30 May 1944 - Crash of an Avro Anson in Bass Strait 18 miles off Lakes Entrance

CRASH OF AN AVRO ANSON
IN BASS STRAIT
18 MILES OFF LAKES ENTRANCE
ON 30 MAY 1944

Avro Anson, #W 1580, piloted by F/Sgt. R. Stinton, took off from Bairnsdale at 12.45pm on Tuesday 30 May 1944. The full crew were as follows:-

It was a bitterly cold day with a 30 knot wind. They were on a "radius of action" training exercise commencing from Lakes Entrance on the Victorian coast. After about 20 minutes, the pilot reported engine problems due to a burst oil pipeline. They were 40 miles off the coast when the pilot headed back towards the mainland.

The wireless operator advised the base that they had problems and were returning to the coast. Not long later the engine seized. At that time they were at 1,500 feet and should have been able to return to base on the other engine. However the pilot advised that he was losing revs in the remaining engine and he was losing height as a result of the reduction in engine power.

Gowing and Woodward started jettisoning equipment at the rear of the aircraft but they continued to lose height. The wireless operator was then asked to issue an S.O.S. Unfortunately, he did not send this signal.

As it was getting obvious that they would not reach the shore, the pilot turned the aircraft into the wind, and ditched the aircraft. The waves were large (around 30 feet) and the Anson hit one wave at about 40 knots and bounced into another wave near its crest.

The heavy seas made it difficult to exit the aircraft into their rubber dinghy. The wireless operator advised that he was unable to issue the S.O.S. before they ditched as he did not have time to cipher the message. He was only a fresh recruit out of the W.A.G. school.

Gowing and Woodward were on the wing controlling the dinghy by a rope tied around a stay wire while they clung desperately to the wing strut. As the aircraft appeared to be floating quite satisfactorily they decided to stay on the wing rather than enter the dinghy.

Woodward, with the pilot's assistance, recovered the aircraft's clock. It later took pride of place on the wall of his study at home. The salt water had its revenge as it never worked correctly after this accident.

Their base had determined that they must be in trouble and the standby aircraft, piloted by Jake Bond, was dispatched to search for them. Bond found them almost immediately. They had been in the water for one and a half hours by that time. As they were sighted by the search aircraft, they had to evacuate the Anson in a hurry as it was showing signs of an imminent departure to the depths of the ocean.

Jake Bond advised base of their location and before long another aircraft was circling their location. Eventually there were four Ansons circling overhead.

As the day went on those in the dinghy started to feel the cold. Woodward was lucky enough to be wearing long sleeve woollen singlet, long john woollen underpants, and woollen socks, under his long RAAF trousers and shirt plus a summer flying suit and fleecy wool lined flying boots. The others cut up a parachute and used the pieces of the chute to help keep themselves warm.

By 4.30 pm the circling aircraft lost visual contact with the dinghy in the gloomy conditions. They were continually bailing water out of the dinghy which had been blown in as sea spray in the blustery conditions.

At about 8.00pm they heard the engine of a distant boat. They started to yell but this was not no avail. Twenty minutes later the boat was within 100 yards of their dinghy. The engine stopped and they all gave a load shout towards the boat. Unfortunately they had used all of their flares earlier to continue to alert the overhead aircraft of their position.

Just after 9.00pm the boat was within 20 yards of their dinghy, but still their shouting could not be heard. Fortunately a crew member on the boat shone a torch in their direction and spotted them. After over 8 hours at the mercy of the elements they were finally safe on board a fishing launch called the "Lily G.".

The skipper of the "Lily G.", was Jack Gray, who had his two sons with him on the boat along with another two friends, Harold Broome and Vic Carstairs.

Stinton, Gowing and Horne were sent below decks, huddled in blankets, to warm themselves in the engine room. The "Lily G." had no radio, so they were unable to advise their base that they had been rescued. Search aircraft continued to circle overhead.

It was more than half an hour before Jack Gray thought it was reasonably safe enough for the "Lil G." to cross the bar at Lakes Entrance. After searching for the right wave for about 10 minutes, he finally turned the boat around and called for full throttle from his son.

The boat rode the wave for some time, but suddenly the wave passed the boat and it hit the bottom, and swung almost side on to the waves. Fortunately a smaller wave lifted them off the bottom of the bar and took them into deeper water.

The crew contacted their base on arrival at the jetty and within 15 minutes the Commanding Officer and the Doctor arrived at the jetty. They travelled back to Bairnsdale where Stinton, Gowing and Horne were put into hospital.

Jack Woodward was made a member of the Goldfish club "by escaping death by the use of his Emergency Dinghy".

"On the 31st August, 1944, John Gerald Gray, his two sons Norman Gray and Graeme Gray, Victor Keith Carstairs and Harold Broome received Royal Humane Society Awards at Government House, Melbourne. All received the Bronze Medal, except Vic Carstairs, who already held a Bronze Medal, and he was presented with a Bar to his previous award. The citation was for risking their lives in rescuing four airmen from drowning off the Ninety Mile Beach."

Anson W1580 - Court of Inquiry re accident at Lakes Entrance on 30/5/44
Series Number: A705
Control Symbol: 32/12/762
Location: National Office
Barcode No.: 699067

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