Gertrude Tompkins Silver Explained

Gertrude Tompkins Silver
Birth Name:Gertrude Vreeland Tompkins[1]
Birth Date:16 October 1911
Birth Place:Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Disappeared Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality:American
Occupation:Pilot
Era:World War II
Organization:Women Airforce Service Pilots
Office:may be used as an alternative when the label is better rendered as "Office" (e.g. public office or appointments) -->
Spouse:Henry Silver
Footnotes:Graduated WASP Class 43-W-7[2]

Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins Silver (October 16, 1911 – disappeared October 26, 1944) was the only Women Airforce Service Pilots member to go missing during World War II.[3]

Early life

Gertrude Vreeland Tompkins was born October 16, 1911, in Jersey City, New Jersey, the daughter of Vreeland Tompkins, founder of Smooth-On, Inc., and Laura Tompkins (née Towar). The family later moved to Summit, New Jersey.[4] Gertrude attended Ambler School of Horticulture and moved to New York City following her graduation.[4] Following the death of her boyfriend, who took her flying and later died while flying for the Royal Air Force, Gertrude applied to the WASP program.

Disappearance and search

She departed from Mines Field (Los Angeles International Airport) for Palm Springs, on October 26, 1944, flying a North American P-51D Mustang destined for New Jersey. She never arrived at Palm Springs and due to reporting errors a search was not started until three days later. Despite an extensive ground and water search, no trace of Silver or the aircraft were found.[5]

Follow up and aftermath

According to historian Pat Macha, the plane probably crashed near Dockweiler State Beach, just a few miles from Mines Field.[6] In January 2010, search efforts to locate the possible crash site in Santa Monica Bay were unsuccessful.[7] [8] [9] [10] Also, the television show Expedition Unknown, Season 6, Episode 8, "America's Lost WWII Hero", aired on the Discovery Channel on May 22, 2019. In this episode they searched for Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins' crash site. Areas searched included the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles. They also searched the departure corridor off of runway 25 out over the nearby ocean. These searches were unsuccessful.[11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gertrude Vreeland Tompkins Silver. www.militaryhallofhonor.com. 28 January 2018.
  2. Web site: WASP Class 43-W-7 - Texas Woman's University. twu.edu. en. 2018-01-28. 2018-01-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20180129080718/https://twu.edu/library/womans-collection/featured-collections/women-airforce-service-pilots-wasp/wasp-research/class-list/wafs--wasp-class-of-1943/wasp-class-43-w-7/. dead.
  3. News: Slater. Stefan. The Lost Wasp - Southbay. 28 January 2018. Southbay. 16 September 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20180129140430/https://southbay.goldenstate.is/the-lost-wasp/. 29 January 2018. [...] she accomplished what most women during World War II could never even dream of doing. “Girls weren't supposed to become pilots of massive fighter planes[,]”.
  4. News: Kanzler. Kaitlyn. 30 September 2019. The 75-year search for a missing WWII pilot from NJ continues. NorthJersey.com. 6 June 2021.
  5. News: Merl . Jean . Mystery in the Sky . 28 January 2018 . Los Angeles Times . 14 September 1997.
  6. Los Angeles Times September 14, 1997
  7. Book: Ure. James W.. Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins. 2017. Chicago Review Press. 978-1613735879.
  8. http://www.aircraftwrecks.com/gts/gts.htm Ongoing Search For Mrs. Gertrude Tompkins Silver.
  9. Web site: Search Underway for Missing Heroine of World War II and her P-51 Mustang | Scuba Diving Magazine . https://archive.today/20120911025123/http://www.scubadiving.com/news/2009/09/search-underway-for-missing-heroine-of-world-war-ii-and-her-p-51-mustang . dead. September 11, 2012 . Scubadiving.com . July 10, 2010 .
  10. Web site: The Last Missing WASP of WWII. Adventures in Rediscovery. 28 January 2018. 30 August 2013.
  11. Web site: https://go.discovery.com/video/expedition-unknown-discovery-atve-us/americas-lost-wwii-hero . 21 September 2022.