ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 300157
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| Date: | Wednesday 25 March 1942 |
| Time: | 17:00 |
| Type: | De Havilland DH.94 Moth Minor |
| Owner/operator: | 24 Sqn RAAF |
| Registration: | A21-27 |
| MSN: | 94092 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Tabletop Station, Herveys Range, QLD -
 Australia
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | RAAF Townsville, Queensland (TSV/YBTL) |
mid-1939: Construction commenced by De Havilland Aircraft Co Ltd at Hatfield, England. No British registration allocated. Uncompleted airframe at Hatfield when DH.94 production line shut down in 10.39. Sold to De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, Sydney. Shipped to Australia for completion
2.1940: Assembled at Mascot to RAAF order for 41 Moth Minors
3.1940: Test flown at De Havillands at Mascot, Sydney, NSW
28.3.40: Taken on RAAF charge as A21-27. Received at 2 Aircraft Depot, RAAF Richmond ex-De Havillands, Mascot, Sydney
11.7.40: Issued to No.24 Squadron, RAAF Amberley, Queensland ex-2 Aircraft Depot. (24 Squadron moved to RAAF Townsville, Queensland in 10.40). Moth Minors A21-27 and A21-28 were the second and third aircraft to land at RAAF Amberley, which was still not completed at this date.
25.3.42: RAAF DH-94 Moth Minor possibly A21-27, ex 24 Squadron RAAF, on loan to the USAAF, crashed near Townsville in north Queensland in the afternoon of 25 March 1942. The book "Red Dust Rising: The Story of Ray Fryer of Urapunga" by Ray Fryer and Marion Houldsworth, states on page 22 that Norma Fryer found a crashed aircraft on Tabletop Station at Herveys Range during WWII. It describes two American airmen practising dog-fighting over the range and one of them diving too low and his wing clipping the top of a tree and crashing. The other aircraft circled over Tabletop Homestead and dropped a long streamer and it had written on it "Airplane - crashed approximately one mile east of homestead. If the pilot is still living can you please wave. If he is dead please walk away from the site of the crash."
Norma and her father rode out in different directions. Norma spotted the fire from the crash and called out to her father. The pilot, called Meadows, had somehow managed to drag himself clear of the wreckage before it caught fire but was badly injured. He had a broken pelvis, a broken arm and a broken leg. Norma and her father waved to the other aircraft to indicate that the pilot was still alive. Norma stayed with the pilot while her father went back to the homestead to get water and some blankets. His injuries were so bad they were unable to move him.
The military authorities did not arrive at the site until about midnight. They tied him in a stretcher to the back of a weapons carrier. Norma kept in touch with the pilot for some time after the crash.
The diary of 1st Lieutenant Donald P. Hall, Commanding Officer of the 89th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group dated 25 March 1942 confirms the details:-
"Diary of 1st Lt. Donald P. Hall - 25 March 1942 - Townsville
We have been maintaining the B-17s still night & day. The Aussies gave us 2 Moth Minors to fly around the drome. I had made one trip in it to Charters Towers to visit our group who were over there. Lieutenants Meadows and James S Graves were flying the Moth and at 5 pm. Lt Graves calls me & says that Meadows had cracked up near by. He was flying low and had hit a tree. We take off in an O-47 and look at the burning crack up. It’s on a high plateau but no sign of life. "Doc" Beavers had already left in an ambulance.
Meadows reported OK but brought to Hospital in Townsville with broken leg. Had picked him up near the crash at 2 AM. It’ll be a long time before he’ll fly again."
Major Donald P. Hall later became Commanding Officer of the 3rd Bomb Group. 2nd Lt. James S. Graves was a member of the 13th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group. 1st Lt. Alonzo J. Beavers, Jr. was the flight surgeon of the 89th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group.
26.5.42: Attached Unserviceable at Station HQ, RAAF Townsville, Queensland
10.8.42: Issued to No.12 Recovery & Salvage Unit, Townsville ex Station HQ, RAAF Townsville, Queensland
13.8.42: RAAF file memo: "A21-27 is currently with 12 R&SU, Townsville, Queensland, condition unknown".
28.9.42: Received No.3 Aircraft Depot, Amberley ex-12 R&SU Townsville
2.11.42: Awaiting conversion to components
12.11.42:Approval for Conversion to Components. Struck off charge and scrapped
Sources:
1. "Red Dust Rising: The Story of Ray Fryer of Urapunga" by Ray Fryer and Marion Houldsworth
2. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH94.pdf
3. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p940.html
4. https://www.goodall.com.au/australian-aviation/dh94/dh94mothminor.htm
5. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a21.htm
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hervey_Range,_Queensland
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Oct-2022 21:15 | Dr. John Smith | Added |
| 24-Oct-2022 18:03 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Location, Operator] |
| 28-May-2023 04:05 | Ron Averes | Updated [[Operator, Location, Operator]] |
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