Crash of a Beech UC-43 Traveler near Archerfield Airfield on 27 November 1943

CRASH OF A UC-43 TRAVELER
NEAR ARCHERFIELD AIRFIELD, BRISBANE, QLD
ON 27 NOVEMBER 1943
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII

On 27 November 1943, a Beech UC-43 Traveler, #43-10862, of the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron of the 5th Air Force crashed at Archerfield Airfield in Brisbane in south east Queensland killing its pilot 1st Lieutenant Robert Ensign Johnston O-743248 from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He had taken off from Archerfield at about 10:30am on a routine pilot proficiency flight. His Commanding Officer Major Paul S. Deems later reported that Robert was reasonably familiar with the UC-43 Traveler aircraft. An hour into the flight whilst flying over unfamiliar terrain as a low altitude, he struck a high voltage power line, which either stunned him or threw the aircraft out of control.

The UC-43 fell into a local river just west of the power lines and caught fire. This may have been Oxley Creek which is located just to the west of Archerfield Airfield. Captain R. J. Amato, the Flight Surgeon for Headquarters Squadron, Fifth Air Force, who accompanied the Commanding Officer and others to the crash site, pronounced 1st Lieutenant Robert Ensign Johnston dead as a result of a compound fracture of the skull.

1st Lt. Robert Ensign Johnston's body was embalmed and he was buried at the USAFIA Military Cemetery at Ipswich, west of Brisbane on 30 November 1943 by Chaplin (Captain) Bankston. The Application for his funeral was made on 30 November 1943 by Lt. J. T. McConnaughey and the Undertaker was listed as Sergeant Turner. 1st Lt. Robert E. Johnston was listed as a Protestant. Pall bearers at his funeral were as follows:-

After the war, over 1,400 bodies were exhumed at the USAFIA Military Cemetery at Ipswich, and along with numerous other bodies exhumed from other American Cemeteries around Australia they were loaded on board the American ship USAT Goucher Victory, which left Brisbane before Christmas 1947, to take the bodies back to America. USAT Goucher Victory travelled to Guadalcanal where the caskets were unloaded and loaded onto the USAT Cardinal O'Connell along with 3,346 souls recovered from Guadalcanal. The USAT Cardinal O'Connell then travelled on to Hawaii.

Laurie Johnson received the above document from her half brother Robert in late January 2023 and shared it with me. It indicates that the aircraft crashed into a river (possibly Oxley Creek) on a flight from Archerfield and that he was one of two pilots chosen to fly General Douglas MacArthur's aircraft.

The Beech UC-43 Traveler was an executive type light transport aircraft. It was the military version of the Beech Model 17 Staggerwing. See typical photos below.

A lineup of UC-43 Travelers with #43-10856 closest to the camera. I wonder
if 1st Lt. Robert E. Johnston's UC-43 Traveler #43-10862 is in this lineup?

On 28 January 2023, I was contacted by Kathryn Lynn who was wanting to track down family members of an American pilot Robert E. Johnston who had been killed in a UC-43 aircraft accident at Archerfield sometime in November 1943. Military officials had tried to find the pilot's wings after the tragic crash without success. Kathryn's father, LAC John Patrick Lynn (43088) RAAF was on leave at the time of the accident and later found the pilot's wings in some scrub near the crash site when he returned to Archerfield after his leave. Not realising it's significance at the time, he kept the wings intending to hand it in, but was transferred that same day to Townsville before he had the chance to hand it in. He kept the wings all through the war hoping to one day give it back to the pilot's family.

At the time that Kathryn Lynn contacted me, the only information that I had was the following:-

I was not aware of Robert's second name and could find no other information on that particular aircraft. So I posted a short message on Facebook as follows:-

In less than 24 hours Paul Bolte sent me a Direct Message on Facebook sharing with me a copy of Robert Ensign Johnston's Death Certificate, a Headstone Application and a copy of his mother's Obituary, which are all shown below. Paul Bolte's wife Barbara had carried out all the research. I told Paul that Kathryn Lynn wanted to return Robert Johnston's pilot's wings to his family in the USA. The following day, Paul advised me that he had found Robert's niece, Laurie Larue Johnson, via her son Clayton. Paul eventually spoke with Laurie and pointed her to my "Australia @ War" Facebook page and Laurie sent me a Direct Message and we shared information and photos. Laurie had no idea where her uncle had died or that he had been buried at Ipswich for a few years.

I then produced this web page and shared it with both Lynn and Laurie via e-mail and used it to introduce them to each other for the first time. Lynn told me that she has family going over to the USA this year (2023) and she would get them to return the wings to Laurie Johnson, the niece of 1st Lt. Robert Ensign Johnston.

I'd like to thank Laurie Johnson, Kathryn Lynn, Pat Gould (Kathryn Lynn's sister), Paul Bolte, Barbara Bolte and Gordon Birkett for their assistance with this web page.

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