Flight Lieutenant David Rochford & Leading Air Craftsman Charles BoydellPrint Page

The plaques commemorate Flight Lieutenant David George Rochford and Leading Air Craftsman Charles Broughton Boydell of the Royal Australian Air Force who were killed during a test flight accident when a Mosquito aeroplane exploded over Petersham during World War Two. The school erected the memorial to the aircrew in the form of plaques around the base of a flagpole.

Two Air Force officers were killed, two civilians injured and several houses damaged when a Royal Air Force on test flight fell to pieces in the air while flying over Petersham. It's twin-engines, wings and fuselage were scattered over a wide area between Petersham and Lewisham. At least three houses were damaged by falling wreckage, while three others were damaged by flaming pieces of the plane and burning petrol. Taken to hospital from one of the burning houses were Mrs. Amy Herbert (60) and William Wilson (44) who were in one of the houses opposite Petersham School.

Just a few minutes before the body of the pilot, who was entangled in an open parachute, crashed into the bitumen with the cockpit and loaded machine-guns, pupils at Petersham Practice School had left the parade ground in front of the building. The rear portion of the upper and lower floors of Mrs. Herbert's home was practically destroyed by fire, and the furniture burned to a charred mass. Mrs. Herbert was burned on the face and hands. A moment before the plane came to pieces there was a huge puff of smoke, followed by a great round ball of flame. Then, in a spin, the shattered section crashed to the ground, the body of one of the occupants and the wreckage being buried beneath a large tree in the school ground, part of which was torn down. The body of the second officer, whose rank was senior to that of the  pilot, fell between the railway tracks on the line west of Petersham.
Singleton Argus (NSW), 4 May 1945.

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