PROLOGUE: LOST WINGS
in spite of a haze: Jim Radcliff, untitled article, South Bay Daily Breeze, September 2, 1997.
It was brand new, one of 45 Mustangs: Brig. Gen. Bob E. Nowland, US Army Air Force, letter marked CONFIDENTIAL to Commanding General, Air Transport Command, 31 October 1944, author’s collection.
As a former test pilot, Gertrude, or Tommy: Federal Aviation Administration, Policies and Regulations, 1995, Preflight checklist for pilots (formalized by FAA in the 1930s, exact date unknown).
Gertrude placed her small leather flight bag: Granger, On Final Approach: The Women Air Force Service Pilots of World War II, 27.
She knew how this plane would perform: US Army Air Force, First Motion Picture Unit, Flight Characteristics of the P-51 Airplane, 1944, www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com.
Factory-new airplanes often experienced problems: Pat Macha, interview by author, 2003.
Since she was going to get a late start: US Army Air Force, Report of Major Accident, Form 14, October 26, 1944.
1: IT’S AWFUL HAVING A STUTTER
She came from a wealthy family: Whittall, From There to Here, 9.
The Vreeland farm: Robert F. Tompkins and Claire F. Tompkins, “The Tompkins Genealogy,” undated document.
“She was very strong minded”: Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, November 20, 2002.
They married on May 18, 1904: Whittall, From There to Here, 16.
Their first child, Stuart, died at birth: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, November 20, 2002.
By age four: Whittall, From There to Here, 19.
Friends and family volunteered explanations: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, November 20, 2002.
“The child was frightened as a baby”: Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003. See also Judith Maginnis Kuster, “Folk Myths About Stuttering,” The Stuttering Home Page, Department of Speech, Hearing and Rehabilitation Services, Minnesota State University, Mankato, last updated November 14, 2014, www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/Infostuttering/folkmyths.html.
Vreeland took a special interest: Whittall, From There to Here, 18–20.
“S-s-someone else always said”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003.
The definition of stuttering: The Stuttering Foundation website, www.stutteringhelp.org.
The doctor put Gertrude through: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003. See also Judith Duchan, “History of Speech-Pathology,” State University of New York at Buffalo, May 12, 2011, www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~duchan/new_history/overview.html.
“If we do this every time”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003.
She became close to the household’s: Whittall, From There to Here, 2.
“this dear, sweet” African American couple”: Whittall, From There to Here, 2.
Christmas brought excitement: Whittall, From There to Here, 13.
Gertrude sang, “Things are seldom”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003. The song is from the comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan.
The family continued to search: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview, November 20, 2002.
2: CHILDHOOD UPS AND DOWNS
Jersey City is home to: Whittall, From There to Here, 3.
“so it was wise”: Whittall, From There to Here, 4.
“The mile walk to school”: Whittall, From There to Here, 4.
“My n-n-n-name is Little Gertrude”: Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, October 2002 and January 4, 2003. See also Vicki Benson Schutter, “For Richer, Poorer, or Fluenter,” April 7, 1997, www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/PWSspeak/schutter2.html.
“Our whole family revolved”: Whittall, From There to Here, 8.
Rosaline was said to be: Whittall, From There to Here, 10.
Entertainment, 1920s Style: Digital History website, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3397.
severe headaches: Whittall, From There to Here, 15.
While visiting Laura one weekend: Whittall, From There to Here, 23.
“How blessed we were”: Whittall, From There to Here, 24.
“We catched fish and talked”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview with author, January 4, 2003. Elizabeth said her sister loved reading Mark Twain, especially Huckleberry Finn.
In 1926 Grandmother Rosaline died: Whittall, From There to Here, 10; Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews with author, October 2002 and January 4, 2003.
Elizabeth, who was said to have a “way” with hair: Whittall, From There to Here, 10.
“When I reached the appropriate”: Whittall, From There to Here, 17.
