SPITFIRE AT CROCODILE CREEK

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gents

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDD5xfAxhXo&feature=dir

Found this clip while surfing YouTube,

Spitfire recovery in Croc infested waters

Sentry on Croc Watch seems to be armed with a 7.62mm S-L-R

1942 and a RAAF Spitfire out of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia crash landed in crocodile infested mangroves of Western Australia. About as far from civilisation as you can get. This isn't his story. But a tribute to him and the men of the RAAF who almost 20 years ago went to those mangrove swamps and recovered that downed fighter plane.

Any of our Australian members got any more info / pictures on this?

Kevin in Deva

[Tiger-pie]

I have been to Croc Creek but I didn?t see any Spitfires, it was well after this event. Didn?t see any crocs either, but that doesn?t mean that those crafty Saurian buggers weren?t lurking around. It is an incredible section of the Australian coast, massive tides, boab trees and rocky escarpments make for a unique, but harsh, landscape.

There is a BBQ area there which is adorned with RAN patrol boat and cruise ship/pleasure craft memorabilia. When the tide is high you can get right up to the BBQ area, but when it is low the water drops away and you are left high and dry. The tides can be between 15 to 30 feet in difference and retreat so fast that I have witnessed a small waterfall being created by water rushing out between two rock walls at the inlet of a small basin.

Down the coast at Montebello Islands there is abandoned military equipment of various types and I have seen a Spitfire frame there, the body lines are unmistakeable. The Brits tested an A-bomb there and I walked over the island and stood on Ground Zero. If you look back up to the high ground you can see a small ridge or crease in the ground caused by the shockwave from the blast.

Regards;

Johnsy