CRASH OF A B-17E FLYING FORTRESS
ABOUT 25 MILES NORTH WEST OF WEIPA, QLD
ON 18 SEPTEMBER 1942

visits since 25 October 2003

In the late afternoon of 17 September 1942, eight B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 93rd Bombardment Squadron of the 19th Bombardment Group based at Mareeba airfield in north Queensland, departed Seven Mile airfield at Port Moresby to bomb Rabaul. This mission was a repeat of a failed mission the previous day. Again they encountered cloudy weather which eventually forced them to turn back for Port Moresby.

B-17E Flying Fortress, #41-2650, piloted by 2nd Lt. Claude N. Burckey, dropped its bomb load and turned back for Port Moresby. By this time Port Moresby was also covered in cloud and the navigator, Lt. Meenaugh, set a course for the Horn Island airfield. They became lost and eventually started to run out of fuel. At 2.40am on 18 September 1942, Burckey ordered his crew to bail out.

The crew of the B-17 was as follows:-

Lt. Claude Burckey - pilot
Lt. Augustine Rapisardi - co-pilot
Lt. Meenaugh - navigator
Lt. Miller - bombardier
Sgt Chamberlin
Sgt Schmidt
Sgt Johnson
Reynolds
Navlich

Lt. Meenaugh, the navigator was the first to bail out. The rest of the crew regrouped on the ground and eventually met up with some local aboriginals who arranged for them to be transported by boat to Weipa. A search party for Meenaugh was organised by Police Superintendent L.A. Cane of the Mapoon Aboriginal Mission which was located near the wreckage of the B-17. They searched for him for 2 weeks out to a radius of 50 miles from the crash site. Lt. Meenaugh is still the only US servicemen missing in action on Australian soil.

Supt. Cane wrote to 2nd Lt. Burckey on 27 October 1942, advising that the B-17 had caught fire when it hit the ground and caused a bush fire. He indicated that the aircraft had broken up into many pieces and gave details of the extensive search that they had carried out looking for Lt. Meenaugh. 

Another B-17 Crash at Coen River on about 19 Sep 1942
(or is it the same crash?)

REFERENCE BOOKS

" Forty of the Fifth"
by Michael Claringbould

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

Heaps of WW2 books available at Amazon.com

"Australia @ War"

This page first produced 25 October 2003

This page last updated 23 July 2004