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A B-17 Flying Fortress crash at Bakers Creek in 1943 resulted in the tragic loss of forty lives. The cause of the crash remains unclear, with potential factors including weather conditions and pilot inexperience. The incident went unreported in wartime media but is remembered annually in Virginia.
On June 14, 1943, a US Army Air Forces Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress, Serial No. 40-2072 and nicknamed "Miss Every Morning Fixin," took off from Mackay, Australia. The aircraft was carrying six crew members and 35 passengers returning to Port Moresby, New Guinea after an R&R break. Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed at Bakers Creek, Queensland, about five miles south of the airfield. Forty people perished; only Foye Kenneth Roberts survived until February 4, 2004.
Joseph Gordon Roberts was scheduled to be on the flight but missed it due to oversleeping. The aircraft had been converted into a transport following heavy battle damage earlier in its service life. Despite passing a test flight before the tragedy, it stands as Australia's deadliest aviation disaster by death toll during WWII.
