CRASH OF A MOSQUITO
ON SADDLE MOUNTAIN, NEAR GIRU, QLD
ON 25 MARCH 1947

 

An RAAF Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft A52-607, crashed into the very top of Saddle Mountain (Lat 19.27 South, Long 147.01 East) located in the Cromarty Ranges near Giru in north Queensland on 25 March 1947. The crew were both killed in this tragic crash as follows:-

F/Lt Frank Langford of Sydney
F/Lt. Batzloff of Toowoomba.

There is a memorial in Giru's Lions Brolga Park remembering the crash of this aircraft into Saddle Mountain. The Burdekin Shire Council has erected another memorial in the same park for the four men who died in a crash between two Hudson bombers near Giru on 24 May 1942.

 

Memorial in Brolga Park, Giru opposite CSR's Invicta Mill

 

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Memorial in Brolga Park, Giru

 

Peter Blatchford told me that he spoke to one of the local council workers, who knew one of the original search party members (since deceased) who told him of three flares being seen on the mountain on the day of the crash. When the crash site was reached, the co-pilot (unsure of which one this was) had crawled to a nearby stream and died some time later. This was confirmed by some photos the park ranger showed Peter. Some soldiers from Townsville walked to the crash site in 1996 and one photo shows the frame of the co-pilot's seat near the stream along with flare tape still intact after all this time. 

Rodney Burgess told me that the causes of this crash were apparently used as a test case of what not to do in bad weather by the civil aviation authorities for quite some time. 

 


Photo: Rodney Burgess

A propeller at the RAAF Townsville Museum
which was recovered from the crash site

 

Apparently Sid Beck has also recovered bits and pieces from the crash site. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Peter Blatchford and Rodney Burgess for their assistance with this home page. Rod Burgess is assisting the RAAF Townsville Museum to locate and photograph WW2 aircraft wreck sites. 

 

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

 

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©  Peter Dunn 2015

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This page first produced 6 January 2003

This page last updated 02 February 2020