History of Bankstown Airport 1940-2009
Historical notes for a heritage assessment
August 2009
This record
was prepared as a briefing for a heritage assessment to be conducted by
heritage architects Bruce Dawbin and associates.
It is sad
to note that the Australian aviation Museum, Bankstown was closed in 2017. It
was opened in 1994 by then Prime Minister Paul Keating, and
was a purely voluntary effort. The arbitrary closure of the Museum by the
office bearers of the relevant incorporated body was a tragedy. The extensive
collection of aircraft was dispersed, but even more distressing has been the
loss of the library collection. This incorporated the lifework of Bob Wills,
who amassed over 40 m³ of irreplaceable material. It is believed that at least
some of this material is in the care of the RAAF, so perhaps it may it be saved. For more information contact Tom Lockley at
tomlockley@Gmail.com.
In the
meantime we hope that this record is of use.
Chris
Matts, librarian
Tom
Lockley, archivist
Table
of Contents: section 1: to end of World War II
Bankstown
airport – a timeline
Early
World War II: the Australian response.
The
Empire Air Training Scheme
Activities in surrounding suburbs
RAAF
Squadrons of the early period
Fighter Control Unit and the
‘Bankstown Bunker’.
Auxiliary
airfield at Hoxton Park
The Empire Strikes Back: return of the British
Figure 1: Plan of main historical airport area.
Figure 2: Bankstown airport site, 1938
Figure 4: Grading the cleared land, 1941
Figure 5: Empire Air Training Scheme Avro Anson
Figure 6: Brewster Buffalo fighters of 453 squadron,
AWM collection
Figure 7: Aerial photo of airside area, July 1943
Figure 8: Bofors anti-aircraft gun which was sited off
Milperra Road, World War II
Figure 9: Tiger Moth with bomb rack, 1942
Figure 10: Crash of a Kittyhawk at Bankstwon, February
22, 1942
Figure 11: 82 squadron Kittyhawks, Bankstown, 1943
Figure 12: Radio and electrical shack of 82 squadron
Figure 13: AWAS personnel at Bankstown searchlight
station
Figure 14: the first WAAAF officers at Bankstown
Figure 16: Interior of
'Bankstown Bunker'
Figure 17: William Dobell painting, Bankstown 1943
Figure 18 Camouflaged Magazine at Bankstown, 1941
Figure 19: Max Dupain photo of camouflage
Figure 20: Airfield in July 1943
Figure 21: Sketch of airfield camouflage, 1943
Figure 23: October 1945: Aircraft to be dumped after
the surrender of Japan
Figure 24: Aircraft being dumped from HMS Unicorn
somewhere off the coast of NSW...
Figure 25: Schofields at the end of the war
Figure 27: RAC fleet, about 1947, outside Hangar 14
Figure 28: Sea Fury fighters in Hangar 131, 1955
Figure 29: Bristol Sycamore helicopters, Hangar 275,
1955
Figure 30: De Havilland Drover at Australian Aviation
Museum, Bankstown
Figure 31: Collision of Tiger Moth and Vampire,
October 1960
Figure 32: Air Agriculture staff outside Hangar 17,
1970
Figure 33: Cropmaster KS-3 at Bankstown
Figure 34: YA-1 Cropmaster, Ashburton Museum, New
Zealand
Figure 35: Victa Airtourer prototype VH-MVA at
Bankstown, October 1962
Figure 36: Airtruk PL-12 exported to Sweden
Figure 37: Plan of airport, 1972
Figure 38: plan of airport, 3 February 1983
Figure 40: Aerial view, 24 April 1989
Figure 41: Bankstown Grammar School, Link Road,
established 1986
Figure 43: Pilatus PC-9 under construction at de
Havilland, Bankstown
Figure 44: Inauguration of Australian Aviation Museum,
February 1994
Figure 45: interior of AAMB hangar
Figure 46: Current development plans for Bankstown
Airport
Figure 47: Airport Drive, 'spine' of the older airport
'triangle'
Figure 48: Hangar 14, showing 'sawtooth roof'
Figure 49: Hangar 131, currently used by Ambulance
Service.
