Valor
By John L. Frisbee, Contributing Editor Greenland Rescue
Three attempts to save the obstacle. The landing gear and one men who had crash-landed engine were torn off, leaving the uninjured crew to join the C-47 sur- on Greenland’s ice cap had vivors. Now there were nine. failed. It was up to Lt. Col. It was clear that the men on the Emil Beaudry to get them ground could not survive for long in out. the frigid fuselage of the C-47, even with supplies, including portable here is no more inhospitable stoves, dropped to them by para- Tarea on Earth than Greenland, chute. Using all available tools they the world’s largest island. More dug a 10-by-16-foot cave through than 1,600 miles long, much of the the snow to solid ice. A roof was ice-capped island lies north of the improvised from parachutes. The Arctic Circle, with ice ranging from stoves provided sufficient heat to 1,000 feet to two miles thick. Dur- keep the shelter warm enough for ing the winter there are only three survival. hours of daylight in the south, and For the next few days, weath- the sun never appears in the north. er ruled out another rescue flight. Lt. Col. Emil Beaudry was USAF’s Temperatures of minus 45 degrees Beaudry and other operations plan- foremost expert in Arctic rescues. are not unusual, nor are gale force ners believed the best chance of winds. Greenland is not an ideal success lay in a cargo glider towed area for flying, but over the interior by a C-54 from Goose Bay, Labra- provided would be added insurance there is no other way to travel. dor, to the crash site. After a very of a successful takeoff in the thin air It was in this scene of frigid rough trip the glider landed safely, at 8,000 feet. desolation that an Air Force C-47 and within 30 minutes its crew set up BW–1 was closed by weather, so crash-landed on Dec. 7, 1948, dur- the poles and ropes that would en- Beaudry waited at BW–8, where ing a routine flight from Bluie West–8 able the circling C-54 to snatch the there was snow on the runway, to BW–1. None of the seven men glider into the air and tow it to BW–1. for the break to come. Because of aboard were injured. For the next A hookup was made successfully, mountainous terrain and the lack of three weeks attempts to rescue but as the glider broke ground the landing and takeoff aids, operations the men were thwarted by weather tow rope parted. A second attempt at both bases were permitted only and technical failures. The central was unsuccessful for the same during the three hours of daylight character in this drama was to be reason. During the night, high winds (semidaylight at BW–8). The round Air Force Lt. Col. Emil Beaudry, destroyed the glider. Now 11 men trip from BW–8 to the crash site and USAF’s foremost expert in Arctic were stranded on the ice. return would take about four hours. rescue operations. On Christmas Day another glider, In order to land back at the base As the C-47 prepared for a belly this one with a single crewman, was before complete darkness, Beaudry landing on the snow, the radio op- towed to the crash site. Again the decided on a night takeoff, despite erator got off a position report to tow rope parted, whipped back, and its hazards. BW–1, 125 miles to their south. destroyed the nose section of the Beaudry landed safely near the They touched down at about 8,000 glider. The number of men on the crash site and with the help of past feet, an altitude that added another ice now had risen to 12. experience and the JATO bottles got dimension to their survival and the The Navy had volunteered to the 12 men safely back to BW–8. The rescue attempts that were made in try a rescue with helicopters flying original seven C-47 crew members the days to come. The Air Rescue from the carrier Saigon, but the had been on the ice cap for three Service detachment at BW–1 imme- ship’s arrival was delayed by severe weeks while three heroic attempts diately dispatched a B-17 to locate weather, and there was no certainty to save them had gone for naught. the crash site but with no success that the choppers could operate suc- For his rescue flight in the face that day, due to blowing snow. cessfully in Greenland’s unstable of past failures, Beaudry was pre- Four days later, after the crash weather. Beaudry decided that the sented the Mackay Trophy by Air site had been located, the weather most likely chance of success was Force Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt S. improved enough to launch a B-17 to take advantage of a forecasted Vandenberg for the most meritorious with a two-man crew to attempt a break in the weather and go in with military flight of the year. Beaudry wheel landing near the downed men. a ski-equipped C-47 using Jet As- retired as a colonel in 1969 and now All went well as the B-17 touched sisted Takeoff bottles for the takeoff lives in Winter Park, Fla. ■ down on what appeared to be hard from the rescue site. The additional snow. Then the aircraft hit a hidden 2,000 pounds of thrust that they Thanks to Beaudry’s daughter, Ann.
AIR FORCE Magazine / March 1998 77