CRASH OF A FAIREY BATTLE
AT GARBUTT AIRFIELD, TOWNSVILLE, QLD
IN ABOUT MAY 1942

In about May 1942 a Fairey Battle was doing aerobatics over Garbutt airfield in Townsville. Jim McEwan of the 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron was watching and noticed that some white smoke had started to trail from the aircraft's engine. The pilot dead sticked it, but fell short of the airfield by about 100 feet and hit a ditch that wiped out his undercarriage. The pilot was not injured.

Jim McEwan had the flu at the time and despite it being a lovely warm day in Townsville he was all rugged up as can be seen in the above photograph.

REFERENCE BOOKS

"The Eight Ballers: Eyes of the Fifth Air Force
The 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in World War II"
By John Stanaway & Bob Rocker
https://www.schifferbooks.com

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Jim McEwan for his assistance with this page.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 11 June 2001

This page last updated 05 March 2020