ROSS MCNEILL
SEA LOSSES OF ALLIED AIRCRAFT 1939-45

Subject:   Beauforts near Townsville
Date:           Fri, 23 Apr 1999 15:44:33 EDT
From:          RossMcN@aol.com

Hi,

A9-466 forced landed 5/12/45.

A9-283 Ground looped on landing at Ross River 16/8/43.

A9-295 entered twice in your list.

A9-733 ex 367 Crashed in field near Garbutt during test flight 13/11/45.

If you give me some local names to check, or serials, I look up my files on RAAF Beauforts for delivery and fates.

Regards
Ross McNeill.
Worcestershire, UK.

Subject:   Re: Beauforts.
Date:           Sat, 24 Apr 1999 10:55:34 EDT
From:          RossMcN@aol.com

Hi Peter,

I'm a researcher specialising into sea losses of Allied aircraft 1939-45. At the moment I'm concentrating on European Theatre of Operations. The Beaufort data comes from the RAF 800 movement cards held at the RAF Museum, Hendon (I spent a few months transcribing info, two years ago).

The information on RAAF Beauforts is sketchy but I noted it for future reference. Combined with the loss data you can obtain it should complete the picture.

A9-466.
One of a batch of 520 DAP Beaufort VIII delivered between 11/42 and 09/44.

Served with No. 8, No. 6 and No. 7 Squadrons. Forced-landed at Cairns. 5/12/45.

This is a quick scan of the first 48 files for crashes in/off Aus. (forgive my lack of local knowledge).

A9-5, 17/11/42. 5m ENE Bairnsdale.
A9-6, 09/03/43. 8m N of Bairnsdale,
A9-7, 16/09/44. 2m W of Eagle Point, Bairnsdale.
A9-15, 11/03/43. 1m NW of Laverton.
A9-16, 09/03/43. 10m SE of Woodside, Vic.
A9-20, 29/05/43. Jervis Bay, NSW.
A9-26, 22/10/42. 3m SW Magnetic Island. Queens.
A9-27, 14/04/43. Mid air with A9-268 over Jervis Bay, NSW.
A9-28, 12/09/42. FTR Victoria Coast.
A9-30, 27/01/44. Ditched 2m E of Point Perpendicular, NSW.
A9-33, 05/10/43. DBF East Sale.
A9-34, 07/10/42. S of Laverton.
T9592, 05/06/42. Coen, Queens.
A9-41, 09/03/43. Into Lake Victoria.
A9-45, 06/09/43. Ground loop, East Sale.
A9-47, 28/06/44. CTO, East Sale.
A9-48, 25/01/44. Crashed on Landing, Jervis Bay.
A9-49, 03/10/42. FTR Victoria Coast.

Looking at the remainder for reference "Queensland" specifically:

A9-134, 24/01/43. Ditched 20m N of Booby Island, Queensland.
A9-161, 10/12/42. Ditched 15m E of Palm Island, Queensland.
A9-199, 24/02/45. CTO, Bowen, Queensland.
A9-202, 05/04/44. Crash landed 27m W of Texas, Queensland.
A9-229, 10/07/43. Crashed on landing Bohle River, Queensland.
A9-264, 06/07/43. DBF 2m SW of Bohle River, Queensland.
A9-289, 08/10/44. CTO, Rockhampton, Queensland.
A9-295, 14/06/43. Crashed into the sea 20m E of Townsville, Queensland.
A9-383, 16/08/43. Ground loop at Ross River.
A9-452, 21/03/44. 5m N of Fanning, Queensland.
A9-458, 15/01/44. Crashed into sea off Cairns, Queensland.
A9-466, 05/12/45. as above.
A9-492, 05/08/45. CTO 1m NE of Lowood, Queensland.
A9-563, 05/04/45. Forced landed at Lowood, Queensland.
A9-733 ex 367 13/11/45. as previous E-Mail.

I'm sure that there are others, but the loss cards do not give territory or sometimes, more detail.

If you confirm the following order of battle, I'll trawl for losses from specific Beaufort units and date range.

No. 1 Squadron, Kingaroy, From 01/45 to 27/06/45.

No. 6 Squadron, Kingaroy, From 18/10/45 to 03/01/46.

No. 7 Squadron, Ross River, From 11/11/42 to 01/43.
                        Townsville, From 01/43 to 03/44.
                        Higgins Field, From 03/44 to 25/10/44.

No. 8 Squadron, Bohle River, From 09/06/43 to 15/09/43.

No. 15 Squadron    detachment, Amberley, From 10/05/44 to 04/03/45.
                            detachment, Cairns/Townsville, From 15/03/45 to 16/10/45.

No. 21 Squadron, Amberley, From 24/04/46 to 23/08/46.

No. 32 Squadron, detachment, Bundaberg/Amberley/Lowood, from 06/03/43 to 01/07/44.
                                             Bundaberg, From 01/07/44 to 01/10/44.
                                             Lowood, From 01/10/44 to 13/11/45.

