Elford, were the important Government and Army leaders who died in the crash.
The Ministers were en route to Canberra for a Cabinet meeting when their plane crashed.
"Witnesses at the Canberra airdrome said they heard the plane's engines faltering, after which it crashed in a small clearing between two trees The pilot, they reported, apparently was attempting a forced landing. The plane exploded on landing and a few minutes later was only heap of wreckage. The tail and fin were the only recognizable parts.
The disaster was regarded as a national calamity.
Other Ministers were being sworn in temporarily to replace the victims—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.