Can all these people be wrong? Suddenly, I hear a rustle behind me. Unfortunately, the torch I had was a feeble, wind-up model and cast little light. One of the odd things about this crash was that for a lot of people, the inquiry into the accident left more questions rather than answers. The tragedy assumed the proportions of a national disaster in view of the loss of the chief administrators of Australia`s war effort. The weather was sunny and clear, and people had remarked earlier that morning that it was a perfect day for flying. Help using this website - Accessibility statement, Hotel brand's first Australian property restores historic Sydney building, Bangkok hotel chain's stunning French Riviera debut, Like hotel rooms in the sky: Qantas unveils new first-class cabins, Two of the world's most luxurious ships are heading to Australia, 'Overdue': Unhappy Qantas frequent flyers welcome lounge upgrades, Cheap flights as Bonza launches its first major city route, Passenger anger as airlines seat families, couples apart on long-haul flights, Australia's most stylish farm stay is now taking bookings, 78-year-old woman who allegedly bit crew among passengers arrested over holidays, The security issue catching out Australian travellers overseas, New cruise ship aims to raise the bar on at-sea dining, Australia's newest reimagined '80s motel is on the Great Ocean Road. View, Emily Jayne I was about to tag you ! You may even see a kookaburra or two. Theres an anecdote of a fireman kicking what he thought was a burning log out of the way only to discover that it was part of a body. Should new apartment blocks have car spaces for each occupant? Given this, we still must wonder about the ten men killed on the fateful day in August. Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Should new apartment blocks have car spaces for each occupant? He was serving as Army Liaison Officer on the General Staff at the time of his death. But it is. privacy policy. in 1940, Australia still had not committed fully to Canberra as its National Capital. For many years now, the crash site has sparked tales of distressing apparitions. Is it private property or is there some other reason? Like other legends, these tales of strange activity never seem to have any dates or names attached to them. Wikipedia entry, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), National Archives of Australia fact sheet 142, ABC News 75th anniversary of the disaster. The man who was supposed to be flying the plane and the man who was blamed for the crash was Robert E. Hitchcock. Sporting news from the ACT and Capital region. [16][17], More recently the RAAF Historian C. D. Coulthard-Clark, in his book The Third Brother, called into question the flying ability of the pilot-in-command, FLTLT Hitchcock. On leaving I could see and hear kangaroos jumping ahead and behind me. There was also the question of why the plane sat at the runway waiting to take off for an additional 10 minutes after it had been cleared for takeoff. Australian War Memorial Canberrans, however, might not consider the number seven so lucky given their city is home to seven haunted sites. When Menzies attended a memorial gathering at the site on 12 August 1960, 20 years after the crash, he was seen to be still very emotional in recalling the day. Meanwhile Simon Evans of Isabella Plains claims he experienced phantom footsteps while recently being dared to visit the haunted site with a couple of friends. He simply got up and ran out of the plane, on fire, and now a ghost. Mackellar was a general practitioner with limited experience in forensic medicine,[21] and faced difficulties in distinguishing between the victims' bodies which had been burned beyond recognition. I swing around, pine cone at the ready, to see the back end of a sick-looking fox as it scurries under the wreck of an abandoned car. It goes like this: A young girl was found beneath a cattle guard near the memorial. Courtesy National Archives of Australia As we commemorate Armistice Day we remember the WWII service and sacrifice of Strathfield Pilot Officer Richard Frederick Wiesener who died in 1940, aged 29. There are also tales of people claiming they hear the noise of a phantom plane crashing. It has always been suspected that he may have persuaded the RAAF crew to allow him to fly the plane into Canberra. When the fanatical Christians are up there its spooky. [23] The four military passengers were identified with the assistance of Group Captain Douglas Wilson, who did not know them personally. [31], The conclusion of the Murphy and Lachal reports was immediately disputed by the RAAF's Director of Training George Jones, who stated "I cannot believe that a pilot of Hitchcock's experience would stall the aircraft under the circumstances which apparently existed". Canberras annual Craft Beer & Cider Festival keeps coming back bigger and better, with 2023 being no exception. "Yesterdays" columnist NICHOLE OVERALL looks at the mystery surrounding the crash. Who she is, or was no-one seems to know although she is in no way attached to disaster of the crashed Hudson bomber. Now known as the Canberra Air Disaster, the location of the crash is marked by a memorial. Here is his chilling account. A March 01, 2023 | Country Getaways, Food & Drink, Dining, Travel, Entertainment, Music. Thick cloud cover blocks out any light provided by the near new moon. Blundells Cottage View, Mookie Moo we will have flying trains by then View, Lets hope for a progressive Gov in NSW in March that would see the political angle removed with View, Justin Watson yes perhaps. However, Andrew Tink, author of Air Disaster Canberra: the plane crash that destroyed a government (2013),[2] was reported in 2018 as doubting whether Hitchcock had been at the controls at the time of the crash.