Glacier Girl from The Lost Squadron

Glacier Girl from The Lost Squadron

On July 15, 1942, a flight of six P-38s and two B-17 bombers, with a total of 25 crew members on board, took off from Presque Isle Air Base in Maine headed for the U.K. What followed was a harrowing and life-threatening landing of the entire squadron on a remote ice cap in Greenland. Miraculously, none of the crew was lost and they were all rescued and returned safely home after spending several days on the desolate ice.

Fifty years later a small group of aviation enthusiasts decided to locate that squadron, who had come to be known as "The Lost Squadron," and to recover one of the lost P-38s. It turned out to be no easy task, as the planes had been buried under 25 stories of ice and drifted over a mile from their original location.

The story of this mission and the recovery of the P-38 (which was christened "Glacier Girl") is a fascinating bit of history, and this site's section is dedicated to all the people involved in the discovery, recovery and restoration of P-38F-1, SN #41-7630.

Learn more at the P-38 National Association & Museum website.