While Cretzer was imprisoned at Alcatraz, his wife Edna made frequent visits to the island and she often wrote kind letters to Warden Johnston, sometimes offering her help in persuading "Dutch" to behave through her "letters and visits." Johnston was usually accommodating in this regard and in February of 1945 he allowed Edna to see both her brother Arnold and her husband Joseph in back-to-back visits. His trust, however, was obviously misplaced. Cretzer had no intention of living up to the promises made in his letter.
Marvin Franklin Hubbard
Marvin Franklin Hubbard Another accomplice in the 1946 escape attempt was Marvin Franklin Hubbard. Marv (as he was called by fellow inmates) carried the reputation of a ruthless gunman and he had earned his transfer to Alcatraz through a series of brutal escape attempts at other prisons. He was given a work a.s.signment in the kitchen, and he became a good friend of Arnold Kyle. Like Kyle, Hubbard had also fallen prey to the Great Depression. Born August 13, 1912 to a farming family in Boaz, Alabama, he was the third of five siblings. His father died when he was only three years old, and he would be forced to drop out of school in 1918 after completing only the first grade. Hubbard worked on the family farm throughout his childhood, and a.s.sumed the tough responsibility of helping to provide income to support his family. At ten years of age, Hubbard ran away to live with Willie Wiggins, a relative of his stepfather, who taught the young Marvin the skill of masonry.
A letter written by Hubbard"s wife to the Warden at the Atlanta Penitentiary on October 17, 1942 provides more insight into his personal history and upbringing. Herein are some excerpts from the letter: Dear Warden, In answer to your letter received this week, I hardly know where to begin, I did not know where my husband was at, at this present time until I received your letter, it came as a quite a surprise, or rather a shock, as we had not been corresponding lately, I"m afraid I don"t know very much of anything that would be of help to you, but will give you my best.
We were married at my mother"s home in Dekalb County, on January 8, 1928. Neither of us were previously married, this being for the only marriage for either of us. We only have one child.... My husband"s att.i.tude towards me and the child, were very fine at times, he didn"t ever mistreat us in no-way except staying away from us for so much of his time, that he could have been with us, the harm he done was more of his own self than any-one else, only heartbreaks and sorrows, I had a fair share of that at an early age, my life has been filled with disappointments and heart aches. My husband has taken the responsibility of his family serious at times, and other times, he would leave us for a long time, as much as five or six months at a time, during this time he would never give us any support.
He was born and raised in Alabama, in Boaz, Route #3, we have lived out there part of our time together as well as here in Georgia. As far as where we have lived for the past five years is rather hard to explain, he spent a large portion of it in Kilby Prison as you no doubt already know, and the other part just here and yonder. His occupation has mostly been a bricklayer since I have known him, he does beautiful brickwork. Although he had farmed some during times when that trade was dull. His greatest handicap during these years, have been having no education, he was raised by a dear old mother who was left a widow with five children to raise, she did the best she could but could not educate the children. My husband"s difficulties he has faced in recent years, I think depends on him getting started with the wrong kind of characters at a early age, which gives him the wrong opinion of life, before life was hardly started for him. Before he got started with the bad characters he was very kind and generous hearted, made good friends with all of whom he met, was well thought of in the community which he lived.
I just wish to say here, that anything you can do for him to make his stay in your inst.i.tution, profitable to him, and as comfortable as possible, will highly be appreciated by me, although we have been separated a large portion of our time, it didn"t take away the love and care I have for him. He was once good and kind and made home a place worth living for. I shall like very much to visit him as soon as possible, as I have not seen him since one year ago, last July 18th, 1941. Trusting this will be of some help to you in preparing my husband for his stay there.
