22 OCTOBER 1942
CRASH OF A BEAUFORT BOMBER,
COCKLE BAY, MAGNETIC ISLAND

visits since 24 December 2006

Bristol Beaufort

An R.A.A.F. Beaufort bomber, A9-26 clipped the mast of the wreck of the ship "City of Adelaide" in Cockle Bay, Magnetic Island during training at 1130hrs E.A.S.T. on 22 October 1942.  The Beaufort crashed into the sea about 3 miles south west of Picnic Bay (19° 12' S; 146° 48') killing all on board.  The following three man crew were buried at the Townsville War Cemetery:-

Flying Officer G.D.R. Avery - Pilot
Flying Officer D.C. Bell
Flying Officer L.J. Schwartz

"PICTORIAL HISTORY OF MAGNETIC ISLAND, NORTH QUEENSLAND"
By Arch and Lorraine Fraley

Page 139
In 1943 Steve Coleman was in Sydney doing an engineering course, when he met a man named Avery who was also doing the same course.  When Mr. Avery found out that Steve came from Magnetic Island, he asked him if he knew of the aircraft that had hit the mast of the "City of Adelaide" in Cockle Bay during bombing practice.   "Yes" Steve said, "at that time she still had the lower steel masts standing erect, and apparently one of the RAAF aircraft hit, crippling the mast and then went into the water or the hill, killing the pilot" Mr. Avery then told Steve that it was his brother who was killed.

Charlie Olsen, who grew up in Cockle Bay, has this to say of his memories of the tragic incident.  "I was there a couple of days after it crashed, and those Beauforts were made of wood, a lot of wood, and all along the high tide mark were these little pieces of wood.  It had splintered up to nothing. I was amazed, there were no big pieces, all these little bits."

"The masts were hollow steel, and when it hit, the plane must have gone down into the ground, I think. Dad got quite a bit of the ammunition and a little piece of the armour proof steel, and a lot of the little aluminium screws and things like that which were part of the fuselage. The RAAF took away anything that was good. There used to be part of a motor sitting out there in the mangroves, not a big part, but we used to be able to see it."

Steve Melvin recovered a seat from the ill-fated plane from the sea, which seems to establish the fact that it went down into the sea, and not the hills.

NOTE:  Arch Fraley was a photographer with the 5th Air Force during World War 2.

In Memory of

GEORGE DOUGLAS RUTHERFORD AVERY

Flying Officer
404083
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on
Thursday, 22nd October 1942. Age 24

Son of Charles Nicholas Canning Avery and Mary Elizabeth Avery;
husband of Kathleen Hewetson Avery, of Warwick. B.A. (Queensland).

TOWNSVILLE WAR CEMETERY, Queensland, Australia
Grave Reference/Panel Number:  A.C.1.

In Memory of

DOUGLAS CRAWFORD BELL

Flying Officer
404031
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on
Thursday, 22nd October 1942. Age 34

Son of William and Minnie Morton Bell; husband of Vera Myrtle Bell, of Manly

TOWNSVILLE WAR CEMETERY, Queensland, Australia
Grave Reference/Panel Number:  A.C.2.

In Memory of

 LESLIE JOSEPH SCHWARTZ

Flying Officer
405455
Royal Australian Air Force
who died on 22 October 1942. Age 33

Son of John Frederick and Louise Marie Adelgarde Schwartz; husband of Vinnie Schwartz, of Cunnamulla.

TOWNSVILLE WAR CEMETERY, Queensland, Australia
Grave Reference/Panel Number:  A.C.3.

SOURCE:-   Aircraft Crash Sites - Australia

Crash:         No. 101

Position:     19.12S - 146.48E

Department of Aviation Chart No:       3219

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Kaye Matheson for her assistance with this web page.

REFERENCE BOOK

"Diary of WWII - North Queensland"
Complied by Peter Nielsen

"Aircraft and Markings of the RAAF 1939 - 1945"
By Geoffrey Pentland

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

Heaps of WW2 books available at Amazon.com

"Australia @ War"

This page first produced 14 June 1998

This page last updated 24 December 2006