The Gremlin Special was a

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained ...

that crashed during a sightseeing flight over the

Baliem Valley The Baliem Valley ( id, Lembah Baliem; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea. Specifically in Highland Papua, Indonesia, which is inhabited mainly by the Dani peopl ...

(also known as Shangri-La valley) in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

in the eastern part of

Netherlands Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

in 1945. The recovery of the three survivors from an isolated valley surrounded by mountains, enemy troops, and native inhabitants made worldwide news at the time and is the subject of the 2011 book ''

Lost in Shangri-La ''Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II'' is a 2011 non-fiction book by American author Mitchell Zuckoff about a US military airplane called "The Gremlin Special", which ...

'' by author Mitchell Zuckoff.

Accident

The Gremlin Special flew into the side of a mountain on May 13, 1945. Five passengers survived the initial wreck with two, Sergeant Laura Besley and Private Eleanor Hanna, succumbing to injuries the next day. The survivors were

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

Margaret Hastings, Sergeant Kenneth Decker and Lieutenant John McCollom. The Baliem Valley was previously explored in 1938 by

Richard Archbold Richard Archbold (April 9, 1907 – August 1, 1976) was an American zoologist and philanthropist. He was independently wealthy, being the grandson of the capitalist John Dustin Archbold. He was educated at private schools, and later attended cla ...

, flying in a PBY-2. Although the press believed the survivors of the Gremlin Special crash to be the first outsiders to encounter the Dani people who inhabited the area, Archbold had sent two exploration teams into the valley in 1938.

Rescue

Examples of C-47s with Waco CG-4 gliders in England Search aircraft were dispatched when the Gremlin Special never returned. Three survivors were spotted on the ground during an air search on May 17. Two medical paratroopers were deployed to the site, followed by 10 other support troops. A journalist, Alexander Cann, was dropped into the site to document the rescue attempt, and the interactions with the native people. The high-altitude rescue was performed using

Waco CG-4 Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

gliders towed by a

. Three separate rescues were performed by towing a glider with single pilot into the valley. The glider was then loaded and configured for a live capture by the tow plane which recovered the survivors, towing them back to a base in Hollandia.

Aircraft

*The "Gremlin Special" was a

*A Waco CG-4 was used in the rescue attempt. The first glider sustained damage from low flight over trees and a whipping parachute that was snagged on takeoff. A second CG-4 was used for the remaining two rescues.

External Links

Alexander Cann's video of the rescue "RESCUE FROM SHANGRI-LA" 1945 C-47 PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR DOCUMENTARY
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References

Bibliography

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1945 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1945 History of New Guinea 1945 in Oceania 1945 in Papua New Guinea Aviation accidents and incidents in Papua New Guinea 1945 disasters in Papua New Guinea