15 May 1943 - Crash of a B-25 Mitchell at Amberley, Queensland

CRASH OF A B-25 MITCHELL
AT AMBERLEY, QLD
ON 15 MAY 1943

bestyet2.jpg (38451 bytes)

"Warpath Across the Pacific"
by Lawrence Hickey.

B-25-D-5 Mitchell bomber, # 41-30032, known as "BEST YET", of the 498th Squadron of the 345th Bomb Group, was written off in an accident when the wheels were retracted during take-off before the aircraft had left the ground at Amberley Field in southern Queensland. The Mitchell bomber was being piloted by Melvin Leroy Best. One crewman was badly injured.

bestyet1.jpg (44717 bytes)

Subject:     Melvin Leroy Best
Date:              Fri, 12 Jan 2001 08:05:29 -0600
From:            "Carol Hillman BRIDGES" <carol.hillman@gcisd.net>
To:                 Peter Dunn
CC:                gladysbest@aol.com, judyzurlis@home.com

Imagine my surprise and delight to find the account of my father's mishap of May 15, 1943. Daddy is turning 80 on 10 February 2001 and I was searching for a picture of a B-25 to use on the invitation when I stumbled across your information. We have surprised him with this information. Thank you for helping to make his birthday celebration even better!

Carol