CRASH OF AN AVRO ANSON
INTO MOUNT OAKDEN
ABOUT 7 MILES NE OF HOYLETON, SA
ON 13 MAY 1942

On the 13 May 1942, RAAF Avro Anson, R3561, from No.6 S.F.T.S. Mallala, South Australia crashed into Mount Oakden about 7 miles north east of Hoyleton, in South Australia during a rainstorm. 

The Anson was totally destroyed and 21 year old LAC David Alwyen Checchi (409511) was killed. 

On page 120 of a book by Jean V. Moyle, The Wakefield, Its Water And Its Wealth (Riverton, SA: Jean V. Moyle, 1975), Jean  says:-

"In this western valley the Skilly...turns sharply south and on its western side it is flanked by the range in which Mount Oakden...is the highest peak....Mount Oakden was the scene of a tragedy during WW 11. A young trainee pilot, on an early morning flight, found the range enveloped in thick fog. He crashed into the side of the invisible , densely tree-covered mount. A wood cutter, Anton Pawelski who heard the sound, was able to direct the search. The plane was wrecked, the pilot dead and a trail of blazed tree tops showed the line of flight. This trail remained visible for several years."

As a child in the 1940's Ivan Winter's father told him about a plane that crashed on one of these hills (part of the North Mount Lofty Ranges and often referred to as the Skilly Hills), as they carried their truck load of bee-boxes to the western foot of Tower Hill. Ivan  always thought the crash was on a hill directly south of Tower Hill which, to this day, is notable for the big, single tree growing on its summit. From the west Ivan probably could not see Mt Oakden.

RESOURCES

The Wakefield, Its Water And Its Wealth
by Jean V. Moyle, 1975

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Rick Hanning and Ivan Winter for their assistance with this home page.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

Heaps of WW2 books available at Amazon.com

"Australia @ War"

This page first produced 18 June 2002

This page last updated 13 February 2008