Wirraway plane wreckage

Plane
WWII comes to the East Kimberley

Just a month after Darwin was first attacked by Japanese aircraft in 1942, a Royal Australian Air Force 12 Squadron Wirraway A20-62—Australia’s first mass-produced war-plane—was on a salvage mission for a 12 Squadron Wirraway that had force-landed at Drysdale. Flying from Batchelor in the Northern Territory to Wyndham, their engine had failed, and they were forced to land on the coastal saltmarsh near the WA-NT border. After a long trek, the two pilots were rescued by four Aboriginal stockmen from nearby Carlton Hill Station. These remnants of the Wirraway A20-62 (now on display) were found in 2004 on the WA coast, just 5 km inside the border.

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Kununurra Museum

Kununurra stories

For a town that was only gazetted in 1961, the Kununurra Museum has amassed an amazing amount of information, objects and stories about the town and the history of the surrounding region. From 2,000...

Address:

72 Coolibah Drive Kununurra
Kununurra WA 6743
Australia

Open Hours

Mon to Fri 12.30pm - 5.30pm

More from the Kununurra Museum

Opening of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme

“Developing the North” has been the catch cry of Governments and the dream of many. Inspired by Steinberg's plans to establish a Jewish settlement in the north, in March 1941, Kim Durack, the son of...

While you're in the area

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