World Wide Reaction

After the trip from Greenly Island to Lake St. Agnes in the Ford relief plane.

Photograph of (l-r) John Schroeder of the North German Llyod Line, Baron Guenther von Huenefeld, Captain Hermann Koehl, Clarence Chamberlin, Major James C.Fitzmaurice, Bernt Balchen and Duke Schiller. The party had just landed at Lake St. Agnes, Canada, having flown from Greenly Island, Newfoundland.

Out of copyright

After the trip from Greenly Island to Lake St. Agnes in the Ford relief plane.
Out of copyright

After the trip from Greenly Island to Lake St. Agnes in the Ford relief plane.

Photograph of (l-r) John Schroeder of the North German Llyod Line, Baron Guenther von Huenefeld, Captain Hermann Koehl, Clarence Chamberlin, Major James C.Fitzmaurice, Bernt Balchen and Duke Schiller. The party had just landed at Lake St. Agnes, Canada, having flown from Greenly Island, Newfoundland.

Out of copyright

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News of the successful East-West crossing of the Atlantic was greeted with jubilation throughout the world. It grabbed headlines in all the major newspapers both sides of the Atlantic. The event particularly captured the imagination of the American public. There was a carnival atmosphere and cities came to a standstill as people danced in the streets on hearing of the safe landing of the Bremen. U.S. President Calvin Coolidge sent the following message to the Governor-General of the Irish Free State: "I wish to express to you as well as to the people of the Irish Free State the great admiration of myself and the people of the USA for Comdt. Fitzmaurice's share in the magnificent flight and to rejoice for a safe arrival" (Fennelly, p.208/9) American newspapers were unreserved in their praise for Koehl, Fitzmaurice and Von Huenefeld. The New York Herald Tribune, under the banner headline "Victory!", commented, "These brave airmen took a desperate chance and won by the narrowest of margins. Their victory may well stand for the victory of man." (ibid, p.212)

Meanwhile, the crew of the Bremen were resting at the lighthouse on Greenly Island. It became apparent that the Bremen would be unable to fly on to New York. While alternative plans were being made, the aviators were saddened to hear of the death of Floyd Bennett, the polar airman who had been the co-pilot of the first plane to reach them on their landing on the ice. He had contracted pneumonia in the Arctic conditions, from which he had died. Koehl, Fitzmaurice and Von Huenefeld travelled from Greenly Island to New York, via Lac St.Agnes, and from there they caught a train to Washington, D.C. where they visited Bennett's grave in Arlington Cemetery. Fitzmaurice placed on the grave the flag of the Irish Free State that he had carried on the Bremen.