CRASH OF A P-40E KITTYHAWK
4 MILES EAST OF MARBURG, QLD
ON 12 JULY 1942

Profile:- Gordon Birkett

Kittyhawk A29-13 of 75 Squadron RAAF

P-40E Kittyhawk A29-13 of 75 Squadron RAAF crashed at 1050 hours E.S.T at a location approximately 4 miles west of Marburg in southern Queensland on 12 July 1942. The pilot, 26 year old Flying Officer Philip Francis Grant Harbottle (408012) was killed in this tragic crash when the aircraft failed to recover from a dive. The aircraft was written off.

Flying Officer Harbottle was the son of Maj. Frank Harbottle, D.S.O., and Olive Grant Burn Harbottle, of Hobart, Tasmania, and stepson of Professor Alan Burn, of Hobart.

He was buried in the Ipswich General Cemetery, Row C, Grave 2.

This aircraft had been involved in an earlier crash at Garbutt Airfield in Townsville on 18 March 1942. The aircraft had been sent to 5 AD for repairs after this earlier crash.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Gordon Birkett and Gordon Clarke for their assistance with this web page.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 12 April 2007

This page last updated 02 February 2020