ON THE southern most peak of Mt Superbus, just below the summit, lies the wreck of a Second World War Lincoln bomber.

At the weekend a group of walkers and I set up the third-highest mountain in Queensland, near Killarney, to seek out the wreckage and pay tribute to the six people who died in the fateful crash in 1955.

Amongst the crowd were eight members of the RAAF, who flew up from Edinburgh Base, South Australia.

"It's important we learn a bit of history about ourselves and where we come from," Flight Lieutenant Leitch said.

"We hope to have a group from our squadron do this every year."

Flt Lt Leitch was joined by Flying Officer Zadravec, Warrant Officer Darveniza, Flight Sergeant Cummings, WO Gregory, WO Wallace, Sergeant McFarlane and Corporal Watton, all members of the same No.10 Squadron who flew the Lincoln Bomber in 1955.

The rest of the crew included Mayor Tracy Dobie, Constable Adam Fox, paramedic Merv Bray, veteran Jim O'Leary and ex-air force airman and local historian John Telfer.

At 78, he was the eldest of the walkers.

The morning kicked off early at Frogs Hollow, Emu Vale.

Organiser of the walk, Johno Felton, warned we would be meeting at 5am, "country time".

"That's about half an hour later," he said.

It was only after 6am the RAAF crew arrived. It seemed an hour after schedule was indicative of, "air force time".

A hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs was provided by Mavis and Mark of Bradford Catering Services, and Mr Felton briefed the 14 walkers on what to expect from the trek, besides ticks.

"It's truly a wonderful thing to do in your life," he said. "Take it slow, it's not a race and there's no need to rush it."

Only one of the walkers, WO Wallace, had done the 8km trek before.

"There was scattered information on the internet and bushwalker sites so we found the GPS co-ordinates," he said.

"It was pretty easy, except for the last 500m."

By 7am we had made our way to base camp by four-wheel drive, and were dousing ourselves with insect repellent.

Cr Dobie clicked on her thick, army belt - canteens and all - and Mr Felton tied fluro ties to our backs, in case we got lost.

Cr Dobie was in the military for 22 years, signing up at 18, and spent the first half of the walk chatting to the RAAF guys who were in awe of her record.

"We were so impressed with her," WO Darveniza said as we started the ascent.

"We were all having dinner, and I Googled her name and thought, this woman has done everything."

Vines tripped a few and stinging nettles lined parts of the worn track, but everyone managed to keep up at a steady pace.

Occasionally the path would be blocked by a large, fallen trunk, but someone was always willing to give a hand or leg up and over.

Half way to the summit, an hour and a half in, we stopped at a creek. Flt Lt Leitch applied a dressing Band-aid to his heel; a quick fix to what some of the older airmen called, "soft pilot feet."

A few ventured down to the waterfall at the end of the creek, while others, including Cr Dobie, drank from their canteen cups and chatted.

"I hope there's a helicopter waiting for us at the top," someone said.

"You'd think the council would put in a nice footpath," another said.

"Or a slide going down the mountain."

Cr Dobie fired back, unfazed by the men in uniform who stood nearly two heads taller than her.

"Well if everyone could give a gold coin donation, we'll get it under way," she said.

The second half of the upward trek proved more gruelling. Instead of stinging nettles and vines, the steep gradient and soft soil proved the challenges.

"It really makes you appreciate the search party," Mr Telfer said.

There were slips, slides and falls. The ultra-fit military men, head to toe in camo and kitted out with camel packs and army-grade gloves, slipped on the same unsteady rocks as we ordinary, untrained folk.

Then at our sweatiest, spirits were risen by the site of the bomber's engine.

"Not too far now," WO Wallace yelled back.

The crash site exposed itself slowly in shredded steel sheets and rusted ruins from the bomber.

Three hours after we departed, the body of the burnt-out bomber came into view.

All that remained was part of the plane's shell; the cockpit completely demolished and all other remnants strewn across the side of the mountain.

We sat and took a moment to catch our breaths and snack on lunch.

Stories were passed around. Theories about the crash and what had bought down the Lincoln bomber, flown by what the squadron agreed to be very capable hands.

"Costello probably thought he'd just gone over Bell, and was close to Brisbane," WO Darveniza said.

Another tale was told of a ginger kelpie that was supposedly meant to be on board.

"When the search party came up they found this ginger kelpie but then it disappeared," Sgt McFarlane said. "It was meant to be the only survivor."

After talk the bodies had been recovered from the wreck and taken to the local Emu Vale school, word emerged there were no bodies at all. They had perished in the explosion.

"It would have been so fast," Mr Telfer said.

"They wouldn't have known a thing."

Flt Lt Leitch and WO Darveniza laid a wreath next to one of two plaques at the site, while WO Wallace read a prayer written by Chaplain Patrick Garton.

A minute's silence followed, and the descent began.

At the bottom of the mountain, all cheers were for Mr Telfer. Admiration was shared for the 78-year-old who was still just as chatty and spirited as he had been at breakfast.

"I'm so thankful to feel like a RAAF guy again," he said.

"I think I even broke a record. Oldest person to do the trek."