Resolution Island, NWT

The following detail has been extracted from the official USAF Historical Report, a copy of which is on the Pinetree Line web site, dated 1 January 1961 to 31 March 1961.

On 18 January 1961, a C-47 with 12 people on board was forced to land approximately five miles from this station. Among those on board were Colonel Milner, GADS Commander, Air Commodore Bradshaw, RCAF, and three USO Entertainers (Women). All 12 people were rescued by Mr. Ken Dempster via Otter.

We have been very fortunate to have found an article that provides additional detail pertaining to this crash. It is interesting to note that the article was written by Judy Lee Schreiber – one of the three female USO entertainers – who was on the aircraft when it crashed.

Betty Amos, her sister Jean and I played as a trio and went overseas to Greenland several times to entertain at Thule AF Base. We were booked for a USO show at the radar sites in Labrador and the Northwest Territories in Canada. We left Goose Bay Labrador, to play at Saglek AFS and had a great time. The next day we were on our way to Frobisher Bay and the C-47 workhorse that we were in developed engine trouble and one engine went out. Colonel Victor Milner was the pilot and also the Commander of Goose Bay, Labrador at the time. The crew opened the door and they threw out anything they could get their hands on to lighten the plane. All of our luggage, amplifiers, instruments and anything that had any weight was heaved out of the aircraft. I heard Colonel Milner holler back to all of us that we were going to crash land on a strip of ice that he seen. We were going down and of course if we were to go in the ocean we would freeze in about eighteen seconds. So the only alternative is to crash land on ice and hope for the best. The next thing I knew I started to sing. I don't know why but I was not thinking of getting killed. We hit the strip of ice and all I could hear was the crunching of the planes belly on the ice when the landing gear collapsed. We finally stopped. The right wing and the tail section was damaged when we hit the side of the mountain which was solid ice. Our radio went out right away so we couldn't contact the Resolution Island radar site. But - Saglek radar and Resolution Island radar both knew where the plane went down and they knew we were in real trouble.

Following established protocol, the first thing Colonel Milner did was to turn command over to Air Commodore Bradshaw who was in the Royal Canadian Air Force. While Air Commodore Bradshaw was equivalent in rank to a Brigadier General in the US Air Force, he requested that Colonel Milner assume command. Aside from the three girls in our USO Troop, we had a Colonel, an Air Commodore, a Captain, a Lieutenant, four Sergeants and an airman on the plane. The crew went outside of the plane and saw the trouble that we were in. We were straddled against this mountain of jagged ice. They started to collect what food and candy bars that any one of us had on them. All of a sudden one of the crew members yelled that we had to get off the plane because the ice was cracking from the weight of the plane. That is when it started to get really scary. We had to start climbing up the crevices of ice to try to get to the land above. Jean slipped and Betty and I caught her before she fell down in to a deep crevice in which there would have been no way to save her. So God was on our side and he had his Guardian Angels watching out for all of us.

Colonel Milner advised that it was unlikely that we would be rescued until the next day and there was no way we could last because of the cold. It was seventy below zero. What the men intended to do was put all the women in the middle and everyone get in a circle and try to stay warm because there wasn't any way to start a fire.

Then we heard a plane and it circled the little area where we were. We were thankful because it was starting to get dark and we knew that we wouldn't be alive the next day. So it was now or never for us. Ken Dempster was at the controls and a member of the Canadian Mounted Police was also on board. They had a twin engine Otter with ski's. We had made a sign on the ice with red chalk saying "food" because none of us were hurt at that time. They finally landed the Otter. Then they said that only nine people could go on the plane and that three would have to stay. We knew that whoever stayed behind would not survive – so we voted to take everybody. We were all on top of each other stuffed like sardines in a can. They started the plane and Ken Dempster and Colonel Milner were the plots. Colonel Milner was called a "Dare Devil" and one of the best pilots around. We had to go in circles to get air speed and all of a sudden Ken said "we can't make it, we have to stop". Colonel Milner said "no way" and gave it all it had. The plane hit a piece of ice and it was enough to get us airborne. Whew! That is when Air Commodore Bradshaw hit his head on the top of the plane and got a big goose egg. Now we were in the air but when we hit that chunk of ice we broke one of the skis.

