1932 Kimberley rescue

Aviation incident in northern Australia January 2015 September 2019 Occurrence Atlantis Kupang.jpg 250px Atlantis refuelling in Koepang 1932 05 15 y–1932 07 06 y Cape St Lambert 14 20 1.2 S 127 46 45.4 E type:event_region:AU-WA inline,title Junkers W 33 Atlantis D-1925 Cologne, Germany Germany Italy Greece Turkey Syria Iraq Persia India Ceylon Burma Thailand Malaya Singapore Dutch East Indies Dutch Timor Koepang, Dutch Timor Darwin, Australia 2 0 2 thumb|Routes across the Timor Sea thumb|Landing and rescue areas. 1. Initial landing zone near Berkeley River mouth on 15 May 1932; 2. Second landing area; ... 9, Rescued In 1932, pilot Hans Bertram and mechanic Adolph Klausmann were rescued while attempting to circumnavigate the world in a Junkers W 33 seaplane. After departing Koepang, Dutch Timor, they endured a storm in the Timor Sea on 15 May and were forced to land in a remote coastal area of the Kimberley region in northern Western Australia. The stranded men spent almost six weeks severely deprived of food and water and were close to death when they were rescued by a group of local Aboriginal fishermen on 22 June. Circumnavigation attempt On 29 February 1932 four aviators flew out of Cologne, Germany on a round-the-world flight attempt. The group comprised pilot Hans Bertram, co-pilot Thom, mechanic Adolph Klausmann and cameraman Alexander von Lagorio, and was intended to find potential markets for Germany's aviation industry as well as a goodwill tour visiting German communities along the route. The plane was a Junkers W 33 seaplane (float configuration), registration D-1925, named Atlantis.http://www.wingnet.org/rtw/RTW002G.HTM Bertram Round-the-World Flight Attempt Round-the-World Flights 16 August 2012 Over ten weeks, the group successfully flew through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, India, Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Dutch East Indies and Dutch Timor. After arriving in Jakarta, it was agreed that Bertram and Klausmann would continue flying down the Indonesian archipelago and on to Australia, while Thom and von Lagorio would travel separately and the four would rendezvous in Shanghai, China. Their engine was overhauled in the Dutch naval aerodrome in Soerabaja (now Surabaya), Dutch East Indies and the pair departed from there on 13 May, stopping for fuel at a bay near Koepang (now Kupang) in the western part of Dutch Timor the following day. At midnight on 14 May Bertram and Klausmann left Koepang for Darwin, expecting the 450 nmi trip to take about 5 or 6 hours. They flew over the Timor Sea and had intended to land at dawn the next day but they encountered a severe storm and, low on fuel, were forced to land their seaplane in the first sheltered bay they found. They had put down on the Kimberley coast, hundreds of kilometres west of the intended destination; while they guessed that they had landed somewhere on Melville Island, north of Darwin, they were actually at Cape St Lambert (14 20 1.2 S 127 46 45.4 E type:river_region:AU-WA inline), just north of the mouth of the Berkeley River on the western coastline of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and about 370 km south-west of Melville Island. Stopovers Country Date Comment CologneGermany FriedrichshafenGermany LuganoSwitzerland Porto FossoneItaly29 February 1932 VeniceItaly5 March 1932 BrindisiItaly AthensGreece11 March 1932 CastellorissoGreece AlexandrettaTurkey Deir-ez ZorSyria18 March 1932 BaghdadIraq El KhidrIraq BasraIraq23 March 1932 BushireIran24 March 1932 GwadarIndia KarachiIndia26 March 1932 BombayIndia29 March 1932 MangalorreIndia31 March 1932 CochinIndia ColomboCeylon2 April 1932 NegomboIndia PondicheriIndia MadrasIndia8 April 1932 CocanadaIndia CalcuttaIndia10 April 1932 AkyabBurma15 April 1932 RangoonBurma16 April 1932 BangkokSiam22 April 1932 Victoria PointMalaya PenangMalaya24 April 1932 Singapore04/28/32Singapore PalembangDutch East Indies1 May 1932 BataviaDutch East Indies2 May 1932 SoerabajaDutch East Indies7 May 1932 BimaDutch East Indies12 May 1932 KoepangDutch Timor NW Australia coast Australia Lost thumb|The makeshift canoe Extremely isolated and surrounded by harsh bush, on the first night they were visited by an Aboriginal man but were unable to communicate successfully and he left them. The aviators, with only 15 litres of fuel left, decided to attempt a take off and head west in what they thought was the direction of Darwin. They managed to get airborne but were forced to land again in another bay about 35 km away, their engine cutting out as the plane ran out of fuel and rolled up a small beach. Being unable to find water, they could only think that the Aboriginal man they had met in the other bay might be able to provide help, so