George, formally of Palmwoods, Cooran, Brisbane, Mackay, Glen Innes, Winton and Cairns passed away peacefully, in Alexandra Headland, on Tuesday 14 April 2020, aged 98 years.

Beloved husband of Joyce (deceased), Father, Father-in-law, Grandfather, Great Grandfather and friend to many.

His memory will live on forever through his generosity and lifelong commitment to community service and his devotion to his country as a World War Two veteran.

George received a Commendation Award from the USAF and was mentioned in RAAF Dispatches for his efforts. See story below.

A private ceremony was held at Gregson & Weight, Buderim on Monday 20 April.

The story

from Paul McBride

In 1944 my father George Mc Bride, together with three other airmen, were involved in a happening in New Guinea that saw a Beaufort Bomber out of Aitipi enroute to Port Moresby, crash in a very remote area of the highlands of New Guinea.

My father received a Commendation Award from the USAF and was mentioned in RAAF Dispatches for his efforts. I thought that the story of the aftermath of this incident may be of interest. This is the story: Bad weather and a low cloud ceiling resulted in the Beaufort becoming lost and low in fuel.

They were in the vicinity of New Guinea’s highest peak, 4909 metre Mt Wilheim and this posed a very real threat, as finally the Beaufort had to break cloud cover and seek a place to put down. A clearing and a short grass airstrip presented itself and a landing was made. Unfortunately the strip was too short and the plane skidded on the long grass covering it, and crashed into some trees that prevented it careering into a deep chasm. Apart from some abrasions and cuts there were no serious injuries.

The aircraft had put down at an X Lutheran Mission and the occupants were greeted by an Angua Patrol Officer, Sgt Bannister and his native helpers who used the Mission as their base. The remoteness of the area, the condition of the airstrip that now had a badly damaged aircraft on it and the strain it put on Bannister to house and feed us was a real concern. It was also imperative that we contact our Squadron and alert them of our situation.

There was a wireless transmitter but the batteries were flat as the charger was unserviceable. With the help of the batteries from the crashed aircraft, contact was made with Nadzab alerting them of our predicament. We were advised that they were assessing the situation and advised us to clear the aircraft from the strip and cut the grass. A fly over of a C47 dropped a modern radio, a charger, some trade items such as stick tobacco, machetes and kena shells and food items.

The trade items were used to recruit labour to cut the grass; build a palm building for us and help with shifting the aircraft. This proved to be very difficult and necessitated partly dismantling it. Fortunately the Mission was well equipped tool wise, which included a block and tackle. After a couple of weeks it all happened.

We looked at the airstrip with a view to extending it but we could only gain a little on the approach by filling in a gully and we also needed the trees at the other end to stop the aircraft over running into the chasm. The strip was designed for a much different type of aircraft that those currently used. Light high lift winged craft with low landing and takeoff speeds was what was needed.

The altitude of the area of the mission (1650m) was also a problem. Unless the right type of aircraft was available, it was a one shot strip as trying to take off required a steep climb up the face of Mt Wilhelm. Not an option. We involved ourselves with Sgt Bannisters prime role for being there; the giving of vitamin injections to the villagers to combat the Leprosy like Yaws that was prevalent in the area.

We did some work on local bridges and the Mission buildings as we awaited a decision on lifting us out. Although the Chimbu area, has an estimated 95000 population and speak multiple dialects, there is a system where important news is transmitted by a yodel like call from hill to hill. Late one morning ‘tok’ as it was referred to indicated, that ‘a balus him bugger up finish on big fella mountain’: An aircraft had crashed on Mt Wilhelm. We immediately gathered what medical supplies that was available, and together with Bannister and his boss boy ‘Buka” started the climb up the mountain with no knowledge of where the crash had occurred.

We were hoping that we would come across some natives with knowledge of its whereabouts. There were no tracks and it was tough going, not only because of the altitude, but having to hack our way through dense scrub.

With the help of bush torches we continued till about 11pm and soaking wet, tired and suffering with altitude sickness we bedded down for the night in a palm and mud hut We knew we had to find the aircraft quickly as the plight of survivors, if any was urgent. Early next morning we came across a group of natives who had a stick with an Americans cap badge stuck in it. This indicated that it was an American aircraft and at least one survivor.

Buka convinced some of the natives to lead us to the site. Bannister, who was not well, decided to return to base and organise natives as stretcher bearers and to cut a rough track We pushed on with as much haste as the terrain allowed but with the thinking we must get there as soon as possible as the condition of any survivors surviving in the bitter cold and wet was a concern. We ourselves were suffering not only from the physical exertion but the altitude. It was decided that the fittest two including my father would push on with Buka and the other two would rest and follow later.

At about 3pm they reached the crash site to find that a A20 USAF Boston had crashed and partly burned into the mountain. There were two survivors alive and one dead. The natives, Bird of Paradise hunters, had moved the injured among some rocks, had built a shelter over them and had fires keeping them warm. We realised that we must treat them as best we could and move them as soon as possible if they were to survive.