Yours Very Truly, Mrs. Lola Belle Hubbard Hubbard"s involvement with crime had started in his teenage years, with a series of forceful, violent robberies that usually ended in his arrest, and for which he ultimately served several short-term sentences. In late 1942, Hubbard and his accomplices were arrested after robbing a liquor store at gunpoint. His prison record includes a summation of his criminal history: On August 7, 1942, Marvin Franklin Hubbard, George Kelly Matthews, and Kenneth Jackson escaped from the Walker County Jail, Jasper, Alabama, by a.s.saulting the jailer and stealing a submachine gun, a .38 caliber revolver, property of the Walker County SO. They then stole a taxi at the point of a gun from Robert Pow and Roy Seals and forced them to accompany subjects to Double Springs, Alabama, to Moulton, Alabama, and to Madison, Alabama, where they had a blowout. They then obtained a 1939 Dodge truck from R.U. Dublin to accompany them in the truck to Huntsville, Alabama, and to Gra.s.sy Mountain, Alabama, where they tied the three victims to trees and abandoned them about nine P.M. on the same date. Subjects then proceeded in a truck to a secluded spot in the mountains near Cedartown, Georgia, where they stayed in hiding, except for short visits to a country store to purchase food, until three p.m. August 13, 1942. Subjects then hijacked W.A. Cason near Cedartown, Georgia, and stole his 1940 Ford sedan, releasing Cason at a nearby lake. They proceeded in the Ford to Tallapoosa, Georgia, to Anniston to Alabama, to Gadsden, Alabama, and to Collinsville, Alabama, where they parked in a secluded spot and slept from eight a.m. August 14, 1942, to the afternoon of the same date. They then proceeded on a country road to Trenton, Georgia and to Chattanooga, Tennessee.
About 7:30 p.m. on August 14, 1942, subjects kidnapped Logan Stroud, traffic officer, Chattanooga P.D., when he attempted to arrest them for not having a safety sticker on their car and by threats of death at the point of a gun they forced him to accompany them from Hamilton County, Tennessee, to Catoosa County, Georgia. Subjects took refuge at the home of Henry Christian, tied Stroud, and locked him in a milk shed at the rear of the house. Stroud escaped about 4:30 a.m. August 15, 1942. Hubbard and Matthews were apprehended at 5:30 a.m. August 15, 1942, by FBI agents, and Georgia and Tennessee police officers after a gun battle in which Kenneth Jackson was killed. Hubbard and Matthews waived removal to Chattanooga. Authorized complaint was filed August 15, 1942, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, charging Hubbard and Matthews with violation of the kidnapping statute. Both subjects entered a plea of guilty before Commissioner Morgan on August 17, 1942, and in default of $25,000 bond each was remanded to the Knox County jail, Knoxville Tennessee.
On September 11, 1942, while being held at the Knox County Jail Marvin Franklin Hubbard, together with others, escaped from said jail by overpowering the turn key and the elevator operator who were locking up the prisoners in their cells for the night. Hubbard was apprehended by the Sheriff"s Office, Knoxville, Tennessee, at Concord, Tennessee, on the night of September 14.1942. When arraigned before the Commissioner on September 15.1942, he entered a plea of guilty, and in default of $3000 bond was remanded to the custody of the US Marshal and incarcerated in the Knox County Jail, Knoxville, Tennessee.
On September 15, 1942, Marvin Franklin Hubbard addressed a letter to the United States Attorney at Chattanooga, Tennessee, requesting that he be indicted and arraigned at the next term of court at Greenville, Tennessee, on September 21, 1942, and expressed the desire to plead guilty to a charge of escaping from Federal custody.
In October of 1942, having been convicted of kidnapping and illegal transportation of firearms across state lines, Hubbard was sent to the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, where he reportedly partic.i.p.ated in riot activities. Hubbard was deemed incorrigible and in 1944 he received his golden ticket to the Rock.
A request from Hubbard for a work a.s.signment in the prison hospital. This request, dated April 10, 1946, suggests that Hubbard was probably recruited as an accomplice weeks or even days before the ma.s.s escape attempt.
Miran Edgar Thompson
Miran Edgar Thompson Miran Edgar "Buddy" Thompson had been on Alcatraz only since October, a little over six months, but his criminal record seemed endless. At only twenty-nine years of age, Buddy was already a seasoned felon. Before even disembarking from the prison launch, he had acc.u.mulated no less than eight successful escapes on his inmate profile record.
