GIRL AND HORSE KILLED
BY A P40E KITTYHAWK / WARHAWK
IN A FIELD NEAR NOWRA, NSW
ON 10 MARCH 1942

2nd Lieutenant Joseph H. King had force landed his P-40E Kittyhawk / Warhawk in a field near Nowra in New South Wales on 9 March 1942.

2nd Lieutenant John Childress of the 7th Pursuit Squadron, 49th Pursuit Group also forced landed his P-40E Kittyhawk, #41-24819 on the same day.

On Tuesday 10 March 1942, after repairs had been carried out to his P-40E, 2nd Lt. King attempted to take off from the field, but the left wheel hit a hole in the uneven ground causing the aircraft to swerve violently to the left. It crashed into a timber fence, and hit 18 year old Daphne May Woods, and her horse that she was sitting on along with six years old John Hogan sitting behind her.

Daphne May Woods, of Terara, near Nowra was struck by the propeller and her head was almost decapitated. Daphne and her horse were killed instantly and John Hogan sustained severe head injuries and was admitted to Edman Private Hospital in Nowra in a serious condition.

The P-40E was slightly damaged and both aircraft were eventually trucked to Bankstown Airfield on 26 March 1942 where they were disassembled for much needed spare parts.

A witness Norman Rod (or Roy) Bradshaw, a motor mechanic from Terara, was watching some USAAF aircraft taking off from the nearby Watt's paddock. He watched four aircraft take off perfectly between about 12:00 to 12:30pm. In the Coroner's report dated 16 March 1942 he stated:-

"The fifth plane seemed to either strike a depression or a tire may have blown out. The plane veered in a north westerly direction. I could see some people standing about and a number of them moved away. I saw a boy and a girl and a horse standing near the corner of the paddock. I saw the plane pass over the girl and boy. A cloud of dust arose from the movement of the plane. I proceeded to the scene of the accident. And there I saw that the horse had been cut to pieces. The boy was crying and I saw the deceased lying on the ground and that she was badly injured about the head. Death had taken place. I did not speak to the pilot. I saw the damaged machine near the scene of the accident. I saw a man whom I was told was a military doctor attending to the boy. I was about to leave when the ambulance arrived with the police. The people moved off in the first instance. (the previous two sentences may have been intended to say “the police moved the people off etc”) I think it was about as the first plane took off. The position that deceased and the boy were in would be perfectly safe under ordinary conditions of taking off by a plane.”

Sergeant David Thomas Frederick Sturgess of Nowra Police made the following statement in the Coroner's Report dated 16 March 1942:-

“At about 1230 PM on the 10th inst a military man called at the police station and said that there had been an accident at Terara and that one person had been killed and one injured. I immediately notified the district ambulance and proceeded to the spot accompanied by the Coroner. On my arrival there I saw the deceased lying on the ground near a fence. The body was covered with a cloth. I saw a boy lying about 20 yards away. He had his head bandaged.
I examined deceased and found that death had taken place. There were severe injuries to the back and to the side of the head which would be consistent with a blow from the wing or propeller of a plane. And the injuries would be the cause of death. I spoke to the pilot of the plane. He stated that he had commenced his run and when nearly opposite to where deceased and the boy were standing the wing of the plane nearest to fence dipped suddenly and the plane swerved to the left and hit the fence and went on for a distance of approximately 70 yards. He climbed out of his plane. And it was not until then that he knew that an accident had occurred. He further stated that had he seen deceased and the horse he could have done nothing to alter the course of the machine which would have been travelling at about 100 miles per hour. There was no sign of liquor about the plane. And the pilot was perfectly sober. The body of the deceased was conveyed by the ambulance to the (two words unreadable) hospital of Nowra. Prior to removing the body John Thomas Watson of Terara identified the body as the body of Daphne May Woods.”

Local Terara farmer John Thomas Watson mad the following statement in the Coroner's Report dated 16 March 1942:-

“At about 1130 AM on Tuesday the 10th inst. I went across to Watts paddock to where several aeroplanes were running prior to taking off on a flight. I was standing near the boundary fence between Watts’ and Kennedy’s properties. I saw deceased and the boy named Hogan arrive on horseback. They rode to Watson’s Bros boundary and there dismounted and stood near the fence. Four planes took off and as the fifth was making its run the wheel nearest the fence where the deceased was standing hit a ditch and the wing on that side touched the ground. The plane then changed its course to the extent of about 45 degrees. It crashed into the fence and ran along the fence for a distance of 15 panels. I saw the plane strike deceased and knock her (and?) Hogan to the ground. I went to where deceased was lying. I saw that she was dead. I saw that her head was badly injured. No other part of her body appeared to be injured. I saw the boy Hogan lying nearby. My brother picked up the boy Hogan and carried him away from the carcass of the horse. The horse had been cut into three pieces which would be consistent with being struck by a propeller of the plane. Later on I identified the body as that of Daphne May Woods. There was no evidence of drink about the plane or about the scene of the accident”.

REFERENCES

"Killed by Plane" National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW), Wednesday 11 March 1942

Fifth Air Force in Profile
By Michael Claringbould

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank  Michael Claringbould for his assistance with this web page.

I'd also like to thank Cris George for his assistance with his web page. Cris transcribed the above statements from the Coroner's Report which he shared with me on 8 March 2019.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 30 March 2017

This page last updated 10 September 2020