The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Informal group portrait of the crew of 6 Squadron Lockheed Hudson A16-245 photographed on their return to Turnbull Field. Two days earlier they were forced to ditch the aircraft in Milne Bay approximately 60 kilometres from base when poor weather delayed their return long enough for the fuel to run out. Identified, left to right: Flying Officer (FO) William ‘Bill’ Green, navigator; 416128 Sergeant (Sgt) Ernest ‘Archie’ Prime, wireless operator/air gunner, (WAG); Sgt John H Clark, WAG, (note his bandaged forehead, an injury sustained in the ditching); pilot 415152 Flt Lt Ray Kelly. They are standing in front of the Hudson's rubber dingy which Kelly had set to be released automatically via the seawater-activated electrical switch under the plane's nose, but which became twisted and damaged during the ditching. This experience led Kelly to recommend that in future it would be preferable to allow the aircraft to come to a stop before releasing the dingy manually. Flt Lt Kelly managed to land the Hudson within 300 metres of the northern shore of Milne Bay in approximately 15-20 metres of water. The aircraft floated for five minutes before sinking, its position marked by a rising oil slick which allowed the crew to mark its resting place with a buoy for salvage purposes. Lack of facilities meant salvage was never undertaken and the aircraft still lies on its back on the sandy bottom of Milne Bay. After being rescued by locals in their lakatois (outrigger canoes), the crew was picked up by a US PT Boat from the nearby PT base at Kona Kope and taken to the patrol gunboat (and PT boat tender) USS Tulsa, where the crew spent the night, enjoying what Flt Lt Kelly recalls as a very comfortable meal, before being returned to the RAAF base at the western end of the Bay.
A makeshift buoy and an oil slick marks the position where 6 Squadron Lockheed Hudson A16-245 sank after ditching 360 metres off the northern shore of Milne Bay in approximately 15-20 metres of water
One of the Milne Bay locals in the lakatois (outrigger canoes) in which he and others rescued the crew of Lockheed Hudson A16-245 after they were forced to ditch the aircraft in Milne Bay approximatel
A US Elco PT Boat anchored, at Kona Kope, next to the Asheville class patrol gunboat, USS Tulsa, at their PT base at Kona Kope. The PT boat has just returned from rescuing four crew members of A16-245
A US PT Boat from the PT base on the southeastern shore of Milne Bay at Kona Kope approaches a makeshift buoy and an oil slick in north eastern Milne Bay which marks the last resting place of A16-245,
Informal group portrait of Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Ray Kelly's crew outside their tent just prior to an anti-submarine patrol in their B Flight, 6 Squadron RAAF Lockheed Hudson, A16-177. Left to ri
A Lockheed Hudson aircraft crew of No. 2 Squadron RAAF study a map beside a Squadron aircraft. Left to right: 402852 Pilot Officer (PO) Keith Edmund Daniel (Captain) of Moree, NSW, later Flight Lieute