Thompson left home at an early age and found himself in a reform school after being convicted of armed robbery before his eighteenth birthday. Reform school failed to curve his delinquency and when he set out to support himself, he immediately began a chain of violent burglaries, targeting almost any establishment that had a cash register. Thompson was arrested frequently, but he had an exceptional ability to escape from his captors. His early crimes included everything from forgery, to drunk and disorderly conduct, to a.s.sault, and he ultimately graduated to armed robbery. Thompson traveled through various states committing robberies, up until March 12, 1945. Although historians often dispute the details of the events of that day, it is certain that Miran and a twenty-seven-year-old accomplice named Elmer Day were arrested by a Police Detective Lem Savage. During the course of the arrest, Thompson for some reason was not handcuffed and he pulled a revolver and fatally shot the officer. Officer Savage"s body was then kicked out of the car and the pair fled west, later kidnapping a young New Mexico woman and commandeering her vehicle. They were captured a short time later at the New Mexico-Texas state line, but not before they had crossed the state border. This meant that Federal kidnapping charges would be filed against them.
Miran was tried in Federal court for the kidnappings, but somehow managed to escape the death penalty, receiving a ninety-nine-year sentence with no possibility of parole for the kidnapping and a life sentence for the murder. With his long history of successful escapes and his conviction for the violent murder of a police official, Miran was quickly selected by the Bureau of Prisons to serve out his time on Alcatraz. Thompson arrived on the island on October 15, 1945, as inmate #AZ-729. His reputation as a vicious cop killer had followed him to Alcatraz and this earned him a sordid status among the inmate population.
Sam Richard Shockley
Sam Richard Shockley Sam Shockley was another resident of the Rock who had truly earned his place there. It was revealed during the trial of the escapees that Shockley had an IQ ranging in the low to mid-sixties, the mental equivalent of a child of eight to ten years. He was considered by all of the correctional staff as "impulsively dangerous," and many thought that his imprisonment on Alcatraz was inappropriate since he suffered from mental illness, and therefore was unable to blend into the general population. He often suffered hallucinations, which resulted in violent fits directed toward the correctional staff. He had a reputation for throwing articles from his cell, breaking plumbing fixtures, starting fires and viciously attacking officers when they attempted to restrain him. Shockley had become one of the most frequent residents of the strip cell. One of the least disputed facts surrounding the 1946 escape was that inmate Sam Shockley was considered by nearly all to be dangerous and psychotic.
Shockley had been transferred to Alcatraz from Leavenworth in September of 1938, and he spent the majority of his imprisonment in segregation. He had suffered emotionally throughout his childhood growing up in rural Oklahoma, and eking an existence under conditions of severe poverty. He was forced to leave school and work on the family farm before completing the elementary grades, which limited his education to basic reading and writing. He developed no trade skills and was often involved in petty crimes. It was also doc.u.mented that while serving out a sentence in a state reformatory, Sam was badly beaten by a fellow inmate and suffered a severe head injury. One year later he would receive another head injury, this time inflicted by a correctional officer. His family remained very supportive, securing an attorney named E.W. Schenk, who endeavored to attain clemency for Sam, but the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.
On March 14, 1938, Shockley and an accomplice named Edward Leroy Johnston burglarized a farmhouse near Pauls Valley, a city in Garvin County, Oklahoma; stole a shotgun and devised a plan to rob the Bank of Paoli (located in the Coty of Paoli). The following day at 4:45 a.m., Shockley and Johnston stole a car from a gentleman who ironically was named Jesse James. They bound and gagged him with bailing wire and then beat him severely. After shoving a handkerchief in James" mouth and securing it by wrapping utility tape around his head, they made off with his Chevrolet Coupe. At approximately 1:00 p.m., the two criminals entered the Paoli Bank with Shockley posing as a customer who needed to cash a labor check. Once Shockley had arrived at the teller"s window, he pulled a revolver on bank president D.F. Pendley, his wife, and the a.s.sistant cashier, demanding that they turn over all of the cash. While Shockley stood over the couple, Johnston collected $947.38 in silver and currency. The official report also stated that Shockley abused the couple verbally with vulgar profanities and death threats.
After they had bagged the cash, the couple were taken as hostages and transferred to the vehicle that had been stolen from James. The car eventually broke down and the four were forced to head into the mountains on foot. Police reports state that a young teenage farmer interceded and initiated a gun battle, thus allowing the two hostages a chance to escape. Shockley and Johnston were able to flee into the mountains and were not captured until ten days later when they were apprehended at a farm belonging to Shockley"s brother near Tom, Oklahoma. Shockley made a mad attempt to escape out the back door, but was quickly hunted down by the police. He later denied having any role in the robbery, but his accomplice Johnston readily admitted that both of them had been involved.