Figure 50: The 'American' Hangar, Hangar 114
Figure 51: Bellman Hangar no 17
Figure 52: Hangar 275, currently Hawker Pacific
(Boeing)
Figure 53: Hangar 276 - currently Illawarra Aviation
and others
Figure 54: C-47 in hangar 271, featured in 1998 film
‘The Thin Red Line’
Figure 56: Detail from previous picture: E indicates
the hangar under construction
Figure 57: Mascot panorama, listed as c.1935
Figure 58: Detail from Mascot panorama, c 1935
Figure 60: Detail from Mascot 1940 panorama
Figure 61: Plan of Mascot airport, 1941
Figure 62: Hangar 410 being erected at its present
site, 1962
Figure 63: RAC at Bankstown, ca 1965.
Figure 64: Workshop area, Klemm Street
Figure 1: Plan of main historical airport area. [1]
…. a little boat of eight feet long, called Tom Thumb, with a crew composed of ourselves and a boy, was the best equipment to be procured for the first outset. …….We proceeded round in this boat, to Botany Bay; and ascending George’s River, one of two which falls into the bay, explored its winding course about twenty miles beyond where Governor Hunter’s survey had been carried.
The sketch made of this river and presented to the governor, with the favourable report of the land on its borders, induced His Excellency to examine them himself shortly afterward; and was followed by establishing there a new branch of the colony, under the name of Bank’s Town.
From Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis, published in 1815
The
The
The first significant European visitors were Matthew
Flinders and George Bass, whose record of their October 1795 exploration is
featured above. Bank’s Town
(sic) was thus one of the pioneer towns of
Early settlers had disputes with the Darul Aboriginal
inhabitants, with attacks on the settlers at
The river
provided access for small boats to the Liverpool area[5],
but in general the development of Bankstown was quite slow: the area was not as
fertile as for example
Figure 2:
1939-41: Early World War II .
3 September 1939: outbreak of European war
In
Bankstown:
June 1940: Bankstown acquired as airfield site: work had already begun
2 December 1940: Formal establishment of Bankstown RAAF station
19 December 1940: No 2 Aircraft Park personnel reached Bankstown
12 January 1940: first aircraft arrived for assembly
3 March 1941: first aircraft assembled, first two hangars finished
9 April 1941: 451 squadron RAAF left for overseas service, finishing the war in
Berlin as part of the occupation force
July 1941: 453 squadron left for Singapore, where it performed valiantly during
early 1942
10 September 1941: the first WAAAF were trained at Bankstown
During the remainder of the year several batches of aircraft were erected and
dispatched to other bases. Two more hangars, and many other facilities were
erected. Camouflage of
1942-3: The time of crisis:
7
December 1941: attack on Pearl Harbour begins Pacific War
Four months later, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaya, Thailand, Singapore, Burma, most
of modern Indonesia, New Britain, the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and
much of New Guinea had been taken by the Japanese. When
Significant
events in
Early
1942: arming of Tiger Moth trainers as emergency measure
16 February 1942: Arrival of Headquarters squadron and 7 Fighter Squadron of 49
Pursuit Group, USAAF, at Bankstown with Airacobra fighters
25 February 1942: establishment of Fighter Control Unit 101 to co-ordinate
fighter defence of Sydney
7 April 1942: Arrival of 41 Fighter Squadron of 35 Pursuit Group, USAAF, with
Airacobra fighters
30 May: Flight over Sydney by Japanese aircraft launched from a submarine
preparatory to the midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour that night
7 June: Shelling of Sydney and Newcastle from Japanese submarines offshore
July: Re-establishment of 24 Squadron RAAF to defend Sydney with a mixed group
of aircraft
September 1942: Arrival of 452 squadron RAAF as part of a Spitfire wing to
defend Darwin: moved to Northern Territory in January 1943
28 October: Completion of the ‘American’ Hangar no 114 on Birch Street
11 April 1943: 76 squadron RAAF re-equipped with Kittyhawk P40M aircraft and
sent to New Guinea on 14 June 1943
18 June 1943: Formation of 82 squadron RAAF at Bankstown, equipped with P40M
Kittyhawks, sent to New Guinea in May 1944
22 July 1943: First Australian-built Mosquito fighter-bomber flew at the new de
Havilland factory at Bankstown: 212 were built
Throughout the period:
Building
of de Havilland factory on southern side of aerodrome
Continuing erection of aircraft
Construction of Hangar 131, Hangars 271 and 272, and Bellman Hangars 16 and 17,
continuing development of accommodation including a hospital
1944-45: The Empire Strikes Back: return of
the British
By
mid-1944, the German navy was practically defeated, and the Royal Navy returned
to the Pacific with a large fleet, for which
December,
1944: first Royal Navy workers reach Bankstown
January 18, 1945: The first assembled aircraft was test flown
January 29, 1945: Bankstown RAAF, handed over to the Royal Navy was
commissioned as HMS Nabberley
January-August, 1945: Preparation of aircraft for use by the British
Pacific Fleet; acting as host for aircraft from visiting aircraft carriers,
acting as home base for three RAN Fleet Air Arm squadrons, supporting other
British bases throughout Australia and northern countries.
