ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 300321
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| Date: | Wednesday 21 January 1942 |
| Time: | 12:00 |
| Type: | de Havilland DH-84A Dragon |
| Owner/operator: | Mandated Airlines Ltd |
| Registration: | VH-USA |
| MSN: | 6074 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Other fatalities: | 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Salamaua Airfield, Salamaua, Morobe -
 Papua New Guinea
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Cargo |
| Departure airport: | Salamaua Airfield, Salamaua, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea |
| Wau, Papua New Guinea |
c/no 6074 (Gipsy Major #5543/5544): Registered as VT-AFF 14.4.34 to J Roy, Dacca, India; not delivered and registration cancelled 5.34. To W.R. Carpenter & Co Ltd, Australia with C of A 4315 issued 29.5.34. Re-registered VH-USA [C of R 481/C of A 439] 27.7.34 to W.R. Carpenter & Co Ltd, Salamaua. New Guinea; named "Grace"; delivered 3.8.34. Registration cancelled 26.7.35 as registration lapsed. Registration restored 28.8.36 to same owner. Re-registered 6.10.36 to Mandated Airlines Ltd, Salamaua (on formation 30.9.36 from merger of Carpenter & Pacific Aerial Transport)
On 21.1.42, Destroyed by Enemy Action at Salamaua, New Guinea. Kevin Parer was killed at 12 noon by Japanese fighter strafing attack which also destroyed Mandated Airlines Dragon VH-USA. Pilot William Ernest Clarke, pilot of Mandated Airlines' Dragon VH-USA also destroyed at Salamaua that day, later wrote that he and Kevin Parer were both getting ready to take off for Wau at noon. Parer was in his cockpit but having trouble getting an engine started and called Clarke over to help swing the propeller: "I had just got hold of the propeller when Japanese fighters roared in about 50 feet overhead. A burst of machine gun fire from another sprayed around us. I dropped under the shelter of the engine. I got up and saw Kevin get out of his seat and dash to the back of the cabin where he was hit and fell. The Japs were still coming. I covered Kevin with a blanket and made for a shelter. When the Japs were clear I ran out to the plane, which was now on fire. I tried to get Kevin out but I couldn't manage it. The Japs saw me and back and let me have it. A couple of bullets ripped across my legs above the knees but they were nothing - only shallow flesh wounds. But for Kevin's engine not starting, we would both have been shot down in the air."
William Ernest Clarke also received severe burns to his hands from his attempt to drag Kevin Parer from his burning Dragon. William Ernest Clarke was awarded the George Medal for his valour and bravery. Natives evacuated him to Kokoda and then flown to hospital in Australia.
On 21.1.42 (same day) DCA inspector V.W. Burgess sent a cable to DCA Head Office from Salamaua, listing civil aircraft damaged by a Japanese air raid on Salamaua aerodrome that day. His assessment of Dragons was:
VH-USA repairable
VH-UVB destroyed
VH-AEA destroyed
On 20.2.42, DH.84 Dragon VH-USA was Struck-off Register as "destroyed". However, as quoted in Director of Civil Aviation file: Civil Register ledger gives Struck-off date as 11.3.42.
Sources:
1. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH84.pdf
2. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p060.html
3. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh84-pt1/dh84-dragon-pt1.htm
4. https://www.martinwilkinson.co.uk/v_dragon.htm
5. https://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austu/VH-USA.html
6. https://www.orpheusweb.co.uk/vicsmith/Accidents/Jan42.html
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamaua
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Oct-2022 15:08 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 26-Jun-2023 02:57 | Ron Averes | Updated |
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