Shockley was committed to Leavenworth on May 16, 1938, where he was frequently reported as behaving violently toward the correctional staff. After his transfer to Alcatraz this pattern apparently continued, and he was often placed in segregation. Shockley would always be released back into the general prison population, but then he would quickly find himself in some type of mischief again, and be returned to isolation. Despite his low IQ, he occasionally devised some witty schemes. For example, in June of 1943 when Shockley was a.s.signed to work in the kitchen detail, he stole six pounds of tenderloin steak from the freezer and managed to sneak it into the bakeshop and roast it. He wasn"t caught until after he had eaten a healthy portion. He was then sent back to solitary, placed on a restricted diet, and permanently removed from his work a.s.signment in the kitchen. The correctional officers on Alcatraz dreaded Shockley"s outbreaks, and only one week prior to the 1946 escape attempt, he partic.i.p.ated in a large-scale disturbance that reverberated through D Block.
On the evening of April 26th, Robert Stroud, better known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz," started yelling at the top of his lungs that he was suffering from severe abdominal cramps and needed immediate medical attention. The D Block Correctional Officer made an attempt to see if Dr. Roucek, the official prison physician, was still on the island. After calling around and not being able to locate the doctor, the officer informed Stroud that he would have one of the MTA"s (Medical Technical a.s.sistant) from the prison hospital come down and examine him. Stroud protested profusely, insisting that he wanted to see a "real" doctor, and bragging that he was smarter than any of the MTA"s. The correctional officer apparently had a difficult time getting the MTA to come down to D Block. After some time had pa.s.sed, with Stroud becoming progressively more vocal, the rest of the inmates started to join in, insisting that a doctor be brought in to examine him immediately. After a wait of nearly two hours, the MTA finally made his way into Stroud"s cell, which was located on the top tier in the far corner. The MTA performed a quick and superficial exam, offered Stroud a few aspirin, and prescribed rest.
Stroud continued to complain into the evening that he had been misdiagnosed, and repeatedly demanded to see a doctor. By this time Dr. Roucek had returned and he came up to examine Stroud. After performing a thorough examination, he explained to Stroud that there were no pertinent findings, and that the trouble would probably pa.s.s by morning. Soon afterward Stroud again began yelling, stating that he would die unless someone got him medical help. The other D Block inmates started rallying on his behalf. Their rebellion implied that the prison administration was cruelly leaving an inmate to suffer and this led the inmates to start vandalizing their cells. Shockley and several of the others began to destroy everything in sight. The frenzy raged throughout the cellblock as the majority of inmates threw their belongings out onto main floor from their respective tiers.
Jim Quillen was a fellow inmate who had been sentenced to serve time in D Block after a failed escape in the kitchen bas.e.m.e.nt area. With the a.s.sistance of a few other inmates, Quillen had attempted to escape through a narrow tunnel housing steam pipes which were thought to lead down to the prison powerhouse. The temperatures in the tunnel were unbearably hot and when the inmates reached the end of the cellhouse, they would unfortunately find that the tunnel was sealed with a five-foot block of cement. A fellow prisoner had meanwhile revealed their plan to the administration and they were sent to serve time first in isolation and then in segregation.
Jim Quillen Quillen would later describe some of the events that Stroud incited, such as inmates draining the water from their toilet and using bedding and other flammable items to start a fire in the bowl. Once the fire had reached a sufficient temperature, the inmate would flush the toilet and the cold water would shatter the porcelain. The sharp, heavy pieces would then be thrown out of the cells and over the tier railings, presenting a hazard to the correctional staff, and sometimes even shattering the outside windows. By the early morning hours on April 27th, water was flooding over the upper levels, and ma.s.sive pools had saturated the lower cellblock floors. The block was fogged with smoke from smoldering fires as the chilling bay breeze ripped through the cellhouse, intensifying the cold, and the inmates were left alone in their wet cells with no warm place to rest.
By daybreak the correctional staff had started to a.s.sess the damages, and they set up a desk at the end of the block to hold hearings with Warden Johnston. On the morning of April 28th the hearing board convened, and met with each and every inmate who had caused destruction to his cell. The board was comprised of a.s.sociate Warden E.J. Miller, Captain H.W. Weinhold, Lieutenant N.W. Morrison, Dr. Roucek, and the Warden himself. Quillen later recalled that Stroud"s cell was found completely intact with his bed nicely made, and that he was angered that Stroud had used the other inmates to get back at the administration.
