WWII Crash in Australia remembered

[Desert Sapper]

Link

World War II Air Crash Monument Finds Permanent Home at Fort Myer
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2009 - A granite monument dedicated to 40 U.S. servicemembers who perished in an air crash in Australia during World War II has found a permanent home at Fort Myer, Va.

Yesterday's dedication ceremony for the Bakers Creek air crash memorial was attended by Army Secretary Pete Geren; David Stuart, deputy chief of mission for the Australian embassy; Australian Air Vice-Marshal Kym Osley, head of the embassy's defense staff; other senior officials; and a number of relatives and friends of the accident victims.

On June 14, 1943, an Army Air Corps B-17C Flying Fortress crashed at Bakers Creek, near Mackey in Queensland. The troops aboard the bomber were being flown back to New Guinea after enjoying some leave time in Australia. Forty servicemembers died; there was just one survivor.

Fascinating. I never heard of this crash, but it sounds like it took a while for the families to even find out. It's pretty neat that they are being honored nearly 66 years after their plan went down.