Ditching of a B-25 Mitchell in the Glenelg River, north of Broome, Western Australia, on 28 October 1945

DITCHING OF A B-25 MITCHELL
GLENELG RIVER, NORTH OF BROOME, WA
ON 28 OCTOBER 1945

On 28 October 1945, NEI-AF B-25 Mitchell N5-254, #44-30900, a disarmed operational trainer with the NEI Personnel and Equipment Pool, was forced to ditch in the Glenelg River (another source suggested the Prince Regent River which is nearby), north of Broome. The crew of five survived with some bruises and slight injuries only.

The B-25 left Cloncurry in Queensland on 28 October 1945 with a crew of five, headed for Broome, via Truscott Airfield. It failed to arrive at its destination. The aircraft was located three days later by an R.A.A.F. flying boat about 40 kilometres south of the Kunmunya Mission. Four days later the crew was rescued by the Kunmunya Mission lugger "Watt Leggatt" and taken to Derby.

The B-25 was piloted by 1st Lieutenant Bruce J. van Kregten. Other crew members were 2nd pilot Ensign C. von Bornemann, radio operator SM Megens and Flight Engineer Sgt. Major R.B. Baert. The B-25 was written off on 22 February 1946.

The following newspaper articles refer to the Aircraft as an RAAF aircraft, however it is actually an NEI-AF aircraft.

The West Australian, Wednesday 31 October 1945

STRANDED PLANE

Mission Lugger to Rescue Crew.

DERBY, Oct 30. - The occupants of the R.A.A.F. Mitchell aircraft which was located yesterday forced down near Mt. Grey (in the River Glenelg area), about 25 miles from the Kunmunya Mission, are presumed to be safe. The mission lugger Watt Laggatt has been dispatched to their rescue.

Unless the lugger can navigate tidal inlets and waterways, the personnel of the plane may have a considerable trek to the nearest point of the coast, 15 or 20 miles away over swampy and broken country.

A flying boat has dropped supplies to the stranded party.

The West Australian, Saturday 3 November 1945

STRANDED PLANE

R.A.A.F. Crew Rescued

DERBY, Nov 2. - The crew of the R.A.A.F. plane which was forced to land at Mt. Grey, 25 miles north of Kunmunya Mission, last Sunday, while flying from Cloncurry to Broome, has been picked up on the coast by the mission lugger, Watt Leggatt. They will be evacuated from Kunmunya by R.A.A.F. aircraft operating from Truscott airstrip, near the Drysdale River Mission.

The aircraft was carrying newly printed money for the NEI. In December 1945, Robert Maxted discovered the wreckage of a Dutch B-25 Mitchell near the mouth of the Glenelg River in the Kimberley. He effectively carried out a salvage operation and retrieved the money for the Netherlands government, based at Camp Columbia at Wacol in Brisbane at the time. This was one of three aircraft, laden with Dutch currency, that took off for the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) with currency for Bank use after the war.

The West Australian, Friday 14 December 1945

WEALTH SALVAGED

Wrecked Dutch Plane

DERBY, Dec 13. The lugger Medlar recently acquired from the RAAF by Mr. R.S. Maxted, of Derby, has returned from a pearling and dry0shelling expedition among the islands and reefs of the northern coastline, bringing with it a rare collection of salvage from the Royal Netherlands Air Force Mitchell plane which alighted and sank near the mouth of the Glenelg River about six weeks ago. The crew of the plane narrowly escaped, and were subsequently rescued by the Kunmunya mission lugger Watt Leggatt.

The principal items of salvage were five small sealed cases believed to contain currency and to be the property of the Netherlands Government. One case, which had been opened contained 20,000 Netherlands banknotes, and it is thought that the remaining four contained the equivalent in probably much higher denominations.

Smaller cases that were smashed by the impact must have contained coinage, judging by the quantity of small coins littered throughout the wreck and found in every crevice. Coins weighing 13½ lb were gathered and included in the salvage, together with clothing and other odds and ends.

The possibility of salvage was investigated by the Dutch authorities, but apparently abandoned.

When fishing in the area recently, Mr. Maxted came upon the protruding wheels of the overturned plane a decided to investigate at low tide. The examination revealed the five cases intact, but the force of the impact, which had torn away the bomb doors and part of the lower fuselage, had smashed and distributed other small boxes and equipment throughout the wreck.

The plane was resting precariously on the shelving mud bank of the tidal river and it was decided that any salvage attempt would need to be carried out before floodwaters reached the area and dislodged the wreck into the deep channel. Salvaging operations were tedious and restricted to short periods at certain low tides and were abandoned during one week.

When it was discovered that cases contained such quantities of currency no time was lost in conveying the treasure to Derby, where it was handed to the authorities.

Crashes In River
With £250,000 Cargo

A bomber believed to have been carrying Dutch currency worth £A250,000 to the Netherlands East Indies Government in Java crashed into the sea near Derby last October. Silver guilders worth £10,000 are still missing, although some of the coins are said to have been circulating in the North-West of this State and in the Eastern States. … Inquiries are still being made into the question of disposal of the guilder notes recovered and into the source of the guilder coins believed to be circulating.

Rumour and a follow-up police investigation gave the Dutch authorities reason (and excuse) to delay resolution until February 1947.

In September 2005, I was contacted by Todd Sinclair from Darwin. During a bushwalk in the Batchelor airfield area some time before September 2005, Todd found a pocket watch made by the E. Ingraham Company of Conneticut, USA simply laying in the dirt in bushland near the WWII Batchelor airfield. Although the watch had sustained some obvious deterioration from around sixty years of exposure to the elements as well as from almost yearly grass fires that burn through that area, it was in relatively decent condition.

Faintly engraved on the rear plate of the watch was a name and what appeared to be a number. At the time Todd Sinclair was trying to find it's original owner or the family of that person. He wanted to try to reunite the watch with them. Todd told me that the number engraved on the watch was clearly 263A, the name (although fainter) appeared to be L (or C) Borneman.

The original etching has been retraced in Photoshop as best as possible
to display the name and other numbers on the back of the watch.

I told Todd that the watch may have belonged to Vaandrig C. Borneman from the 18th Squadron NEIAF. On 12 September 2005, Todd told me that through assistance from the Royal Netherlands Air Force Historical Branch, he had ascertained that Borneman was at that time possibly living at an address in France.

I'd like to thank Todd Sinclair, Dr. David Hough, Coert Munk and Bas Kreuger for their assistance with this web page.

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