Dimensions
152 x 229 x 28mm
Mitchell Zuckoff wowed readers with LOST IN SHANGRI-LA, an international publishing sensation about the stranger-than-fiction World War II rescue mission to bring home three crash-survivors from a remote valley in the South Pacific. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY hailed it as "grippingly cinematic with a remarkable cast of characters." Now, he has uncovered yet another amazing and heretofore untold story of daring and peril set against an arctic landscape.
During World War II, Greenland was a key territory for both allied forces and the Nazis. Whoever controlled the weather stations there would know what the weather would be like in Europe the next day--critical information for the planning of air raids and other military maneuvers. With this in mind, Zuckoff looks at three deadly military plane crashes, and the valiant efforts of the US Coast Guard to save their men.
November 5, 1942: A cargo plane goes missing over the Greenland ice cap and crashes. On November 9, a B-17 plane with nine Army Air Force men sent on a search-and-rescue mission goes down after hitting a fogged-out glacier. Almost three weeks later, the Coast Guard receives word that the Army has made contact with the B-17. The fuselage had cracked in half in the crash, and the crew had taken refuge in the tail. The Coast Guard sends two men in a Grumman Duck amphibious plane to begin the rescue effort, and they successfully extract two of the survivors. They begin again the next morning, but more obstacles exist in this mission than they could have anticipated. Zuckoff will retell the harrowing setbacks that faced the mission, and the crash of the Grumman Duck that puts the rescue on hold yet again. Winter is in full force, and the six men remaining on the ground spend 148 days living in the tail of the B-17. With supplies dropped in, they are able to survive until they are rescued by an expedition led by famed Arctic explorer Bernt Balchen.
Much like he did for LOST IN SHANGRI-LA, Mitchell Zuckoff gained access to first person accounts of those involved with the terrifying events. SEATTLE TIMES praised Zuckoff's "skillfull use of sources" in making SHANGRI-LA "a riveting tale in the hands of a good storyteller." The Grumman Duck was by airborne radar in 2009, and Zuckoff will be joining the private expedition to reclaim the remains of the three men who perished in that crash. This is another breathtaking and moving tale of action and adventure, giving voice to the heroes and survivors, and illuminating the important, perilous, and often overlooked work of the US Coast Guard.
