CAC Plant Reports 1938, numbers 12 – 22

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1945 de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB Mk VI HR614 operated by 618 Sqn Royal Air Force crashed 1 mile east of RAAF station Narromine, New South Wales on 27 July 1945. Media reports indicated a court of enquiry concluded that the pilot had simply lost control whilst manoeuvring violently at dangerously low altitude. The pilot, SQNLDR J.S. McGoldrick climbed to 500 feet, heading northwest, then decided to ‘shoot up the drome’ from just above ground level as a farewell, before climbing southeast towards town and banking vertically left to begin a ‘victory roll’. A detailed description of the short flight, from the subsequent court of enquiry, came from Capt. Hector Sutherland who was playing football southeast of the aerodrome: “It continued parallel with the road until about half the width of the golf course. He then banked very slightly to the left and then again very steeply to the right, and came directly for the flour mill. From this position he commenced to roll on his back, just missing a block of buildings. He didn’t get completely on his back until roughly opposite the silos in the railway yard. At this point it appeared that the tail rose slightly and the machine went off at an angle towards the ground.” The ‘block of buildings’ referred to was the post office, court house and other buildings in the centre of town, which Bill Ballhausen and others feared the plane was about to hit. Whether by luck or because McGoldrick was still able to alter its course somewhat, the Mosquito cleared them, but crashed inverted at ‘Narromine Recreation Reserve 1891’ - an open patch of ground between the sale yards / showground and the police pound, about 100 metres from the houses of Terangion Street. With laden fuel tanks for the 650 km trip to Victoria, it exploded on impact. Both crew members SQNLDR James Steward McGoldrick RAAF (Aus.404846) (pilot) and FLTLT Francis James French RAFVR (127.458) (navigator) were killed Source: aviation-safety.net website