Stinson Air Disaster Memorial - Queensland, Australia
S 28° 14.023 E 153° 08.355
56J E 513661 N 6876899
A memorial to the Stinson Air Disaster is located in the Green Mountains Botanical Gardens at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat adjacent to Lamington National Park in Queensland, Australia.
Waymark Code: WM5Z9W
Location: Queensland, Australia
Date Posted: 03/06/2009
Views: 12
The memorial plaque reads as follows:
Stinson Air Disaster
19th. February, 1937
To Commemorate
The Loss of VH-UHH "City of Brisbane"
About 20 Miles From This Memorial
Died: Rex Boyden, Beverley Shepherd, James Westray,
Roland Graham, William Fountain
Survived: Josiah Binstead, John Proud
Rescuers: Bernard O'Reilly and All Friends Who
Gave Their Best to Make Rescue Possible
As Long as It Stands This Rock Will Tell
Of Man's Courage, Mateship, Endurance
And Self-Sacrifice
Dedicated: 3rd. November, 1988
The following information about this air disaster is from the Australia Network website:
On 19 February, 1937 a Stinson airliner crashed on a regular passenger run from Brisbane to Sydney, sparking Australia's largest ever land and air search. But authorities received conflicting eyewitness reports, and concentrated their efforts about 800 kilometres too far south. In fact, the plane had been swallowed up by the steep gorges and jungle of Lamington National Park, barely half an hour into its journey. While four on the plane died instantly, three somehow made it out of the crash alive. But where the massive search effort failed to find the wreck, it was left to one man to succeed.