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, 50km (30miles) north of Rockhampton, killing all 31 people on board.
The aircraft was en route from Townsville to Brisbane with a scheduled stop in Rockhampton.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3]
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).[4] [5] [6] However, those stories only mentioned that they had been "killed in a plane accident" with no specific details about the disaster.[4] [5] [6] 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.[7] 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.[8] [9] Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow and Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley attended the ceremony.[8] Wensley said it was good the tragedy was being remembered while Strelow praised Millroy for his part in organising the memorial.[8]
Annual memorial services are now held at the crash site.[10] A 75th anniversary commemoration was held in 2018.[11] [12]
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[13] [14] [15] and six months after the Bakers Creek air crash near Mackay in which 40 military personnel were killed.[16]
The crew and passengers on board were:[17]
| Name | Country | City | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | 2nd Lieutenant William R. Crecelius | USA | Indiana | |
| Co-Pilot | 2nd Lieutenant John B. Rowell | USA | Michigan | |
| Engineer | Technical Sergeant John L. Shupe | USA | Virginia | |
| Radio Operator | Seargeant Robert S. Fazio | USA | New York | |
| Passenger | Technical Sergeant Carlos M. Bane | USA | Pennsylvania | |
| Passenger | Seargeant Charles F. Dolan | USA | New York | |
| Passenger | 2nd Lieutenant Harry Gillies | USA | New York | |
| Passenger | 2nd Lieutenant William B. Graham | USA | Pennsylvania | |
| Passenger | Captain Orlen N. Loverin | USA | California | |
| Passenger | Warrant Officer Herbert R. Johnson | USA | New York | |
| Passenger | Private Herbert J. Mathias | USA | Indiana | |
| Passenger | Major Hoyt A. Ross | USA | Minnesota | |
| Passenger | Captain Robert J. Simmons | USA | Florida | |
| Passenger | Chief Warrant Officer Thomas W. Smith | USA | Georgia | |
| Passenger | Captain George K. Snyder | USA | Pennsylvania | |
| Passenger | Gunner's Mate Frank J. Carline | USA | Massachusetts | |
| Passenger | Lieutenant William W. Samuelsen | USA | New York | |
| Passenger | Gunner's Mate Jack H. Staggs | USA | California | |
| Passenger | 2nd Lieutenant Ernestine M. Koranda | USA | Minnesota | |
| Passenger | 2nd Lieutenant Rebecca M. Williams | USA | Pennsylvania | |
| Passenger | LAC Donald C. Cameron | Australia | Texas, Queensland | |
| Passenger | Captain Alexander W.R. Geddes | Australia | Waratah, New South Wales | |
| Passenger | Captain Crawford D. Mollison | Australia | South Yarra, Victoria | |
| Passenger | Leading Aircraftman Raymond K. Oster | Australia | Maitland, South Australia | |
| Passenger | Private Benjamin Rasmussen | Australia | Merrick, Queensland | |
| Passenger | Corporal Thomas W. Shard | Australia | Ipswich, Queensland | |
| Passenger | Corporal William B. Sleep | Australia | Brisbane, Queensland | |
| Passenger | Captain John H. Weir | Australia | Melbourne, Victoria | |
| Passenger | Harold (Arnold George) Dick | Australia | Sydney, New South Wales | |
| Passenger | Nigel James Bruce MacDonald | Australia | Neutral Bay, New South Wales | |
| Passenger | William Bramwell Tibbs | Australia | Sydney, New South Wales |
2nd Lieutenant William Randall "Randy" Crecelius was born on November 21, 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 September 26, 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 May 29, 1943. His citation included the following: "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."
After his death, it took more than four years to return his body to the United States. He was buried on March 11, 1948 in the family plot of Warnock Cemetery in Princeton, Indiana.
A scholarship in his name was established at Oakland City University in 1983.