The 1943 Seaspray RAAF incident was an incident in
Seaspray, Victoria
Seaspray is a small coastal town in Victoria, Australia, in the Gippsland region of the state. The town is located alongside the Ninety Mile Beach about off the South Gippsland Highway in the Shire of Wellington, east of the state capital, Mel ...
on 27 December 1943 involving a
Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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plane that was flying off Seaspray Beach at a low level, towing a
drogue
A drogue (also known as a storm drogue) is a device trailed behind a boat on a long line attached to the stern. A drogue is used to slow the boat down in a storm and to prevent the hull (watercraft), hull from becoming side-on to the water waves ...
target on a wire. After the target was released, the wire failed to wind in, injuring people on the beach. Seven people were injured, including two who had their legs amputated. These were Sale residents Hector Luxford and Noreen Cullen. People with more minor injuries included two children aged 16 and 14 who received injuries from sand propelled into the air.
The pilot involved in this incident, Lindsay White, was almost immediately placed under arrest, being put under constant guard. White was acquitted in a
court-martial
A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...
, saying that apart from feeling a "distinct tug", he was not aware of the injuries caused, and that he did not see the beach.
As for the survivors, Luxford and Cullen received compensation of £3000, however, this was not adequate to pay for the medical care they both required. Cullen, who was only 17 at the time of the incident, spent four months in hospital learning to walk again with prosthetics, and ultimately married Bill Waud in 1948, changing her name to Noreen Waud and having two children. A plaque has since been installed at the beach where the accident occurred. Noreen Waud died on 3 May 2021.
References
{{coord missing, Victoria (state)
Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft
Aviation accidents and incidents in Victoria (state)