Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Charles Andrew and Winifred Mary McKay, of Lockington, Victoria.

ROAD ACCIDENT INQUEST
Two Killed When Car
Overturned
An inquest was opened by the Coroner (Mr. M. Wyse) on Wednesday afternoon in connection with the Echuca road accident on August 6, when William Ronald McKay (19)  and  William Charles McCann (29), both from an Air Station, were killed. FL/L. P. J. Bird, medical officer, stated that at about 6.25 p.m. on August 6 he saw the bodies of two men on  the Echuca road about 12 miles south of Deniliquin, near an overturned truck. He examined the bodies subsequently at the hospital morgue the same night. Both suffered from  fractured base of skull and other injuries which witness described. The injuries were such as would be caused when they were thrown from a motor vehicle on to the road. To  Constable Downie: He did not examine any of the nine men involved in the accident as to their sobriety, and he did not see any signs of or smell liquor. It would be about two  hours from the time he got to the scene until the police notified of the accident. Raymond L. Phillips stated he was sitting in the cabin of the utility truck with the driver (Sergeant  Tollis) and L.A.C. Sanfead. They were returning from Echuca to Deniliquin. He sat on the left side. He estimated the speed of the truck at 40 miles per hour when the truck started to swing from one side to the other. After the first swing he turned the ignition key off and took it out. The truck turned over and he opened the door and got out. On realising  that he was not injured he went to a near-by farm house to ring up. He helped Sanfead to get out of the cabin, and then noticed two who had been in the truck were dead and another was unconscious. At no time during the trip was 40 miles per hour exceeded, except on the metal road when it travelled at 50 m.p.h. for a couple of minutes. Tollis said it  was too fast and slowed down. To Constable Downie: He first saw the men in the truck at the scene of a forced aircraft landing the other side of Echuca. They returned to  Echuca about 2.30 p.m., and some of the party had drinks. They left Echuca about 3.30 p.m. and stopped at Mathoura for 10 or 15 minutes and some of the men had drinks. He  considered Tollis quite capable of driving the vehicle. Thomas Clifford Sanfead said a statement (produced) he made and signed was correct. He was sitting next the driver in the  cabin and just before the accident the speed of the truck was just over 40 m.p.h. Tollis asked him to look at the speedo whilst he kept his eyes on the road. When he told him it  was just over 40 Tollis said it was plenty fast enough for him, and he was slowing down a bit when the back of the truck seemed to swing as if it was in loose gravel. Tollis quickly  tried to correct it but the truck leaned and rolled over. Phillips switched the engine off, kicked the door open and helped witness out of the cabin. They could see that some of the  other men were injured, so A.C.1. Mullard, who had been riding at the baek, went away and rang for an ambulance which came along in half-an-hour. To Constable Downie,  witness said some of the men had drinks in Echuca before and after lunch. He had a drink at Mathoura with others, who did not stop long there. He could not remember clearly  what happened about the accident. Frank James Stretton, one of those in the back of the truck, said the vehicle seemed to strike some loose gravel before the accident, as it  seemed to swerve on the road and the next moment it turned over. Witness did not drink. Rex. Thomas Sims, sergeant in charge of transport stated that on 24th July he  examined the utility truck involved in the accident after a major inspection. He made a thorough inspection after the accident. The tyres were in good condition, and the hand- brake was in a position signifying the brakes were heavy on. The near side wheel was jammed hard, and the off- side wheel could only just be turned. Next morning he noticed  that on releasing the handbrake the near side wheel remained jammed and the offside rear wheel was free. It was necessary to release the handbrake cable to allow the near-side  rear wheel to be free for towing, After one and a half miles towing the near side rear wheel came off, and it was found that all the wheel studs had been stripped of threads  and one was broken off. The threads of the locking nuts were serviceable. To Constable Downie, witness said in his opinion the stripping of the studs occurred before the accident  and the nuts probably worked loose 20 or 30 miles before the accident. On his inspection, on July 24 the bolts were tightened the correct amount on the wheels. In his opinion the cause of the utility going into a skid was due to the near-side wheel becoming ex- ceedingly loose. It had rubbed against the mudguard or chassis, causing the wheel to lock or  become very tight, and the vehicle skidded. The jamming of the brake did not cause the skid, but on turning over the axle was thrown slightly out of alignment, causing the  brakes to jam. In reply to a question the Coroner was informed that the condition of Sergeant Tollis would prevent him being able to give evidence for another three weeks.
The inquest was then adjourned to a date to be fixed, when Sergeant Tollis came out of hospital. 

Leading Aircraftman William Ronald McKay 120605 and Leading Aircraftman William Charles McCann 56139 from Number 7 Service Flying Training School were killed in a Motor Vehicle Accident near Deniliquin in NSW