Kittyhawks Down –
An American Air Tragedy at Eden:
Death is, without exception, a tragic part of war, but the loss of two American airmen near Eden on the New South Wales far south coast of during a World War II training flight seemed all the more so because the men had yet to face any enemy action.
Members of the 8th Squadron (“Black sheep”), 49th Pursuit Group, the pair were part of a group of four on a training flight from the Fairbairn airfield base near Canberra, beyond the Moruya Mountains and over the sea on 29 March 1942. It was a beautiful, clear morning when they taxied their P-40E Kittyhawks down the runway that fateful Saturday on what should have been a straight -forward exercise.
Young, inexperienced, and over unfamiliar territory, the group had only arrived in Melbourne with Mariposa convoy less than two months prior. Led by the more experienced Arthur (“Doc”) Fielder, Lieutenants Neal Takala, John Musial, and Chester Namola flew east before encountering bad weather, a dense “white out” fog, and heavy cloud cover that cut visibility, disorienting the group, and scattering them off course. Climbing to 13,000 feet until they reached the coastline, the pilots then dropped to about 8,000 feet in search of a safe landing place.
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Eden residents, ever alert to enemy threat after shipping losses off the coast and attacks on Sydney Harbour and Darwin, recalled their panic as the planes circled the township trying to find somewhere to land safely in the atrocious weather conditions.
While negotiating the sharp mountainous incline of Mount Imlay, Neal Takala’s Kittyhawk slammed into a ridge on the western side of the landmark, exploding on impact and killing the pilot instantly. A family living near the base of the peak reportedly took shelter under their kitchen table fearing that the plane would hit their house.
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Lower Towamba farmer Roy Mitchell saw and heard the accident and after contacting the Eden police, saddled up his horse and rode to the scene. Uncertain as to whether he would find friend or foe, he armed himself with a rifle in readiness for the encounter. Soon joined by Constable Williams of the Eden Police, Forestry officer Dudley Webber and other residents, the group
Above and below: Part of 2nd Lieutenant Neal Takala's mangled United States Army Air Force (USAAF) P40 Kittyhawk aircraft at the crash site on the slopes of Mount Imlay.
Images by William Fancourt, courtesy of the Australian War Memorial
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found that Takala had been thrown clear of the wreckage. His remains were carried five miles out of the thick scrub on a litter rigged up on the spot from chaff bags and bush poles.
Above: The mangled tail piece of 2nd Lieutenant Neal Takala's
P40 Kittyhawk aircraft.
Below: Four local residents at the crash site of Neal Takala's P40 Kittyhawk.
Images by William Fancourt, courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.
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John Musial suffered a similar fate when his aircraft struck the top of an Angophora tree before crashing almost vertically into the ground in thick the bush off Wonboyn Road, south of Eden. According to witness reports, that aircraft also exploded, killing the pilot on impact. With Eden police already attending Takala’s accident, nearby Pambula Constable Willard made his way to the scene, where together with residents, he retrieved the pilot’s remains and brought his body back to Eden.
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The remaining two pilots were more successful in their efforts to land safely.
Dropping below the blanketing fog, Lieutenant Fielder made a landing on Eden’s Aslings Beach, gauging wind direction from flags and towels waved by local school children. So low had his approach been over the cliff tops from North Head that native Tea Tree branches were found entangled in his Kittyhawk’s undercarriage. Residents dragged his aircraft above high water mark where a young Arthur (“Artie”) Edwards, then a
local Volunteer Defence Force member and himself soon to face the ordeal of war time service, stood guard over the machine for two long, lonely nights, armed only with a rifle which he remembered having no ammunition for.
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The fourth pilot, Chester Namola, was able to find enough of a clearing in the fog to land in a paddock at “Wheat Hill”, near Berridale, on the Monaro. Like Eden, residents rallied to assist the aviator, with local school headmaster Frank Powrie taking the young man in for the night.
