AHSA Newsletter Vol. 32, No. 3, July 2016 – Aviation Historical Society of Australia

1912 The first aircraft crash in Australia occurrred when William Hart, attempting to land his Bristol Boxkite aircraft next to a railway line between Mt Druitt and Rooty Hill, hit the top of a railway signal, turned over and crashed. Hart and his passenger Major Rosenthal were able to jump clear but Hart sustained a cut to his forehead. The Major suffered a deep incision under one eye where his broken flying goggles had cut him during the crash. Source: Come Fly With Me, Blacktown City's Aviation History.

1942 On the island of New Britain the brave pilots of RAAF No 24 Squadron vainly attempted to fight off multiple waves of Japanese bombers protected by vastly superior Mitsubishi Zero fighters. On 6 January 1942, the squadron attempted to intercept Japanese seaplanes flying high over the island. Only one Wirraway managed to engage an enemy aircraft, marking the first air-to-air combat between RAAF and Japanese forces. Source: Aircraft of the RAAF.

1944 Tragically, on 6 January 1944, the highly experienced Commanding Officer of No 14 Squadron, Wing Commander Charles Learmonth lost his life in the crash of DAP Beaufort A9-346 due to a known defect in the elevator trim tab. Experiencing barely-controllable elevator forces, Learmonth stayed with his aircraft to enable his wingman to confirm that the trim tab had come loose before his aircraft dived steeply into the sea. All on board were killed. The RAAF base and airport near Exmouth is named Learmonth in honour of his bravery. A simple fleet-wide modification fixed the elevator trim tab problem, the potential for which was known to Bristol in the UK but had not occurred on British-built Beauforts. Source: Aircraft of the RAAF.