The Canal Creek air crash occurred on 19 December 1943, when a C-47 aircraft of the 22d Troop Carrier Squadron 374th Troop Carrier Group crashed at Canal Creek, Queensland, north of Rockhampton, killing all 31 people (mostly US military personnel) on board.
The Canal Creek air crash occurred just a month after the Rewan air crash near Rolleston, in which 19 Australian and American personnel were killed and six months after the Bakers Creek air crash near Mackay in which 40 military personnel were killed.
Aircraft
The USAAF military transport aircraft Douglas C-47 Skytrain, registration 43-30742, had four crew. It used the call sign VH-CHR, and had the nickname Hoosier Traveler.
Event
The aircraft was en route from its base at RAAF Garbutt, Townsville, to Brisbane with a scheduled stop in Rockhampton. The crash is believed to be caused by a fire in one engine, which caused an explosion, destroying part of the aircraft and causing it to disintegrate and crash.
Due to wartime censorship, there was very little press coverage of the accident, with the few newspaper articles that were published focusing on the non-combatants on-board such as Harold Dick (war photographer), Nigel James MacDonald (YMCA) and William Tibbs (Salvation Army). However, those stories only mentioned that they had been "killed in a plane accident" with no specific details about the disaster.
Crew and passengers
Those killed included twenty United States Armed Forces personnel, eight Australian Defence Force personnel, an Australian war photographer, a representative from the YMCA and an adjutant from the Salvation Army.
StatusNameCountryCityNotes Pilot2nd Lieutenant William R. CreceliusUSAIndiana See section belowCo-pilot2nd Lieutenant John B. RowellUSAMichiganEngineerTechnical Sergeant John L. ShupeUSAVirginiaRadio operatorSergeant Robert S. FazioUSANew YorkPassengerTechnical Sergeant Carlos M. BaneUSAPennsylvaniaPassengerSergeant Charles F. DolanUSANew YorkPassenger2nd Lieutenant Harry GilliesUSANew YorkPassenger2nd Lieutenant William B. GrahamUSAPennsylvaniaPassengerCaptain Orlen N. Loverin DFCUSACaliforniaLoverin captained the Doodle; he was on leave, returning to Sydney.PassengerWarrant Officer Herbert R. JohnsonUSANew YorkPassengerPrivate Herbert J. MathiasUSAIndianaPassengerMajor Hoyt A. RossUSAMinnesotaPassengerCaptain Robert J. SimmonsUSAFloridaPassengerChief Warrant Officer Thomas W. SmithUSAGeorgiaPassengerCaptain George K. SnyderUSAPennsylvaniaPassengerGunner's Mate Frank J. CarlineUSAMassachusettsPassengerLieutenant William W. SamuelsenUSANew YorkPassengerGunner's Mate Jack H. StaggsUSACaliforniaPassenger 2nd Lieutenant Ernestine May "Carmen" Koranda USA Wadena, Minnesota US Army nurse, based at 12th Station Hospital, Townsville. Aged 31. A United States Army hospital ship was named USAHS Ernestine Koranda.Passenger 2nd Lieutenant Rebecca M. Williams USA Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania US Army nurse, aged 33.Passenger LAC Donald Cantrol Cameron Australia Texas, Queensland No. 36 Squadron RAAF strategic transport squadron.PassengerCaptain Alexander W. R. GeddesAustraliaWaratah, New South WalesPassengerCaptain Crawford D. MollisonAustraliaSouth Yarra, VictoriaPassengerLeading Aircraftman Raymond K. OsterAustraliaMaitland, South AustraliaPassengerPrivate Benjamin RasmussenAustraliaMerrick, QueenslandPassengerCorporal Thomas W. ShardAustraliaIpswich, QueenslandPassengerCorporal William B. SleepAustraliaBrisbane, QueenslandPassengerCaptain John H. WeirAustraliaMelbourne, VictoriaPassenger Harold Arnold George Dick Australia Sydney, New South Wales Aged 26. Film footage taken by Dick over occupied Japanese territory was located and successfully developed.PassengerNigel James Bruce MacDonaldAustraliaNeutral Bay, New South Wales YMCAPassenger William Bramwell Tibbs Australia Sydney, New South Wales Deputy Commissioner, Salvation Army.
Pilot Randy Crecelius
Second Lieutenant William Randall "Randy" Crecelius was born on 21 November 1918 in Gibson County, Indiana. He was the first of five children born to Henry Crecelius and Maude Miley Crecelius.
Crecelius enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps on 26 September 1940. He was eventually assigned to the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 374th Troop Carrier Group. This Squadron operated the Douglas C-47 Skytrain in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during the war.
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 29 May 1943. His citation included: He took part in more than fifty missions, dropping supplies and transporting troops over territory that was continually patrolled by enemy fighter aircraft. Often landings were made on fields only a few miles from Japanese bases. These operations aided considerably in the recent success in this theatre.
On the day of the crash he had flown more than 150 combat missions, and 137 flights from Townsville. After his death, it took more than four years to return his body to the United States. He was buried on 11 March 1948 in the family plot of Warnock Cemetery in Princeton, Indiana.
A scholarship in Crecelius' name was established at Oakland City University in 1983, to assist post-secondary education.
Memorial
With many locals still unaware of the disaster and no historic marker in its place, Yeppoon resident John Millroy began campaigning in 2011–2012 for a permanent memorial at the crash site to commemorate those who died.
After securing $14,000 in government funding, a monument was unveiled by World War II servicemen Neville Hewitt and Yeppoon RSL president Wayne Carter on 16 June 2012. Rockhampton mayor] Margaret Strelow and Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley attended the ceremony. Wensley said it was good the tragedy was being remembered while Strelow praised Millroy for his part in organising the memorial.
Annual memorial services are now held at the crash site. A 75th anniversary commemoration was held in 2018.
See also
List of accidents and incidents involving the DC-3 in 1943
Notes
References
Further reading