10 September 1942 - Crash of a Tiger Moth in Halifax Bay near Townsville

10 SEPTEMBER 1942
CRASH OF A TIGER MOTH
IN HALIFAX BAY NEAR TOWNSVILLE, QLD

visits since 22 April 2003

tigermoth.jpg (11281 bytes)

An RAAF Tiger Moth

A USAAF Tiger Moth based at Ross River airfield near Townsville, crashed into Halifax Bay not far from Townsville on 10 September 1942 at co-ordinates 10 deg., 53 min south, 146 deg., 29 min east. Another source gives the co-ordinates as 18 53' S, 146 29' E.

The Tiger Moth was piloted by Captain James Bevlock (Serial No. AO00420568) of the 36th Fighter Squadron of the 8th Fighter Group. Bevlock was giving S/Sgt Herman Weiss of Philadelphia a joy ride. The Tiger Moth went out of control and crashed into Halifax Bay. There was some evidence that an unauthorised aircraft was in the area and may have collided with Bevlock's aircraft. The S/Sgt Weiss was just able to parachute into the bay and survived.

Captain Bevlock had earlier in his career claimed one Betty Bomber destroyed and another probable shot down as well as some unspecified damage to Zeros on 14 May 1942 during the May 1942 fighter battles in New Guinea.

The official history of the 36th Fighter Squadron describes this crash as follows:-

Ross River was a quiet camp in a quiet sector, well removed from the combat zone, but it cost teh squadron a leading pilot, for Captain Bevlock, the hard fighter, was killed on September 10th, when the Tiger Moth he was piloting plunged into the bay. S/Sgt. Herman Weiss, of Philadelphia, was in the bi-plane training ship with Bevlock, but could not account for the sudden crumpling of the right wings that caused the ship to go down, for it happened so swiftly and violently that he was thrown out as the ship failed. The Moth was at 4,000 feet when the wings tore off, and it immediately went into a spin. Weiss was thrown out of the plane, his parachute opening and tearing on the vertical stabilizer, and loosening the clips of his parachute until only the clip holding the strap around his left leg remained closed. He went all the way down with one leg in the chute, holding on to the shrouds, and succeeding in releasing himself before striking the water. He was picked up by a speed boat that was bringing clearance papers to one of the transports laying at anchor in the harbor. They searched the bay for five hours, but found no trace of the Tiger Moth, or of Captain Bevlock.

He ranked among the cleanest and most effective of the fighting pilots of the 36th, and as one of the sincerely liked men. He had to his credit a probable Zero, in that first strafing raid over Lae and Salamaua, one Zero shot down during combat, one seriously damaged and another probable, and one bomber seriously damaged. For his action in engaging a flight of Zeros in combat, leading them away from a flight he was leading in attack on a formation of enemy ships, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He had been with the Squadron since the summer of 1941.

Can anyone tell me more about this crash?

What was the other aircraft?

Who was the NCO passenger?

REFERENCES

I'd like to thank James J. Bevlock, nephew of Captain Bevlock who contacted me on 9 November 2000 seeking information on his uncle who he had listed as follows:- " Captain James Bevlock, serial #: AO00420568 served in the 36th fighter squadron out of Port Moresby, New Guinea, was listed as KIA on September 10, 1942."

SOURCE:- Aircraft Crash Sites - Australia

Crash: No. 25

Position: 18.53 - 146.29

Department of Aviation Chart No: 3219

REFERENCE BOOK

"Diary of WWII - North Queensland"
Complied by Peter Nielsen

"Attack & Conquer"
"The 8th Fighter Group in World War II"
by John C. Stanaway & Lawrence J. Hickey