16 January 1942 - Crash of a P-40 Kittyhawk at Rockhampton, QLD

CRASH OF A P-40 KITTYHAWK
AT ROCKHAMPTON, QLD
ON 16 JANUARY 1942

On 16 January 1942, a USAAF P-40 Kittyhawk (Plane No. 6) piloted by 2nd Lieutenant Carl Parker Gies (0-407083) of the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional) crashed at Rockhampton in central Queensland. It suffered damage to the left landing gear, belly tank, and left wing tip. The aileron rod was destroyed and its aerial was torn off. The impact was so severe that the fuselage was broken behind the left wing. The aircraft's electrical system was also damaged. It may have been relocated to Bundaberg after the crash.

Bob Mullins remembers visiting most of the crashes in the Rockhampton area that I have listed on my web pages. He had a piece of propeller blade from a Spitfire and last year donated it to the Caloundra Aircraft Museum. On the propeller blade he had painted the date and details of the crash. This would be available from the Caloundra Museum. He remembers the Liberator, Spitfire, Beaufighter and Kittyhawk crashes. There was a C-47 Dakota also which overshot the runway and spent some weeks on Canoona Road where the local kids managed to obtain many bits and pieces. Bob had the perspex from the toilet window of the C-47 to make brooches and his friend Bert Cairns (now deceased who eventually joined the RAAF) had the wheel from the joystick and other bits and pieces. After the Coral Sea battle a B-17 Flying Fortress landed at Connor Park all shot up and lost a propeller on its landing approach, with the propeller landing in the mud on the edge of the Fitzroy River. Unfortunately 12 year old kids did not keep diaries so Bob has no specific dates.

Lieutenant Carl Parker Gies (0-407083) was involved in a later forced landing of a P-40 Kittyhawk at Oakey on 20 February 1942.

REFERENCE

Document prepared by 1st Lt. Elmore G. Brown, titled:-

"Headquarters, USA Air Forces in Australia
A-4. Aircraft Movements Status & Statistics Section
Location and Status of Damaged Aircraft in Australia"

Every Day a Nightmare
American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942
by William H. Bartsch

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'd like to thank Chris Jamesson for his assistance with this page.

I'd also like to thank Bob Mullins who as a boy lived near Connor Park airfield in Rockhampton.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products