She felt shamed by her inability: Whittall, From There to Here, 20.
3: CONFIDENCE GROWS
Spring brought a flush: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews by author, October 2002 and January 4, 2003.
“Give her enough books”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews by author, October 2002 and January 4, 2003.
“It was a disaster”: Whittall, From There to Here, 54; Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, 2003.
In the spring: Ronald L. Heinemann, “The Great Depression in Virginia,” Encyclopedia Virginia, September 14, 2012, www.encyclopediavirginia.org/great_depression_in_virginia.
“And you want to be a farmer?”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews by author, October 2002 and January 4, 2003.
Gertrude arrived on the Ambler campus: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003.
The Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women: “Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women Historical Marker,” ExplorePAHistory.com, 2011, http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-130.
The Great Depression was spreading: Manchester, The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of America, 1932–1972, 35–82.
“Yes,” he said, “it was called the Dark Ages”: Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 35.
“terrible all over” and all quotes through “I made a compost pile”: Gertrude Tompkins, letter to Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, 26 October 1930; Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, telephone interviews by author, 2002 and 2003.
However, there were still many rich people in America: History Detectives, PBS, season 7, episode 7, August 10, 2009.
The Depression and Music: “The Music Industry,” The Great Depression—A Dupuis Web Quest, http://dupuisdepression.weebly.com/music.html; Kelly Mitchell, “Swing Music,” Music During the Great Depression (blog), http://musicduringthegreatdepression.blogspot.com/p/swing-music-of-great-depression-kelly.html.
Vreeland’s Smooth-On Business: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003. Predictions of replacement of cast iron were made as early as February 8, 1888, in the American Engineer, 50. Cast iron still finds some application in industry, as well as in cookware.
After Ambler, Gertrude made: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003; Heinemann, “The Great Depression in Virginia.”
Politically, Gertrude found herself: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.
In spite of President Herbert Hoover: Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 83.
“Take a method and try it”: Franklin D. Roosevelt, speech to Oglethorpe University, May 22, 1932, http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1932d.htm.
“One Roosevelt was one too many”: Tompkins Whittall, telephone interview by author, January 4, 2003.
For young women of wealth: Gertrude’s travels through Europe are from memories of Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.
5: FINDING HER FOOTING
True to her dream, she bought two Saanens: Whittall, From There to Here, 20.
“GOATS AS A HOBBY”: New Zealand information is contained in an undated newspaper clipping in possession of Elizabeth Whittall’s granddaughter, Laura Whittall-Scherfee.
In 1936 polio struck Elizabeth: Whittall, From There to Here, 75.
She still considered goats her passion: Gertrude’s move to NYC was described by her sister Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.
To help her father, and to “keep the money in the family”: Tompkins Whittall, interviews by author, 2002 and 2003.
Why Gertrude Loved Goats: Cleon V. Kimberling, “Introductory Information on Pet Goats,” Goat World, www.goatworld.com/articles/goatsaspets/petgoats.shtml.
Gertrude went apartment hunting: Manhattan telephone directory, 1939.
The owner of her building, a Yale graduate: Ann Vreeland Wood, adopted daughter of Henry Silver, interview by author, January 15, 2003.
“Deceit is a place to sit down”: Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 6, 2003.
Henry wooed her ardently: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 6, 2003.
Reading the pages of the New York Times: “Historical Events in 1940,” On This Day, www.historyorb.com/events/date/1940.
While America was struggling: Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, 159–259.
Japan’s government was under: Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 150.
In the 1930s a majority of Americans: Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 207.
Some American pilots: Merryman, Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of World War II, 10.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened: Manchester, Glory and the Dream, 290.
It was probably at a dance: Elizabeth Tompkins Whittall letter to grandson Paul Whittall, 2010.
her sister’s “one and only” love: Tompkins Whittall, interview by author, January 4, 2003.
Gertrude’s first flight must have been: Cole, Women Pilots of World War II, 7.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.