Operation Attaché

At 0938, September 12, 1948, US Navy Beechcraft 85113 took off from Churchill, Manitoba on a two hour or so flight to The Pas, Manitoba. It never arrived. At the controls was the newly appointed US Naval Attaché to Canada, Captain Ben Scott Custer, USN (an Honorary member of NOAC Ottawa Br.).

With him were Chief Naval Aviation Pilot Jack Kastner, USN and Captain Sir Robert Stirling-Hamilton, RN, the British Naval Attaché in Ottawa. The sky was mainly overcast and there were some icing conditions, but nothing to worry about.

However, four hours out of Churchill with fuel running low and no sign of The Pas, 85113 was calling "Mayday" and was very uncertain of its position, whether east or west of Lake Winnipeg.

Captain Custer was to say later that the magnetic compass was pirouetting like a ballet dancer and the radio compass had been killed by the icing that was weighing down the wings and hindering radio reception. Whether the "Mayday" was heard seems unclear, but by 1330 The Pas was reporting an overdue aircraft to Search & Rescue (SAR) HQ in Winnipeg, and by 1430 when the aircraft's fuel supply would have been exhausted, Operation Attaché was commenced. It was to be the most significant downed aircraft SAR mission in years, employing up to 35 aircraft for thirteen days.

Back in the aircraft, Captain Custer with Chief Petty Officer Kastner in the co-pilot's seat, brought the Beechcraft to a safe landing in the muskeg. They avoided the trees but soon realized traipsing through the muskeg was no easy task, so they set up a temporary camp on solid ground.

Fortunately, no one had been injured in the forced landing but they had no idea where they were, or whether anyone had heard their "Mayday." They were also very limited in emergency supplies.

Captain Custer was later to complain, in an article which appeared in Collier's magazine, that greedy ground crews somewhere along the line, had looted the plane's emergency rations of the machetes and ponchos, the sporting rifle and worst of all, the axe. The RCAF who provided ground support to the USN aircraft in Ottawa, took great umbrage at this charge.

At any rate, the survivors set up camp and took stock of their supplies. According to Captain Custer's article, they had a .22 cal. rifle with 50 rounds, three .38 cal. pistols with 50 rounds, a fishing rod and reel, two knives, parachutes, whistles, signalling mirrors and Very pistols. Also matches and two cigarette lighters with flints and fluid. For immediate food requirements they had 16 Spam and cheese sandwiches, five pints of fruit juice, 24 bars of chocolate and a bit of cake, jam and candy. Not much for five hungry men lost in the wilderness.

They were to remain in this temporary camp living off the land for a week. Captain Stirling-Hamilton, with the aid of a pocket compass and watches, worked out that they were at 105 degrees longitude, latitude unknown, but many, many miles to the west of where they thought they were.

With the likelihood of rescue diminishing with time, they decided to help themselves and set out to hike south in the hopes of finding civilization. The ordeal of hiking through muskeg and tangled bush can only be imagined, burdened as they were with their remaining stores.

Meanwhile in The Pas and Winnipeg, search and rescue efforts were intensified. An initial search of the route between Churchill and The Pas yielded nothing. Numerous reports from native encampments and trappers in the area were followed up with the help of the RCMP but to no avail. The RCAF had brought in Group Captain Z. L. Leigh as Search Coordinator, and the search area was expanded.

There was no shortage of resources. Overall, the RCAF provided 23 aircraft, the USN 5, US Coast Guard and USAF each four, including a blimp. More aircraft were offered by the RCN and civilian agencies but The Pas and the search area could take no more.

The survivors, when they left the crash scene, had used parachutes and other gear to indicate their departure route to the south. They continued to mark the route as they travelled. It was well they did! Four days later, a large transport plane broke through the clouds. It was in fact, Lancaster VC-CJD on routine search which found the aircraft and guided a Canso to the lost crew who were by this time about thirty miles to the southwest. The Canso was able to land on a nearby lake and the next day flew the survivors to safety.

Captain Custer was later to blame the erratic compass on Captain Stirling-Hamilton's metal hatbox which had been placed too close to the compass in the aircraft. Naval officers beware!

Benjamin Scott Custer long survived his harrowing experience and retired in 1957 as a Rear Admiral, USN. He passed away on March 11, 2002, in Rye, New York, at the age of 97.

We are indebted to his widow for the story.