15 August 1945: VP day, end of war against Japan; HMS Nabberley was involved in the return of prisoners of war from
Japanese camps, and the disposal of aircraft
During the Nabberley period many new
buildings were constructed, including accommodation huts, ancillary buildings
and Hangars 275, 276, 299,
21 January 1945: The semi-underground ‘Bankstown Bunker’ was commissioned as
headquarters for the Air Defence of Sydney
1945- 70
31
July 1946: HMS Nabberley was closed
and
Principal activities were:
Disposal
of military aircraft by dumping, dismantling, or converting transports and
training aircraft for civilian use
Hire of hangars and other buildings to various aviation enterprises, many of
whom moved from Mascot because of its emphasis on the development of major
airlines
Transfer of the Royal Aero Club from Mascot to
27 January 1949: The ‘Bankstown Bunker’ ceased operation as ADHQ Sydney
23
January, 1948: first flight of the Australian-designed
de Havilland Drover airliner at
1
November 1948: Bankstown airport came under the control of the Department of
Civil Aviation
29 June 1949: first flight of de Havilland Vampire, the first jet plane to be
built in Australia
1949: Migrant Workers Camp set up in former barracks and some new buildings
1950: provision of street lighting, floodlighting for the control tower
1951 to 1967: Fairey Aviation maintained and modified Fairey Firefly, Hawker
Sea Fury and Fairey Gannet aircraft for the Royal Australian Navy in Hangars 14
and 131
1952: the first paved runway
1954: Bristol Aeroplane Company began operations in Hangar 275, eg servicing
helicopters
1956: Closure of Migrant Workers Camp
1960- to 1966: production of the Yeoman KS3 Cropmaster aircraft at Bankstown
12 December 1961: flight of the first Victa Airtourer, designed and built at
Bankstown. Produced in various forms till 1974
1965:Runway lighting installed; Hawker de Havilland in partnership to produce
Macchi MB326H jet trainer
April 15, 1965: first flight of the Transavia Airtruk at
10 September 1965: first flight at Bankstown of Aerostructures SA-29
Spraymaster
1970: Construction of the currently used control tower
The 1970s: the peak activity in light
aviation
By
1970
In 1970 it was proposed to expand operations using larger passenger and freight aircraft but this was opposed by local residents. So the main business of the airport until the mid-80s was sales, operation and service of light aircraft and pilot training. Helicopters became more common,
The
complexity of military aircraft made it difficult to manufacture aircraft in
April
1987: Assembly of Black Hawk helicopters, from imported kits, for RAAF at
Hawker de Havilland,
14
November 1987: first flight of the Pilatus PC-9 trainer, 65 of which were built
at Hawker de Havilland at
The 1980s and beyond
The
period from about 1985 is marked by development of the airport site for
purposes other than aviation. Sites on
Federal Airports Corporation took over the airport in 1988 and plans were made to privatise the airfield.
In
1991 the Royal Aero Club ceased operations at
In
1994 work commenced on the development of the
Bankstown Airport Limited, Camden Airport Limited and Hoxton Park Airport Limited, previously subsidiaries of SACL, were separated from SACL on 29 June 2001. All of the shares in BAL were sold to a private sector company in September 2001 to enable a new phase of development.
