Diary of the expedition to recover nuclear weapons artifacts from the world's first Broken Arrow. 27 August - 3 September 2003.

Wednesday, 27 August 2003

South of Meziadin, B.C., at the Timber Baron logging camp airstrip.

We arrive at the airstrip at 10:25 am after driving three hours from Terrace, BC. The first helicopter load went to the crash site after lifting off at 11:52 am with Mike J., James L. and Mike C. for an expected fifteen-minute flight. Jim will stake out the campsite. Mike will set up camera shots of the helicopter arrival and departure.

There is no wildlife to be seen other than a mouse or shrew.

All of our cargo went in two sling-loads under the Hughes 500D egg-shaped helicopters. It is amazing to think that in a little more than an hour I shall be at the crash site. This wreckage was once a giant B-36 bomber that carried an Mk-4 atomic bomb and produced the world's first Broken Arrow on 13 February 1950.

I have come here as part of a multi-year quest to find out what happened to that Mk-4 atomic bomb. It was one of the first ever given to SAC, and they lost it over the Pacific Ocean.

I do not believe that the bomb exists to be found. It was detonated 1 km in altitude over the Pacific to ensure the security of the design.

What I do not know is ‘what happened to the core?' Where is the 6 kg sphere of plutonium and uranium? Since there was a Birdcage (used for the transport and storage of nuclear cores) found in the aircraft crash wreckage; where is the core? The Birdcage was presumably empty. The USAF made no attempt to recover the container. Did they recover the core and move it to a new Birdcage for shipment? Since 1954 there have been persistent rumors that a dead body was brought out of the crash site by the USAF in 1954 after they blew-up significant parts of the aircraft. Was it a crewman who stayed with the aircraft? Was it a 1954 USAF soldier who died destroying the aircraft? Who knows?

The helicopter returned at 12:20 pm. It is a 28-minute round trip over spectacular scenery, about 50 km each way. The helicopter departed with the first sling of cargo at 12:28.

Another great mystery is how did an ailing aircraft with three engines dead and three running, and with ice buildup, and a heavy fuel load, and set to fly SSW, end up in a high mountain area in the exact opposite direction?

Dirk believes that the ‘fanatical' Ted Schreier stayed on and piloted the bomber to the site. I have trouble with the idea, but cannot discount it as Schreier was never recovered with the other crew. Twelve survived the bail-out over Princess Royal Island, and five were lost.

Schreier was said to be the last to jump. Did he or did he not jump? Why would he stay with the aircraft? What would he be doing? Was he protecting something?

I believe that the Mk-4 atomic bomb was detonated over the ocean, and this is a generally accepted version of events. If the bomb was gone, what would Schreier, the weaponeer, be willing to risk his life in order to save? Was it the core? Was it the Mk-4 bomb? Perhaps the bomb was never jettisoned? Perhaps it was to stay on the aircraft and crash at sea. Maybe Schreier tried to save his bomb. No one would want to be the officer in charge of the first bomb to be declared a Broken Arrow.

We bought $728 of groceries in Terrace. It seems very expensive, but food is dearer in the north. It is also enough for 5-7 days for six men. We will probably be done in three full days of exploration and principal photography.

We are going to have to do lots of airplane archaeology. There are, to my mind now, three basic sections of the bomber to be examined: the bomb bay, the cockpit and the tail. Each will be surveyed and photographed and measured.

We will do a detailed hunt for tools, instruments and bomb-related items.

Also, Dirk wants to hunt for human bone fragments. He believes there is bone evidence of Schreier at the crash site. Maybe. If so, I would be delighted! Such a find would change our view of history, and re-open the question of what happened to the bomb and its components.

Our Prism Helicopter C-GVEB returned to the airstrip at 13:26. A second helicopter arrived at 13:34. I am in now in the cockpit of C-GRYT for the flight to the crash site. The first helicopter is carrying a sling full of cargo. We lift off at 13:41 and leave a minute later. We arrive at the crash site at 14:00, and the cargo arrives two minutes later.

Wow. I can see the wreckage. It is definitely small in appearance. The "USAF" wing marking looks like an upside-down billboard.

The wreckage is strewn all over the ridge. There is very little snow, but some of it must still cover parts of the aircraft. Only three engines can be seen. Nothing is recognizable.

We spend the next hour getting into and out of the helicopter for the film. We swoop and hover and circle. We get in and out. It is all for the film shots of us flying into the site.

We spend two hours setting up camp and tents. Mike & Mike are getting detail shots of the wreckage so that they will not have to stop us while we explore. They arrive back at 17:32. There is now a discussion of who sleeps in which tent.

I am not convinced this place holds any answers to the mystery. None of the group has been here before.

