On receiving word of the catastrophe, a relief party, headed by Bauer, left Germany and, by flying most of the way, reached the Base Camp only twelve days after leaving Munich, In expressing his gratitude to the Royal Air Force and other Britons for their assistance in facilitating this rapid journey, Herr Bauer, among other things, mentions ihe cordiality that exists between English and German mountaineers and lays stress on the help and hospitality he has received from the people of England and the British Empire.
Having reached the mountain, the search party set out to recover the bodies of the victims. They were successful in locating first the porters, who, in keeping with their religion, were not disturbed but were left to rest where they had met their fate. Later, five of the Germans were found. They seemed to have died in their sleep for, neither by their expressions nor by their hands, did they betray other than the utmost peace. Much of interest was contained in their diaries and, in that of Hans Hartmann, a world of pathos. He had, in spite of adverse circumstances, been going well all day—his last—and soliloquizing says:
Z.I wondered at all this and was confident and grateful. T think, moreover, that I smiled all day to myself—Well, it was cl} because of my son's birthday!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.