One of the two Wirraways on the ground at Ravenswood before the crash

Photo:- Ronnie Cody (brother of Brian Cody)

Wreckage of Wirraway A20-117 after it crashed

Photo:- Ronnie Cody (brother of Brian Cody)

Wreckage of Wirraway A20-117 after it crashed

Graham Aspinall contacted me in June 2014 and shared the following recollections of his wife's uncle, Brian Cody, who was 7 and a half years old at the time of the crash when he lived at Ravenswood:-

"Two Wirraway aircraft were exercising over the town – they were chasing their tails as part of their manoeuvers. They were flying low and then one aircraft landed in Ravenswood apparently due to engine trouble. The place where it landed was in a flat stretch of land between the town and the railway line.  The second Wirraway aircraft also landed to render assistance. Apparently the townsfolk were alerted to the incident by the town Postmaster (who was aware that one of the aircraft was in trouble) and the local Policeman. Such news travelled fast in such a small country town. The aircraft landed about midday and Brian Cody seems to recall that all of the school children were given the afternoon off school. It was obviously a big occasion for the town to be visited by two RAAF aircraft. A semi-trailer or flatbed truck (most likely American) subsequently brought a replacement engine from Townsville. According to Brian, that was the first time that anyone in the town had seen such heavy equipment. Apparently it took a couple of days to install and run up and test the engine following replacement of the faulty one."

"While the necessary repairs were being completed, the crew stayed in the town and were accommodated in one of the pubs. Brian seems to recall that the aircraft were on the ground for up to one week. Apparently the Observer from the faulty aircraft refused to fly in it and went by road back to Townsville. Subsequently one of the aircraft (presumably the serviceable one)  got airborne as planned and according to Brian’s account the pilot decided to perform some low level aerobatics over the town to impress the locals. This is when the accident happened and the aircraft crashed into the ground, killing both the pilot and observer. According to Brian’s account , the aircraft was doing a loop and appeared to stall and just seemed to fall out of the sky. The pilot seemed to have misjudged his height, the wing of the aircraft hit the ground, it rolled and fell into a paddock. Brian recalls that the accident happened about 4.00 p.m."

"The bodies of the crew were retrieved from the wreckage and were held in the local mortuary (located behind the hospital) prior to repatriation back to Townsville by a RAAF party. Brian heard that a couple of the locals were tasked with the gruesome task of retrieving some of the crew’s flying gear which had been burnt and had some bone splinters imbedded in it. Coincidentally the mortuary was just a few doors up from Brian’s parents’ house. The remains of the mortuary (four brick walls and concrete floor) still remain to this day as it was a substantial building for its time. The surviving aircraft finally returned to Townsville and when it did get airborne, Brian recalled that the pilot took off very calmly without any aerobatics!"