Warden Johnston punished the inmates harshly, ensuring that each one was penalized for their collective rebellion against the administration. It was decided that the inmates would remain in their own cells until proper repairs could be made. Since many of them had destroyed their sink and toilet, they were forced to use a tin bucket to relieve themselves. It was left to the correctional staff to determine how frequently the buckets would be emptied usually only once a day and the inmates were completely at their mercy in this regard. In addition, the inmates who had been involved, received nineteen days in isolation and were forced to pay for all damages before they were allowed to transfer out of Alcatraz. This would require each inmate to remain on good behavior, integrate back into the general population and secure a paying job in the industries. It was a severe punishment delivered directly by Warden Johnston himself. Quillen later commented that the inmates long resented Stroud for using them as p.a.w.ns in his own futile cause.
Clarence Victor Carnes
Clarence Victor Carnes A life in pictures. He would spend nearly his entire adult life in maximum security prisons.
Clarence Victor Carnes, born on January 14, 1927 in rural Oklahoma, was a full-blooded Choctaw Indian and like many of the other inmates he was exposed to a troubled and poverty-stricken childhood. His father struggled to support his family through the Great Depression years and tried to create a stable life for his children, but was largely unsuccessful. Carnes would become what was later described as..."natural fighter," and he developed into a gang leader during his early teens. He was constantly in and out of trouble and at only fifteen years of age he would partic.i.p.ate in an armed robbery that would change his life in a matter of seconds.
Carnes" fate was sealed when he and a school friend attempted to hold up a small gas station in Atoka, Oklahoma. Carnes threatened station attendant Walter Weyland with a stolen revolver, but Weyland refused to take the youths seriously. He apparently attempted to disarm Carnes and the struggle ended with a fatal gunshot wound to the attendant"s chest. Carnes and his accomplice were quickly apprehended and placed in the county jail, where they were to await trial on charges of first-degree murder. But only hours after their capture they somehow managed to overpower the jailer and escape, taking with them his stolen pistol. Within hours they were recaptured and in October of 1943, Carnes was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Then on February 3, 1945, while incarcerated at the Oklahoma State Reformatory in the city of Granite, Carnes and two accomplices escaped from a hard labor chain gang at work in a rock quarry. Carnes and his accomplices made it to town without being detected, stole a vehicle and kidnapped the owner. The trio then crossed the state line into Shamrock, Texas, wrecked the stolen vehicle and made their way back into Oklahoma in another stolen car, leaving their kidnap victim behind. They were quickly apprehended and on March 19, 1945 Carnes would receive an additional ninety-nine years for kidnapping under the Federal Lindberg Act. Carnes was sent to the State Reformatory in McAlester, Oklahoma, and later to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas. He soon became a serious disciplinary problem at Leavenworth and was recommended for transfer to Alcatraz by the Warden. Carnes arrived at Alcatraz on July 6, 1945 at only eighteen years of age. Many who knew him described him as being out-of-place on the Rock. He was quiet, easy going and rarely got involved in altercations. Carnes was also very fit and did not back down when trouble came his way. It is likely that these traits appealed to Coy when he recruited him for the prison break.
Preparations for the Escape
The famous escape of 1946 did not happen spontaneously; on the contrary, it was the fruit of careful planning by the group of inmate conspirators and particularly by Bernie Coy. He was the architect of the scheme, who studiously watched the habits of the guards, meticulously selected his accomplices from among the pool of prisoners, and arranged for all of the necessary tools and supplies to be constructed and secreted around the prison.
Early Planning Stages
In late 1945, Bernie Coy had earned his way to a job as the library orderly, which gave him special privileges to move about the cellhouse freely. This job a.s.signment also allowed him to provide his own special "reading privileges" to other inmates in return for "special favors," whenever the need would arise. Another advantage was his new ability to venture into D Block, in order to deliver reading materials. D Block was strictly off-limits unless an inmate had a specific reason to enter. Former inmate James Quillen later stated that Coy was thus able to study activities within the cellhouse discreetly, and to identify potential systemic weaknesses that could offer a future prospect for escape. Coy"s a.s.signment as a library orderly proved to be a choice position, as it also provided additional opportunities to interact with the correctional officers, and to study their individual work habits. In addition to his primary a.s.signment, he was also allowed to take an additional job as a cellhouse orderly, fulfilling these duties in the afternoon. Coy was well liked by the correctional officials, and was said to have an easygoing att.i.tude. He was respectful toward inmates and guards alike, and as Correctional Officer Bergen recalled, he was a "mature con" that "got on well with most everyone."
