page_title: 1932 Kimberley rescue
section_title: Search and rescue
hierarchical_section_title: 1932 Kimberley rescue / Search and rescue
caption_attribution_description: English: Adolph Klausmann, Captain Hans Bertram, Constable Gordon Marshall (from left to right), and two unidentified Aboriginal men sitting on the ground after rescue, Western Australia, 1932 "Klaussman having his first meal after Constable Marshall's arrival"--Typewritten label affixed to verso of mount. Deutsch: Adolph Klausmann, Hans Bertram, Constable Gordon Marshall (von links nach rechts) und zwei unbekannte Aborigines nach der Rettung der beiden Flieger. Notiz auf der Rückseite des Bildes: „Klaussmans erste Mahlzeit nach der Ankunft von Constable Marshall“
context_page_description: In 1932, pilot Hans Bertram and mechanic Adolph Klausmann were rescued while attempting to circumnavigate the world in a Junkers W 33 seaplane. After departing Koepang, Dutch Timor, they endured a storm in the Timor Sea on 15 May and were forced to land in a remote coastal area of the Kimberley region, North-Western Australia. The stranded men spent almost six weeks severely deprived of food and water and were close to death when they were rescued by a group of local Aboriginal fishermen on 22 June.
context_section_description: The Dutch gunboat HNLMS Flores set out from Surabaya four days after the disappearance to search along the planned route across the Timor Sea. At the request of the German Consul-General, the Western Australian government also commenced a land, sea and air search of possible landing sites. A West Australian Airways de Havilland DH.50 mail plane was chartered for the purpose. Coastal ships from the State Shipping Service were also notified to be on the lookout.
  On 13 June a foot search by native trackers found a cigarette case bearing the initials "HB" and a handkerchief which were handed to a missionary passing in a boat.  The details of the location were vague however and a malfunctioning telegraph delayed the information getting to the correct authorities; when it eventually did the land search was resumed with increased vigour. Sixty people were directly involved in the search which by now had received widespread publicity.
  The seaplane was located by a search aircraft on a beach near Rocky Island, 160 kilometres (99 mi) from Wyndham on 15 June but there was no sign of the men.  Several days later, the Wyndham Meat Works launch Kimberley arrived at the site and found a note left by the airmen: "27 May 1932. Australia. Today we left the plane in float as a boat in a westerly direction. Bertram."
  On 22 June, the men were found sheltering in a cave near Cape Bernier by a group of Aboriginal people.  They were near death and had been lost for 39 days. A police overland party under Constable Marshall arrived a week later and they were taken to the hospital at Wyndham by boat, arriving there on 6 July.  The ordeal had taken 53 days.  Klausmann had become demented as a result of the tribulations and needed to be restrained.
caption: Klausmann, Bertram and rescuer Constable Gordon Marshall with the Aboriginal trackers who located the two men
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