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Antarctic Mayday by Stan Stokes.
In 1946 Admiral Richard Byrd lead a 4,000-man mission to Antarctica to map the continent. This was the fourth of Byrds polar explorations, and his most ambitious. The expedition was named, Operation High Jump. One of the ships involved was the USS Pine Island, a PBM seaplane tender under the command of H.H. Caldwell. The three PBMs of the Pine Island were given the task of photo mapping the eastern side of the Antarctic continent, and the ship had moved as far south as possible to establish a base of operations. The ship anchored on the leeward side of a huge iceberg to provide a suitable area for the launch and recovery of the PBMs. The first flight was made by George-1 on December 30, 1946 without incident. The second flight of this aircraft with a different crew would prove to be a life and death struggle. Under the command of Ralph Frenchy LeBlanc, co-piloted by Bill Kearns, and with Captain Caldwell aboard as an observer, the second flight of George-1 began under hazardous sea conditions and at times near zero visibility conditions due to snowstorms. The aircraft was approximately 200 miles from the coast. Because of the bad visibility Kearns was preparing to execute a 180 degree turn and return to the Pine Island, when George-1 crashed into a giant snowdrift. The aircraft was ripped apart by the crash, and a fire began almost immediately. Three of the nine on board perished in the crash. LeBlanc was pulled from the burning cockpit by Jim Robbins and some of the other survivors, none of which were without some injury. The six survivors of George-1 now faced an indeterminate amount of time before any rescue might be possible. Fortunately, the six survivors showed solid American ingenuity, and went about the business of surviving and caring for the injured in the best way possible. With no working radio, the group had no way of knowing if help would ever reach them. It would be 13-days before the survivors would be spotted by the pilot of George-2 Jimmy Ball. Balls crew spotted a signal fire which the survivors had ignited when the second Mariner passed within several miles of the crash site. George-2 dropped supplies for the survivors and a message that a pick-up might be possible if the group could move about six miles to the coast. The trek was not easy, but the survivors finally made it and were picked up by George-3. This limited edition by Stan Stokes is dedicated to the memory of the three men who did not survive the crash; Max Lopez, W.K. Hendersin, and F.W. Williams, and to the commander of George-1, the late Frenchy LeBlanc. Frenchy lost both his legs as a result of the tragedy, but maintained a determination and a sense of humor which has both inspired and motivated the survivors of this Antarctic Mayday for the fifty years which have passed since that fateful day in 1946.
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Kearns, William
Kearns, William
