Two RAAF Vampire Jets flying in a
formation of four, crashed in the Limeburner’s Creek area of the Karuah River
shortly after 11 am on May 13th, 1951. People in the area who had
been watching the aircraft for a while heard a loud bang, then saw the first of
the two aircraft that crashed, piloted by Sgt I. J. Booth, dive into the river
where it sank immediately in water estimated at between 15 and 20 feet deep;
the great speed at which the jet was travelling propelling it into the river
bed causing a wall of black mud to rise into the air. Kerosene and parts of the
wreckage sprayed a wide area.
Flying-Officer Bruce Wilson was in
radio contact with the Williamtown tower after Booth's plane crashed. It is
believed he turned back to see what had happened and then crashed 200 yards
away from it about four minutes later. Wilson's plane crashed on the river bank
where speed drove it into the mud. The explosion which shattered Wilson's plane
tore a great hole in the river bank.
An R.A A.F. spokesman at Eastern
Area headquarters said that two other pilots flying in the formation saw
Booth’s plane go down, but knew nothing of Wilson’s accident. They returned to
Williamstown airfield at once, but Wilson's plane did not follow them. The two
pilots took off again in Mustang fighters to search for Wilson and Booth, and
saw Wilson’s wrecked plane on the river bank. While initial reports stated that
the jets exceeded 750 miles per hour, this was later corrected to between 400
and 500 miles an hour and an official Air Force release from Eastern Area
Headquarters stated that the planes did not collide and that there was a
four-minute interval between the crashes. The statement added, "It is thought
that after Sergeant Booth met with a mishap Flying Officer Wilson flew back and
himself crashed about 200 yards from where Booth crashed into the river.”
Jet Vampire fighters which fly on
one engine and have a maximum speed of more than 500 miles an hour, had been
manufactured at Bankstown, NSW, by the de Havilland Aircraft Company for the
RAAF since 1948. Flying-Officer Bruce Wilson, was given a full military funeral
in Newcastle and Sergeant I. J. Booth was honoured with a private funeral in
Adelaide.
