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WWII Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty Bomber crash site
General
Significance
Description
History
Gallery
Resources
Status
Permanent Declaration
Type
Place
Nominated
23/MAR/95
Nomination Accepted
14/MAR/08
Assessment Report Considered
14/MAR/08
Recommended
25/MAR/09
Signed By Minister
05/MAY/09
Gazetted
20/MAY/09
LGA
Un-Incorporated Area
Statement Of Heritage Value
The wreckage of a Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty bomber, tail code T-361 is located on Cox Peninsula west of Darwin. It is one of six bombers sent to bomb the RAAF Station at Darwin on 4 April 1942. Escorted by six Type O Zekefighters the force was intercepted over Darwin by anti-aircraft fire and P-40E fighters of the 9th Squadron 49th Fighter group USAAF. Three of the bombers were lost in the combat, with Betty T-361 breaking up and crashing on Cox Peninsula. The bodies of the crewmen were buried at the crash site the following day. They were later disinterred and reburied at Berrimah War Cemetery before being relocated to Cowra in NSW. In 2006 they were commemorated by the installation of plaques bearing their names at the grave sites at Cowra.
Betty T-361 was the first aircraft of its type to fall into Allied hands that could provide very early information on the type, its production period and serial range, however the investigation was not considered to have been conducted in accordance with procedures and the individual identity of the aircraft remains unknown. It is one of only two of the type remaining in the Northern Territory in any substantial condition and the only example of the type 12 experimental bomber version.
The wreckage of T-361 comprises a main impact point at which the remains of the forward fuselage and some crew stations and equipment are located; the wing centre section, undercarriage and other substantial components; and the impact crater and remains of the port engine. Other wreckage, including larger fuselage components, is distributed in a confined trail over some two kilometres along the line of flight immediately prior to the crash.
The wreck is located in open tropical woodland in what is an evocative setting that, despite the scattered nature of the wreckage itself, collectively relates the final moments of the aircraft and its crew.
The wreckage of Betty T-361 is significant in its origins as one of a serial block of 40 aircraft of only 182 of the type constructed and in its ability to provide further information on the Japanese role in the only sustained aerial conflict over Australian soil.
Value
Historic
Description
Wreckage of a Japanese Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty Bomber, T-361, shot down over Darwin in 1942.
Additional Information