1943: Liberator Crash at Whenuapai

August 2, 2022

By AHNZ

Tonight in history, 2 August, 1943, a United Airlines B-24 Liberator was destroyed. At least 3 crew and 13 civilian Prisoners of War (Japanese & Taiwanese women and children) were killed in a failed take-off from Whenuapai air base.

This isn’t even the only Liberator to crash in 1943, and mishaps of this sort were very common at Whenuapai. You’d have to start wondering if it were more likely you’d be killed by the enemy in the Pacific War or by your own people and equipment!

“Use to trudge out to the wreck in the 1950s and use to sit on what we thought was part of a wing when we were about 9 years old the mud was up to our waste.”- Graeme Bourk, Timespanner (2018)

‘Resident, Mrs Marcus Jones, heard the awful crash and was met by two muddy Japs knocking at her door! Young Colin Crump snuck into the wreck and examined the tiny shoes of the women and children and the kimonos.’ – Crump (2002)

Another time: “Overran the runway and ended up in Mr Lush’s paddock. The fuselarge was left where it lay and Mr Lush used it for a fowl house for several years until it was eventually sold for scrap metal.” p105, Crump (2002)

“At the time of the accident, the crew members were tired as they accumulated 126 flying hours within the last 26 days, which was considered as a contributory factor.” – Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

Rather than reaching Brisbane, the Liberator ploughed into the mangrove mudflats at Herald Island. The wreckage is still there today, although it has been visited by generations of kids and inquiring minds.

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Image ref. Recreation of Liberator exploding. Blake’s 7 (1987)

Ref. In Endless Fear: A True Story, Colin Crump (2002)

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