The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-19
MAJORS BODY
FOUND IN RAFT
Circumstances Surround
ing Death One Of Wierd.
est Mysteries of War
BY ALAN COOGAN
UNITED Press STAFF Correspondent

UNITED Press Stan Correspondent
Natal, Brazil, Feb. 1S-(Delayed)
-(UP)-Maj. Arthur Mills, Army
Air Corps Ferry Command, never
made a more perfect landing in all
his years of flying than when his
small rubber liferaft rode the South
Atlantic surf onto a Natal beach q
few days ago after a voyage Of
probably more than 1000 miles.
But the major was dead.
In thel iferaft with his body were
identification tags indicating that
six others had died and had been
buried" at sea during the voyage
in the raft after their plane, west
bound from Africa, was forced down
at sea.
In addition to Mills body, the
raft contained:
A colonel's eagle insignia which
had been bent into a crude fish hook.
Fish skeletons.
A notebook belonging to the
planes navigator-but there was no
entry after the fatal fight began.
On January ia few days before
they left Africa-the navigator had
drawn a prophetic skull and cross
bones and crude sketch Of grave
in the notebook.
The circumstances surrounding
Mills battle for survival and the
slow torturous death Of his COM
panions is one Of the werdest mys-
teries Of the war. The story never
will be known. The names Of Mills
companions have not been revealed.
One Of the most battling angles
Is that there were no notes, no en-
tries in the notebook, or anything
in the raft to tell why the plane
was forced down or where, or when,
where and how the other six &C.
cupants died. Officers here find it
difficult to believe that one Of the
seven would not have had pencil
or pen.
When the raft skidded to stop
on the beach, there was no food
and no water in 1t. Mills apparently
had died Of exposure, thirst and
hunger two or three days before.
Later this correspondent found q
young lieutenant Of the Air Trans
port Command here who was able
to explain the skull and cross bones
and the sketch Of the grave in the
notebook. That young officer told
this story:
IT was a member of Mills crew
as a navigator on his last trip IT,
Africa. There was no better flyer
than Mills who was from the old
school of transport pilots.
I'VE were together in Africa for
a few days. One night, during a
wait for transportation to west
bound jumping off place, we sat
around fire outside our tents and
had a couple Of bottles Of beer mad
talked 1t up.
"That navigator (the one whose
notebook was found in Mills raft)
was there too and we made q date
for another such get-together at
the navigator's Miami home when
when we would be there next. He'd
only been married about six months
to very pretty little wife. .
1.-THE major and the navigator
unexpectedly got a chance to ride
in a British plane to a jumping of
place several days before regularly
arranged transportation was sched-
uled to pick us up, and they took 1t.
"It looked like they were very
lucky at the time because the new
jumping off place was nicer. But
1t turned out fatal for the major
and the navigator because they
went out earlier than expected on
a plane which was forced down in
the ocean.
THAT prophetic drawing in the
navigator's notebook was for this
reason: In Africa, during the time
preceding the fatal hop, he and I
were up in a plane exceedingly over
loaded in which the pilot failed to
get the landing gear pulled after
the take Off. After series Of sharp
- turns, the pilot set the plane
down at about 100 miles per hour
instead Of about IS. With the planes
load and the overnight landing
speed, the navigator and I figured
were were lucky to come out alive.
AS soon as we got to where we could
write the navigator made that skull
and cross bones drawing and the
sketch Of a grave.
Certainly we did not think at
that time that that notebook would
be all that anyone would ever see
of him again on this side"