they secured the plane and set out to walk back to the previous bay. They were plagued by heat, thirst and hunger and were overwhelmed by swarms of flies. After attempting to swim across an inlet they were chased by a crocodile and lost their clothes. Barefoot and naked they abandoned the search and resolved to return to the plane. After seven days of walking a more inland route, and without water, clothes or footwear, and ravaged by mosquitoes and completely exhausted they arrived back at the seaplane. Now thirteen days into the ordeal, the pair drained the radiator of the remaining water and removed one of the seaplane floats to use as a makeshift kayak and started paddling in a westerly direction. The ship MV Koolinda passed by only 500 metres ft -1 away but did not see them. They paddled for four days and nights and eventually came ashore north of Cape Bernier, east of King George River. Still thinking that they were on Melville Island they decided to walk overland to find civilization, but when they discovered that they were not on an island they returned to the float. The float had been damaged, so to be able to paddle it again they had to cut off a section. The shortened float was not as seaworthy as previously used, so they only got a few kilometers before deciding it was too dangerous to continue and they returned to shore where they found shelter under a rock ledge at Cape Bernier. They remained there until being finally rescued. Search and rescue thumb|Klausmann, Bertram and rescuer Constable Gordon Marshall with the Aboriginal trackers who located the two men The Dutch gunboat HNLMS Flores set out from Surabaya four days after the disappearance to search along the planned route across the Timor Sea.Winter (1979) p. 11 At the request of the German Consul-General, the Western Australian government also commenced a land, sea and air search of possible landing sites. A West Australian Airways de Havilland DH.50 mail plane was chartered for the purpose.Winter (1979) pp. 17–18 Coastal ships from the State Shipping Service were also notified to be on the lookout. On 13 June a foot search by native trackers found a cigarette case bearing the initials "HB" and a handkerchief which were handed to a missionary passing in a boat. The details of the location were vague however and a malfunctioning telegraph delayed the information getting to the correct authorities; when it eventually did the land search was resumed with increased vigour. Sixty people were directly involved in the search which by now had received widespread publicity.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74932233 Search for Hans Bertram. Northern Times 16 June 1932 16 August 2012 Carnarvon, WA 3 National Library of Australia The seaplane was located by a search aircraft on a beach near Rocky Island, 160 km from Wyndham on 15 June but there was no sign of the men. Several days later, the Wyndham Meat Works launch Kimberley arrived at the site and found a note left by the airmen: "27 May 1932. Australia. Today we left the plane in float as a boat in a westerly direction. Bertram." On 22 June, the men were found sheltering in a cave near Cape Bernier by a group of Aboriginal people.http://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/junkers/page2.html Flight into Hell : The story of Hans Bertram and Adolph Klausmann – Pioneer Aviators (page 2.) The Royal Australian Air Force Association (WA Division) Aviation Heritage Museum 16 August 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20080905132554/http://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/Junkers/page2.html 5 September 2008 Wayback Machinehttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37759267 The Search for the German Airmen. Western Mail 21 July 1932 16 August 2012 Perth, WA 3 Supplement: PICTORIAL SECTION National Library of Australia They were near death and had been lost for 39 days. A police overland party under Constable Marshall arrived a week later and they were taken to the hospital at Wyndham by boat, arriving there on 6 July. The ordeal had taken 53 days. Klausmann had become demented as a result of the tribulations and needed to be restrained. Later events After convalescing in Wyndham, both men were taken to Perth— Bertram accepted an offer of a flight in West Australian Airways mailplane, departing from Wyndham on 13 July. The plane was greeted by a crowd of 6,000 at Maylands Aerodrome.Winter (1979) pp. 101–103 In the evening, Bertram made a radio broadcast from the Australian Broadcasting Commission's offices of 6WF, which was the first public relay from Western Australia to the Eastern states. In Perth, Bertram was befriended by and stayed with the founder of West Australian Airways, Norman Brearley.Winter (1979) p. 105 He returned to the site of the abandoned plane on 18 September with Fred Sexton, a WAA mechanic.