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The Coast Guard Weighs In

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The Coast Guard Weighs In M y s t e r y Man On Fire What ignites my seven-year search in the north Atlantic? how dare i unplug the Lindbergh legend? before Lucky Lindy there was L’Oiseau Blanc…until there wasn’t. L by bernard decré gno A sp E L E ortheast of Maine, below the threshold of memory, long peninsulas reach deeply n-Christoph into the Canadian Maritimes, with two ea J É; r startling exceptions: the islands of Saint ec Pierre and Miquelon, proudly part of ÈLE D Ang France for the better part of three centu- sy of E ries. Beyond taking in the 2000 film The Widow of St. Pierre, World War I French flying ace Charles Nungesser (top right) and N navigator François Coli are superimposed in front of news coverage starring Julia Ormond, few North Americans are aware of of the disappearance of their biplane L’Oiseau Blanc in May 1927. Above, author Bernard Decré contemplates the depths off St.Pierre. these Shangri-las, though many French visitors consider from top: Court them destination attractions. DEC E m b E r 2 0 1 3 4 1 M y s t e r y n 1927, during Prohibition, these two di- so sophisticated they minutive islands 12 miles south of New- included high-powered Ifoundland became the greatest duty-free flying boats. shop in the world. Imagine: Hundreds of Into the eye of this freighters, schooners, and steamers are needle, in a very deep fog, coming from Europe and especially from flew L’Oiseau Blanc [in France with the nicest bottles of Cham- English, the White Bird]– É pagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, cognac, 12 days before Charles r ec Scotch whisky, rum from the Antilles. From Lindbergh won the this effervescent entrepôt, speedboats were $25,000 Orteig prize for ÈLE D Ang dispatched to smuggle the hooch to thirsty being the first to fly trans- sy of ports in Canada and the USA. atlantic from Roosevelt E The spectacular fortune that trick- Field in New York to Paris , Court led down to the citizens of St. Pierre and or vice-versa. A nn E Miquelon was dwarfed by the riches these No doubt exhausted K Mc islands brought to figures from Al Capone to from 36 hours of flight D or Joseph P. Kennedy. and low on petrol after g Coast Guard vessels tried to control fighting headwinds from on by this huge traffic, but the rum runners a serious meteorological el iqu and bootleggers were so important it was depression en route to m - E impossible. Think of a small war between their planned destina- rr E i U.S. Coast Guard cutters with machine tion, the White Bird cap- p ft: guns at the ready, Navy ships with speed- sizes in that fog cloaking le boats, and bootlegger organizations the harbor at St. Pierre. top 4 2 p o r t l a n d m o n t h L y m A g A z i n E Portland Monthly 2.25” x 4.875” Cabot FarMErS’ annEx Nestled among the beautiful Victorian brick buildings of Portland’s Old Port shopping district, you’ll find an authentic taste of New England at the Cabot Farmers’ Annex. Fall colors call for Cabot’s zestiest flavors! Enjoy a crisp evening with the added kick of our sharpest Cheddar’s, or get adventurous with our flavored varieties, like Horseradish, Chipotle, or Hand-Rubbed Tuscan. Stop by for a sample today! Ferland Family, Poland, ME Portland Magazine ad Visit us at facebook.com/ Submit: 10/8, Insertion: December 2013 CabotFarmersAnnex 163 Commercial St., Portland, ME 207.541.9344 Visiting Vermont? Stop by one of our 3 locations! For more information: cabotcheese.coop/visitus É r ec ÈLE D Ang sy of E , Court A nn E K Waynflete Students are Mc D or g Artists & Athletes, Scholars & Sculptors, on by Musicians & Mathematicians... el iqu m - www.waynflete.org E rr E i p Independent education from ft: Early Childhood through Grade 12 le top DEC E m b E r 2 0 1 3 4 3 M y s t e r y Shouts ring out: “Help, help, help!” A fish- French fliers sponsored by the French Every era chooses its heroes fresh from the erman hears; his dog barks uncharacteristi- Navy; b) we may have shot this plane assembly line. cally. Unreported dark shapes move swiftly down in error; and c) honestly, isn’t it too in the fog and then, audibly, the rat-a-tat of late to unplug the Lindbergh legend? He’s MagnIficent obsessIon a machine guns rips across the water, fol- a dazzling hero, young and at the controls s for the U.S. Coast Guard tele- lowed by decades of silence. of a shiny, high-tech monoplane instead of gram, nobody gave it to me. I