However, behind this mask of innocence, Bernard Paul Coy actually had no intention of finishing out his time at Alcatraz. During his sentencing in 1937, he had stated that "murder meant nothing" and that no prison could hold him. True to his vow, Bernie embarked on an intense study of procedural operations at the prison, exploring the systemic frailties that he believed would ultimately grant him freedom. Coy recognized that the West End Gun Gallery had one weak point that could possibly be penetrated if he acquired the necessary tools. He noticed that at the top of the gallery, the bars encasing the upper tier ran from the back wall, curving downward until they reached a horizontal cross-member several feet from where the bar-base was anch.o.r.ed. The bars were parallel and s.p.a.ced approximately five inches apart, and he decided that if he could force the bars and separate them far enough to accommodate his body, he could gain access to the gallery, secure weapons, and take hostages. It was a brazen plan, and it seemed to have great potential.
As Coy carefully studied the individual routines of the guard staff, he also began to select his co-conspirators. He understood that in order for the escape to be successful, his plan would require exquisite orchestration, as well as the total commitment and cooperation of his accomplices. It is clear that his choice would fall on individuals who were capable of following a prescribed plan, and doing whatever became necessary to carry it out, even if this meant murder.
During Coy"s rounds of delivering books and magazines to inmates, he routinely stopped at cell #152 to visit Joseph Paul Cretzer, also known to many of the inmates as "Dutch." Cretzer was an ideal choice as an accomplice and he had already proven his capabilities during an aborted escape attempt in May of 1941. That attempt had involved taking guards hostage, which was also an element of Coy"s plan. Although the previous attempt had failed, inmate Clarence Carnes stated afterward that Cretzer had kept calm when it became clear that the plan was doomed and this had won him a solid reputation with the other convicts. It is likely that Coy took this into consideration in deciding that Cretzer would make a perfect accomplice.
Carnes later commented that Coy had consistently reminded his accomplices of the virtue of patience and thorough planning. Coy had prepared himself for the day of the escape both physically and mentally, continually refining the procedures and chronology of the plan. He lost over twenty pounds by adhering to a strict diet regimen over a period of several months and improved his muscle tone and physical strength by performing exercises in his cell. He also arranged for pre-placement of the crudely fabricated tools that would be needed to spread the bars in the West End Gun Gallery. It is believed that inmate and cellhouse plumber Ed Mrozik smuggled pliers to Coy, and also a.s.sembled the makeshift bar spreader with the help of a fellow inmate in the Machine Shop.
Cellhouse Plumber Ed Mrozik.
The inmates of Alcatraz had developed a complex system for smuggling items past the elaborate security mechanisms within the prison. Inmates who risked smuggling contraband for others generally were given special payoffs or rewards. Despite the watchfulness of the correctional officers, inmates often successfully used covert networks to pa.s.s and smuggle items to one another. For example, if an inmate working in the machine shop wanted to "mail" a contraband item, he could wrap it in a soiled rag and send off to the laundry, making sure that the laundry bag carried a special secret marking. The contraband could then be folded in with clean kitchen linens and delivered to an appropriate recipient in the kitchen. Since problems such as clogged drains were common occurrences in the kitchen, the inmate plumber could intercept the smuggled item, which could be disguised as a common plumbing tool or fixture, and he could introduce it into his tool kit, thus ensuring final delivery. The security focus was generally on the inmates themselves, so these covert activities went largely unnoticed.
It is likely that Coy and Hubbard extended special food and reading privileges to inmates who helped smuggle materials for the escape. It is also possible that Coy granted favors to some correctional officers, who would eventually contribute to the success of the plan. Coy had earned a great deal of trust amongst the custodial staff through his frequent interactions with the guards. He was thus allowed to make his rounds within the cellhouse with minimal supervision. Several books written on the escape have further speculated that Coy actually helped to determine the officers" routines, by distributing popular reading materials at specific time intervals to the guards posted in the gun galleries.
