WMoF Celebrity Series: Gertrude Tompkins “never heard from again”
Amelia Earhart gets all the publicity but there is another female pilot, a member of WWII’s WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots) missing to this day: Gertrude Tompkins. She departed from Inglewood (now LAX) on October 26, 1944 and “never heard from again.”
Come join us to hear James W. Ure, author, of “Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of WWII Pilot Gertrude Tompkins.” Also come see Darren Moore’s P-51D Miss Kandy will be on display as well.
Gertrude was one of the original “fly girls.” October 24 she married Henry Silver. He never saw her again. Then two days later she flew her P-51 Mustang from Inglewood (Mines Field) to depart for New Jersey. Female pilots were required to not to fly at night so Tompkins stopped in Palm Springs to get her cockpit hatch fixed and leave by 4PM to get some “sky behind her.”
Join us on Saturday, August 5, and see a classic P-51 on display and hear the story of Gertrude and the ongoing search for her.
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