Success!

The Bremen after landing on Greenly Island

The Bremen aircraft after landing on Greenly Island, Newfoundland, having flown from Baldonnel, County Dublin, Ireland.

Out of copyright

The Bremen after landing on Greenly Island
Out of copyright

The Bremen after landing on Greenly Island

The Bremen aircraft after landing on Greenly Island, Newfoundland, having flown from Baldonnel, County Dublin, Ireland.

Out of copyright

Enlarge image

After what Fitzmaurice called "Interminable hours of endless flight" the fog suddenly disappeared and a clear, starry sky greeted them. Below they could see land and even though it seemed to be an uninhabited landscape of snow and forest, the flyers were delighted. They realised that they had reached the continent of North America and that the land below must be Labrador. They decided to continue in the direction they were flying and wait for dawn. They flew on, searching for any landmark which might indicate their exact whereabouts. Fitzmaurice was worried, "The strain of flying the Atlantic had been tremendous, but to face certain death in the bleak, cold, uninhabited wilderness of this Arctic country seemed such a cruel reward." The hope of reaching Mitchell Field in New York had long since vanished. During these hours of flying, when the men tried to ascertain their whereabouts and to look for a safe place to land, Fitzmaurice's mind turned to how they might survive in the wilderness....or indeed how they would die, but "optimism took the place of all these gloomy thoughts, soon after. Of course, I always felt we would win out."

The Lighthouse Keeper on Greenly Island with his Wife and Family Entertain the Flyers.

The Lighthouse keeper on Greenly Island, Newfoundland, his wife and family with Captain Hermann Koehl and Baron Guenther von Heunefeld, two of the Bremen Flyers. The Bremen had landed on Greenly Island, having flown from Baldonnell, County Dublin, Ireland in what was the first east-west flight across the Atlantic, in April 1927.

Out of copyright

The Lighthouse Keeper on Greenly Island with his Wife and Family Entertain the Flyers.
Out of copyright

The Lighthouse Keeper on Greenly Island with his Wife and Family Entertain the Flyers.

The Lighthouse keeper on Greenly Island, Newfoundland, his wife and family with Captain Hermann Koehl and Baron Guenther von Heunefeld, two of the Bremen Flyers. The Bremen had landed on Greenly Island, having flown from Baldonnell, County Dublin, Ireland in what was the first east-west flight across the Atlantic, in April 1927.

Out of copyright

Enlarge image

Suddenly, as a curtain of snow lifted, what appeared to be a ship frozen in ice, appeared directly below them. As they flew down to investigate, it became clear that it was not a ship but a lighthouse on a small island. The noise of the engine attracted the attention of the lighthouse's inhabitants. "It is impossible to describe our feeling upon observing them. Here at last was a spot where the Bremen might rest..." Fitzmaurice and Koehl shook hands and prepared for the landing. They decided to land on a frozen pond in the middle of the island. Koehl made a perfect landing. After 36 and a half hours in the air, they were on earth again. They had landed on Greenly Island, situated between Labrador and Newfoundland in the Strait of Belle Isle in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a remote place, known only to the sailors who used the strait. Within hours of the Bremen's landing, however, Greenly Island would become world famous.