Return to USAAF B-24D #42-40387"Beautiful Betsy"
At 2200 hours on the night of Monday, 26th February 1945, US Army Air Corps B-24D Liberator No. 42-40387 named "Beautiful Betsy", left Darwin for Brisbane on a supply run. The 380th Bomb Squadron along with Beautiful Betsy and other planes they operated were soon to head to the Philippines to take the war closer to the retreating Japanese. Betsy, her six man American crew, and two British passengers never made it to their destination, Eagle Farm Airport. The Americans in Darwin not only lost their comrades, but 600 pounds in Australian currency that was to buy supplies for a farewell party. Also bereaved by Betsy's disappearance was the bride of one of the RAF officers travelling to Brisbane to be married.
The planned route was to follow a regular flight path from Darwin almost parallel to the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria until Claraville Station near Croydon, past the eastern extremity of the Gulf, then turn on a near south-easterly heading for Brisbane. The flight time of about nine hours would have seen her arrive in Brisbane around 0700 hours.
An intensive search was carried out along the intended route by two planes from the 380th Bomb Group. Having sighted nothing on the way to Brisbane, they were told to search near Claraville station on their return where the missing plane was allegedly heard passing overhead. However, nothing was found of the old war horse, pensioned off as a combat plane at the end of 1944 after some 1300 flying hours, including 25 long range bombing missions.
Some speculated that Betsy's airframe may have been over-stressed during emergency action in late 1943 to avoid a collision with a sister aircraft, and this may have contributed to its demise. The near-collision occurred in a violent storm during a raid on Rabaul. On retirement from combat, Betsy's offensive weaponry was removed and the fuselage modified for dropping agents behind enemy lines by parachute. It has also been suggested the alterations m ay have contributed to the loss of the plane. \par \tab The whereabouts of Beautiful Betsy remained a mystery for 491/2 years, despite a number of searches by official and other interested parties. Squadron members never gave up hope she would be found.
Former RAAF fighter pilot, Garry Cooper, made a number of searches in the early 1970s, including one to inspect a Liberator fuel tank near the Queensland - Northern Territory border. (See Note 1) Garry kept himself informed of official searches for Beautiful Betsy , including those made by the late Group Captain Keith Rundle who was tasked with locating hundreds of missing planes after WWII.
Word of Betsy's discovery broke in August 1994 after Mark Roe, a Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Ranger saw the sun reflecting off something bright across from a mountain top where he was engaged in controlled burning of undergrowth in Kroombit Tops State Forest, about 125 km south of Rockhampton. \par \tab According to Dr. Alan Horsup (Senior Conservation Officer, Wildlife Manag ement, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Central Region) Mark noted this and returned at a later date to find the source of interest. When he did so, he made an amazing and historical discovery!
The aircraft was quickly identified and a 10-member US Army team spent about three weeks documenting the site, and searching for human remains and personal effects. At the time, ABC radio told the story and interviewed the official RAAF Historian a number of times during their late afternoon show.
Notes:
1. Garry Cooper and a fellow enthusiast led to the recovery of an American B-25 Mitchell bomber that crash landed in Northern Territory's Tenermine Desert after its crew became lost. The crew eventually made their way to safety while the plane was later blown up to render it unusable. The B-25 is on display with many other aviation artifacts including a USAF B-52 bomber.