Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins

Modern Age

Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins (Women of Action) Author: Atwood, Kathryn J. Buy at Amazon | BookShop.org Time Period: Modern Age Time Frame: 1912-1944 Geographic Area: Asia Country: Various Topics: WWII, Women's Aviation Genre: Non Fiction, Biography Reading Age: Young Adult, Adult Format: Book Published: 2016 Women of Action series 1) Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II 2) Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers 3) Women Aviators: 26 Stories of Pioneer Flights, Daring Missions, and Record-Setting Journeys 4) Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent 5) Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers 6) Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures 7) A World of Her Own: 24 Amazing Women Explorers and Adventurers 8) The Many Faces of Josephine Baker: Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy 9) Women Heroes of the American Revolution: 20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue 10) She Takes a Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed the World 11) Women of Colonial America: 13 Stories of Courage and Survival in the New World 12) Marooned in the Arctic: The True Story of Ada Blackjack, the "Female Robinson Crusoe" 13) Women in Blue: 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More 14) Women Heroes of World War II―the Pacific Theater: 15 Stories of Resistance, Rescue, Sabotage, and Survival 15) Seized by the Sun: The Life and Disappearance of World War II Pilot Gertrude Tompkins 16) Courageous Women of the Vietnam War: Medics, Journalists, Survivors, and More 17) This Noble Woman: Myrtilla Miner and Her Fight to Establish a School for African American Girls in the Slaveholding South 18) Women Heroes of the US Army: Remarkable Soldiers from the American Revolution to Today 19) Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics

World History > Modern Age > WWII

Of the 38 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) confirmed or presumed dead in World War II, only one—Gertrude “Tommy” Tompkins—is still missing. On October 26, 1944, the 32-year-old fighter plane pilot lifted off from Mines Field in Los Angeles. She was never seen again.

Seized by the Sun is the story of a remarkable woman who overcame a troubled childhood and the societal constraints of her time to find her calling flying the fastest and most powerful airplane of World War II. It is also a compelling unsolved mystery.

Born in 1912 to a wealthy New Jersey family, Gertrude’s childhood was marked by her mother’s bouts with depression and her father’s relentless search for a cure for the debilitating stutter that afflicted Gertrude throughout her life. Teased and struggling in school, young Gertrude retreated to a solitary existence. As a young woman she dabbled in raising goats and aimlessly crisscrossed the globe in an attempt to discover her purpose.

As war loomed in Europe, Gertrude met the love of her life, a Royal Air Force pilot who was killed flying over Holland. Telling her sister that she “couldn’t stop crying, so she focused on learning to fly,” Gertrude applied to join the newly formed Women’s Air Force Service Pilots. She went on to become such a superior pilot that she was one of only 126 WASPs selected to fly fighter planes. After her first flight in the powerful P-51 Mustang, her stutter left her for good.

Gertrude’s sudden disappearance remains a mystery to this day. Award-winning author Jim Ure leads readers through Gertrude’s fascinating life; provides a detailed account of the WASPs’ daily routines, training, and challenges; and describes the ongoing search for Gertrude’s wreck and remains. The result of years of research and interviews with Gertrude’s family, friends, and fellow WASPs, Seized by the Sun is an invaluable addition to any student’s or history buff’s bookshelf.

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