The airmen were Staff Sgt Edwin Barnett and Lt. James Cox and the dead man was Lt Charles Reeve. The natives had never seen a white man or aeroplane before and the airmen had some difficulty obtaining their trust. The A20 was on a flight from the then Hollandia with a pilot to pick up a B25 from Nadzab..

Unfortunately instead of following the Ramu Valley that led into Nadzab they took the Kon Valley towards Mt Hagen and on a path that led to Mt Wilhelm. The survivors were in a bad shape with both having extensive burns. Barnett had bad facial injuries including a broken jaw, a broken leg near the hip and some bad cuts.

Cox was also badly burned with severe leg injuries, a broken arm and shoulder and many bad abrasions. Both were in severe pain and in and out of consciousness. We had limited first aid knowledge and few medical supplies but started to attend to the injuries as best we were able. Fortunately we had morphine syrettes and it must have been heaven to get a shot. Most of the wounds were infected and these we treated with hot water and a dettol type antiseptic and dusted with sulphonamide powder.

We immobilised broken limbs with bush timber and bandages from torn up sheets, but the worst was having to cut away the clothing from the burn areas. This was agony for them and only attempted after a shot of morphine. To protect the exposed raw flesh we soaked bandage in melted Vaseline and covered the burn areas. We gave them some tinned soup, made them as comfortable as possible and bedded them in for the night.

Our Army issue sewing kit came in handy to close the open wounds The rest of the party arrived and immediately started building two litters to carry the wounded out. Because of the terrain and not having regular stretchers it was decided to have a pole that would enable two carriers each end and the litter suspended under the pole.

They were crude because we had little material to work with and it was going to be a very painful journey. We left next morning a day break using the carriers Bannister had recruited. We gave the injured a shot and started a day long journey on a hazardous trail cut out by Bannister’s recruits.

We had to stop frequently as the wounded kept drifting in and out of consciousness and the use of morphine was limited. We reached base very late that day and we shifted our patients into some more comfortable quarters and fed them. Barnett because of his facial injuries was a problem requiring spooning liquids down a tube.

They both were suffering and we had no idea what to do with them. The dead pilot was transported tied to a pole, and we decided not to bury him at this stage. We contacted Nadzab and spoke to doctors who advised us on how to manage our patients and early next morning they made a drop of medication, food and blankets.

They also advised us that they were desperately seeking a solution to lift them out. We were asked to prepare the strip as best we could and put up a flag indicating wind speed. Next day they were going to try a landing of a pre war Lockheed 10. This was successful but take off was going to be a challenge. We loaded the wounded airmen and the body of the pilot and a successful take off saw them on their way to the hospital at Nadzab and facing a long recovery.

The hospital was a large clearance facility for all the causalities of the war now being fought along the coastal areas of N.G. I later was to become a patient there and reconnected with Barnett and Cox. They were recovering enough to return to the States. For them the war was over. Cox was still alive in 2006. From him it was discovered that there was another airman in the ill fated A20.

A Capt. William Neel who must have been completely incinerated in the burnt out cockpit area. This was the second victim of Mt Wilhelm as a Liberator out of Nadzab crashed on it killing all 10 crew. We had a relaxed walk back to both crash sites after we had recovered our energy. Wish at that stage we had known about Neel. The dreadfully short Kerowagi strip claimed another victim while we were there when a lost and low in fuel C47 with 10 people aboard, again out of Hollandia, tried an unsuccessful, landing that resulted in it crashing into the same trees that saved our Beaufort.

There were injuries but we were now better equipped medically to deal with such situations. Bedding, treating and feeding them was a challenge. How we handled that is another story. Again we had a problem with a crashed aircraft on the airstrip that had to be removed before we were able to think about airlifting the people, especially the injured, out to hospital.

It was no mean challenge shifting the C47 without any lifting or mechanical help. It took five hard days and lots of natives helping; but it happened. Finally Nadzab agreed to send in the Lookheed conditionally on us lopping the trees at the runway end. Over seven days all 10 of the C47 group were lifted out and life at Kerowagi was back to normal.

Finally our unit at Aitapi advised that we were to be airlifted out via a stripped down and lightened Beaufort. We had two pigs killed ready to take with us and a bag of yams if the all up weight allowed; which it did. We arrived back for Xmas 1944 and roast pork was on the Xmas menu. We were relieved to return but felt good about being able to be there for the survivors of the crashed aircraft.

What luck they had; natives being there when it happened, us being able to respond to the ‘tok’ message and the USAF for their efforts in retrieving them. The airmen involved were Sgt George Mc Bride, Charles Cleason, Alan O’Neil and Micheal Lennon. Sgt Bannister and his loyal group remained behind to carry on their work.