The Scene of the Battle
Correctional Officer Bert Burch was a.s.signed to the West End Gun Gallery for the afternoon watch on the day of the escape attempt, May 2, 1946, and it is clear that Coy had been able to study his work habits in advance. It was at first believed that during his preparations for the escape, Coy had observed that Burch usually spent the after-lunch hours in the D Block end of the gallery, where he would read for most of the afternoon. But a second theory, extracted from notes handwritten by Carl Sundstrom a few days after the escape attempt, held that Burch did not always maintain a strict routine. Instead it is suggested that he would be lured into that section of the cellblock for an extended period of time by the acting-out of an inmate in D Block.
Correctional Officer Bert Burch.
Access to the West End Gallery was from an exterior catwalk located on the southwest end of D Block, with entry and exit monitored by the Road Tower officer. Changing shifts in inclement weather was no easy task, since the correctional officer would have to climb the metal staircase on the side of the cellhouse, battling the rain and wind that was intensified by the oceanfront exposure. It was, however, one of the most secure areas of the cellhouse, and several officers considered it a good a.s.signment. Officers who worked in the gallery brought their own meals, since they would be locked inside for their entire shift, which usually lasted eight hours.
A view inside the West End Gun Gallery. An officer is seen here lowering a key to a fellow officer. Gallery post a.s.signments were considered the most favored by the prison officers. Up until the events of 1946, it was also considered the safest.
The gallery was a dual-level, narrowly enclosed area with a pa.s.sage width of only about four and a half feet. The west end of the gallery was situated over the area known to inmates as Times Square,and ran from each end of the cellhouse through the southwest end of D Block. This arrangement allowed the officer on duty to patrol all three main cellblock aisles (and to pa.s.s through a door into D Block), simply by walking the length of the gallery, which generally provided an excellent and protected view of all cellhouse activity. Most importantly, the officers a.s.signed to the East and West Galleries each carried a .30-06 Springfield rifle and a semi-automatic Colt .45 handgun. Should any of the unarmed officers walking the cellhouse floor find themselves in a compromising situation, the gallery officer could regain control with this powerful and accurate weaponry. This impression was projected to the inmates on a daily basis, as the heavily armed gallery officers paced the length of the shielded pa.s.sage.
Directly across from the Mess Hall at the opposite end of the cellhouse, and located off the main entrance corridor, was the prison Armory. The Armory was considered the most secure part of the prison, and it was the center of communications as well. Situated across from the control room, it had a secure switchboard, and also contained the prison"s weapons reserves. The Armory could only be unlocked from the inside, and it was considered almost impossible to infiltrate. Encased in steel and bulletproof gla.s.s, the Armory was the operational nucleus of Alcatraz, and the vital hub for island activities and correctional officers" posting status. It housed the prison"s a.r.s.enal, and its control center monitored the movements of anyone leaving or entering the cellblock. The Armory switchboard linked the telephones throughout the entire prison network for internal communications. There was also a special marine radio for prison launch communications, in addition to a short-wave transceiver, standard telephones, and a Teletype machine that could be used to wire messages to the mainland. In the event of a large-scale riot or takeover of the cellhouse, the integrity of the Armory could always be maintained.
An exterior view of the prison Armory as it appeared in 1946.
The Armory served as the weapons a.r.s.enal for the prison, and it was also the stronghold for all of the prison keys, as well as the communications center. The Armory Officer had the ability to lock himself inside the weapons vault, to which there was no possible outside access. The Armory was the impenetrable nerve center of Alcatraz.
The scene was set and the plans were finalized, and all that remained was for the signals to be given. The conspirators believed that they had thought of everything and had prepared for every eventuality but through a sequence of unforeseen circ.u.mstances, their careful plans were destined to go terribly wrong.
The Battle of Alcatraz
The explosive sequence of events that would eventually come to be known as the Battle of Alcatraz began early on the morning of May 2, 1946, and would gradually build in a tragic crescendo over the next two days. During this period, numerous prisoners and guards we be wounded or lose their lives, and the reputation of the island prison would change forever. For the first time, inmates would secure weapons from the prison armory, and turn them against their guards with deadly force. When the smoke had settled and the dust had cleared, a new legend would have arisen from the rocky soil of Alcatraz.
