Wellfleet Public Library

In 1918, a German U-boat surfaced off Nauset Beach in Orleans and fired on a tugboat and the four barges it was towing. Little more than ten years later, the Germans were back for a second, more benign invasion, when a team of three German glider experts, led by ace pilot Peter Hesselbach, launched historic glider flights from Highland golf links and Corn Hill in Truro. In the aftermath of the flights, a German-American glider school was established high on a South Wellfleet bluff overlooking the Atlantic. The school planned to attract boys who were interested in flying, with motorless flying considered a safe way to learn about operating an airplane. The school closed a year later, a victim of the stock market crash, and its buildings were used for a cottage colony. Join the Wellfleet Historical Society and Museum as they welcome Cape Cod author Paul Kemprecos for a presentation on South Wellfleet's secret aviation history.

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