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83436041 Bertram's marooned 'plane Singleton Argus 21 September 1932 18 August 2012 NSW 4 National Library of Australia They brought with them fuel and a replacement float from a de Havilland DH.50 which they managed to fit to the Junkers; they then flew the plane to Perth.Winter (1979) pp. 107–114 They landed in Matilda Bay in the Swan River on 24 September 1932.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83714194 Bertram Lands at Crawley. The Daily News 24 September 1932 18 August 2012 Perth, WA 1 National Library of Australia 7 PMhttp://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/junkers/page3.html Flight into Hell: The story of Hans Bertram and Adolph Klausmann – Pioneer Aviators (page 3) The Royal Australian Air Force Association (WA Division) Aviation Heritage Museum 16 August 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20091024225607/http://www.raafawa.org.au/wa/museum/junkers/page3.html 24 October 2009 Wayback Machine Klausmann followed in late July in the Koolinda as he was considered too unwell to fly. He returned to Germany by steamer but never fully recovered. After removing the floats from the plane, Bertram flew around Australia for several months, visiting cities and towns and giving talks.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4510433 Captain Bertram. The Argus 24 November 1932 18 August 2012 Melbourne, Vic. 8 National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16928324 Captain Bertram. The Sydney Morning Herald 5 November 1932 18 August 2012 Sydney, NSW 8 National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16935922 Captain Bertram. The Sydney Morning Herald 7 December 1932 18 August 2012 Sydney, NSW 15 National Library of Australiahttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4504168 Captain Bertram. The Argus 19 October 1932 18 August 2012 Melbourne, Vic. 6 National Library of Australia His arrival at Kalgoorlie was marred when he crashed the plane at the airport causing extensive damage but no serious injury. Fred Sexton was flown to the town and assisted with repairs. Bertram returned to Berlin on 17 April 1933 where he received a hero's welcome.http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81218372 Aviation. The Northern Miner 20 April 1933 19 August 2012 Charters Towers, Qld. 2 National Library of Australia Bertram wrote a book of the experience called Flug in die Hölle (Flight into Hell). He also had a successful career as a film director. In 1985, a four-part television miniseries named Flight into Hell based on Hans Betram's book was made by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Gordon Flemyng was the director.May 2024 The makeshift canoe was recovered by staff from the Western Australian Museum in 1975.http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/research-areas/maritime-archaeology/treasures-from-the-deep/broken-wings Broken Wings Western Australian Museum 1 September 2014 Tribute The aviators' experiences and rescue by Aboriginal people (identified as Balanggarra) were referenced in a solo expedition by Australian adventurer Michael Atkinson in 2018. With permission of the Balanggarra landowners, he spent four weeks sailing and trekking the same area with no more supplies or survival equipment (apart from a satellite tracker for personal safety) than was available to the German aviators. His self-made film was published as a DVD, Surviving the Kimberley. His adventures were covered by Peter de Kruijff of The Kimberley Echo of 29 January 2018 and Australian Geographic magazine # 145. References 30em Bibliography Flug in die Hölle : Mein grosses Abenteuer Bertram, Hans Herbig, Munchen 1977 3776608269 German Flight into Hell Harrison-Ford, Carl Hudson, Michael J Bertram, Hans 1985 085902234X Currey O'Neil, Melbourne (English translation and adaptation of Flug in die Hölle) Atlantis Is Missing : A Gripping True Story of Survival in the Australian Wilderness Winter, Barbara Angus & Robertson 1979 0207142335 Atlantis, A Flight into Hell : the true story of Australia's most bizarre air rescue Winter, Barbara 1985 Angus & Robertson 0207152039 (republication of Atlantis Is Missing) External links Images of bays etc. Transcript of interview with Michael McCarthy from the WA Maritime Museum, and George Negus Photos where taken by Thomas Thompson Category:1932 in Australia Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by fuel exhaustion Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1932 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Western Australia Category:Kimberley (Western Australia) Category:Junkers W33