A New Section In WWII Era

If anyone missed or was unable to see ‘Fallen War Birds’ on Land & Sea this past weekend here is a link to watch this very fine production by the CBC. Lisa Daly recently has written her MUN thesis on these crashes during WWII in the Gander area based on her research. She intends to take chapters from her thesis, adapt them to be separate and a more detailed look at each of the crashes, to be posted on our website. We have just posted a new section in the WWII era titled ‘Warbird Down’ based on airplane crashes during WWII and also in preparation for posting Lisa’s future work. This should be a most interesting addition to the airport’s history.

Fallen War Birds on Land & Sea

Lisa Daly, our plane crash girl , has informed us that Sunday's (Feb 8) Land and Sea will feature Gander. Lisa, Dr. Mike Deal and Dana Young, instructor at CNA, went to a couple of sites around Gander to discuss the importance of Gander during WWII and the need to protect the crash sites and remember their history. The show synopsis is on the CBC website and it will be online after Sunday. This show will be available outside of NL for the interested. We will be featuring Lisa's work on the history of these crashes on our website in the near future.

US Navy Super Connie 1963 Crash

We just received this link to a video on Youtube produced by Dennis Smeaton of Gander . His father Fred Smeaton had taken video footage of the incident and Dennis recently produced this mini documentary. Dennis, like his father, continues to collect and produce historical video data about the Gander Airport. Many thanks to Mike Mcanany for bringing this video to our attention.

Gander Airport Documentary

Bull & Sail Films, a film group out of Calgary, has contacted us in asking for the GAHS assistance in developing a documentary on the history of Gander Airport. We are humbled in being considered for our input. We have been in contact with Reg Wright (GIAA), who we have recommended to this film group, to be also invited to participate. This is a great opportunity to be involved in a documentary film depicting the history of Gander Airport in telling the world Gander’s role in aviation’s history. We anticipate the full cooperation of everyone concerned in having this history documented as it should. The Gander Airport Historical Society is prepared to step up to another level. Filming is expected to start in the summer/fall of 2015.

A Survivor's Story

As we related earlier last fall, Alena Zimova returned to Gander after 47 years since her survival of the fatal crash of OK523, in order to visit the crash site and meet some of the people that were responsible for her survival. Downhome magazine reporter, Ms Ashley Colombe, was in Gander to record her visit . Her interview with Alena was published in the November issue of the Downhome magazine. They have kindly permitted us to link to their website where their article on Alena’s visit is located. Reading the article certainly will show how important this visit was to Ms. Zimova. We hope to have this article posted on our website in the near future.