Eden’s Volunteer Air Observer’s Corp (VAOC) logbook, signed by Lieutenant Fielder and Chief Observer C. E. Wellings, recorded the incident, stating that “At 10 am report was received from Lower Towamba that a plane had crashed there. Constable Williams went out to the scene. The Pilot of this plane was killed and the plane destroyed by fire. Lieut. Neal T. Takala LMW. At about 10.30 another plane was reported by the OP at Narrabarba as having crashed. Constable Willard of Pambula was sent to investigate. The Pilot (J. J. Musial) of this plane was also found killed and burnt with the plane. The Pilot, A. E. Fielder of the Plane forced-landed on Aslings beach arrived at this post at 10.45 am and reported himself and plane undamaged. He returned to his plane and with the assistance of many townsmen it was taken up the beach
Above: Floating Arthur "Doc" Fielder's kittyhawk across Twofold Bay to Boydtown Beach.
Image by Allan Whiter, courtesy of the Whiter family.
Above: "Doc" Fielder's kittyhawk on Boydtown Beach.
Image by Allan Whiter, courtesy of the Whiter family.
above high water mark. Bodies taken then. The fourth plane of the formation (U.S.A. planes) was later reported as being safe (Lieut. Namola LMW). The weather at the time of the mishap was very dirty raining to a height 13, 000 feet and visibility almost nil and has continued so all day.”
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With the aid of a barge brought from Bermagui for the purpose, Fielder’s aircraft was floated across Twofold Bay to Boydtown on 9 April 1942. There, it was hoped that the mile-long stretch of firm sand would provide enough of a runway for the pilot to commence his lonely solo flight back to Canberra. Starting at the Nullica (or northern) end of the beach, the plane was starting to gather momentum when a small wave unexpectedly rolled in, catching the Kittyhawk, tipping it on its nose and twisting the whirling propeller as it struck the hard sand. Now too damaged for flight, the fighter was moved to the nearby Whiter’s Seahorse Inn where American engineers disassembled it so local transport carriers Jim Walker and Bill Bryant could truck it to its destination.
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Eden residents, touched by the tragedy, held a memorial service in the town’s Catholic Church before the bodies of Takala and Musial were transported to
Above and below: "Doc" Fielder's kittyhawk at Boydtown after the failed take off attempt.
Images by Allan Whiter, courtesy of the Whiter family.
Canberra for burial. After the war, their remains were disinterred and taken home to the United States for reburial.
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Stringent censorship restrictions meant that the disaster received little coverage. The Canberra Times carried only a small item in their 31 March 1942 issue. Headlined “Air Crash – Two American Pilots Killed”, the article reported that “Two American pilots, victims in a training accident, were interred in the Roman Catholic portion of the Canberra Cemetery yesterday afternoon with full military honours. The coffins were covered by American Ensigns and were conveyed to the cemetery on an R. A. A. F. trailer. A requiem mass was conducted at St. Christopher’s
Church, Canberra, by the Rev. Father J. E. Moore, chaplain to the R. A. A. F. The service was attended by the American Minister (Mr. Nelson T. Johnson), the Minister for Supply (Mr. Beasley) and Mr. Scullin M. P. The R. A. A. F. and U. S. Army were officially represented at the funeral. Members of the R. A. A. F. and W. A. A. F. attended the service, while aircraft gave the salute over the church and the cemetery...”
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Even the local Magnet-Voice piece of 9 April 1942 was sketchy as best: “All efforts
Above: "Doc" Fielder's kittyhawk loaded on a truck at Boydtown ready for its road trip back to Canberra.
Image by Allan Whiter, courtesy of the Whiter family.
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made to take off from a location near Eden by an aeroplane which had landed on a local beach proved abortive this week, and the machine was later trucked to its destination. Splendid co-operation in making arrangements for the attempt was given by townspeople and others. The plane was one of four engaged in a training flight, the other three having met with mishaps, two of which proved fatal for the pilots. An inquiry into the fatalities was held at Eden by the district coroner, Mr. A. I. Nicholson, whose finding was of accidental death in both instances.”
