Geographically the third largest of the 48 states, Montana had a primarily rural pop- 
ulation, with less than half of the people living in cities or towns.  Great Falls was the 
second largest city in Montana, but at less than 30,000 people it was not  large by 
national standards.  As World War II loomed on the horizon, Great Falls, Montana 
suddenly became directly connected to events in the distant regions of the world. 

The expansion of Japanese forces into the Pacific, and the Aleutian Islands in particular, 
had many U.S. officials very concerned.  Inland transportation routes by air or ground 
that could be used to move people and supplies from the United States to Alaska did not 
exist.  The need for an airway across the vast unmapped region had been recognized by 
General Billy Mitchell as early as 1920.  Finally in 1940, work was under way to establish
a string of primary and emergency airfields with radio range navigational facilities across 
northwestern Canada to Alaska. 

On December 7, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor,  the completion of the 
airway became more urgent, and the construction of a highway was also deemed
necessary.  Highway survey and construction crews were in the field by February 1942. 
The airway and the highway generally followed the same route, and in many ways, each 
complimented the other. 

A year earlier, in March 1941, President Roosevelt had convinced Congress to approve 
the Lend-Lease law, which allowed the U.S. to provide supplies and materials to Great 
Britain to aid in their struggle with Germany. 

Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941, which led to diplomatic exchanges 
between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin.  Within a few days the U.S. and Britain agreed it 
was in the best interest of all to extend the Lend-Lease law to include the Soviet Union. 
Aircraft production in the Soviet Union had been seriously reduced and warplanes were 
desperately needed. 

Delivery of aircraft and other supplies to England and the Soviet Union was slow and 
encountered major difficulties.  Single engine airplanes, due to limited range, had to be 
disassembled, crated and sent aboard ships, then reassembled at the receiving port. 
Damage to sensitive components was a risk due to the excessive handling.  Many ships 
loaded with planes and other materials were lost to U-Boat torpedoes. 

The airfields and facilities from the U.S., across Canada to Alaska were usable and on 
August 3, 1942 the Russians formally approved an agreement to allow delivery of Lend-
Lease aircraft over the new airway to Alaska and on to Siberia. 

The 7TH Ferrying Group of the Air Transport Command was moved from Seattle, 
Washington to Great Falls, Montana, for transporting the aircrafts to Russia and other 
locations around the world. The first contingent of the 7TH Ferrying Group arrived in 
Great Falls on June 19, 1942.  Temporary quarters were provided at the Civic Center, 
and construction began to convert the Great Falls Municipal Airport into the Gore Field 
Military Airbase. 

The Al-Can Highway, as it became known, was one of the most significant engineering 
projects of the century.  Although much work remained to be done and major improve- 
ments were still required, the highway was usable by November 1942. 

Across town from Gore Field, East Base Airfield was constructed, and the 401ST Bomb 
Group began training a B-17 Flying Fortress outfit there.  As the group grew to full 
strength, squadrons were located in Montana at Lewistown, Glasgow and Cutbank. When 
their training was completed, the Bomb Group shipped overseas and the 7TH Ferrying 
Group assumed control of what is now Malstrom Air Force Base. 

Great Falls became the hub for the movement of people, equipment and supplies over 
the highway and airway.  Aircraft funneled into Great Falls from factories and bases 
across the United States.  Men and women— both military and civilians, arrived to 
inspect, modify, repair and service the planes and deliver them to distant destinations. 
Soviet technicians, pilots, procurement officials, diplomats and others were assigned to 
Great Falls. 

The Lend-Lease aircraft, which were delivered over the northern route to Fairbanks from 
1942-1945 totaled 7,983.  Many more were ferried through Great Falls to other locations.
Thousands of men and women served in the operations during that period.  The rural 
setting of Great Falls and the refusal of the Soviets to admit that the U.S. was assisting 
them in their efforts against the Germans kept a cover of secrecy over the operations. 
However, the people of Great Falls understood the significance of the contribution of the 
many who served at Gore Field and East Base during those years. 