The peace and tranquility is broken by the generator recharging camera batteries. I look forward to the silence. And to dinner.

What will we accomplish in this desolate place? What will we learn? Will we find anything worth placing in a museum?

19:00, dinner is being made.

20:36, I have crawled up the south scree face to view the camp and the wreckage. Our camp is about 500 m from the main wreckage. My tent is only 10 m from the edge of a snow field. It is so quiet I can hear the snow melting!

Thursday 28 August 2004

08:15, I have gone for a quiet walk NNW of the camp and about 300 m away, and found a remnant of the 1954 [author note: should be 1997/2000] expedition. It is 2.5 m of plastic coated green cable with intermittent yellow squares in pairs. Tow cords are laid out about 10 cm apart, and held down by rocks at 2 m intervals. It is probably detonator cable from the 1954 [should be 1997/2000] expedition to destroy the aircraft. That crash site is perhaps 1 km away. They must have had a very massive amount of cable airdropped.

About 100 m NNW of detonator cord lines I find evidence of the 1997/2000 Canadian Forces expedition. This now makes me think the green cord may be Canadian. I found a wooden box marked "Charges Demolition, UN 0048, 1375 21 845 3271-5603, 40 charges demolition plastic composition C4, 1 1/4 LB, PCE91H04-07" The NATO number 21 in the sequence means this is Canadian.

10:45, we have walked to the top of the western ridge overlooking the camp and crash site. We three will walk the ridge and peer at mountains and think about the final flight of the aircraft while Mike films us. We finish ridge filming at 12:15.

What is to be learned here? Can we figure out the flight path? Maybe it was not level when it crashed. Maybe it dove into the site. All the snow made it a strange place.

We leave for the crash site at 13:20. From 13:40 until 18:40 we filmed wreckage. Our first find was a turret with the two guns missing. Nothing was taken for preservation from this already- looted item. The new damage indicated to me that wires had been cut recently and someone had perhaps tried to airlift it out and then dropped it.

Our first significant find was the luggage of an aircrew member. We did not know whom. Many clothes, including dress shirts, toiletries, tooth brush, comb, brush, socks, woolen socks, buttons, and underwear. All was lumped together near the remains of a suitcase. Only by chance did I discover, in a crack between rocks, the rank insignia. It was the epaulet, and sported a metal leaf. This was a major or Lt. Colonel. The team thinks it was Lt. Col. MacDonald, a survivor of the accident. He was not a regular crew member. The insignia, and its soon-discovered mate, were collected at item #A-2. The toiletries were collected as A-3.

Prior to the luggage, we found the rubber sole of a Bristolite boat. It was collected at A-1. We moved into the main debris field and found a plethora of objects. This was the rear crew compartment and housed eleven men. Jim was searching in the receding ice. He found a notebook or diary in the snow. It is wet and could not be opened. It is artifact A-4, and will have to be freeze-dried to reveal the contents. This part of the aircraft had seats and coffee machines and gun sights and a lot of survival equipment. I saw no fewer than three one-man life rafts, and one immersion suit. Near this was a large white silk parachute in almost perfect condition. Was this a crew parachute that did not get used? Whose was it? I will probably collect it tomorrow and use it as padding for my cot.

We discover the rear section of the aircraft body is upside down. Why is half of the fuselage upside down?

It is not clear to us which engine is which. The six engines may be scattered randomly, or in an order which should tell of the crash.

The area ahead of the wings, and behind the cockpit, is a total mess. Effects of high explosives and massive fires have reduced vast quantities of the aircraft metal to molten pools on the rocks. Almost nothing is recognizable. There are small globs or balls of aluminium everywhere.

My most significant find of the day, and a very important nuclear weapons artifact, was the H-frame supporting the bomb shackle and four sway braces, as well as one of the giant bicycle chain hoists used to lift the Mk-4 bomb into the forward bomb bay. It is almost totally intact, but has some melted metal on it, and one hoist is missing. All the sway braces are still in their final loaded position. I would like to recover it.

We finished up at 18:40. For dinner I made chicken tortillas. Everyone had three. Flour tortillas, salsa, onions, green peppers, and spiced chicken. It went over very well. We had Nanaimo Bars for dessert.

Friday 29 August 2003

We are to wear the same clothes so that todays' film will be edited in to look like yesterday's film. We will approach the wreckage with the film crew above on the ridge, seeing us arrive at the aircraft.

My plan today is five-fold:

collect personal and survival items from the rear compartment.

survey the rear bomb bay which may have contained an extra clip for an atomic bomb.

recover a conventional bomb clip from bomb bays two or three.

clear debris away from the H-frame clip behind the cockpit.

prepare to dig in the snow and ice under bomb bay #1, the home of the lost Mk-4 atomic bomb.

