FORCED LANDING OF A P-40 WARHAWK
NEAR ARALUEN, NSW
ON 2 MARCH 1942

On 2 March 1942, 2nd Lieutenant Owen R. Fish escaped injury in a forced landing of his P-40 Warhawk (Kittyhawk) in the dark near Araluen, New South Wales. 2nd Lt. Fish was returning to the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group's base when he was driven off course by dense smoke from forest fires between Deniliquin and Canberra.

Garry Cratt told me in August 2021, that he was contacted by an older resident at Araluen about an aircraft that he witnessed  forced landing in the area, when he was a child, during the war. He was 8 years old and recalls that the incident occurred on his birthday 2nd March. I had previously only known that the event had happened one day in March 1942.

REFERENCE BOOKS

"Historical Record, 49th Ftr Gp, Chap I, Sec II"

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'd like to thank Garry Cratt and Yvonne Kinkaid 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 19 January 2019

This page last updated 18 August 2021