CRASH OF A KITTYHAWK
AT A MELBOURNE AIRFIELD
ON 25 JANUARY 1942

visits since 14 March 2003

On 24 January 1942, Richard Legg, USAAC (later retired as a Colonel), parked his aircraft (possibly a Kittyhawk) in the RAAF section of a Melbourne airfield. On the next day, 25 January 1942, Legg went to out to fly his aircraft to Broome in Western Australia.

His memoirs state:- "As I made my way out to the ship that was to take me to Broome, I got word from Australian Ops on the field that some American had taken my fighter plane off and had crashed about 1/4 mile off the field. They did not know who the victim was, but they were checking his false teeth, hoping to get some record. I told them that the victim had to be an Aussie because no American troops had false teeth. They were shocked by my statement. 75% of Australians had false teeth. The victim was an Australian airman that bit off more than he could chew."

REFERENCE

Unpublished memoirs of  Colonel Richard Legg, USAF 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Greg Shea for his assistance with this page.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

Was it a Kittyhawk?

Who was teh Australian who was killed?

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This page first produced 14 March 2002

This page last updated 14 March 2003