FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. — Discovery Channel’s series Expedition Unknown traveled to the Army Women’s Museum January 12, to conduct research on 18 Women’s Army Corps Soldiers whose flight went missing near Africa on May 30,1945.
After extensive research in the AWM’s archives, Expedition Unknown gathered enough information to then travel to Accra, Africa in search of the lost plane and its missing members.
The episode will air July 31 on the Discovery Channel.
"We really enjoyed the whole process from working with the producers and writers prior to the visit, the on-site filming, and then the postproduction support we were able to offer,” said Tracy Bradford, Army Women’s Museum curator. “The entire Expedition Unknown team was passionate about learning and sharing this history."
The AWM’s archives contained key information about the missing flight carrying the WAC Soldiers and the 3 members from the flight crew. Information including valuable documents such as the women’s orders to Accra, several photographs, newspaper clippings, and more brought forward and donated to the museum by the women themselves and their families.
"This has been a wonderful opportunity to showcase the resources we have available in the archive and the research that goes into work such as this,” said Alexandra J. Kolleda, Army Women’s Museum education specialist.
All of these archives can now be found and viewed digitally on the AWM’s website’s digital collections which is now open to the public.
“We are truly honored to be a part of memorializing the service and sacrifice of these women and hopefully bringing a little bit of closure to their families,” said Kolleda.
Their story begins in October 1944, a squadron of 159 WAC members arrived at their assignment in the Air Transport Command’s Central African Division in Accra, Africa.
The WACs were part of Squadron D, 1202nd Army Air Force Base Unit, Air Transport Command.
They were the first WACs to set foot on the hot, tropical soil of the African Gold Coast. They were older than many other recruits. Among the women, the average age was 28 according to the Digital Collections on the AWM’s website.
Collectively, they worked alongside each other as clerks, models, riveters, pilots and even professional dancers. According to AWM’s website, their commanding officer, First Lt. Patrice A. Brooks, had been a protégé of Anna Pavlova, the famous Russian prima ballerina.
Among the 159 WACs that went to Accra, many had strong reasons behind why they decided to serve.
Cpl. Betty Griebel, was one of them. Griebel enlisted in the WAC after receiving notice that her husband Sgt. Griebel was MIA. He was listed as MIA for 42 years before his remains had been identified in 1985.
Following the discovery of her husband’s remains, Griebel, whose married name was Betty McAleenan, felt called to relay her memories and share the story by recording her oral history for the Women’s Army Corps Museum collection.
McAleenan went on to shed light on another story of selfless service, that of Pvt. First Class Helen Rozelle.
Like Griebel, Rozzelle enlisted in 1943 after her 22-year-old, older brother First Lt. Richard E. Rozelle was declared MIA. Rozelle’s brother was part of the 2nd Bomber Group, 20th Bomber Squadron. On August 19, 1943, his B-17 aircraft was shot down off the coast of Italy.
Also inspired to follow in the footsteps of her brother, Staff Sgt. Frederic Blanck, Pvt. First Class Frieda C. Blanck Friend decided to serve by enlisting in the WAC, according to records found on the AWM’s website’s Digital Collections.
In June of 1943, Blanck had been given permission and a leave pass to marry Staff Sgt. Roy James Anthony Friend. The two had been assigned to different U.S. Army airfields. She went on to join her husband who had been transferred to Accra.
Once the War in Europe had concluded, military operations began to shift, and staffing started to change at Air Transport Command. The WACs were given the option of returning to the United States or transferring to the 1400th Army Air Force Base Unit in London, England.
Only 67 of the women chose to continue their service in Europe.
Early Wednesday morning at 7:08 a.m. 18 of the 67 WACs boarded the 3rd plane, a C-47B #44-76406 Skytrain transport aircraft, which then left Accra for Roberts Field, Liberia. Other than scattered showers that morning, there were no severe weather conditions reported according to the reports found on the AWM’s website’s digital collections.
