investigation might be
able to shed some light on the cause of the crash.”
Lew Toulmin stated that the effort will bring together a
wide range of skills. “This effort is led by members
of the private group MAST, which recently contributed to
finding the missing Cessna N2700Q in Arizona, and was
founded by private searchers who worked on the
disappearance of adventurer Steve Fossett. The Tompkins
team includes experts in search theory, expedition
management, diving and historical research, and
incorporates all the key investigators who have worked on
the case over the years. We are very honored that relatives
of Gertrude Tompkins are also participating in team
logistics and field support.”
Toulmin continued, “Our all-volunteer team has
undertaken hundreds of hours of research on the case, and
we located three WASP who were apparently present at Mines
Field the day Gertrude disappeared. These three P-51 WASP
pilots had never before been interviewed about this case,
while the initial 1944 accident report only interviewed one
WASP. We have conducted numerous other interviews and
analyzed various underwater databases to assist us. Our
on-site team has a total of 35 members and we plan to
deliver over 220 person-days of effort in the field. We are
very excited about the Gertrude Tompkins Expedition, and
have our fingers crossed that we can solve this great
mystery.”
Video
trailer of the search for
The Last
Missing WASP
by Dan Crowell
Deep
Explorers, Inc.
www.deepexplorers.com
Seeker Digital Productions
www.sdp-video.com
Multibeam
Sonar Map
P-51
Mustang Search Area, Santa Monica Bay,
CA
Multibeam sonar analysis by Gary Fabian
Data provided by the USGS
A
Special Thanks to all of the
Search Team Volunteers and Supporters
A
project of this magnitude could not have been accomplished
without the help of many dedicated people who graciously
volunteered their time, equipment, and expertise to the
search effort. Many traveled from out of state on their own
dime to help find Gertrude’s missing P-51 Mustang.
The schedule was intense. 55 targets in 7 days. Targets of
interest were first identified from the 1996 USGS multibeam
sonar survey of Santa Monica Bay. Before putting any dive
teams in the water, all sites were confirmed with side scan
sonar. Despite days of bad weather the mission was
accomplished.
The team located many submerged objects. Powerboats,
sailboats, a canoe, ship anchors, a radio tower, sewer
pipes, washing machines and the remains of at least one and
possible two aircraft. Unfortunately the aircraft that was
found turned out to be a Cessna 210 and not
Gertrude’s P-51. Despite our failure to find
Gertrude’s final resting place, we still consider the
mission to have been a big success. We came away with the
knowledge that our search methodology was sound and we also
made some new friends along the way. For that I’m
grateful. Thanks everyone!
Allow me to apologize in advance if I failed to include
someone. I simply don’t have everyone’s name
yet. If you see an obvious omission or correction, please
send me an email and let me know the particulars and I will
take care of it immediately. I don’t want to leave
anyone out.
Thanks. -Gary
Gertrude’s
Family
Ken and Laura Whittall-Scherfee
Guy Whittall-Scherfee
Elizabeth Whittall
Aircraftwrecks.com
G. Pat Macha
Mary Jane Macha
Pat Macha
Missing
Aircraft Search Team
Chris Killian
Lew Toulmin
Robert Hyman
Colleen Keller
UB88.org
Gary Fabian
Ray Arntz
Kyaa Heller
Side
Scan Sonar Team
Gene Ralston
Sandy Ralston
Technical
Dive Team
Mike Pizzio - Dive Master
Dan Crowell - Videographer
Heather Armstrong
Brian Armstrong
Joe Citelli
Kendall Raine
Robin Jacoway
Peter Sotis
John Walker
Mark “Sharky” Alexander
Assistants
John Grossman
Mike Killian
Deb Atwood
Michael Behar
Fred
King
Harbor Yacht Club
Barry Anderson - Vice Commodore
Dinah Lary - Office Manager
John Hott
Pacific
Mariners Yacht Club
Sparky Mundo
Leon
Western
Museum of Flight
Cindy Macha
Bruce Guberman - P-51 Pilot
Boat
Owners and Operators
Bob Meistrell - Body Glove (Vessel
‘Disappearance’)
Mike Pellissier - Ocean Technology Systems (Vessel
‘Deep Sea’)
John Hott - (Vessel ‘Sea Squirell’)
Chet - (Vessel ‘Saltier Dog’)
Bob Wyler
Long
Beach Tuna Club
Ron Cess
Dave Rasmussen - (Vessel ‘Godspeed’)
Skip Smith - (Vessel ‘Tool Pusher’)