World War II had ended two years earlier, and the world was adjusting to peace after 
seven years of conflict.  The United States of America had more than 16 million men and 
women in military service during the War and had suffered over a million casualties.  Per 
capita, Montana had contributed to the war effort with  more people in uniform than most 
other states. 

By 1947, thousands of former service personnel had returned to civilian life, while some 
continued in peace-time service in the regular military, National Guard or the Reserve 
units.  After the busy war-time activities at Gore Field, East Base and the Al-Can Highway, 
Great Falls, Montana was returning to a peace-time pace. 

On June 27, 1947 the 186TH  Fighter Squadron was activated at Great Falls International 
Airport.  The Montana National Guard, established on March 10, 1885 added an Air Force 
unit to the existing Army component. 

The U.S. Army Air Force assigned Lt. Col. Willard S. Sperry as Advisor to organize the 
squadron and serve as the first Montana National Air Guard Commander.  The new Air 
Guard squadron needed members to bring the unit up to authorized strength, and on 
September 16, 1947—National Guard Day, a two month recruiting campaign was 
launched.  A Great Falls Tribune article on that day stated a special emphasis on the 
enlistment of 270 local men for the Air Squadron.  At the time, the squadron had a 
complement of fifty-six enlisted personnel and thirty-four officers.  The unit had been 
active daily with the training of recruits in aviation. 

Seven P-51 fighter planes, two A-26s, two trainers and one L-5 had been assigned to the 
unit.  At full strength, the squadron would have 303 enlisted personnel and fifty officers, 
twenty-eight P-51s, four A-26s, four AT-6 trainers, two L-5s and two C-47s. 

Early on the morning of Tuesday September 16, 1947 a Douglas A-26 Invader aircraft took 
off from Great Falls International Airport.  Lt. Col. Willard Sperry, Air Guard Commander, 
was at the controls and he was accompanied by Sgt. Charles L. Glover, an aircraft and 
engine mechanic with the new Air Guard Squadron. 

The mission that day was to fly to Helena, Montana,  pick up Brig. Gen. S.H. Mitchell, 
Adjutant General of the Montana National Guard, and fly on to a conference at Columbus, 
Ohio.  Flying time from Great Falls to Helena in the A-26 aircraft should be less than thirty 
minutes.  The route would generally follow the course of the Missouri River along the Big 
Belt mountain range.  The Helena airport is located in a wide valley at the foot of the 
Continental Divide, which rises to the west. 

Great Falls is noted for having 300 good flying days per year, which was one of the 
factors considered when the 7TH Ferry Group was transferred from Seattle in 1942. 
Normally, many of those clear days occur in September— with the Big Sky a brilliant 
blue, the river valley and mountain sides colored with the golden leaves of an early
autumn, and the lofty mountain peaks covered with snow.  It should have been a simple 
and pleasant flight.  No one could have predicted the tragedy that was about to unfold... 

In Montana, it is not unusual to have snow by the middle of September.  In fact, snow can 
fall during any month of the year.  Tuesday, September 16, 1947 an early snow storm 
moved into the state, but this particular storm was much more intense than the average 
September snow shower. 

Snow was reported that day in Helena, Butte, Great Falls and many other parts of the 
state.  The storm continued for several days, and by Wednesday, snow was reported in a 
150 mile wide belt— from Canada down the Continental Divide to Wyoming.  Hundreds of 
tourists were marooned in north central Montana, and a bus driver and his passengers 
spent seventeen hours in his bus, bogged down in snow drifts south of Browning, 
Montana.  Children in the Greenfields School on the Fairfield Bench spent a night at the 
schoolhouse, as school buses could not operate in the storm.  Sheepmen reported 
difficulty keeping their flocks together, and the trees in the area suffered as branches 
broke under the weight of the moisture laden snow.  By Friday September 19, 1947 every 
weather bureau reporting station in the state had received snow or rain from the storm. 
It was this early winter freezing rain and snow storm into which Lt. Col. Sperry and Sgt. 
Glover flew the Douglas A-26 Attack bomber that September morning. 

