MemorialsTenterfield RAAF F111 Crash Site Memorial
About
This war memorial is dedicated to a pilot and a navigator of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) who lost their lives in a training exercise crash on 2 April 1987. It is a unique-looking monument, consisting of a central concrete pillar, with a jagged top. Flanking the pillar are two piles of rough stones, which have been secured together to prevent them falling. Attached to the front of the memorial are three granite tablets, The central tablet includes the date of the crash and the names of the men who died are on the left and right tablets. Flight Lieutenant Mark Fallon and Flying Officer Bill Pike died when their F111 crashed near the town of Tenterfield. Shortly after the accident, locals and family members gathered in Tenterfield's Rotary Park to build a cairn using stones. It was to be a temporary memorial, and organisers planned to relocate it to the crash site following the investigations (RAAF News, 1 May 1987). On the weekend of 22–23 August, the memorial was built along the roadside next to the crash site, using the original stones. The secretary of the group organising the work was Mr Brian Henry and it was carried out by volunteers from the Rotary and Lions Service Clubs and a contingent of airmen from Amberley Air Base. A detailed report of the memorial was published in the Tenterfield Star on 27 August. The report included photographs of the construction. At the end of work on the Sunday afternoon, a brief dedication service was conducted by the Tenterfield Ministers' Fraternal, led by Captain Gray of the Tenterfield Salvation. More than 50 local residents joined Air Force members, friends and family for the service.