Last changed 3 June 2009

1945-1974 B25 Mitchell

Forced landing of a B-25 Mitchell 60 miles west of Tennant Creek

B25 D-10 'Mitchell' #41-30222 Hawg-mouth forced landing 25/1/1945, around 1:50pm

Various locations given:

1. 19°40'S 133°'E “near a road running east and west and about one mile south of the aircraft”
B25 estimate at time of forced landing: 60 mi west of Tennant Creek

2. approx 90mi west of Tennant Creek (Aircraft History, 3pp.)

3. 19°40'S 133°15'E 60 mi west of Tennant Creek
(i) 1/101/1024 Memo 12/4/45 from DG of CA
(ii) B24 VMZEON on sighting B25 and parachuting supplies

4. 80mi west of Tennant Creek
1945 Recovery Party, night of 25-26/1/1945:
Mr Williams, Shell Agent
A. Wilson, Groundsman

Note: Location 3 is 60.8 mi (97.5km) from Tennant Creek airfield, bearing 273°T.
However the east-west track is further north, around Latitude 19°20-25'S, approximately also the Latitude of the bore west of Warrego used as a base by the 1974 recovery group.

In 1965 BMR geologists photographed the aircraft near the east-west track made by Whitlock in 1941. The photographer (Ralph Nichols) has described his background on his Jersey Geology Trail home page.

Aircraft recovered 3-7 June 1974 from "somewhere west? of bore 20mi west of Warrego", by Darwin Aviation Museum, restored over many years, and put on display. Photos of interior posted April 2008.

Personnel

crew of 5, incl Raymond E. Geer, USAF (Ret'd) Lt/Col.

References

1. Spiesser, Wolf. 1974. How to collect a bomber. Land Rover Owners' Club NT Newsletter June 1974,16-18; August 1974,13-14.

2. Restoration Project. [ca. 1988?] Flightpath, pp.56-58.

3. File held by Darwin Aviation Museum (Historian: Bob Alford)

Karlantijpa page

URL http://www.anu.edu.au/linguistics/nash/kt/1945-B25.html