The flight crew, which consisted of 3 members, made regular radio contact at 7:55 a.m. to Takoradi Airport, which is located today in Ghana.
At 9:20 a.m., repeated distress signals from the aircraft were picked up by U.S. Army Airways Communication System at Roberts Field in Liberia.
A later report detailed, “the distress signal was loud and clear and was heard for approximately 5 minutes.”
An immediate search was launched off what is now Cote D’lvoire, in the presumed area of the crash. The search continued for over a week with no sign of the aircraft or its passengers to be found.
Staff Sgt. Friend was still assigned to Accra when he heard the news that his wife, Pvt. First Class Frieda C. Blanck Friend, had never arrived at her new duty station in London, England.
All 21 members who were aboard the aircraft are listed as Missing in Action to this day and can be found on the Defense Prisoners of War/MIA Accounting Agency database and memorialized at the North Africa American Cemetery located in Carthage, Tunisia.
Both Rozzelle siblings also are still listed MIA to this day.
49 of the original 67 WACs traveled safely to London, England and their new assignment. Though the mission carried on, the women had to live with the trauma of losing their colleagues and friends. They continued their work with the Air Transport Command by beginning to rebuild Europe while keeping the war effort moving forward in the Pacific stated AWM’s website records.
Listed below are the 21 MIA from aboard flight C-47B #44-76406
Pilot First Lt. Alfred R. Ellis; 38 years; Birthplace: Iowa City, Iowa
Flight Office Co-Pilot Robert E. Mulhern; Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
Radio Operator Cpl. George A. Siffman; 22 years; Birthplace: Cleaveland Heights, Ohio
Sgt. Doris Cooper; 30 years; Birthplace: Champaign, Illinois
Cpl. Velma Holden; 25 years; Birthplace: Asheville, North Carolina
Pvt. First Class Rachel “Rose” Brohinsky; 31 Years; Birthplace: New York City, New York
Pvt. First Class Flossie De Leone Flannery; Birthplace: Mount Summit, Indiana
Pvt. First Class Frieda C. Blanck Friend; 26 years; Birthplace: Queens, New York
Pvt. First Class Mary M. Gollinger; 29 years; Birthplace: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Pvt. First Class Odessa Hollingsworth; 28 years; Birthplace: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Pvt. First Class Alice Dana King; 28 years, Birthplace: Utah
Pvt. First Class Wilma E. Liles; 32 years; Birthplace: Reese, Texas
Pvt. First Class Evelyn L. McBride; 33 years; Birthplace: California
Pvt. First Class Alice P. McKinney; 27 years; Birthplace: Big Bay, Michigan
Pvt. First Class Rose Puchalla; 27 years; Birthplace: Holdingford, Minnesota
Pvt. First Class Mildred Rice; 30 years; Birthplace: Kansas City, Kansas
Pvt. Pearl Roomsburg; 26 years; Birthplace: Phoenix, Arizona
Pvt. First Class Helen Rozzelle; 26 years; Washington, D.C.
Pvt. First Class Leona M. Seyfert; 30 years; Birthplace: Fowler Kansas
Pvt. First Class Ruth E. Warlick; 28 years; Birthplace: Goldthwaite, Texas
Pvt. First Class Bonnie Williams; 26 years, Birthplace: Medford, Kansas
To virtually view the Tablets of the Missing at the North Africa American Cemetery located in Carthage, Tunisia, copy and paste this link: the https://virtual360.abmc.gov/north_africa/
To view the Women’s Army Museum’s website, copy and paste this link: https://awm.army.mil/
To view the Women’s Army Museum’s online archive of all the photo copied materials from the Accra WACs, copy and paste this link: https://awm.historyit.com/public-sites/home/digitalcollections?hsxezn=kezfcv
To view and learn more about Expedition Unknown, copy and paste this link: https://www.discovery.com/shows/expedition-unknown
