Two Weddings and a Funeral

When Eileen Rourke became engaged to Frank Hyland, a RAAF engineer, their wedding was planned to take place in Melbourne on 1 Nov 1938, Melbourne Cup Day. Their plans were disrupted when the RAAF transferred Frank to Perth at short notice. It was 1938 and the war drums were beating. The invitations had already been sent so Eileen decided to go ahead and have the wedding party, if not the ceremony, in Melbourne without the groom. The couple were eventually married in Perth six weeks later, on 21 Dec 1938.

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17 months on, in May 1940, Frank Hyland was a member of the aircrew in one of three Avro Anson aircraft flying from Perth to Camden, New South Wales. The route took them via Melbourne. On the penultimate leg of the trip, from the Point Cook base on the outskirts of Melbourne to Cootamundra, the four aircraft flew into low cloud over Victoria's high country. Two of the aircraft returned to Point Cook while one pressed on. The story is best told by the Australian Defence Force report below:

On 16 May 1940, a military Avro Anson aircraft with the call sign BNA, crashed into the north-east face of Mount Torbreck, just 200 m below the summit. Mount Torbreck is located in central Victoria, not far from the townships of Eildon and Snobs Creek. All four military men on board were killed, with the crash site not located until eight months later. The aircraft was one of three Avro Anson training aircraft that had flown from Pierce Air Force Base in WA and were on their way to the Central Flying School at Camden in NSW. They had all successfully refuelled at Point Cook in Victoria, and had then taken off back to the skies at 11:45 am. Poor weather conditions caused plans to be altered during the next 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. One of the aircraft did manage to reach Cootamundra, though only one of the two that turned back to Point Cook Air Force Base made it back safely. The other (BNA) was never heard from again. It was later discovered that it had flown into tall trees near the summit of Mount Torbreck in the Victorian High Country.

In 2013 a party of bushwalkers discovered the site. A tree branch had fallen across the plaque. Killed in the accident were:

Flying Officer Anthony Ashby Daniel (243) Pilot

Corporal Ivan Lapen Stowdor (2472) W.T. Operator

Corporal Francis Ettiene Hyland (3515) Fitter

Corporal Herman Fred Sass (256) Fitter