The crew went ahead to film us approaching the wreck. Dirk and I walked in while Jim stayed and fixed camp. He joined us later in the day.

I spent the day collecting and cataloging artifacts from the rear crew compartment and rear bomb bays. There is a vast amount of personal gear strewn down hill of the bomb bays. There are remains of suitcases, clothes, and a significant amount of survival equipment.

We have found one complete, never used, parachute for a person. Also, several immersion suits still rolled-up, and a couple of one-man life rafts. The remains of at least three survival kits from the rear bomb bay are closely deposited. One is trapped in the rear bay. The rear bomb bays were outfitted for conventional bombing with standard high explosive ordnance.

The area of the forward bomb bay is completely incinerated. It is a pool of aluminium blobs. No shape remains. The metal melted and formed irregular ingots, globs, blobs, slag, and drips. Nothing of the body or structure in this area can be identified.

Best of all is that somehow, the bomb shackle for the Mk-4 atomic bomb survived. It is well ahead of the area where the bomb bay should be. Perhaps it was largely blown clear by the explosions. It still has melted areas, and slag has accumulated. I managed to remove the very heavy winch from one side, and hope to turn it over tomorrow to view and record the shackle. This is the best find so far in terms of atomic bomb history. This device held and steadied the bomb in flight.

I accomplished the collection of personal items and survival items from the rear compartments. I found that the read bomb bay was equipped with regular bomb racks and survival kits.

I cleared away debris from the atomic bomb H-frame clip.

I dug the bomb bay crew hatch out of the ice near the edge of bomb bay #1. While doing this the funniest incident of the trip happened. Mike was filming me digging in the ice and recovering the crew hatch from the ice. Just as I pulled it out and lifted it up like a trophy, I smelled lemon odour. I said, "I smell lemon. It smells like lemon". Unseen by me, but visible to the sound tech Igal, was Jim holding up two haves of an orange. Igal was grinning widely, but kept professionally silent while holding back laughter.

Saturday, 30 August 2003

RAIN, rain, rain. Bad weather. The film crew went for a walk. Dirk and I went to the aircraft. Jim slept. I gathered and catalogued artifacts such as the bomb bay hatch for the crew; fabric from the control surface of the wings; a navigation compass; electric fuses; a heavy tool; and pressure gauges from the H-frame bomb shackle.

I investigated all the flaps still partially intact, and the screwjacks look to be in a retracted position. The flaps were up, so no one was preparing to land.

The main landing gear crashed retracted, and the nose gear faces towards the nose [the correct retracted position]. The nose gear is upside down.

I may have discovered what they were trying to destroy in the bomb bay area. Bomb bay #2 contained two shackles used to hold the Grand Slam/Blockbuster massive conventional bomb. Each shackle (x2) had two release clips. All four release shackle points still grasp the lug from a massive object; perhaps a Grand Slam bomb. Whatever it was, it crashed with the aircraft but did not explode. It is a mystery. (*Ed. note: it was the extra fuel tanks installed in the middle bomb bays.)

Back at camp I discovery in a reference book that bomb bays #2 and #3 carried giant fuel cells to extend the range of the aircraft. These were hung from the major bomb racks, just like the Grand Slam bomb.

Mike C survived a mild bought of hypothermia. Well, maybe not hypothermia, but a very serious chill. Chicken is roasting for dinner in the camp over.

We are all very cold and damp. We have been huddling in the main tent. 19:00, all is well. We are all fine and fairly warm.

I think that the aircraft crashed on the top of the ridge and lay in the deep snow. In 1954 the USAF team blew up one engine (#2 ?), and this caused the aircraft to break up and slide down the hillside. Then the team burned/exploded the center section by detonating the fuel tanks in bomb bays 2 & 3. Then lots of burning and small explosions in bomb bay #1 and the forward crew compartment and the cockpit took place.

There is a crater up high where an engine was blown up. I think the giant USAF wing sign is the underside of the port wing. Perhaps when the engine was exploded the wing broke away and flipped over. The main body slid down the hill and crashed into the engine already blown into that place. The rear (#4) bomb bay survived fairly intact. The rear crew compartment is torn apart and almost totally upside down. The bomb bay doors are missing, but the opening faces up the side of the hill, mostly upside down. The rear turret area is mostly on its side-to-upside down. The main instruments seem to be just slightly uphill of the cockpit. The main area of the burn, to the point of melting all the aluminium and magnesium, is the second and first bomb bays, the forward turret area, and the forward crew area and cockpit. There is nothing recognizable in bays #2 & 3; and only the bomb shackles from bays # 1, 2, and 3 survived due to their steel construction. There are pieces of the bomb bay far up the hill towards the "USAF" wing.