About twenty minutes after leaving the Great Falls airport, Lt. Col. Sperry contacted the 
Helena Civil Aeronautics Administration radio tower and was advised that visibility at the 
Helena airport was poor.  The weather at that time was unfavorable for an instrument 
landing.  Lt. Col. Sperry reported icing conditions and told the tower that he was starting 
to descend and would contact the tower radio station at each thousand-foot level of his 
descent. 

The Civil Aeronautics Administration said Sperry reported at 8:32 A.M. that he was flying 
at 12,000 feet over the Helena range station and was turning to proceed out towards the 
southeast leg of the Helena radio range.  The tower later gave clearance for an instrument 
landing, but radio contact with the A-26 was lost. 

The storm that contributed to the loss of the A-26 aircraft that carried Lt. Col. Sperry and 
Sgt. Glover continued to rage, and the search efforts were conducted under extremely 
difficult conditions.  Aerial search was prevented in most areas, and  wherever possible, 
was very limited at best.  Helena and Townsend pilots took off during a brief break in the 
bad weather to scan the valleys on the mountain sides. 

On Wednesday, September 17, National Guardsmen driving jeeps skidded through snow 
on mountain roads, while others traveled on foot along mountain trails south and east of 
Helena.  Reports had been received that a low-flying plane was heard in that area on 
Tuesday. 

Brig. Gen. S. H. Mitchell said every available National Guard aircraft and Great Falls-based 
Army Search & Rescue planes, along with civilian planes, were waiting for the storm to 
end so the aerial search could begin.  The Weather Bureau offered little hope that the sky
would clear any time soon.  The searchers and their aircraft waited. 

The storm clouds finally cleared, and an extensive aerial search was underway.  Head- 
quarters for all aerial activities was located at the Helena airport, where the Army 
search and rescue unit set up co-ordinate radio facilities to maintain constant contact 
with those engaged in the search operation. 

Capt. D’Jack Klingler, an officer attached to the Army Air Force Search & Rescue Unit 
in Great Falls, directed the search by military aircraft, while Harland Herrin of Helena 
directed the civilian planes that joined the search effort from Helena, Great Falls, Butte, 
Townsend and Bozeman.  Frank Wiley, Montana Aeronautics Commission Director, along 
with Army National Guard officers aided in co-ordinating the efforts of air and ground 
crews. 

Ground search headquarters was located at the Montana City schoolhouse.  More than 
100 military and civilian personnel, including U.S. Forest Service employees, traveled in 
vehicles and on foot to search the rugged terrain in the area.  Aerial searchers criss-crossed
an area bounded by Garrison, Butte, White Sulphur Springs and Wolf Creek, more than
2,000 square miles.  Altogether, forty-two planes were involved  in the search, including 
one twin-engine C-47, three single-engine L-5s (from the Army Air Force),  two single-
engine AT-6s, one L-5, five P-51 Mustang Fighters (from the National Guard unit) and 
thirty light single-engine planes which were owned and flown by civilian pilots.  The aerial
search was a cooperative effort, utilizing Army Air Force, National Guard and civilian pilots
and aircraft. 

This was the largest co-ordinated ground and air search operation ever organized in 
Montana, but the missing aircraft could not be located.  The secluded nature of the 
heavily forested mountains and the deep snow cover kept the location where the plane 
went down a secret.  In 1947, there were no crash locator beacons, controlled by 
navigational satellites and global positioning systems, nor rescue helicopters, but the 
search was extensive.  Military and civilian pilots in the air and others on the ground 
continued to search into autumn, long after the co-ordinated operation had been called 
off. 

