The memorial is a granite rock with bronze plaque. It commemorates two British pilots lost in a mid-air collision between two Spitfires during World War II.

From December 1943 until June 1944, R.A.F. Spitfire Squadrons 548 and 549 were based at camps in Strathpine and Lawton having been redirected from the Middle East to Australia by British Air Command.  The two squadrons were piloted and commanded by R.A.F. personnel and serviced by R.A.A.F. ground support staff.  On 1st June 1944 both Spitfire squadrons were sent to Darwin.  They saw action in the Pacific before the end of hostilities in August 1945.

On 19 April 1944, three Mark VIII Spitfires of 548 Squadron took off in formation from the Strathpine A2 airstrip on a training flight. A short time later, a fourth single Spitfire also took off from the strip. At approximately 8.50 a.m., two of these aircraft were involved in a mid-air collision near Youngs Crossing and the two
British pilots involved, Squadron Leader Henry Wright and Sergeant Alan Chandler, sustained fatal injuries. Both men were buried in Lutwyche Cemetery and a memorial has been placed near the site of the crash. Although the general facts concerning this crash are well known, many of the written and oral sources contain contradictory and confusing versions of the events. The most reliable information can be found in the Proceedings of the Court of Inquiry, Accident to Spitfires A58/392 and A58/393, Strathpine. According to the testimony of a number of witnesses at this Inquiry, whilst circling the Strathpine strip at an altitude of 4,000 feet, the three aircraft, under the leadership of Flying Officer James Melvin Hilton, noticed the fourth aircraft taking off. Following Hilton's lead, they all immediately determined to test the alertness of the pilot by mounting a feint attack and 'bouncing' the aircraft. To this end, they turned into the sun, straightened up when dead astern and then commenced a shallow dive to close in on the aircraft which was then at an altitude of about 2,500 feet and travelling in a westerly direction. At this stage, the identity of the pilot of the fourth aircraft (Squadron Leader Henry Wright in A58/393) was not known to any of the three pilots and the aircraft were not
equipped with radio. All witnesses agreed that Wright appeared to be unaware of the presence of the other three aircraft and that Hilton's aircraft, followed by the second aircraft, successfully carried out the required manoeuvre by passing over the top of the target. The third aircraft (A58/392 piloted by Sergeant Alan Chandler), however, came into collision with Wright's aircraft. What happened after the collision is less clear. All witnesses to the Inquiry agreed, however, that Wright's aircraft appeared to continue on its course for some short length of time and that portions of Chandler's aircraft broke off following the impact. Parts of Chandler's aircraft were seen falling and his aircraft was last seen spinning towards the ground. One witness on the ground, a powder monkey camped with the Civil
Construction Corps at Youngs Crossing, stated that parts of Chandler's plane had fallen off and that "the aircraft fell to the ground within a few hundred yards of where I was standing". Wright's aircraft, on the other hand, appeared to carry on in a westerly direction until it "dived into the Pine River and exploded immediately on impact". The first witnesses to arrive at the scene found Chandler's aircraft (A58/392) completely wrecked with his body pinned underneath. Wright's aircraft
(A58/393) was totally submerged and some time elapsed before the pilot's body was recovered.

The depression adjacent to the memorial is the place where the aircraft piloted by Sergeant Chandler crashed.  A section of ignition harness from the aircraft was set into the memorial but has since been removed.

Bronze plaque
Insignia of Rotary      Insignia of Pine Rivers Shire Council      Insignia of R.S.L.
THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY THE ROTARY
CLUB OF PINE RIVERS, PINE RIVERS SHIRE
COUNCIL AND THE PINE RIVERS DISTRICT
SUB BRANCH R.S.L. IN MEMORY OF SQN. LDR.
WILLIAM HENRY ALEXANDER WRIGHT AND SGT.
ALAN VICTOR CHANDLER WHO LOST THEIR
LIVES IN A MID AIR COLLISION OVER THIS SITE
INVOLVING TWO SPITFIRES OF NO. 548 SQUADRON,
RAF BASED AT STRATHPINE, AT 0850 HOURS
19 APRIL 1944
DEDICATED ON 19 APRIL 1997

Insignia of Royal Air Force

LEST WE FORGET

Information current to March 2002

Sources:   Some of the information and the photo on this page have been kindly provided by Brett Prentice  The detailed description of the accident has been taken, with permission,
                     from a forthcoming history of the Pine Rivers Shire by Leith Barter, Local Studies Librarian, Pine Rivers Shire Library Service
                  Photo © Brett Prentice

  PREVIOUS     HOME     SEARCH     DESCRIPTIONS     ABBREVIATIONS     NEXT