I am spending the evening concentrating on staying warm and dry. Not an easy task. Sun came and went between 19:00 and 20:00.

Not finding the nuclear core Birdcage was a great disappointment. I really hoped (in my active fantasy life) it was still in the wreckage, even though I had credible reports of looting.

The looting is heartbreaking. No one before my team has ever had a license to recover artifacts from this crash site prior to my expedition. Everything prior to this was just theft. Even the Canadian Forces has taken stuff. People who may or may not be associated with the "Broken Arrow Aircraft Society" in Terrace have looted many many items as proven by the B.C. Government, which complained about the looting to the RCMP several years ago. The Birdcage is known to be in the United States now.

Sunday, 31 August 2003

SNOW, sleet, rain, cold. The tents blew down. Last night during filming in the main tent, a mighty wind came up and blew down the tent. Mike kept filming while most of us held up the tent. Jim fixed the poles and cables.

By 02:00 my tent had finally collapsed to the point where I was wet. I moved in with Igal, the sound man.

Mike C's tent had blown down the mountainside. The main tent broke its main poles at 04:00. We had intermittent winds from all directions which probably blew 70-90 km/h. Thank goodness we had a wonderful curry-roasted chicken and potato dinner before it all got bad.

Morning was a mix of rain, sleet, snow, with additional wind.

We still have half of the petrol from the generator, and about half a tank of propane for cooking and heating. However, no helicopter will come and get us in this weather. We will have to be patient.

At 14:30 Dirk and I and the film crew went to the suspected site of the 1954 expedition. Far down from the aircraft site, perhaps 1 km, but at least 1.5 km walk, was a site littered with ration cans, bullets, parachute harnesses, and a coffee mug from Heggies in Smithers. This was the 1954 campsite. There was even a glass medicine bottle from a first aid kit.

I collected shards of another Heggies mug, a button, the medicine bottle, a grenade pin, and several bullet shells.

The view from the 1954 campsite is superb. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. There is no sound but the waterfalls in the distance. There is no pollution. This is as good as our planet can smell.

17:29, it got more pleasant. There is a light mist, but it is calmer and brighter. Oops, the wind is back.

I would like to photograph the bomb shackle and area once more. I also want to collect some tools from the bomb bay #1 area. Other than these two tasks, I am mostly finished my work here.

Monday, 01 September 2003

Rain, rain, rain, fog, clouds, cold. It was the worst night so far. All other nights saw fairly good sleeps. Last night I woke up frequently and was cold to the point of shivering. There has been no filming. So far, but we are scheduled to film at 14:00 regardless of the weather. We need to show some of yesterday's artifacts be ‘found'.

Dirk and Jim have gone to the aircraft site. I no longer believe there are significant items to be found at the crash site. All of the tools found so far are common toolbox items. Imaginations are getting the better of some, and fanciful explanations are offered for unidentified objects.

I have been around these nuclear tools and systems for a long time, and it is my considered opinion that we have found nothing except the atomic bomb H-frame bomb shackle. That I have positively identified.

There is also too much wishful thinking about placement of the aircraft on impact. Dirk has some good ideas, and they are strong because they are simple.

One popular theory is so complex as to be unworkable. It is far too detailed. The grand idea got lost in the details. The attempt to explain everything fails to explain anything.

The bomb is gone. The Birdcage was stolen. The "Explosives" detonator suitcase was looted. There is no sign of any atomic bomb tools which can be positively identified.

Only the H-frame survived. And it has NO attachments for racks or guides for IFI/IFE equipment. This was the earliest and crudest bomb rack available. We learn virtually nothing from the rack other than that it is highly unlikely that the Mk-4 crashed here.

I am not convinced that the direction of flight matters as much as the Broken Arrow event itself. However, it is part of the overall 075 mystery.

Tuesday, 02 September 2003

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of the wreckage.

11:21, rain and cloud. Dirk says we are now in "survival mode". There is to be no more filming. Our job now is to stay warm and dry. This would be easy anywhere else in B.C. Except for here and Smithers, the rest of B.C. is clear and 30 degrees. Damn. Of course, it is also burning.

I stayed in my sleeping bag which is quite warm for just over fourteen hours, until I had to pee. Now I will spend some time carding items.

12:35, it is still raining. I have mostly finished carding the artifacts. It has stopped raining for a moment. What a pretty sound. With good fortune we can be airlifted out of here tomorrow.

Wednesday, 03 September 2003

FLY-OUT !! We packed everything; burned some garbage, and awaited the helicopter. I am finally warm and dry.