[18]. After impact, both planes began to fall toward earth. Funeral and memorial services 1940-41 A461, 700/1/392 War Cabinet Secretariat Title or description of record Date range Series . 1940 A461, 700/1/391 Air accident involving deaths of Commonwealth Ministers and others. Horror plane crash that destroyed a government The accident site of the crash. "This was a dreadful calamity," he told the House of Representatives the next day. The wreckage was first spotted many hours later by Henry and Palen Hudgin, brothers who flew short taxi flights for Grand Canyon Airlines. James Fairbairn had served in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and still enjoyed flying. It was the first Hudson in the RAAF to be fitted out with passenger seating, to be reserved for transporting "essential maintenance stores and personnel to advanced operational bases", as well as ministerial traffic when required. Another oddity about the inquest is the causes of death. A granite monolith marks the site of the crash. On the approach to the RAAF airbase at Fairbairn, it lost altitude and crashed through the eucalypt trees into the top of the hill. View, Mookie Moo we will have flying trains by then View, Lets hope for a progressive Gov in NSW in March that would see the political angle removed with View, Justin Watson yes perhaps. The cause of the crash has always been a mystery, although there has never been any suggestion of enemy action or sabotage. Theres the teenager who left the surrounding forest screaming that she was being followed by an airman on fire and many folk have heard dull explosions and the noise of a crashing plane. The site itself is not particularly impressive unless you stop to contemplate the magnitude of what happened here 77 years ago and its effect on our nation in a time of war. There has been ongoing debate over the years as to the cause of the crash and even some conjecture as to who was flying at the time it crashed. Considering my car is an auto as well. "Anthonie Tonnon Unveils Single 'Lockheed Bomber', National Archives of Australia Fact Sheet 142, National Archive of Australia search for Fairbairn Memorial, National Museum of Australia propeller blade exhibit, Transcript of interview on ABC Stateline Canberra, 22 June 2007, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1940_Canberra_air_disaster&oldid=1124291869, Flight Lieutenant Robert Edward Hitchcock, This page was last edited on 28 November 2022, at 06:06. [22] The six civilian passengers were identified with the assistance of Street's private secretary Percy Hayter. According to Tinny from Destiny Tours her ghost has been seen standing on the edge of a clearing, a brown sepia image that people have described accurately as her, even down to such details as having her hair pulled back, something she rarely did, but had done so on the day of her death. Every direction appears devoid of life, just tall darkened tree trunks lined up like thousands of giant tombstones. Extract taken from A Case for Ghosts by JG Montgomery (Ginninderra Press 2012). The splat of the paintball guns and the hollers of the revellers seem distinctly out-of-place. Wilson used a process of elimination based on the victims' uniforms and positions within the plane. A. F. Pilot Officer Richard Frederick Wiesener, R. A. Music, festivals, charity events - everything thats happening in the Canberra region. It would have been very easy to solve the mystery of whether or not Minister Fairbairn had been flying. With nothing more to gain, I jog back to Fairbairn Avenue, careful to dodge every pine cone along the way. ABC News 75th anniversary of the disaster Do the spirits of these men haunt the pine forests and lonely dirt roads that lead to the memorial itself? Did one of the bodies found in the cockpit have a disfigured right arm? At the far end a grey metal plaque has been erected on an aerodynamic lectern, its surface weathered by hard Canberra winters. Isnt the Air Disaster Memorial inaccessible at the moment because you have to go through the paintball field to get to it? On the 13th August 1940, a Lockheed Hudson II Bomber crashed at Mount Ainslie in the Australian Capital Territory just outside of Queanbeyan in New South Wal. If you are not familiar with the area, call Canberra Connect for directions or more information on the walk: 13 22 81. I soon reach another locked gate. Now surrounded by the Fairbairn Pine Plantation, the area has become known for The Burning Airman urban legend. While preparing to land from what had been a normal flight, the plane suddenly nosedived into a field just a mile and a half from the Canberra Aerodrome. Ohh and is this near the paintball field? As if the strange lights werent creepy enough, there are reports of a ghostly figure dashing across the road, sometimes shrouded in flames. Blundell's Cottage is among the sites shrouded in mystery. The Canberra Air Disaster, 1940 The wreckage of the Lockheed Hudson air crash, Canberra, 13 August 1940. Still needing photos of the memorial for my story, I return the next day in daylight. The 1940 Canberra air disaster was an aircraft crash that occurred near Canberra, the capital of Australia, on 13 August 1940, during World War II.
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