Frequently, when persons, vehicles and aircraft are lost in vast forested mountains, they 
are located during the annual big game hunting season, when thousands of hunters go 
into the remote areas in quest of game animals. When big game season for 1947-48 
opened, the hunters headed into the mountains.  But as hunting season ended several 
months later, the aircraft was still missing.  The unusually high level snowfall that began 
in September that year kept the missing plane covered throughout the fall, winter and 
spring.  A 1948 weather summary reported precipitation at Great Falls had been 39% 
above normal since January 1, 1948.  Normally, most precipitation in the high mountain
elevations during that season of the year falls in the form of snow.  The plane had been 
well covered for many months. 

The missing aircraft, a Douglas A-26 Invader, was not a small plane. The twin engine 
attack/light bomber was 51 ft. 3 in. long, 18 ft. 3 in. high and had a wing span of 70 ft. 
Empty, it weighed 22,850 lbs. 

In 1940, the U.S. Army Air Corps anticipated the need for a light bomber with fast low-
level capability, medium-altitude precision bombing capacity, and heavy defensive arma-
ment.  Ed Heinemann and his team at Douglas Aircraft took on the challenge, and the
Douglas A-26 Invader was developed.  The Army Air Force had hoped that the new 
plane would eventually replace the A-20, the Martin B-26 Marauder and the Mitchell 
B-25.  The A-26 Invader met and exceeded that hope. 

The A-26 made its battle debut in the Pacific Theater in July of 1944, and on November 
19, 1944 it began operational service in Europe.  Pilots soon found it to be a remarkable 
warplane.  It was the fastest bomber the U.S. had during World War II.  It had a cruising 
speed of 284 m.p.h., and although not a dive bomber, it could permissibly hit 425 m.p.h. 
in a dive. 

The performance and potential of the Invader was so impressive that it continued in 
service for decades after the conflict for which it was designed had ended.  The aircraft 
served the Army Air Force, as well as the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the U.S.Coast 
Guard and the Air Forces of many countries around the world.  It saw extensive action 
in Korea, as well as Viet Nam, and later in other, lesser conflicts.  Civilian companies
converted some A-26s to executive aircraft that could carry 12 passengers, while  others
were converted to fire-retardant bombers and served well in that capacity for more than a 
dozen U. S. fire-fighting operators.  Lynch Flying Service of Billings, Montana was one 
operator that flew them, and in 1999 they still had two A-26s in flying condition.

In June 1948, the U.S. Air Force deleted the “A” (for Attack) category from aircraft 
designation terminology, and the Douglas A-26 Invaders were re-designated as B-26s. 
Although the Martin B-26 Marauder was retired from service by that time, some con- 
fusion between the newly designated Douglas B-26 Invader and the retired Martin B-26 
Marauder still continues to this day.  In 1969 when Thailand would not allow American 
bombers to be based there but would allow attack aircraft, the B-26 Invaders were 
re-designated to comply with that requirement and became again what they were 
originally: A-26s. 

On Saturday, July 10, 1948 the wreckage of the plane lost the previous September 16th 
was located.  Air Guard Squadron pilot Capt. Warren M. Lee sighted the crashed plane 
and positively identified it as the missing  A-26 Invader.  Capt. Robert L. Dardis— 
Squadron Commander,  Major Clifford Owens— Operations Chief, Lt. Donald 
Schrammeck and Lt. D. Trudeau flew over the site and also identified the wreckage as 
the missing aircraft. The following day— Sunday July 11, 1948— Adjutant General S.H. 
Mitchell of the Montana National Guard directed the search, and U.S. Forest Service 
Ranger Verne Edwards led a small ground party to the wreckage of the A-26 Attack
bomber.  The party traveled by jeep and on foot to the top of Duck Creek Pass, then
south up the ridge toward Mount Baldy.  The crash site was down the east face of Baldy,
deep in the timber.  The plane had crashed at a steep angle in heavy timber at about 8000
feet elevation.  None of the demolished and partially burned aircraft could be salvaged. 
The positively identified bodies of Lt. Col. Sperry and Sgt. Glover were taken to 
Croxford’s mortuary in Great Falls, Montana. 

