A CQU Press book about the 'worst aviation disaster in World War II Australia' is helping to draw international attention to Queensland.

The book is entitled ‘Mackay’s Flying Fortress’.

Fifty Americans, including airforce generals and relatives of the crash victims, will attend book launches as part of commemorations in Brisbane by Lord Mayor Tim Quinn (Town Hall, June 11, 3pm) and Mackay (June 13, 9.30am and 6pm, entertainment centre).

Representatives of the Australian and American media are expected to cover the events.

CQU Press Director David Myers said the book was written by American engineering management professor Robert Cutler, who was a Vietnam war aviator.

During an Australian visit in 1999, Professor Cutler was astonished that little was known about the disaster due to wartime censorship. He was impressed that the Mackay community had erected a memorial at the crash site to mark the 50th anniversary in 1993.

Back in 1942, the ill-fated Flying Fortress had already suffered 1100 bullet and shrapnel holes from air battles over the Philippines.

However, allied forces were short of transport planes, so the war-torn aircraft was rushed back into action on the Mackay-New Guinea route. It crashed on June 14, 1943, at Baker's Creek near Mackay, with 40 American servicemen killed and only one survivor.

Professor Myers said that the crash was hushed up at the time due to the need to preserve morale, and that relatives of the victims had not known any details until recently.