Bristol Beaufort bomber A9-143 2nd August 2017

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02nd August 2017

2nd August 2017 – A small number of GLCBC members located the crash site of the Bristol Beaufort bomber A9-143 that crashed on a small island at the Back-lake of the Gippsland Lakes on the 30th July 1945 marking the 72nd anniversary of the crash that claimed the lives of 3 crewmembers.

Lost crew members were:

  • FLGOFF Melville Maxwell Castle 
  • FLGOFF Robert Meath Hammond 
  • FLTSGT Stanley Trevor Lloyd

As an organized task, the original date was set to fall on the anniversary of the accident, but a severe weather forecast resulted in the visit being postponed by 3 days to allow for calmer seas and safe arrival. GLCBC members arrived by shallow draft boats carrying a small amount of equipment that was used to remove some fallen trees and vegetation; and then clean up a small memorial cross that had been placed at the crash site back in the early 1990’s

A reef of Australian native flowers was then placed on the memorial cross followed by a few spoken paragraphs extracted from the RAAF accident report detailing the achievements of the lost flight crew.

More information about the wreck of A9-143 can be found here on the ozatwar website http://www.ozatwar.com/vic61.htm