The spot where the men and their plane were found was said to be one of the wildest 
spots in the Rocky Mountains. The east slope of Mount Baldy rises thousands of feet in 
naked cliffs and timbered canyons from the upper reaches of Birch Creek Basin. 

Captain Warren M. Lee was a close friend of  Lt. Col. Sperry.  The two had developed 
a strong friendship after Sperry became Commander and the senior instructor of the 
National Guard Air Squadron at Great Falls, and they were closely associated in other 
avocations as well.  Captain Lee had continually skirted the mountain ranges of central 
Montana searching for the A-26 Invader and his friend that disappeared into the storm 
on September 16, 1947.  Finally, after nearly 10 months, the search that had consumed 
the time, effort and resources of so many, was finally over. 

Viewing the crash site, even now after fifty years have passed, it is not difficult to under- 
stand how the A-26 aircraft could have remained hidden in the Big Belt Mountains for 
ten months. 

One of the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains, the Big Belt Mountains, are located 
thirty-five miles east of Helena, Montana.  The Range trends in a northwestern direction 
and extends over a distance of about sixty miles.  Mount Baldy, the highest point in the 
range, rises to 9,472 feet.  (The Missouri River, nearly 6000 feet below, flows through 
the Townsend Valley just fifteen miles to the west.) 

Slightly more than a mile north of Mount Baldy, a small ridge projects northeast from the 
crest of the Big Belt range.  The missing A-26 was located on the northwest slope of the 
small ridge one-half mile east of the main crest of the Big Belt range.  The slope was 
steep and covered with tall dense timber.  A few broken trees, quickly covered with snow, 
easily kept the site hidden from the view of the hundreds of searchers for all those months. 

The plane was located at approximately 8,370 feet elevation.  Mount Baldy, 2.2 miles 
south of the crash site, is 1,100 feet higher, and Duck Creek Pass, 1.8 miles to the north-
west, is more than 800 feet lower than the crash site. 

Why the plane hit the mountain at that site is not known.  However, the difference between 
hitting the mountain, or flying free and clear into the Townsend Valley and back to the 
Helena Airport, was a very small difference in time and distance. 

.

Lt. Col. Willard S. Sperry Willard Staples Sperry was born April 17, 1916 at San Francisco, California.  He attended the Belmont Military Academy, Damon School, San Mateo College and the Boeing School of Aeronautics. Sperry received an appointment to the West Point Military Academy, but lost his appointment after he  was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. After recovering from his injuries, he joined the Army Air Corps and graduated from pilot  training July 26, 1940.  Lt. Sperry continued training in Texas, and in August 1941 was  transferred to Moffet Field, CA, where he married his wife Carol on August 16 of that year.

When the war ended, Lt. Col. Sperry returned to duty in Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts 
and finally to East Base at Great Falls, Montana where he was Advisor for the organization 
of the Air National Guard Unit at Gore Hill and served as the first Commander of the unit. 

Lt. Col. Willard Staples Sperry’s body was returned to California for burial.  His wife 
returned to California with their son, where she taught school.  She never remarried and 
is now retired.  Their son G. Brooks Sperry, a U. S. Air Force veteran who served in Viet 
Nam as a helicopter pilot also lives in California.  Brooks Sperry returned to Great Falls in 
September of 1997 and Col. Rex Tanberg of the Montana Air National Guard flew Brooks 
over the site where his father was killed. 
 
