CRASH OF A MOSQUITO
1/2 MILE SOTH OF VIOLET TOWN, VIC
19 JUNE 1945

visits since 10 June 2001

On the 19 June 1945, RAAF Mosquito Mk XVI, NS735 of 618 Squadron RAF (UK), took off from Laverton at 1421 hours on a transit flight to Laverton to Narromine when it dived into the ground at approximately 1445 hrs and burnt about south of Violet Town near Benalla in Victoria. The aircraft was written off and both RAF crew members were killed as follows:-

Flying Officer Ernest George Bell (Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Edward Brian Sillito, DFC (Navigator)

At about 1500 hours, the Station Master at the Benalla Railway Station rang Flight Lieutenant Francis Henry Waters, the Adjutant of No. 11 Elementary Flying Training School at Benalla to report that an aircraft had crashed and was in flames about half a mile south of Violet Town near the 103 mile peg.

The Court of Inquiry was unable to find a reason for this tragic accident. The "Preliminary Report (Internal) of Flying Accident or Forced Landing" had indicated a Probable Cause of "Loss of control in conditions of poor visibility".

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'd like to thank Rick Hanning for his assistance with this 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 10 June 2001

This page last updated 26 April 2011