The Cross In The Clouds

Years later, in 1959, climbers reported that a landslide on Mt. Straloch had uncovered more human remains at the crash site of the Texas Terror.  A U.S. Air Force team from Guam came to Hinchinbrook Island and recovered these remains for return to the United States.  At that time, the local Air Training Corps, a cadet branch of the Royal Australian Air Force, decided to place a memorial at the crash site.  Interest among local residents followed, and with the assistance of the RAAF, a memorial was created. 

An aluminum cross was fabricated from aircraft parts at RAAF Garbutt.  A brass plaque with the names of the twelve victims was attached to the memorial cross.  On November 13, 1960, the first Sunday after Remembrance Day (Veterans Day in the United States), the memorial cross was dedicated in a ceremony attended by a member of the American Diplomatic Mission, the U.S. Air Attaché Colonel Andrew McDavid.  The cross was cemented into the rock face at the center of the wreckage on the cliff, close to the precipice.  Because of the altitude of the site and that it is frequently shrouded in tropical mist, it has been nicknamed “The Cross in the Clouds.”  This  is one of the few crash sites from the war in the Pacific to have such a memorial.

Below are photographs showing the front of the cross with the plaque, and a closeup of the plaque with the names of all twelve crash victims.