Figure 3: Aerial view, 1942
Hangar
14, in operation as erecting hangar, Wirraway aircraft alongside RAAF
Barracks WAAAF
barracks: first intake September 1941 RAAF
Headquarters: first stage; parade ground to right Bellman
hangars 16 and 17 under construction
Though
However, a major part our activity involved the Empire Air Training Scheme, (EATS) under which various countries of the British Empire were trained as aircrew and sent to participate in the European war.
This involved the provision of a network of bases, which
were mainly in the coastal area stretching from just north of
The pace of the militarisation of
An unprecedented expansion of
This speed of action was made possible by the enormous power granted to the director of munitions, Essington Lewis. He was exempt from the rules that regulated officers of the Crown, in particular the Public Service Act (1922). He was empowered to acquire compulsorily any materials or building which he needed; he could issue contracts with private firms without calling tenders; he could spend up to £250,000 on any project without prior approval and he could delegate and revoke responsibilities at will[13].
The Allied Works Council and the Civil Construction Corps
were the bodies that actually did the work. They had
sweeping powers to commander any equipment needed, [14]
hence the grader seen below
was actually ‘borrowed’ from
The station
itself was formed as a separate entity on 2 December 1940 when RAAF
Headquarters was established at
The most important early unit at
The first dismantled aircraft – 13 Avro Ansons – arrived on 12 January 1940, and were erected in the erection hangar. This was done even before the hangar was itself completed (on 3 March 1940), when the first Bellman Hangar (Hangar 15) was also completed. The Bellman Hangar was erected in 20 days.
In February the first Airspeed Oxford trainers were received
for assembly. The first three complete Oxfords were supplied to the
Figure 4: Grading the cleared land, 1941
Aircraft were supplied from here to at least the following wartime facilities:[17]
Operational airfields at Albion Park and Bulga (Singleton)
Operational Training Units at
Williamtown, Tocumwal and Wagga Wagga
Bombing and Gunnery School at Evans
Head
Permanent RAAF stations at Fleurs
(Kemps Creek, Penrith- also used by US navy), Nowra,
Elementary Flying Training Schools at
Temora, Narrandera, Narromine and Tamworth
Service Flying Training Schools at
Deniliquin and Uranquinty
Aircraft Depots at Richmond, Forest
Hill (Wagga Wagga) and Tocumwal
Air Observers School at Cootamundra
Wireless Operator and Air Gunners School
at Parkes
Central Flying School at Camden
Aircraft were also based at
At the outset of
Figure 5: Empire Air Training Scheme Avro Anson
451 squadron was formed at
Figure 6: Brewster Buffalo fighters of 453 squadron, AWM collection[20]
453 Squadron was formed at
‘An aircraft-manufacturing network
evolved across western
The production of
the Beaufort bomber was carried out with the assistance of no less than 600
smaller firms, many of these being in the
As British engines
were not available,
The
Australian-built engines were more powerful (1200 hp) than the British
Beaufort’s Bristol Taurus engines of 1000 hp. This necessitated considerable
redesign. The Australian aircraft had a new undercarriage, made by National
Motor Springs Ltd at
The fully assembled
Beauforts were test-flown either at Fishermens Bend, Melbourne, or at Mascot,
******************
John Curtin became
Prime Minister on 7 October 1941. A month later the
Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it clear that
John Curtin, Prime Minister of
John Curtin, Broadcast to the people of
Figure 7: Aerial photo of airside area, July 1943
The attack
on
They
already dominated
The Royal
Navy fled the Pacific following the sinking of HMS Repulse and Prince of
Wales.
The
The
Netherlands East Indies, modern
The
The
Japanese held island bases including the Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands
Gilbert Islands, the Marianas, Tarawa, and even had a foothold in the Kurile
Islands off Alaska.
The
Japanese navy had rampaged through the Pacific, bombing
On the night of 31 May–1 June 1942 three Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour and attacked the shipping there.
Eight days later,
So it was not surprising that Australians feared imminent invasion and were taking every possible step to mount a defence.
