The printed metal plaque is set at a 45° angle on a green painted metal post near the summit of Aeroplane Hill. It has the following text:
Aeroplane Hill - 1531 metres above sea level
"Aeroplane Hill was named after a wartime tragedy that occurred on the night of the 16th April 1945. A RAAF Mosquito fighter bomber - ADF No. A52-70, on a training flight from Williamtown to Moree, Nygan and return to Williamtown, crashed on the Barrington Tops during poor weather conditions on that date. Unfortunately, there have been a number of aircraft crashes in the Barrington Tops area since the A52-70 crashed on that night.
"The aircraft was an A52 De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito FB 40. The Mosquito was an all wooden aircraft, powered by two Packard Merlin engines. It had a wing span of 16.51m and a length of 12.45m. They were long-range, high altitude fighter bombers. The FB 40 had four 20mm cannons and four 0.303 guns out front (as depicted in the sketch) and also had the capacity to carry four bombs, two in the fuselage and two under the wings.
"During WW2 many Australian RAAF personnel saw service in Mosquito aircraft in Europe, SE Asia and here in Australia
"It was not until the 17th of January 1946 that Kenneth Collison of Stewarts Brook, who was on leave from the AIF, was out mustering cattle and came upon the plane wreckage, scattered over a vast area, with some pieces high up in the tree tops. The remains of the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Antony G. Warren and navigator, Flying Officer George F. Bidstrup were recovered and interred in the War Cemetery at Sandgate, near Newcastle.
"For many years visitors to the area have souvenired pieces of the plane wreckage, meaning all that really remains is the name of the hill.
"Some other plane crashes in the Barrington Tops area:
* 2nd September 1948 - Australian National Airlines Douglas DC3 - 13 people killed
* 14th September 1954 - Sydney Morning Herald Lockheed Hudson - 3 people killed
* 25th September 1967 - RAAF Mirage 111-0 fighter jet - pilot ejected safely
* 3rd April 1973 - RAAF Mirage 111-0 fighter jet - pilot killed, FOff, Stanley Groom
* 31st March 1975 - Private Piper Cherokee 2 people killed, 1 injured
* 14th June 1975 - Private Piper Cherokee 2 people killed, 2 children survived
* 9th August 1981 - Private Cessna 210 - 5 people killed - wreckage still not located
* 3rd August 1987 - RAAF MB 326H Macchi jet - crew ejected safely
Cropped sketch of a Mosquito bomber, from the plaque
Location: Aeroplane Hill Trail, Barrington Tops, NSW, 2422, Australia
Visited: 1237, Wednesday, 26 April, 2023
* No specific website for this crash, just the later unfound crash.
* From May to October - weather dependent - the 12km dirt road to Junction Pools is OPEN, at other times the gate is locked near Barrington Road/Polblue, so there is an extra long road work to take. Be prepared and check conditions! *