HUDSON BOMBER CRASHED
IN A MANGROVE SWAMP
NEAR PADDY'S LANDING
AT ADELAIDE RIVER, NT
ON 3 APRIL 1944

On 3 April 1944, Mark III Hudson A16-203 (FH180) of 2 Squadron RAAF, piloted by Mr. Brockhurst, went missing on a flight between Hughes airfield and Millingimbi. It was later found in 1946 in a mangrove swamp called Paddy's Landing at Adelaide River in the Northern Territory.

A16-203 was delivered to the RAAF in April 1942. It was Written Off the books in April 1944.

On 28 September 1946 an RAAF party returned with the remains of the crew of Hudson A16-203 KO-D, the wreckage of which had been found near the mouth of the Adelaide River by a crocodile shooter. Missing for 2½ years, the five airmen were buried at the Adelaide River War Cemetery on 8 October 1946. Dispatched at 0352 hrs on 3 April 1944 to provide air cover for a convoy in the Arafura Sea, the aircraft failed to make the dawn rendezvous and a three day search found nothing. The Hudson crew, skippered by P/O. Colin Brockhurst, were members of No.2 Squadron based at Hughes. (NAA Files A9186 Item 208 page 173 and A9345 Control 225 pages 54 & 56).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank Phil Herdman of the Arnhem Land Historical Society for details on the above incident. I'd also like to thank Michael Flanagan for his assistance with this web page.

REFERENCE BOOK

"The Anson, Hudson & Sunderland in Australian Service"
by Stewart Wilson

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 25 December 1999

This page last updated 02 February 2020