Bomber wreck a time capsule to the Cold War Ottawa museum to create new exhibit By JEFF NAGEL CHIPPING AWAY at ice high on Mt. Kologet, atomic weapons spe- cialist John Clearwater found his buried treasure. Entombed under a white blanket lay the mangled wreckage of a U.S. Air Force B-36 bomber that went down one February night in 1950 after its crew jettisoned its atomic bomb over Hecate Strait and bailed out. Late this summer the old warbird gave up more of her secrets. Clearwater spent a week at the site in thé Kispiox mountains in late Au- gust, pulling half-century old artifacts loose from the melting slush. "“There!were handkerchiefs — folded and pressed,” Clearwater recounts. “I saw folded underwear and white shirts.” “There were absolutely stunning things there — survival kits, suit cases — things that had just come out of the ice this summer. Nobody had seen this stuff before.” The wreck has been picked over by scavengers for several years. Long gone —and now in private homes in B.C. and the U.S, — are items like the bomber’s 20-millimetre cannons and the ammunition that fed those ma- chine guns. Even the “birdcage”, a device that housed the plutonium core needed to arm the A-bomb and ‘that could still have residual radiation, is now said to be in a U.S. man’s home. | But to Clearwater’s expert eye, there were still clues confirming the wreck’s status as the first Broken Arrow ~ the U.S, military classification for an accident involving nuclear wea- pons, , “We did find conclusive evidence of the atomic bomb on site,” he said. “I-was able to pick up specific items related to the bomb.” ‘The smallest find was a food tin with its lid twisted off. “It was somebody’s last meal be- fore they jumped out of that plane,” he said, The 36 items Clearwater recovered have been taken to Ottawa, where they will go on display in the Diefen- bunker - Canada’s Cold War museum, Right now the only mention of the incident at the former government bunker turned museum is a newspaper clipping. But Diefenbunker curators say they will mark the historic crash with a e The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - A5 A B-36 BOMBER crashed north of Kitwanga in 1950 after jettisoning its atomic bomb over Hecate Strait. The “Broken Arrow” incident will be featured in a new exhibit at the Diefenbunker — Canada's Cold War museum. complete exhibit in its own room that will open next September. “This is extremely significant,” Clearwater said. “This is the world’s first Broken Arrow and it set the mold for years to come.” When another U.S. bomber ran into trouble over eastern Canada nine months later, it followed the same pro- cedures when it dropped its bomb over the St. Laurence River before limping on to land at an airstrip in Maine. Unlike past visitors, Clearwater’s expedition was the first to get advance approval from the province’s heritage conservation branch. Artifacts removed in the past by Terrace residents and others technical- ly amounts to the illegal looting of a heritage wreck, banned under provin- cial law. Eyen with his paperwork in order, some locals weren't happy with the visit. “T encountered major opposition from people who didn’t want a natio- nal museum coming in,” Clearwater said, adding he tried to ease fears that the Diefenbunker would move the en- tire wreck to Otlawa. “We don’t want the airplane,” he said, “Our interest was in the Cold War aspect and the bomb aspect.” “We did find conclusive evidence of the. atomic bomb on site." The incident has long fascinated historians and aviation buffs. The plane itself was unusual. At a wingspan of 69 metres, the B-36 was the largest bomber the U.S. military ever built. And it was powered by six unusual backward-mounted “pusher type” propeller engines. The biggest mystery is how the huge bomber flew from Princess Royal Island - where the crew bailed out - more than 300 kilometres further north with half its engines afire. The crash - site, Clearwater notes, is actually higher than the altitude where the crew bailed out. Some also wonder. whether the plu- tonium core to make the A-bomb live was on board when the plane took off, and if so, what happened to it. It wasn’t on the bomb when it was drop- ped, because it produced only a high explosive, not a nuclear, blast in that dark rainy night over. the ocean. Clearwater won’t speculate further based on what he saw here. But expect to watch all the theories of the crash analyzed when the inci- dent comes to the Discovery Channel next year. , Edmonton-based filmmaker Mi- chael Jorgensen, who has shot docu- mentaries for the PBS Nova series, is filming the one-hour television docu- mentary “Lost Nuke.” Deadly 1952 pl By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN THE STORY of 36 US servicemen killed after a plane crash off Sandspit