Southern Cloud
The Southern Cloud, registered VH-UMF, was one of five three-engine Avro 618 Ten aeroplanes flying daily airline services between several Australian cities for Australian National Airways in the early 1930s. The other four were Southern Star, Southern Sky, Southern Moon and Southern Sun. On March 21, 1931, Southern Cloud with six passengers and two crewmembers disappeared without a trace between Sydney and Melbourne. It was Australia’s first big civil airline disaster.
It wasn’t until 26 October, 1958 that the mystery was solved. On that day, Mr. Tom Sonter, a worker on the Snowy Mountains Project, accidentally found the crash site in heavily timbered mountainous terrain within the Snowy Mountains about 25 kilometres east of the direct Sydney-Melbourne route. Investigations concluded that the severe weather conditions at the time of the flight most likely contributed to the crash.
The Southern Cloud Memorial
Located in Cooma at the intersection of Boundary and Sharp Streets, the Southern Cloud Memorial is made of concrete wings 40 feet across. A grill encloses the face of the memorial which contains recovered engine parts and other historic relics. A large laser cut steel image of the Southern Cloud in the park, gives visitors a glimpse of what it looked like.
Other Memorials in the Park
Polo Flat Air Crash Memorial
The Polo Flat Air Crash Memorial commemorates the four people killed on 20 May, 1976. On this day, a light plane crashed after striking a radio tower while attempting to land at Polo Flat. Dense fog in the area restricted the pilot’s view as he attempted to land.
Fire Bomber Memorial
The Fire Bomber Memorial commemorates the 23 January, 2020 crash of Lockheed C-130 Hercules Fire Bomber 134. On that day, United States firefighters Ian McBeth, Paul Hudson and Rick DeMorgan Jr lost their lives when their aircraft crashed at Peak View. The crew had completed more than 140 aerial firefighting missions since December 1, 2019 during a fire season in which saw more than 2,300 homes destroyed, over 5.3 million hectares destroyed and 25 lives lost.
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To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
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