 

Sgt. Charles L. Glover  Charles L. Glover was born Dec. 23, 1920 in Hoopeston, Illinois.  He was the oldest of twelve children, born to Ralph Lester Glover and Buelah Glover Dobkins.  Charles attended schools in Lincoln, IL, and later enlisted in the military service in Springfield, IL.  He was stationed in Santa Monica, CA, where he met Jean Mills, the girl    . that was to be his wife. Glover first came to Great Falls, MT in 1943, when he was assigned as an engineer to the 25TH Sc, 7TH Ferrying Group A.T.C.  Other duty assignments followed, including service in Karachi, India.  He returned to the U.S. aboard the U.S.S. General A. E. Anderson, which sailed from India on Oct. 21, 1945.  Charles came back to Great Fall to make his home at 117 Twentieth Street South with his wife Jean, son Bradley and daughter Judith Ann.

Sgt. Charles L. Glover was survived by his wife and two children, as well as four brothers 
and six sisters.  He is buried at the Floral Hills Cemetery at Hoopeston, Illinois.  Glover’s
daughter, Judith Ann, and son, Bradley Owen, now live in California.  Bradley served four
and one-half years in the U.S. Air Force, with service in Viet Nam during that war.

Sgt. Glover was the first Montana Air Guardsman killed in the line of duty.  Glover Street, 
located on the Montana Air Guard base at Great Falls, was named in his honor and was 
dedicated during a ceremony on January 8, 2000.

Buckingham, Richard 
 Feb. 14, 2000  Personal Interview 

Glover, Bradley 
 Aug. 9, 2000  Telephone Interview 
 Aug. 21, 2000  Personal Letter 

Glover, James 
 Mar. 2, 1999  Telephone Interview 
 Mar. 7, 1999  Personal Letter 
 Aug. 9, 2000  Personal Letter 

Great Falls Tribune
 Sept. 16, 1947  National Guard Air Unit Wants 270 More Enlistees. 

Great Falls Tribune
 Sept. 17, 1947  Air Hunt Begins Today for Sperry, Glover. 

Great Falls Tribune
 Sept. 18, 1947  Weather Today Will Hamper Hunt For Missing Airmen. 
                          Snowstorm Halts Traffic in Glacier Park - Havre Area. 

Great Falls Tribune 
 Sept. 19, 1947  Ground Fog and Overcast Impedes Search For National Guard 
                          Plane In Helena Area. 

Great Falls Tribune 
 July 11, 1948  Wreckage of Plane Lost Sept. 26, 1947 Located. 

Great Falls Tribune
 July 12, 1948  Find Bodies of Sperry and Glover. 

Great Falls Tribune
 July 13, 1948  Sperry Body To Be Buried in California. 

Helena Independent Record
 Sept. 17, 1947 Storm Preventing Aerial Search for Colonel Sperry. 
                         Mountain Area Covered By Early Snow. 

Helena Independent Record 
 Sept. 19, 1947  Aerial Search Is Centered In This City. 

Helena Independent Record 
 July 11, 1948  Ground Party To Open Search Today. 

Helena Independent Record 
 July 12, 1948  Lengthy Search Ends With Recovery of Bodies of Sperry and  Glover. 

Johnsen, Frederick A. 
 1999  Douglas A-26 Invader  Specialty Press

Knowles, William 
 Aug. 1, 2000  Personal Interview 

Lynch, Dennie 
 June 7, 1999  Personal Interview 
 Feb. 18, 2000  Personal Interview 
 Mar. 10, 2000  Personal Letter 

Meagher County News
 July 14, 1948  Fliers Are Found on Baldy Mountain. 

Mondey, David 
 1996  The Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II   Smithmark 
 Publishers, NY, NY 

Schendel, Lloyd 
 Feb. 18, 2000  Personal Interview 

Shore, Chester K. 
 1977  Montana in the Wars The American Legion of Montana 

Smith, Blake W. 
 1997  Warplanes to Alaska  Hancock House 

The Townsend Star 
 Sept. 18, 1947  Snow Blankets State in First Fall Flurries.

The Townsend Star 
 July 15, 1948  Finding of Col. Sperry's Plane in Local Area Arouses Much  Interest. 
 

Records and Photos courtesy of the Montana Air National Guard Historian at Great 
Falls and the Montana Army National Guard Public Affairs Office at Helena.