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Sadly, the deaths of Lieutenants Takala and Musial were not isolated incidents. Of the 330 Kittyhawks delivered to the various Units of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in Australia by March 1942, 140 were lost in training accidents. The 49th Pursuit Group alone lost 30 Kittyhawks in NSW within a fortnight of receiving the aircraft. The high incidence of such accidents involving inexperienced pilots resulted in a special signal to Washington from USAAF’s General Brett in Australia, who wrote on 4 March 1942 that “…over 75 per cent of all pilots had only a few hours or no time at all in P-40s. The number of accidents has reached excessive and alarming proportions. Most due entirely to pilot error. Better trainee pilots must be assigned this theatre.”
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In a tragic postscript, less than a month after the events at Eden the 8th Fighter Squadron departed Canberra, arriving at Adelaide River in the Northern Territory on 17 April 1942. From there, the pilots were immediately sent into action against the Japanese who were wreaking havoc with regular air raids on nearby Darwin. Lieutenant Namola was reported missing in action after being shot down over Darwin Harbour during a Japanese bombing raid on 16 June 1942. His remains have never been found. A week later on 23 June, “Doc” Fielder was killed during another training accident at Strauss airfield in the Northern Territory. His remains were interred at the Adelaide River American Cemetery.
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In 1995, historian and (then) Eden Killer Whale Museum curator Angela George and Canberra-based aviation historian and author Bob Piper commenced research into the event. They later joined with local residents including Roy McMaster, Wayne Doyle and his son Wade and journalist Mari Manly in an effort to locate the accident sites. In April 1997, the one near Wonboyn was traced, but despite numerous ground searches, the Mount Imlay location is yet to be found.
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On Anzac Day 1997, 55 years after the event, representatives from the United States Embassy joined residents at the Eden war memorial when the local RSL sub-branch unveiled a plaque remembering these American airmen who, in the words of RAAF chaplain Reverend Father Moore, “…gave their lives in the defence of Australia.”
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© Angela George. All rights reserved.
Above: Wade Doyle with remnants of John Musial's P-40E kittyhawk, found on the crash site 55 years after the event.
Image by and © Mairi Manley, April 1997. All rights reserved.
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Above (back l-r): Chaplain (Lieutenant Commander) Harold Fischer (USN), Bob Piper, and Frank McMaster; front, Teaghan George, at the unveiling of the plaque at the Eden War Memorial to commemorate the four American pilots, Anzac Day 1997.
Image by Angela George. All rights reserved.
References and bibliography:
Brown, Elmore G., 1st Lieutenant, Headquarters, USA Air Forces in Australia. A-4. Aircraft Movements Status & Statistics Section - Location and Status of Damaged Aircraft in Australia, unpublished document
Canberra Times
Dunn, Peter, Crash of a P-40E Warhawk at Berridale, NSW, on 28 March 1942, Australia at War, 2006
Dunn, Peter, Crash of a P-40E Warhawk at Narrabarba near Eden, NSW, on 28 March 1942, Australia at War, 2006
Dunn, Peter, Crash of a P-40E Warhawk on a Coastal Sandbar at Aslings Beach, Eden, NSW, on 28 March 1942, Australia at War, 2007
Dunn, Peter, Crash of a P-40E Warhawk south of Eden, in NSW, on 28 March 1942, Australia at War, 2006
Eden Magnet
Eden Volunteer Air Observers Corp Logbook, courtesy of Eden Killer Whale Museum
Ferguson, S. W., and Pascalis, William K., Protect and Avenge – The 49th Fighter Group in World War II, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1996
Magnet-Voice
Smith, Tim, Plane Sailing: The archaeology of aircraft losses over water in New South Wales, Australia, Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, 2004:28, pp. 111 - 122
Australian War Memorial
Whiter, Allan, pers. Comm.