more than 50 years ago is something of a mystery. Little information about the doomed January 18, 1952 flight can be found on the internet, in air force archives or even archives with the Ca- nadian Transportation and Safety Board. But several years ago the story hit home with a Terrace RCMP officer. who was then posted in Sandspit, a small town on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Thanks to his initiative many more people know the story of the tragic crash. The DC4 plane, owned by Norlhwest Orient Airlines! but being dpetatdd"by the US Military’ ‘Air-Transport Service, was carrying ‘US service- men on their way home from the Korean war on compassionate leave - coming home to families with. sick or dying relatives, explains Cnst. Ted. Luscombe. boat. ane crash memorialized none of them died from the impact of the crash. “That's the sad part of the whole thing,” says Luscombe, a 20-year veteran and former Captain in the Canadian Army. ; A few hours later, a man in a rowboat from Sandspit made his out to the wreckage to find seven hypothermic survivors clinging to life. “That’s only by good foriune that somebody in Sandspit brought the small boat — they could see these flashlights waving out in the ocean where they shouldn't be,” he says. The offer was made to take the men to shore two at a time — they all couldn't fit into the tiny “They all agreed that it was all or none. The .. worst. ones got in, the boat. and.the rest, of them Slipped ‘intg the ocean and, hung on to- the, boat,” Luscombe says. It didn’t take long ta reach shore. They all lived — the only survivors of a bizarre accident that didn’t necessarily have to end in so much death. The tale touched Cnst. Luscombe, who found it hard to believe the ttagic story of the fallen soldiers wasn’t more widely known. In 2001 he decided to erect a memorial to the victims of flight 324 and to Canadian soldiers who have died in the line of duty. After rallying the local community, a huge boulder marked with two brass plaques, was placed in front of the Sandspit airport as a mem- orial, November 11, 2001, 200: people - more than a third of Sandspit’s entire population ~~ gathered at the memorial to mark Remembrance Day. “That was amazing — the amount of people who showed up for Armistice Day,” Luscombe He first heard the story more than three years : ago when he was posted in Sandspit. ‘ As he knows. it, the a four-engine aircraft car- rying 43 people, including crew, were en route from Elmendorf Air force base in Anchorage, Alaska to Seattle when it lost power io one of its engines early on in the midnight flight. The nearest landing strip was at the tiny i Sandspit airport. The pilot, struggling with poor : visibility due to a snowstorm apparently overshot the runway while trying to land. The plane tou- ched down and tried to take off again, but : weighed down with wet, heavy snow it couldn’t and plunged into the ocean ~ closer to shore than AN RCMP olficer lays a wreath at the memorial to fallen Ganadian soldiers and 36 US ser- vicemen who perished after a 1952 military transport plane crash off Sandspit. FILE PHOTO COURTESY QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS O8SERVER port sunk, they were still able to clamber up onto the tail.” Unable to judge where they were in relation to shore, 36 passengers clinging to the wreckage “Had they known where they were they could have swam to a point where they could have walked to shore, but of course they were in a blinding snowstorm and it was windy,” says Cnst. any of the passengers could have imagined. Luscombe. “Although the main body of the air- Industrial rezoning withdrawal shows that democracy works Dear Sir: On Tuesday November 25 2003 a public hearing was held at the Regional District of Kitimat Stikine office in Terrace to discuss an application by Allan Webber to change the low density rural zoning of his property on the west side of Hwy16 east opposite the Copper- side Estates subdivision to resource industrial for the purposes of establishing a log sort and saw milling operation. A large delegation of residents from the subdivision and the surrounding area and other user groups turned out to voice their opposition to the proposed rezoning. Their main concern was the noise and dust from machinery thereby reducing the quality of living and property values in the nearby resi- dential areas and at the very popular recrea- tion area of the Copper River delta, Another major concern was the danger the increased number of logging trucks and work vehicles would pose. on a very dangerous and busy curved section of the highway. Three fa- talities have occurred over the past 10 years on this section of highway. On the same side of the highway, about 300 meters from the proposed development site, is a large fishing