Bottoms and his pilot Pritchard succeeded in landing on Greenland's icecap, on November 22, 1942, rescuing the three surviving crew members of an RCAF plane.

[1] Mitchell Zuckoff 2013 account of searches for the missing airmen, Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II, was a bestseller.

[7] At Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, a barracks and bachelor officer's quarters was dedicated as Pritchard-Bottoms hall in 1971.

Bottoms, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross "for heroism and extraordinary achievement in the line of his profession as radioman while participating in aerial flights incident to the rescue of Army fliers, stranded on the Greenland Ice Cap, on November 28 and 29, 1942.

Maintaining excellent contact by radio between his plane and another ship, Bottoms rendered extremely valuable assistance to his pilot on two flights to the Ice Cap.

He gave accurate and pertinent data on operations and conditions prevalent at the scene of rescue, and assisted the pilot in rendering aid to the injured and marooned airmen.

His courage, skill and fearless devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."