the throwback biplane of these two mem- Afound it myself during a research new Chapter bers of the over-the-hill gang–old World trip to the NARA (National Archives Re- Until recently. Funded in part by a research War I relics–one of them actually wore an cords Administration) in Washington to grant from the French government, my Par- eye-patch! If you don’t believe style has study the logbooks of 12 U.S. Coast Guard is-based association La Recherche de l’Oiseau a hand in directing history, who do you vessels whose names I’d earlier found men- Blanc (The Search for the White Bird) has think will get remembered as the dreamer tioned in the Aix en Provence Archives, pieced together Coast Guard telegrams and behind Apple Computers: Steve Jobs or which include communiqués from our letters from fishermen who confirm pieces Steve Wozniak? French colonies, some of them letters from of wings were discovered after L’Oiseau Nungesser and Coli’s plane was a good St. Pierre and Miquelon’s fishermen who re- Blanc disappeared from history along the aircraft but with two wings and heavy–not ported to the Governor of St. Pierre in May, the Man, the odyssey A retired businessman from Nantes, France, Ber- been acquired by Galleries Lafayette.] nard Decré, 73, is internationally known as a Early in his retail career, Decré served as “adminis- yachtsman and founder of the ocean sailing race trator du Bon Marché in Paris.” One special assign- La Tour de France à la Voile. Well connected in Eu- ment: “I worked with Mme. DeGaulle to furnish every rope, he comes from a legendary family of depart- French embassy with our sheets and linens ahead of ment store owners. General DeGaulle’s world trip. We had to change ev- “My parents had an important store in Nantes: ery bed in the embassies because he was so very tall!” Grands Magasins Decré. Famous before World War II, Behind it all, he couldn’t stop himself from design- it was destroyed [during a September 23, 1943 ing yachts and aircraft which he noodles around with bombing mission], so we very quickly created a new to this day. “I’m a modest pilot who specializes in sea- one, very modern, designed by Raymond Loewy, planes. We used a Lake Buccaneer during the Tour de the noted architect, with a helipad at the top, restau- France à la Voile, my race, and a friend of mine has let rant, cinema, and art gallery.” [The store has since me fly his PBY Catalina, quite a thrill.” slow-moving and largely predictable cur- so quick, not so dreamy… June, and July 1927: “Dear Governor Bensch, rents between St. Pierre and Sable Island Lindbergh was new technology person- we are surprised to have in our French wa- (southeast of Halifax). ified. He himself imagined and directed the ter, all these Coast Guard vessels. They go In absolute quiet, after the worldwide customization of a light plane for one man, too fast in the fog, they are dangerous, they ticker-tape parade has toasted Lindbergh’s so it wasn’t necessary to have a massive en- cut our lines, are they not here to try to find exciting solo crossing, deeper currents add to gine, more fuel tanks. Undarkened by war, the wrecks of our French aviators?” the secret script–unmistakable pieces of the light as a feather, and Why the swarm in French naval aircraft are picked up on board sparkling with hope, the nobody imagined one particular harbor ar- a Coast Guard vessel off the coast of Virginia. Spirit of St. Louis was de- ea? The names of the Not only one, but two, three. Consider this signed for luck and fa- trying to cross cutters mentioned by telegram discovered so many years later by vorable breezes from the Atlantic–too the fishermen carried our team: Despatch: U.S. Coast Guard, the West Winds. me on a wave of curiosi- 18 August, 1927, Norfolk, Virginia More than anything, dangerous. ty to Washington. FOLLOWING RECEIVED…Seven fifty a.m. latitude these two flying ma- For me it was easy to three seven naught six north longitude seven two four six west[:] Piece of wreckage appearing to be chines represented a clash of conception navigate the archives, even though so part of airplane wing white in color fifteen feet long and style: L’Oiseau Blanc from the French many years had cut the lines of context. I’m four feet wide approximately [STOP]. Similar piece Navy, 1923 vintage, and the Spirit of St a sail racer and pilot. It’s fair to say I’d be- appeared to be attached four feet submerged below floating part no appearances of marine growth..
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