Gertrude Tompkins-Silver: Pilot Missing for Over 60 Years

According to one report, at 15:42 p.m. (3:42) Pacific Time, Gertrude Tompkins-Silver took off in a P-51 Mustang fighter plane, aircraft number 669, from Mines Field, L.A. Municipal Airport in Inglewood (now LAX). She was headed for Palm Springs to stay overnight before continuing her mission to fly the plane to Coolidge Field, Arizona for delivery. Weather conditions were clear, but there was a haze up to 2,300 feet.

Gertrude Tompkins-Silver was never seen or heard from again.

Gertrude Tompkins

Born in 1912, Tompkins was a shy child, most likely because she suffered from stuttering. Her father, Vreeland Tompkins, founded Smooth-On, Inc. in New Jersey.

Not doing well in school, Tompkins was sent to live on a farm in West Virginia with the hope she would overcome social withdrawal. She received a degree from the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture and raised goats. She traveled alone visiting some of the world's great gardens. When she returned home, she went to work in her father's company.

Tompkins fell in love with an aviator, although his identity is unknown. He was shot down over England while flying for the Royal Air Force in the early years of World War II. After his death, Tompkins took flying lessons. Not long after, she joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Soon after she joined the WASP, Tompkins married Henry Silver which came as a surprise to her family. Henry was in the process of adopting his sister's child after she gave birth out of wedlock. Her family suspected Gertrude may have felt sorry for him. But Tompkins' father adored Henry. Gertrude returned to WASP duty only two days after the wedding, not wearing her wedding rings or using her married name. Her nickname in the WASP was "Tommy."

As far as Gertrude's personal life is concerned, that is pretty much all the information that is available.

Events Before the Disappearance

Silver was among the 40 pilots briefed on Oct. 26, 1944 on flying new P-51 Mustangs from Mines Field to Coolidge Field. Their instructions were to stop at Palm Springs, California if they didn't leave Mines Field by 3:18 p.m. so they would not have to fly at night. The pilots boarded a bus for Mines Field at 1:00.

A list of pilots, plane numbers and destinations was delivered to Bud Noon at the North American Flight Operations Office at Mines Field. Noon then called the list in to the LA Municipal Airport control tower. The information was then used to record departure times for each plane and pilot.

Just before taking off, Silver taxied her plane to the side of the runway for the repair of a bent door. According to statements during the ensuing investigation, Silver was given a clearance for takeoff at approximately 4:00 p.m.

The discrepancy in takeoff times was due to improperly filled out paperwork and the fact that concise records were not kept. Later the day she took off, the Dispatch Office at Long Beach Army Air Field from where the pilots originated, called the LA Municipal Airport control tower requesting information on Silver's plane. They were told she had not yet taken off.

Four days later, on Oct. 30, the 5th Ferrying Group at Love Field in Dallas, Texas which was Silver's home station, wanted to know the whereabouts of Tompkins. It was then discovered that number 669 was not included in the list of names called in to the control tower. No one had noticed she was missing for four days.

The Ongoing Search for Gertrude

A search effort was begun on Oct. 31, 1944 covering a large section of southern California to western and southwestern Arizona. Silver's family was not informed of her disappearance until Nov. 22.

Since 1998, Pat Macha has been searching for any remains of the plane she flew or of Gertrude Tompkins-Silver herself. Macha is a retired teacher who has become something of an aviation archeologist.

"These women played an important role in our history and their next of kin still want resolution," said Macha. [1]

G. Pat Macha wrote a book about aircraft wrecks that fell into the hands of Ken Whittall-Scherfee, an attorney and pilot in Sacramento. His wife, Laura Whittall-Scherfee, is Gertrude's great-niece. When Whittall-Scherfee contacted Pat Macha, Macha's first words were, "I wondered when you'd call." [2]

"Pat found documents we never knew existed. He found a witness and people to scan the seabed and compare with the charts," Laura Whittall-Scherfee says. "More than that, he became a friend of the family. He really cares about Gertrude. It's become personal for him."[2]

The first search missions was launched in 1999. Ten years later, in November of 2009, Macha and a team of volunteer searchers gathered at a harbor about six miles south of LAX. The Missing Aircraft Search Team or MAST, organized the expedition. MAST was formed from a group of members of Sir Edmund Hillary's Explorers Club. It contains experts in expedition management and search theory.

Lew Toulmin is a semi-retired financier and fancies himself the most traveled man on earth. He was one of the organizers of MAST and has been fascinated with Tompkins' story almost as long as Macha.

"It had everything," Toulmin said. "Mystery, patriotism, a fascinating pilot and the WASPs, who deserved a lot better than they got. Previous search teams had done really good work. With our contacts and expedition experience, we thought we could help." [2]

Most of the people involved in the search for Tompkins-Silver are doing so on their own time with their own money.

Using high-technology equipment to scan the ocean floor, they have managed to find an anchor, a sunken powerboat and a washing machine. They even found a jet which had crashed in 1955, but no sign of Tompkins' plane.

The P-51 was made from aluminum which doesn't withstand water or weather very well. They don't expect to find the plane intact, but there would be pieces which have survived through the years such as tires, stainless steel, a windshield or other parts not made of aluminum.

By the time the search had to be abandoned - only for the time being - no sign of Tompkins' plane was yet found.

ABCNews aired a story about the search for Gertrude Tompkins-Silver sometime during the search which included a soundbyte from Tompkins' 100-year-old sister, Elizabeth. The video can still be viewed online.

Pat Mach will be speaking at the Planes of Flame Air Museum at 7000 Merrill Avenue, Chino, California on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010. He will be speaking about the ongoing search for Gertrude Tompkins-Silver and presenting up-to-date information regarding the search.

Sources:
[1] ABCNews
[2] New Jersey Real-Time News