This Day in History: 1942-10-09

Avro Anson Mk I W2262 operated by 68 Reserve Squadron RAAF crashed near Clackline, Western Australia on 9 October 1942. The aircraft crashed into the side of a hill between Clackline and Mokine while in use by 68 Squadron RAAF Pearce for salvage. A newspaper report noted “The plane crashed shortly after 1 pm on a property leased by Mr G.E. Harvey. His wife saw the plane approaching very low, it went over the house then hit the ground beyond some trees about 3/4 mile from the house. There was an explosion a few minutes later and a cloud of smoke was seen rising. When Mrs Harvey arrived at the site, the wreck was a flaming mess with machine gun ammunition going off constantly. The sound of the crash was heard for several miles. The bodies of the 4 crew were flung from the plane, the rudder catapulted over the wreck and landed up a large tree about 20 metres further on from where the plane landed.” Sources: The Northam Advertiser, Sat Oct 17th, 1942 via ADF-Serials; aviation-safety.net website