1/24Wreaths laid in front of the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
Gallery: Fokker Friendship victims 65th anniversary
Hundreds gathered to commemorate the 29 people who lost their lives on June 10, 1960 when the Fokker Friendship ‘Abel Tasman’ crashed off the coast of Mackay.
2/24Gina Patterson's father lost two brother on board the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman. She laid a wreath with her family commemorating the grammar boys during the memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
3/24Support teacher of 30 years at the Rockhampton Grammar School Stewart Norford laying down a wreath for the nine rockhampton grammar boys who perished in the crash. June 10, 2025
4/24Crowds gathered at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
5/24Debris of the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman was on display during the memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
6/24Meryl Napier spoke next to Gina Patterson during the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
7/24Former Mackay mayor Colin Meng and Cr Nathenea Macrae were in a attendance along with Cr Karen May, Cr Belinda Hassan, Cr Ash-Lee Johnson, Cr Namarca Corowa, Cr Alison Jones, Cr Heath Paton and Cr Peter Sheedy.
8/24Sisters Tyra Wales and Audrey Camilleri at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
9/24Stewart Norford sitting next to Tyra Wales and Audrey Camilleri at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
10/24Lawrence Manning, the son of Rod Manning, the then Daily Mercury journalist and later editor who was to interview the US Consul to Queensland arriving in Mackay on the ill-fated plane, speaking at the Illawong memorial for the 65th anniversary of the Fokker Friendship crash n June 10, 2025
11/24Geoff Davis whose father was Gordon Davis, the first officer on board the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman, standing in front of the memorial at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025. Mr Davis was two at the time and his father was 24 years old.
12/24Geoff Brown and Karen Kelly at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
13/24Mayor Greg Williamson spoke during the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
14/24Reverend Jim Brown next to Cr Karen May and Mayor Greg Williamson at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
15/24Meryl Napier spoke during the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
16/24Mayor Greg Williamson spoke at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
17/24Geoff Brown, whose brother perished in the crash, standing in front of the the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
18/24Flyover by Mackay Tiger Moth Museum at the Illawong memorial for the 65th anniversary of the Fokker Friendship crash n June 10, 2025
19/24Flyover by Mackay Tiger Moth Museum at the Illawong memorial for the 65th anniversary of the Fokker Friendship crash n June 10, 2025
20/24Flyover by Mackay Tiger Moth Museum
21/24Reverend Jim Brown speaking at the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial service at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
22/24Support teacher of 30 years at the Rockhampton Grammar School Stewart Norford laying down a wreath for the nine rockhampton grammar boys who perished in the crash. June 10, 2025
23/24Support teacher of 30 years at the Rockhampton Grammar School Stewart Norford at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
24/24Wreaths laid in front of the Fokker Friendship Abel Tasman memorial at Illawong Beach for the 65th anniversary of the crash, June 10, 2025
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