Australian WW2 Plane crash database

Site Issues 2006 Archive Room
#1

this is interesting can you tell me where did you found this source?[/quote]

Try this for full article, its not that mysterious after all.

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,17643172%5E3102,00.html[/quote]

Hope you don’t mind Firefly but I thought I would continue discussion on this topic which started in the “Hitler’s Third Reich in the News” in its own thread.

the crashed aircraft certainly sounds interesting but I doubt it as mysterious or unique as the article suggests.

for those interested a very useful database can be found at the following website http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozcrashes.htm

by clicking on any of the regions such as “New South Wales” it will bring up a table of all known wartime aircraft crashes or mishaps in that region. I found it particulary interesting to note how many Japanese aircraft were shot down over Australian soil.

the website claims to have details on a total of 1, 866 plane wrecks in total, its amazing to see how many crashes occured during the war. I first became interested in the site when researching aircraft crashes here in New Zealand. I visited one rather remote wreck of a Hudson Bomber on a windswept hill at the top of the South Island. Amazing to see the complete wing and tail section still with original paint and british emblem/flight identification number after 60 years of being under the elements! It flew into the side of a fog covered cliff killing all onboard after returning from a recconaisance patrol over the Tasman Sea less than a week after Pearl Harbour in 1941. Most likely looking for Japanese submarines or/and German Raiders.

#2

So corporal the wreck you visited, uh has anyone else seen the wreck? cause im just curious. 8)

#3

the Hudson I saw was found by the Airforce about a week or two after the crash in 1941 and the bodies recovered

today a few people who know its whereabouts make the trip but due to being so remote it takes a bit of effort to drive there and then walk to the site. I’ve never seen anything about the wreck published in any form so I dont think it is too well known.

I found out about the site when researching the local squadron which was based in my hometown for a couple of years during the war. I talked with a veteran of the squadron who related to me many stories including the 3 major crashes which occured. One of which was on the airfield and cleaned up, another in the harbour which is well known because the local papers write articles every time some fisherman dredges a peice of the wreckage up and the third wreck he told me about is the one I visited.

I dont have any photographs to post but as I was a budding young film student at the time I made a short dramatised documentary on the subject and filmed the site. I will see if I can get a still frame of the wreckage from the film to post.

basically one entire wing is completely intact, most of the tail section is also completely intact but seperated. The cockpit and a substantial part of the body has since been 95% buried by a small landslide. Apparently one engine was removed by the Air Force by helicopter in the 1980s and the local farmer reckons the other one bounced off the top of the ridge to the next valley which is overgrown by thick flax. Noone has seen that engine for decades. To complete the picture there is wreckage scattered over the entire hillside, a tail flap there, the rubbery remains of a tyre there etc etc

#4

Did you go inside the plane?