Local skies, lost stories and brave souls remembered ...

It was standing room only at the Kiama History Centre on Friday as fifth-generation local Russell Fredericks took the audience on a wild ride.

Or rather, a tragic nosedive through three remarkable military aircraft accidents that took place in the hills and skies around our region.

It was the kind of talk that made you lean forward, forget to sip your tea, and wish history had a rewind button.

Gordon Bell, who opened the event with affectionate banter, joked that Russell was “chicken” - too young, at least compared to his Jamberoo pedigree.

But nobody in the room doubted that his deep local knowledge and knack for detail were the real deal. With warmth, wit and a surprisingly slick PowerPoint for someone who claimed not to do technology, Russell took us through three aviation incidents that had been all but erased from collective memory.

The first story took us to 1939 and the side of Saddleback Mountain.

A Hawker Demon fighter, piloted by young Jack Ohlmeyer from Clare, South Australia, spiralled out of the clouds and into the earth.

His parachute failed.

Locals from Jamberoo rushed to the wreckage.

Wal Alexander, a dairyman, got there first.

Jack died within seconds in his arms. His body, taken by ER ambulance, was eventually buried with full military honours back in Clare.

Site of the Fountaindale Rd crash on Saddleback Mt Jamberoo

Russell revealed that Jack was not only the first pilot from No.3 Squadron to die in WWII, but possibly the first RAAF pilot overall.

The moment hit hard. Not just for history buffs, but for everyone who has walked the Saddleback trails and never known.

On to 1943. A Bristol Beaufort bomber vanished above Foxground in dreadful weather.

Beaufort Bomber

Its crash was so secretive that locals did not even know it had happened, until Bullocky Brennan came upon the wreckage while carting timber with his bullocks.

He found four crew members charred inside the plane, and one slumped against a tree, lifeless.

Decades later, Gerringong Scouts and locals trekked to the site to install a plaque.

It was a poignant reminder that war often leaves its mark quietly, deep in the bush, under the ferns, and in the memories of people like Molly Irvine, who rode from Clover Hill Rd across Wallaby Hill to milk cows for her neigjbours for two shillings and remembered those men as if they had just fallen.

Then came 1957.

A Fairey Firefly crashed west of Foxground during a training exercise.

Fairey Firefly wreakage below Barren Grounds

Two young naval officers died instantly after mistaking Kiama’s lighthouse for Point Perpendicular.

A flare seen shortly after raised false hope. It was just the intense heat igniting ammunition. A naval prayer was said on the hillside that night.

It was an accident that could have been avoided by 20 feet. A tragic miscalculation that has haunted the escarpment ever since.

Russell peppered the afternoon with vivid asides.

A radar operator who was not believed when she tracked a Japanese flight over Kiama.

A mysterious 1920 crash near Chapman’s Point. Bullock teams and Scout maps. The room chuckled and sighed in equal measure.

The final slide called for a small gesture.

To remember the airmen who died here, often in training, far from enemy fire but no less brave.

Graham Kenderdine, aviation sleuth and son of a local wartime navigator, helped piece these stories together.

But it was Russell’s voice, steady and respectful, that brought the forgotten back into focus.

As we filed out, the murmurs said it all. “Incredible,” someone whispered. “I had no idea.” Neither did most of us. Until Russell gave us wings.

You can read more about these historical aviation tales here.