SEARCH THESE FILES:

From the MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, Montana, 
SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 18, 1942

Bodies of 22 Airplane Victims Found

Clark Gable Near Collapse Over Death of His Wife


LAS VEGAS, Nov., Jan. 11. — (U.P.) — Possemen struggled down the 
sheer sides of Green mountain late Saturday with the bitter news 
that all 22 persons aboard crashed a T. W. A. air liner, including 
Carole Lombard and 15 Army flyers, had been killed and their bodies 
seared until they were unrecognizable.

Miss Lombard, her mother, her press agent, the passengers and the 
crew of three apparently had been killed instantly when the silvery 
ship crashed into the side of what the natives call "Double Up" 
peak.

Gable Near Collapse

The news left Clark Gable, husband of Miss Lombard, in a state of 
near-collapse. He had spent the whole day fighting his way to the 
scene, and fighting with officials who tried to keep him in Las 
Vegas. He was not with the first rescue party.

Gable learned of the death of his wife, which he had feared and 
strove not to believe since last night, at El Rancho Vegas, his 
hotel, after two fruitless trips into the mountains.

Sitting in his room as if stunned he turned to Don McElwaine, 
studio official, when the latter received a note from the mountain.

"Bad news?" Gable asked.

"I'm afraid it looks hopeless," McElwain replied.

"God," moaned Gable.

"What," asked McElwaine, "are you going to do?"

Gable shook himself, as it to shoulder away the shock, and replied 
that he would remain here until the bodies of his bride, her 
mother, and Otto Winkler, his press agent and close friend, were 
brought down.

Plane Catches Fire

The four engine plane bounced to a ledge, caught fire, and split 
in two, with one half of it tumbling down a ravine in what is 
perhaps the wildest, remotest country in the west. Roaring flames 
marked both patches of wreckage, melted surrounding snow drifts 
into puddles and scorched stands of pine trees.

Five groups of searchers spent all morning scrambling up the 
rugged mountain, tearing their boots to pieces, and using rope 
to mount the frequent patches of sheer gray granite. First posse 
to reach the plane was led by Leo Dwerlkotte, vice president and 
treasurer of Western Air Express.

With him were Deputy Sheriff Jack Moore, and George Bondley, Jack 
Hart, Fred Schwartz, and Lyle Van Gordon, residents of the lead 
mining district at the base of the mountain about 40 miles west of 
here.

"It was pretty awful," said Schwartz, speaking for his dead tired 
companions, upon their descent, "Me, I think I'll go to bed."

So rugged was the terrain that rescuers doubted whether they 
could bring down the bodies until Sunday. The trip will involve 
use of pack mules as far as they can go and then the perilous 
foot passage of men with stretchers.

LIST OF VICTIMS

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Jan.  17. — (U.P.) — Here is a list of the 32 
persons who perished in the crash of the T. W. A. airliner near 
here Friday night:

The crew:

Capt. Wayne C. Williams, Reseda, Calif., pilot.

Morgan A. Gillette, Los Angeles, co-pilot.

Alice F. Getz, Glendale, Calif., stewardess.

Passengers:

Corp. M. B. Affrine, Air Corps, Philadelphia.

Second Lieut. James C. Barham, Air Corps, Waco, Texas.

Second Lieut. Hal E. Browne, Jr., Air Corps, San Antonio, Texas.

Sgt. A. M. Belejckak, Air Corps, Braddock, Pa.

Sgt. Frederick P. Cook, Air Corps, Reidsville, N. C.

First Lieut. Robert E. Crouch, Air Corps, Long Beach.

Second Lieut. Frederick J. Dittman, Air Corps, Berkeley, Calif.

Second Lieut. K. T. Donahue, Air Corps, Stoughtan, Mass.

Mrs. Clark Gable (Carole Lombard), Hollywood,

Lois Hamilton, Detroit.

First Lieut. Robert F. Nygren, Air Corps, Dunbar, Pa.

Sgt. Edgar A. Nygren (brother of Lieutenant Nygren), Air Corps, 
  Dunbar, Pa.

Second Lieut. Charles D. Nelson, Air Corps, St. Cloud, Minn.

Mrs. Elizabeth K. Peters (Mrs. Gable's mother), Hollywood.

Second Lieut, Stuart L. Swenson, Air Corps, St. Paul, Minn.

Pvt. Martin W. Tellkamp, Air Corps, Lamoille (Bureau county), Ill.

Sgt. David Tilghman, Air Corps, Snow Hill, Md.

Pvt. Nicholas Varsamine, Air Corps, Bronx, N. Y.

Otto Winkler, press agent, Hollywood.

Marriage Search Engines