Eildon - RAAF Avro Anson Memorial Track
A 2.4 kilometre (one-way) uphill walk leads to the crash site and memorial of an RAAF Avro Anson aircraft that crashed on the north-east face of Mount Torbreck near Eildon in 1940, killing all four crew.
The memorial site includes an engine recovered from the mountainside on a stand.
The starting point of the walking track is at the corner of Barnewall Plains Road and Torbreck Road.
Turn right off the Eildon-Jamieson Road coming from Eildon into Barnewall Plains Road. It is a gravel road but it is in good condition and easily accessible with a 2WD.
The track is moderately steep in sections but manageable if you take your time. Allow about one hour each way. The track was extensively cleared a number of years ago but could be more overgrown now.
Make sure you are well equipped for any weather conditions and have the ability to contact emergency services to avoid becoming lost in this inhospitable terrain.
A Wartime Tragedy at Mount Torbreck
On the 16th of May 1940, a military Avro Adson aircraft with Royal Australian Air Force serial, A4-4 crashed into the north east face of Mount Torbreck, approximately 100 metres from the memorial. All four RAAF men on board were killed.
The aircraft was one of three Avro Anson training aircraft that were on a trans-continental training flight from Pearce Air Force Base in Western Australia en route to the Central Flying School at Camden in NSW. They had all successfully landed and refuelled at Point Cook Air Force Base in Melbourne and returned to the skies at 11:45am. Poor weather conditions caused plans to be altered during this leg of the flight. After flying over Yea, and making a transmission, two of the planes decided to return to Point Cook in Victoria, with the third plotting a flight path to Cootamundra in NSW. A4-4 requested a flight bearing from Essendon Aeradio Station to return to Point Cook, the transmission was jammed as it was transmitting at the same time as one of the other Anson's.
One of the aircraft managed to reach Cootamundra, though only one of the two that intended to turn back to Point Cook made it back safely. Avro Anson A4-4 was never heard-from again. The RAAF conducted extensive air and ground searches to locate the lost Anson with no success. After 10 days the official search was called off.
On the 23rd of January 1941, some eight months after the aircraft disappeared, two local graziers from nearby Thornton discovered the lost Anson and immediately reported their find to the authorities.
At 3.15am the next day (Friday the 24th of January) a recovery party left for the crash site in order to bring the bodies of the four men back to Alexandra. They drove as far as they could in their cars, though the last 5 to 6 miles was conducted on foot. Conditions were reported as wet, cold and slippery under foot.
The men's bodies were carried out by pack horses back to the waiting vehicles and taken back to Melbourne.
The people who lost their lives here were:
Location
Cnr Barnewall Plains Road and Torbreck Road, Eildon 3713 Map
Web Links
→ Avro Anson Memorial Ceremony - 23rd January 2016 (PDF)
→ Mount Torbreck Avro Anson Crash Memorial (PDF)
→ Avro Anson Plane Crash Mount Torbreck (PDF)
→ Military History Trail