No. 92 Squadron, Kingaroy, From 14/07/45 to 24/09/45.

No. 100 Squadron, Cairns, From 11/05/42 to 22/05/42.
                            Mareeba, From 22/05/42 to 28/06/42.

No. 4 CU Archerfield, From 25/01/43 to 08/02/46.

No. 5 CU     Garbutt, From 15/06/44 to 08/05/45.
                  Garbutt, From 15/08/45 to 15/03/46.

No. 10 CU Cairns, From 10/10/44 to 15/12/44.

Chemical Research Unit, Bowen, From 10/44 to 10/45.

Have I missed any units?

On a different note, I would appreciate if you checked my site for errors in the No. 460 Squadron Order of Battle.

Regards Ross

Subject:     Townsville Grammar School Battle
Date:              Sun, 25 Apr 1999 13:06:03 EDT
From:            RossMcN@aol.com

Hi Peter,

Thought that Townsville rang a bell in my mind!

Not a loss due to action, but one you may want to look at:

Fairey Battle K9411
Received 03/12/40.
Delivered to No. 1 AP on 08/12/40.
Transferred to No. 1 BGS on 06/01/41.
Transferred to No. 1 AOS on 13/12/43.
Became Instructional Airframe 12, 08/09/44.
Transferred to Army Salvage Depot, Townsville, for sale by auction on
08/08/46.
Sold to Townsville Grammar School 18/03/47 for £5.

What happened next? 

Regards
Ross

Does anyone know what happened to
the Fairey Battle at Townsville Grammar School?

Subject:   Fairey Battle
Date:           Wed, 28 Apr 1999 04:45:12 EDT
From:          RossMcN@aol.com

Hi Peter,

I've taken a quick look at the restored Battle details and can find no record of any components from the Townsville aircraft being used.

So..

either it was disposed of completely

...or...

the remains are lurking somewhere near Townsville.

Sounds like another nice research project for you.

In the next few weeks I'll look for Beauforts in the date ranges you advised and get back to you.

Regards
Ross

Subject:    Re: More Beaufort Crashes
Date:             Sun, 23 May 1999 08:37:37 EDT
From:           RossMcN@aol.com

Hi Peter,

I can give a bit more info on your Beauforts.

A9-50
T9602. Delivered and SOC before A9 series introduced. 100 Squadron. Crashed 05/06/42.

A9-40
T9592. Delivered and SOC before A9 series introduced. 100 Squadron, Crashed 05/06/42.

A9-56
Y9608 Actually T9608. Delivered and SOC before A9 series introduced. 100 Squadron. FTR from A/S patrol, 12/06/42.

A9-119
7 Squadron. Ditched near Wednesday Island during transit flight, 09/12/42.

A9-452
6 AD. Crash landed 5 miles North of Fanning, 21/03/44.

A9-336
7 Squadron. Struck by A27-85, 01/05/44.

A9-294
7 Squadron. Crashed 10/06/44.

A9-501
1 Squadron. Crashed 18/03/45.

A9-566
15 Squadron. Missing 11/03/45

A9-190
Link incorrect. 5AD. Crashed on landing, 10/10/45.

A9-283
32 Squadron. Crashed 13/05/43.

A9-285
32 Squadron. Crashed 30/05/43.

A9-322
32 Squadron. FTR 24/12/43.

A9-436
32 Squadron. Midair with A9-476 15 miles W of Bundaberg, 21/04/44.

A9-476
32 Squadron. Midair with A9-436 15 miles W of Bundaberg, 21/04/44.

Regards
Ross

Subject:    Re: More Beaufort Crashes
Date:      Mon, 24 May 1999 06:33:47 EDT
From:  RossMcN@aol.com

Hi Peter,

SOC and FTR are abbreviations used in the RAF Movement Cards.

SOC - Struck Off Charge.
This is the date that the airframe was disposed of (scrapped/burnt/buried etc.) or deleted from inventory (usually a month after missing or immediately if loss was seen).

FTR - Failed to return.
First stage in reporting a loss. The aircraft is reported as FTR, crew missing. Then aircraft is SOC after inquiry into loss.

A/S - Anti Submarine
This was the main use that Beauforts were employed on after the lack of squadron trust in 1943.

A large number of aircraft built 1942-43 were lost in unexplained circumstances, mostly at Training Units, but also on operations. Sabotage was suspected, but it was only when a No. 14 Squadron pilot gave a running commentary as his aircraft crashed on 06/01/44 that the real cause was found.

The elevator trim tab cable supports had been fitted with mild steel washers not high tensile steel which caused uncontrollable porpoising and eventually an irrecoverable dive when they failed.

Training Units were affected because of the high airframe hours built up.

Wednesday Island is what's listed on the Movement Card, but looking at the date and unit then Thursday Island sounds a better location. May be a clerical error in the UK. (I think it is near Horn Island - Peter)

Regards
Ross

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 26 April 1999

This page last updated 21 February 2020