A small memorial sits on the outer side of the pool at the northern end of the Strand in Townsville, overlooking Cleveland Bay. It is a lonely and sad memorial to a tragic event that showed that in WWII, our airmen were not only subject to the perils of enemy action but also the prevailing weather conditions at the time.

The 7th December 2021 (Honolulu time) marks the 80th Anniversary of the coordinated Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Northern Malaya. It would bring WWII to the Pacific, the British stronghold at Singapore would be lost and over 80,000 Allied soldiers became prisoners of war of the Japanese. Hundreds of thousands from both sides would die and untold destruction would occur.

Early on foggy morning in June 1943, a war weary B-17C of the USAAF, took off from Mackay Airport bound for New Guinea. it climbed through the fog layer and levelled out before commencing 2 left hand turns. Then suddenly, it plunged into bushland. A fireball erupted and all but one of the 41 occupants onboard were killed. It was and remains today, Australia’s worse aviation disaster.