It has been claimed that plans existed to defend mainly the
area south of a line drawn between
In
Figure 8: Bofors
anti-aircraft gun which was sited off
A radar station was established at Revesby, and there was major concern that the station could be threatened by bushfires, which were common in the area, at that time quite undeveloped.[27]
Figure 9: Tiger Moth with bomb rack, 1942
Some really desperate measures were
undertaken at
The first RAAF squadron tasked with the direct defence for
Figure 10: Crash of a Kittyhawk at Bankstown, February 22, 1942
Altogether some 22 RAAF squadrons utilised
Among the more significant were the following:
457 Squadron. Due
to the perilous condition of
76 Squadron. This
squadron was re-equipped with 24 new P-40M Kittyhawks during its time at
Figure 11: 82 squadron
Kittyhawks,
Figure 12: Radio and electrical shack of 82 squadron
Though the
When war broke out, the situation became much worse than had
been anticipated. It was soon apparent that the
Because they were en route to the
They were equipped with P-40 Kittyhawk aircraft, the only
modern fighter aircraft in
41 Fighter Squadron of 35 Pursuit Group, USAAF, arrived at
Bankstown on 7 April 1942, and was prepared for combat and sent to Port
Moresby, New Guinea, arriving in August 1942[31];
Lieutenant Cantello was the first commander of this group until his death (see
next page). ‘Upon arrival in
These were the only USAAF units formally based at
Prior to the erection of the ‘American Hangar’ in September
1942, US Kittyhawk fighter aircraft were erected at Archerfield, Brisbane. They
were delivered to US pursuit squadrons at
By March 1942, about 330 Kittyhawks had been delivered to
various units of the USAAF in
After the departure of the Kittyhawk squadrons,
Oral history collected by Chris Matts indicates that it was used in 1943 for the collection of US aircraft from various sources for repair. Some Brewster Buffalos were brought to the hangar, and a few were given to 24 squadron. The rest were being refurbished in mid-1943, but orders came that they should be destroyed as they were obsolete and more modern aircraft were available.
It is difficult to give an exact date for the departure of USAAF personnel, but certainly by the last quarter of 1944 they had completely gone. [35]
Thus ended a very exciting time in the history of
The commander of 41 squadron was Lieutenant Leo Cantello.
Just after midnight on 8 June 1942 the Japanese Navy
submarine I-24 fired several shells into the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney.
Lieutenant Cantello was at
The women of Bankstown rose to the challenges of the time in various ways. A strong Voluntary Aid Detachment was formed and Red Cross and other organisations took part in war efforts of many kinds. But the RAAF base is especially important in the history of women’s involvement.
The first WAAAF unit to be stationed at a RAAF base occurred
with the establishment of a temporary Training Section for the Women’s
Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF) at
The WAAAF barracks was erected to the north of the main gate
area. Mrs June Stone has described her activities during the
war, as clerk at the RAAF headquarters at
Figure 14: the first WAAAF officers at Bankstown
Left to right: Officer in Charge, Flight Officer D Hawthorn; Assistant Section Officers J Opie (training officer), Isaac (accounting officer), M Russell (equipment officer), A Herring (training officer), Mrosk, (barracks officer), and training officers M Seavers, P Burnard, E Green[40]
Figure 15: WAAAFS, 1942
It was
first established in the Capitol Theatre, in
Figure 16: Interior of '
This facility is the source of many urban myths, one being that it was General Macarthur’s secret headquarters. The truth is less exciting.
Work commenced in late 1942 and the facility cost £30,579 to build. Its official commissioning was on 21 January 1945 as the headquarters of Air Defence, Sydney (ADHQ). By this time the facility had not much chance of being involved in any action, but it was operated until 27 January 1949[42], with, apparently, representatives from the RAAF, the USAAF and the Observer Corps and also some WAAAFs.
The bunker area is now in the midst of
Many
non-flying units also had association with Bankstown of which these are only a
few representative examples[43]:
164 Radar Station was formed at
Airfield
Construction squadrons began to be formed in 1942. They were vital to the
construction of new airfields, often in remote sites that were threatened or
under attack by the enemy. During World War II Bankstown’s main role was in the
preparation of 7 Airfield Construction
Squadron early in 1942, before being sent to
After the
war, 5 Airfield Construction Squadron
was reformed at
No. 10 Works Supply
Unit was based at
Camouflage in
In 1939, a group of
The chairman was
Professor William Dakin, a zoologist from
A considerable
amount of work was done, from the earliest stages, to
camouflage Bankstown
Figure 17:
William Dobell painting,
The magazine was surrounded by cheap
iron etc to make a it look like a disreputable hovel.[48]
Figure 19: Max Dupain photo of camouflage
Figure 20: Airfield in July 1943
Figure 21: Sketch of airfield camouflage, 1943[51]
Many major airfields (and some quite minor airfields) had
satellite airfields, to which, for example, aircraft could be dispersed in case
of attack. They could also be used by individual aircraft in case of emergency.
