AN Air Force C-17A Globemaster will conduct a flypast at North Stradbroke Island on Friday February 24, as part of a memorial service commemorating the 70th anniversary of the loss of a Netherlands East Indies DC-3 transport aircraft.
The service will be held at Adder Rock on the northern tip of North Stradbroke Island and the aircraft will approach from the east at an altitude of 100 metres.
RAAF Amberley Scuba Club spokesman David Bell said a temporary memorial plaque would be unveiled, with the function starting at 11am.
“We’re working with council to find the right spot and the right size rock,’’ he said.
The plaque briefly describes the event in which six people lost their lives. It also records the names of those who died and whose bodies were never recovered.
Mr Wood said the wife of H. Bekema, a Dutch crew member, would attend with her family.
Mr Wood said the wreck lay in about 40m of water about 1km off Adder Rock.
The wreck’s port wing and undercarriage was still visible.
A reserve at Adder Rock also has been named for the crash in 1947.
The proposal prompted controversy, with the Friends of Stradbroke Island writing to the council, arguing about the validity of yet another memorial.
FOSI president Sue Ellen Carew said the proposal to name the area after the crash was reminiscent of many tribute seats and plaques on rocks dedicated to people at Point Lookout.
“It appears that the bushland around Point Lookout is rapidly becoming a hotchpotch of private memories of the past and beginning to take on the appearance of a cemetery,’’ she wrote.
People wishing to leave a mark by placing a tribute on public infrastructure has become problematic for councils around the world.
Memorial plaques have been screwed on to the landmark Wellington Point jetty, the boulders at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast and boardwalks at Coolum.
Ms Carew said policy in regard to memorials had to be revisited.
The flypast is subject to aircraft availability, weather and air traffic control.
