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Pilot Officer Kenneth Cowling, Flight Sergeant Joseph Docherty, Sergeant Norman Graham & Leading Aircraftman Peter HendricksonPrint Page Print this page

The plaque commemorates Pilot Officer Kenneth Cowling, Flight Sergeant Joseph Docherty, Sergeant Norman Graham and Leading Aircraftman Peter Hendrickson who were killed in the crash of a Royal Australian Air Force Airspeed Oxford aeroplane in September 1943. 

The wreck and their graves are about 15 metres apart at the bottom of the cliff. The bodies have since been disinterred and buried at Springvale, Victoria. Eyewitness accounts say the aeroplane flew low over a ship which was actually a wreck, and then failed to regain enough height before hitting the cliff.

 

 

 

Location

Address:Deal Island Conservation Park, Deal Island
State:TAS
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -39.475227
Long: 147.313422
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Military
Actual Event Start Date:23-September-1943
Actual Event End Date:23-September-1943

Dedication

Front Inscription

This site is dedicated to the memory of Pilot Officer Kenneth Cowling, Flight Sergeant Joseph Docherty, Sergeant Norman Graham, Leading Aircraftman Peter Hendrickson.

On the morning of September 23, 1943, an RAAF Airspeed Oxford AS618 left the base at East Sale in Victoria to participate in an anti-submarine exercise, carrying a crew of four. Over Deal Island the aircraft dived, rolled and then plunged into the ground at this site. All four RAAF personnel on board were killed instantly. Their bodies were initially interned at this site before being recovered and transported to the Victorian War Memorial Cemetery at Springvale, Victoria

 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au