24. The Earhart was seen alive in the Solomon Islands in 1942 myth
During the Solomon Islands campaign in World War II, several wounded Americans reported they were treated by a nurse who closely resembled Amelia Earhart. Some stated directly that while on Tulagi the only woman on the island working as a nurse was the lost aviatrix. The stories were repeated by veterans returning to the United States and Pearl Harbor. Wartime censorship kept the stories from the press during the war, though they later appeared in war stories from veterans of the Guadalcanal and Solomon Islands campaigns. Researchers tied the stories to Earhart’s previous service as a nurse during the First World War in Toronto. The myth arose that Earhart was alive in 1942, working as a nurse in the South Pacific.
The woman many erroneously assumed Earhart was Merle Farland, a Methodist missionary from New Zealand. She remained behind when civilians were withdrawn from the Solomon Islands in 1942, providing assistance to coast watchers. She was withdrawn to the American seaplane base near Tulagi in December 1942, arriving in a US Navy PBY. There she assisted in treating the wounded and performed other duties to assist the authorities. She also worked at different times on Vella LaVella and Guadalcanal. During her time in the Solomon Islands rumors of her being Earhart were repeated among the troops. They continued to spread after the war. Farland died in May 1988; the myth that she was Earhart hasn’t died yet.