lodge. The Zymoetz (Copper ) River nearby is a Class 2 Water where myself and other fishing guides carry out a key part of our business. The area is used extensively by resident and non-resident anglers and by many residents of Copperside subdivision and outly- ing areas for recreational activities With the property in question being located in the flood plain there was the possibility that saw mill-wastes including oils, gas and other contaminants. could be washed or leached into the Zymoctz and. the amainstem Skeena River. "CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Because of the opposition from the resi- dents in the area, the proponent and his imme- diate family who also live in Copperside, de- cided that it was more important to get along with their neighbours than go ahead with the development and to the amazement of every- one, withdrew their application. The majority. of those in attendance were relieved and very appreciative of the unex- pected withdrawal of the re-zoning application by Mr. Webber, Even the regional district staff and directors were taken by surprise, as ul- timately they were the ones who would have to decide on the change in zoning. It showed.a rare. and thoughtful outcome on the part of the proponent that averted a poten- tially nasty and divisive situation had the zon- ing been approved. Most shook hands and for many it was a happy ending. It must be pointed oul that those in atten-. dance at the public meeting were unanimous in their support for the coacept of a log sort and saw milling operation, but made it clear ihat it had to be located al a more appropriate industrial zoned location. Two ‘suggestions were the lands currently owned or leased by New Skeena’Forest Pro- - ducts and the area near the airport that is be- ing: proposed for industrial use. The regional district staff and directors stated they would help Mr.Webber where possible to find a more appropriate location. The most disappointing part of the applica- lion was our MLA Roger Harris wriling a letter in support of the project which was read out at the meeting. It is his responsibility to consider all constituents, by talking or consulling with them and looking very closely at the implica- lions to everyone in the area before he puts his signature to a development of this magnitude, I am not aware of him meeting with Cop- perside arca residents and he certainly did not meet with the lodge operator, fishing guides or all the other recreational users of the area. The Terrace area is desperate for new em- ployment and business opportunities but not al any cost. Sound planning and careful decision making must be a priority. Any thing less will lead to chaotic land use decisions that will have long term negative implications that few will be happy with. It makes no scnse to ignore legitimate resi- dential and social values along with other cs- tablished economic endeavours, regatdless how insignificant they may appear to be in comparison with new and larger development proposals. an - ‘Jim Culp, Terrace, B.C. eventually died of exposure and hypothermia - says. _tee for the district is quoted, “because the home Home school concept is not all that it seems Dear Sir: Roger Harris’s musings on how our school dis- trict might cut costs by attracting home schooled students, (The Terrace Standard. Dec: 3, 2003) warrants lurther investigation. What Mr. Harris says may be basically accurate but he did not, in my opinion, tell the whole story. The New Westminster district appears lo have chosen to specialize to a degree in home school support and that is why they. were sought out by the Bowen Island group. Not the other way around, as Mr. Harris suggests. - An article from a New Westminster paper, The Record, Aug. 7, 2003 stales thal, “School districts receive $5,300 from the Ministry of Education for each child enrolled in a home school program. While the students learn at home with their par- ents, districts are required to provide support teachers and support materials.” Further on in the article, Michael Ewen, a trus- schoolers do not require physical buildings and clerical staff, school districts can make money on them. Is Mr. Harris suggesting that it is desirable for school districts to download the task of daily edu- cation to some parents, lake only a supporting role, and reap the funding windfall from these “low- maintenance” students? I doubt that in this district there are many fa- milies that can afford or have the expertise to have a parent take on the home schooling role. Unfortunately, the behaviour of this government, by choking funding to-the rural areas may drive some individuals or communilies to just that end, What a bonus, and how neatly it fits inte the current agenda of dismantle and privatize. Michael Bruce, . Terrace, B.C,