The bombing of
At the end of the war it was ‘acquired but not maintained’ by the RAAF, and then passed to DCA control. Its later history is mentioned on page 68.
A World War II airfield was situated at
The Civil Construction Corps had
built a single sealed runway through the middle of the
There had also been an airstrip at
Warwick Farm, known as
As well as the older RAAF base at
There were also airstrips at
Bargo, the Oaks, Wallgrove, St Marys, Castlereagh,
At this stage it may be helpful to mention the situation of the war in
the Pacific, particularly that of the British Pacific Fleet. The war in
Europe was coming to a close and Churchill and
Roosevelt decided that
The reminiscences of
Lieutenant Gordon Pursall, RN, who served with the Salvage section of MONAB II
at
s
Figure 22: Cartoon – source unknown, but illustrating the unusual speed with which the MONABs were created.
After the fall of
However, by mid-1944, the German surface navy and U-boat threat had
declined. [56]
A large fleet was formed to wage war against
The United States Navy was not keen to have the British taking part in
their operations against
Nevertheless, at the Quebec Conference, on September 12, 1944, a final
agreement was reached to enable full participation by the British Navy in the
subjugation of
This needed logistical support, and within a fortnight Australian
Prime Minister John Curtin agreed to assist. Payment details were worked out
later, and in the event the British government contributed £5,400,000 of the
total cost of supply facilities in
Some 19 shore establishments were set up in
It is interesting to note that some participants from the
RN personnel were using the base even before the formal takeover on 25 January 1945 . The first aircraft assembled, a Corsair II fighter, was test flown on January 18th 1945.
Because of a shortage of technical staff, teams specialised in different aspects of aircraft preparation and a kind of production line developed, ‘enabling an aircraft to come out of a crate into one hangar and leave that hangar complete in all respects and ready for butt testing, compass swinging and test flight’. This was almost certainly done in Hangar 131, because the other large Hangar 14 had other uses, and the American Hangar 114 seems to have not been widely used by HMS Nabberley.
When
all aircraft had been disposed of, MONAB II and HMS Nabberley paid off at
Buildings
erected for HMS Nabberley included Bellman Hangars 273 and 274, 131, 135, 271
and 275. The building alongside Hangar 131 shown as being erected in some
photos of the time was never completed, being removed to Yagoona where it was a
showroom for
There was accommodation for 84 officers and 1644 other ranks. Some of the hangars and a few barrack buildings remain. Additional hard-standing taxiways were laid but it is interesting to note that the airfield was not paved during the war, the aircraft landing and taking off on dirt airstrips.
Aircraft
from
Many
of the aircraft carriers of the British Pacific Fleet called at
Among
the units who were prepared at
· 723 squadron (28 February – 8 Martinet Target Tugs and 8 Corsair IIs.)
