Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » Operation Bolero II: Epic P-38 Journey to England

From a Press Release found on the Warbird Information Exchange
Photo Courtesy: Provenance Fighter Sales / Simon Brown

Philadelphia, PA (May 22, 2007) On July 15, 1942, a United States Army-Air Force Squadron took off from America to aid our allies in the war torn European theatre: this mission was known as Operation Bolero. Due to insurmountable obstacles en route, the entire squadron of six P-38s and two B-17 bombers was forced to abort their mission and make an emergency crash landing on a remote ice cap in Greenland.

More than fifty-years later, “The Lost Squadron,” as it has become known over time, was encased in 268 feet of ice and had drifted miles from its original location. A recovery and restoration mission, taking more than 10 years and one million dollars, was successfully completed and the P-38 Lightning re-christened “Glacier Girl” was restored to her original flying glory.

On June 23rd 2007, General Henry Arnold’s 65 year-old directive to ferry this P-38 lightning to England will finally be completed. “Glacier Girl”, accompanied by “Miss Velma”, a P-51 Mustang, will depart from Jet Aviation at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey bound for the Flying Legends Air Show in Duxford, England. This trans-Atlantic mission, dubbed Bolero II, after the original WWII operation, remains as challenging as it is historic.

The world’s most advanced and exciting aviation website, www.AirShowBuzz.Com will provide unprecedented access to the flight thanks to Wingspeed, a company specializing in tracking, voice, and text communication for the professional aviation community. Viewers will be able to send questions to the pilots while in flight and receive answers from the cockpit. Wingspeed’s satellite network will also allow real time tracking of “Glacier Girl’s” historic journey. Experience “Glacier Girl’s” epic journey live and exclusively on www.AirShowBuzz.Com.

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Glacier Girl and Miss Velma Scheduled Stops

DATES EVENTS NAT LOCATION
Jun 16, 2007 1st Leg Chino, CA
Jun 21, 2007 2nd Leg Middlesboro, KY
Jun 22, 2007 3rd Leg Teterboro, NJ
Jun 23, 2007 4th Leg Presque Isle, ME
Jun 25, 2007 5th Leg Goose Bay, Labrador, NL
Jun 25, 2007 6th Leg Frobisher Bay, NU
Jun 27, 2007 7th Leg Kangerlussuaq, GL
Jun 27, 2007 8th Leg Kulusuk, GL
Jun 29, 2007 9th Leg Reykjvik, IS
Jun 29, 2007 10th Leg Stornoway, GB
Jul 07-08, 2007 Flying Legends Duxford, Cambridgeshire, GB
Jul 09, 2007 11th Leg Duxford, Cambridgeshire, GB
Jul 09, 2007 12th Leg Stornoway, GB
Jul 10, 2007 13th Leg Reykjvik, IS
Jul 10, 2007 14th Leg Kulusuk, GL
Jul 11, 2007 15th Leg Kangerlussuaq, GL
Jul 11, 2007 16th Leg Frobisher Bay, NU
Jul 12, 2007 17th Leg Goose Bay, Labrador, NL
Jul 12, 2007 18th Leg Bangor, ME
Jul 12, 2007 Final Destination Oshkosh, WI