Middleton Island Photos/Notes

contributed by William D. Price


South Rock. This is a photo of the cliff on the south west coast of the island and an outcroping called "South Rock". It was this area that four airmen were killed while walking the beach during low tide (in early `58), when they were trapped here and killed by a tidal wave. We got two of them out the first day, found one more but did not have time to recover his body and had to wrap it in rope and stake the ropes to the beach and wait for the tide to go back out to recover his body. The other body washed up on the other side of the island (the east side) 3 days later and was recovered. The island is basically 3-1/2 miles long and only a half mile wide. I also read in my Internet search that a geologist had fallen off these same cliffs in 1962 and was killed!


Middleton Is. Housing. The second floor on the left side was the Officers & NCO Quarters. At the very left side on the second floor was the NCO Club. The right side were the Airmen Quarters on first and second floors. Administrative was in the center and the Mess Hall was in the Center (Back portion).


A fellow ham operator sent me one of the ship that ran aground in the early 40`s (far background). Up until the earthquake in March of `64 the ship was always out in the water. However after the quake. the island rose about 15 feet and the ship is on dry land now. In the foreground is the microwave antenna of the old "White Alice" network.