· 724 squadron (10 April – communications: 2 Beechcraft Expeditors and 2 Avro Ansons)
· 723 Fleet Requirements Unit (1 May)
· 1833 squadron (Corsair IIs, 14 May, from Illustrious)
· 1830 squadron (Corsair IIs, 24 May, from Illustrious)
· 1701 squadron Air-Sea Rescue (Sea Otter amphibians))
After
the Japanese surrender several ships were rushed from
Apart
from a few Seafires and the durable Fairey Fireflies, all the aircraft
assembled were American, supplied under the ‘Lend-Lease’ program that had begun
in 1941.[64] Basically, the
When a carrier arrived by the dock the
aircraft, possibly up to seventy, were taken to
One
major change was the alteration of the British roundel markings, The red centre
circle was painted out with white paint, because the British markings could be
mistaken for the red Japanese markings. When all aircraft had been disposed of,
MONAB II and HMS Nabberley paid off
at
Figure 23: October 1945: Aircraft to be dumped after the surrender of Japan
Figure 24: Aircraft being dumped from HMS Unicorn somewhere off the coast
of
Fourteen
MONABs were planned, and ten were actually commissioned,
though some did not leave
MONAB
1 was HMS Nabbington. It was based at
Nowra from 1 January 1945. HMS Nabswick, MONAB
V, was based at nearby
MONAB
III HMS Nabthorpe was temporarily
lodged in tents at HMS Golden Hind,
the Warwick Farm accommodation unit in January 1945, then in mid-February was
set up at Schofields, about 50 km west of Sydney. This station also housed
aircraft from visiting carriers. In March, 706 squadron, with Avenger,
Barracuda, Corsair, Firefly, Hellcat and Seafire aircraft, was established as a
Crew Pool and
Figure 25: Schofields at the end of the war
Figure 26: Jervis Bay MONAB
At the end of the war, operations soon ceased, and Nabthorpe ‘paid off’ in November 1945. Some tidying-up work was done by MONAB VI, HMS Nabstock, transferred from Maryborough (see below), but by June 1946 all operations had ceased and Schofields was returned to the RAAF. With the establishment of the RAN Fleet Air Arm, Schofields was recommissioned as HMAS Nirimba in November 1950, being used largely for training purposes until finally being decommissioned on 25 February 1994.
There
were considerable MONAB operations in
MONAB VII, HMS Nabreekie was commissioned in August 1945 at Archerfield airfield, Brisbane, but performed very little work at that site, and was ‘paid off’ on November 5th 1945.
Transportable
Aircraft Maintenance Yard No. 1 (TAMY 1) arrived in at Archerfield early in
February 1945. Its task. Their task was to assemble aircraft, mainly Corsair
fighters, but there were many problems. [66] By August, monthly aircraft erections were
only about 32 aircraft, despite the opening of another facility at Oakey
airfield, 200 km west of
There were three MONABs not based in
MONAB IV, HMS Narbaron, Poonam Island, off Manus Island, which functioned briefly from April 1945.
MONAB VIII, HMS
Nabcatcher, was established after the war at Kai Tack airfield,
MONAB IX – HMS
Nabrock, actually
left
The British Pacific Fleet was the largest deployment ever undertaken by the Royal Navy. The most important units of the fleet were the aircraft carriers, and to supply the aircraft the network of MONABs as described above was established,
Of
the nine functioning MONABS, the most important aircraft erection centre was
Plan
from study by Godden Mackay Logan,
[2] Kohen, J and Lampert, R ‘Hunters and Fishers in the Sydney Region’, in D J Mulvaney and J Peter White: Australians to 1788. Sydney, Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, 1987, p.351
[3] http://kaimiaway.org.au/feasibility/ch_1/index.htm,
website of The Sutherland Shire
Environment Centre, a non-government organisation devoted to preserving the
environment of the
[4] Cass, T:
[5] http://www.westernsydneylibraries.nsw.gov.au/westernsydney/river.html
quoting Appleton, Richard. The
Keating, Christopher. On the frontier: a
social history of
[6] Heritage NSW, newsletter of the NSW Heritage Office,
Spring 2003, page 9
[7] Brew, A: Thematic Study: World War II Aerodromes and associated structures in New South Wales, Deakin University and the NSW Heritage Office, November 2001, appendix G, page 59
[8] Sun Newspaper,
4 September 1929, page 14 – ‘‘Knock Out’ Bankstown Drome Plan, Mascot
Preferred, (From Our Special Representative)’, Canberra.
[9] Picture from Bankstown Historical
Society collection stored at Bankstown Library.
[10] summarised from McCarthy, J M,
[11] Mellor, D P,
[12] White, K, Brief history of RAAF Station,
[13] Hasluck, P:
[14] ibid, page 291 ff.
[15]
National Archives of
[16] ibid, page
25ff.