On the morning of May 2, 1946, Marvin Hubbard was tending to his duties in the prison kitchen, which was his official work a.s.signment. Although Arnold Kyle did not play an active role during the escape attempt, it is speculated that he was responsible for involving Hubbard in the plan, as he had been on the same work detail before being rea.s.signed to a paid position in the laundry. At 6:30 a.m. Lieutenant Joe Simpson rang the first bell; waking the prisoners and allowing them time to enjoy a cigarette, make their beds, and prepare for their work a.s.signments. The inmates a.s.signed to the kitchen detail were always released from their cells a few hours earlier to prepare the food carts. At 6:50 a.m., Simpson sounded the second bell and the cell doors racked open with the powerful resonance of heavy steel. The inmates began to line up outside their respective cells, in preparation for their customary count and organized march to the Mess Hall.
At 7:00 a.m., Simpson rang the bell a third time. The inmates from the lower tiers of B and C Blocks then started to march into the Mess Hall, followed in an orderly fashion by the prisoners from the second and third tiers. The steam tables were placed buffet style to accommodate the flow of inmates in two parallel lines. The inmates from C Block would walk in order to the steam tables on the left, and those from B Block would file in on the right. After obtaining their food tray and meal, the prisoners would sit on their respective sides of the Mess Hall, reflecting the cellhouse arrangement. The process was refined for efficiency and allowed for no variances, since the breakfast period would last only twenty minutes.
The steam tables were manned by Hubbard and fellow inmates Floyd Harrell, Lavelle Bush, and Harold Brest. Brest had partic.i.p.ated in a failed escape at Alcatraz in April of 1943, in which his accomplice James Boarman had been killed by a bullet to the head. In May of 1946, Brest had been out of segregation and on work a.s.signment for less than one month and probably had no interest in getting involved in another escape, with the memory of Boarman"s violent death still fresh in his mind.
As the inmates were a.s.sembling for breakfast on the morning of May 2nd, the next shift of correctional officers started to come on duty, relieving those coming off the graveyard shift. Officer Bert Burch made his way up the narrow stairway running up the side of the cellhouse, to begin his shift in the West Gun Gallery.
Cliff Fish was the day watch officer a.s.signed to the Armory in May of 1946. As the officers reported to their a.s.signed locations, they would individually call in to Fish so that he could record the post changes in the official activity register. As part of standard procedure, the officers were required to call in to the armory every thirty minutes to report on their welfare. The status of each inmate was likewise recorded every thirty minutes. As the inmates congregated in the Mess Hall for breakfast, the correctional staff reported and prepared their posts for the transfer of inmates to the work industries.
Armory Officer Clifford Fish Following breakfast the inmates were marched back to their cells, and those with work a.s.signments were allowed time to smoke and get ready for work. After all of the inmates had been locked back in their cells, Joe Simpson sounded the bell signaling inmates to stand in silence at their cell door until the count activities were concluded. Ernest Lageson, who was the officer in charge of the cellhouse, sat at the desk situated just outside of the Mess Hall at the west end of the cellblock. He compiled the numbers from the six officers performing the counts, and phoned the final tallies to Fish in the Armory.
After the counts were complete, the inmates who were a.s.signed to work details usually changed into their work clothing, and ensured that their cells were clean in case of a surprise inspection. Being a.s.signed to a work detail was a great privilege, and inmates rarely disobeyed rules regarding cleanliness and hygiene. After the count bell sounded indicating that no discrepancies had been found, the officers in charge of the industry work details gathered near the recreation yard, preparing to release the inmates from their cells to start work.
Joe Simpson would then give the signal to release those on work details from their cells. The cells were unlocked, just as at meal periods, with all of the cells on each tier racking open to allow the men to step outside of their cells. They would then await the okay signal to march down into the recreation yard and line up for their work a.s.signment. Bert Burch in the West Gun Gallery lowered key #107 to Officer William Miller, who opened the heavy steel access door to the recreation yard and then started signaling the inmates to file down into the line-up. As the convicts pa.s.sed through the cellhouse door, Miller counted each one. The inmates then walked into the yard area, lining up on a painted stripe in accordance with their specific a.s.signment. Once again they would partic.i.p.ate in yet another count, for purposes of identification, and to ensure that they reported to the proper work detail.
Correctional Officer Ernest Lageson.
Officer Al Shield.
Chief Steward Bob Bristow.