6 NOVEMBER 1944
CRASH OF A WIRRAWAY AIRCRAFT
AT MAREEBA AIRFIELD, QLD

Wirraway

On 6 November 1944, RAAF Wirraway, A20-517, of No. 5 Squadron, swung to port after landing at Mareeba airfield in north Queensland and struck the tail of Vengeance A27-1 and killed two members of No. 10 Communication Unit who were amongst 5 personnel standing behind Vengeance A27-1.

Those killed were:-

Flying Officer Ronald McTier (428344 RAAF)

Warrant Officer Norman John Burns (422019 RAAF)

The crew of the Wirraway were uninjured. The two dead were buried at the Atherton War Cemetery.

NOTE:- The Operations Record Book for 6 Central Recovery Depot shows this incident entered as happening on 4 November 1944. The entries in the WWII Nominal Roll for the above two deceased members of 10 Communications Unit shows them as dying on 6 November 1944. There are two files in National Archives of Australia on this incident, both of which show this incident happening on 6 November 1944.

REFERENCE BOOK

"Diary of WWII - North Queensland"
Complied by Peter Nielsen

"Aircraft of the RAAF 1921- 71"
By Geoffrey Pentland & Peter Malone

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Gordon Birkett for his assistance with this web page.

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 2 July 1999

This page last updated 07 February 2020