Now we were in another pickle! The Resolution Island radar station was about ten miles from the airplane crash site. It had a very short runway and we had a lot of weight plus a broken ski. If we kept going we would go over a 200 foot cliff and of course that would have been "all she wrote". We were all saying silent prayers about that time. We were coming into land and I was expecting the plane to fall apart, but we made it. Again we were saved by heros Colonel Victor Milner and Ken Dempster who simply would not give up. We were all thankful that we were alive and thanked God for the Arctic gear that we had on so we wouldn't freeze.

I understand that Betty, Jean and myself were the first women in Air Force History to ever stay overnight at the Resolution Island radar station in the Baffin Islands. It was a small base of 100 men and they were all wonderful to us. All we had left was our purses and the clothes we had on.

The staff put us in the infirmary and posted guards to protect our privacy. We were invited to a banquet that they prepared for us at the last minute. The food was excellent. They had some old instruments that the boys would get together at night and play. So we decided to put on a show for them. Colonel Milner played the drum on an old can and Air Commodore Bradshaw plunked on an old banjo. We had a guitar and we sat around and put on a little show. I think that was the best audience we ever had.

The next day, we were to leave for the Frobisher Bay radar site and then a return trip to Goose Bay. We were a little nervous about getting on another plane. Only small planes could land at Resolution Island. We got to Frobisher Bay and the plane we were in had trouble with the magnetic needle and something else was wrong – so we stayed over night again. This time they took us to a Eskimo Square Dance. It was a site to behold. One Eskimo wanted to rub noses with Jean Amos because she was a blonde. We got up and sang "Shake Rattle and Roll" because we figured they would know that song - and they did. It was quite a reception. They also took us out to an Eskimo Village. That in itself was quite an experience.

The next day we finally left for Goose Bay Labrador and possibly home. We landed at Goose Bay and the BBC News was there to greet us. They had us call our parents right away before the news hit home. It was a good thing because after I called my mom and dad, a radio station from Erie, PA. got a hold of the story and they wanted to interview my parents to find out if we were okay. Both of my parents would have had a heart attack if I hadn't had called and told them I was safe. That is the first time I was ever on the front page of the daily press newspaper in St. Mary’s, PA. What a way to get there.

Our harrowing experience was not to end just yet. We got on a C-118 at Goose Bay and the motor burned up before we started out. Okay one more night at Goose Bay.

Now if you're wondering what we did for clothes. Well! The boys took up a collection and bought us toothpaste and a toothbrush each. We washed out our under clothes every night and put our hair up in strips of T-shirt material that was kindly donated by some nice people. We had our make up and lipstick in our purses but we didn't have any decent clothes to wear for the Saturday night dance at the NCO Club where we were invited. Unbeknownst to us, all of the boys got together and chipped in to get each of us a dress at the Hudson Bay Company Store. So off we went and we did have a lot of fun at the dance.

The next day, we were off to the good old United States. About an hour in the sky and over the ocean they announced, "fasten your seat belts, we have to turn around and go back to Goose Bay". All three of us almost had a heart attack. They said they were throwing gas over board to lighten the plane because one of our motors was burning up. We did a lot of praying until we landed in good old Goose Bay. Nine hours later we finally were airborne once again and on our way to McGuire AFB in New Jersey. When we finally landed, we got out and literally kissed the ground. When we got to Custom's, they wanted our Birth Certificates and our shot records. We told them these documents were lost in the plane crash. In the end we had to take the shots over or be put in quarantine for three days - so we quickly bared our shoulders. Two months later we flew to Thule AFB in Greenland to entertain the troops. We got over our fear of flying. We can laugh and joke about the experience we had. Now, almost 40 years later, I can still hear and feel the plane crunching on the ice. For the Grace of God all of us were saved.