[17] Brew, A, op cit, this material extracted from Appendix G http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/docs/aerodromes_appendices.pdf
[18] Wilson, S: Anson,
[19] Barton,
L:
[20] AWM
Collection Record: 007306, copyright expired, public domain. The label clearly
states that the picture was taken at Bankstown but this is not so: the squadron
travelled to
[21] Hall, E R: Glory in Chaos – the RAAF in the Far East 1940-2, Sembawang Assoc
iates,
[22] Kass, T:
[23] Role of Science and Industry 390-92
[24]
Re the
‘Brisbane Line’ see Hasluck, P, The
Government and the People,
[25] Picture from the collection at the
[26] Gill,
G: Royal Australian Navy,
1942–1945, Australian War Memorial,
[27] Letter from Headquarters, Eastern
Area, RAAF to Divisional Works Office, 2 Nov 1944, copy from collection of
[29] Grant, G, Spitfires over Darwin, 1943, R J Moore,
[30] AAF Airfields in Foreign Countries, AAF Installations Directory Part 1, page 37,
document in the collection of Chris Matts
[32] Letter from Forty First Fighter
Squadron, Thirty Fifth Fighter Groul to Headquarters, Fifth Air Force, of 8
November 1942, document in the collection of Chris Matts
[33] Construction record document of
USAAF, from the collection of Chris Matts
[34] Construction record document of
USAAF, from the collection of Chris Matts
[35] AAF Airfields in Foreign Countries,, as above
[36] AWM Collection Record: P05600.002, http://cas.awm.gov.au/photograph/P05600.002
[37] AWM
Collection Record: P05600.002, copyright expired, (public domain).
[38] http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE0423b.htm ; the exact date comes from Operations Record Book
Station Headquarters Bankstown page 6
[39] AWM
Collection Record: F04045, interview 19 February 1991
[40] Picture from AAMB collection, names
and spellings not guaranteed!
[41]
National Archives of Australia
file DWB [Director of Works and
Buildings] - RAAF installation -
[42] Baker, B, RAAF WWII list of Formations, document in the collection of the
[43] Fuller records are held at AAMB.
[44] http://www.auburn.nsw.gov.au/uploadedFiles/AuburnWeb/Development/DCP-%20RAAF%20Site.pdf
gives details of the conversion of the site at Regents Park.
[45] Frank Hinder, personal records, Australian War Memorial, series 895/4/182, item 7 of 12, page 7, referred to in http://www.awm.gov.au/journal/j38/camouflage.asp
[46] Mellor,
D P: The Role of Science and Industry, Australian War Memorial, page 538.,
[47] AWM
Collection Record: ART30247
[48] Mellor, DP et al, The
Role Of Science And Industry, Australian War Memorial, 1958, page 533 and
page 538
[49] NAA (NSW), C1905 T1, item 3 [3][2], copyright expired
[50] Sun-Herald, 8
October 1989
[51]Bryce,
N: ‘
[52] Fawcett, D: Pilots and Propellers¸ self-published in 1988, page 115-6
[53] on the corner of Burragorang and Cawdor Roads, three
kilometres south of Camden Post Office
[54] Document in the collection of AAMB
historian Keith White
[55]
This work was originally written for the Fleet
Air Arm Officer’s Association entitled ‘Three Years of Interest 1943 – 1946’,
published at http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/MONABS/REM_Pursall.html
, There are some factual errors here, but the
passage is interesting as an expression of a participant’s perceptions.
[56] Dates
from Davidson, E et al, Chronology of World War II, Cassell,
[57] The
naval ships are listed on http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/BPF-EIF/BPF_Ships.htm.
Some of the ships were from Canadian,
[58]
United States Department of State. Foreign relations of the United States:
Conference at Quebec, 1944, page 314-315
[59] Hasluck, P: The Government
And The People 1942-1945, Australian War Memorial, 1979, page 554ff.
[60] The established bases are listed on http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/BPF-EIF/BPF_Ships.htm and the planned units are listed on
http://www.btinternet.com/~faahistoryweb/index.htm
[61] Pursall, Lt P, Three Years of Interest, 1943-46, a publication of the Fleet Air Arm Officer’s Association, 1947, reprinted at http://www.btinternet.com/~faahistoryweb/REM_Pursall.html
[62] Oral history collected by Chris
Matts, 1998. The building no longer exists at that site.
[63]
Three Years of Interest 1943 – 1946, Fleet Air
Arm Officers Association of UK, reprinted at http://www.btinternet.com/~faahistoryweb/REM_Pursall.html
[64] US
Congress, Lend-Lease Act,
11 March 1941
[65] Lehan, M: HMAS Albatross,
[66] This facility mainly dealt with the
reception of Royal Naval ships visiting