| Photographs: | |
|---|---|
| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (24/09/2002) |
| Place ID: | 19895 |
| Place File No: | 8/01/000/0474 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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The five former Bomb Dump Buildings, located on Block 3 Section 18 Pialligo, are important aspects of Canberra's defence history, illustrating the entry of Japan into the Second World War and the location and operational role, in coastal defence, of three squadrons of the Netherlands East Indies Air Force, Nos 18, 119 and 120 at RAAF Base Fairbairn. No 18 Squadron, equipped with B25 Mitchell bombers, was officially formed in April 1942. The Squadron's Captain, Gus Winkel, sank a Japanese submarine 115 kilometres east of Sydney on 5 June 1942. The former Bomb Dump buildings are important in illustrating the operational wartime role of RAAF Base Fairbairn during the Second World War. RAAF Base Fairbairn is separately listed at File No. 8/01/000/0511. (Criterion A.4) The Bomb Dump Buildings are important as the only example of their type in the Australian Capital Territory and as representative examples of the type. (Criteria B.2 and D.2) It is possible that Indigenous cultural values of national estate significance may exist at this place. As yet, the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) has not identified, documented nor assessed these values. (Australian Historic Themes: 7.7 Defending Australia) |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
|
The former Bomb Dump Buildings form part of the wartime
development of RAAF Base Fairbairn, which is entered separately in the Register
of the National Estate at File no. 8/01/000/0511. The five former Bomb Dump Buildings are located between Pialligo Avenue and the Molongolo River to the south east of RAAF Base Fairbairn. The buildings are rectangular in plan, the largest being roughly 21ft wide by 40ft long internally. The buildings are constructed in reinforced concrete with a semi circular arched form providing an internal height of 10ft 6 inches above the concrete floor slab. Four of the buildings (type B) are closed at each end; from each of the side walls a projection encloses an opening which can be closed by a heavy wooden sliding door framed and sheeted in steel. Attached to some of the projecting openings are the remains of timber battens to which the short timber walls shown in the Department of Interior drawings were probably attached. These walls would have retained soil intended to cover the arched roof and which was banked up against the end walls, ensuring clear access to the projecting door openings. Over the years much of the soil covering the concrete roofs has been washed away with little trace of the timber walls remaining. Steel pipes protruding from the top of the buildings would have stood up above the soil to provide ventilation. One of these four buildings was completely refurbished in 1988. Remaining earth cover was removed and some modifications carried out. The surrounding area has been graded and security fenced and access is restricted. The remaining buildings are vacant. The fifth building (type A), though similar in shape to the others has no sliding doors and is open at one end. This end of the concrete arch is formed into a concrete flange. Bolts protruding from the front face of the concrete flange suggest that a light structure of some kind was once attached, but no evidence of this remains. |
| History: |
|
The former Bomb Dump Buildings were constructed at RAAF Base
Fairbairn as a result of the inclusion of the airfield in coastal defence
operations following Japan's entry into the Second World War in 1942 with the attack
on Pearl Harbour. The
establishment of RAAF Base Fairbairn is linked with the establishment of
Canberra, the Defence Force Academy at Duntroon and the Australian Air Force. Refer to File No. 8/01/000/0511, RAAF
Base Fairbairn, for full details of the history of the base. In May 1927, the provisional Parliament House was opened in Canberra, each of the services providing a contingent for the event. The RAAF camp was located at the new airfield close to the Canberra-Queanbeyan Road, at its intersection with the track to Majura. In 1928 the present site for an airport was selected following the need to find a site with a long-term lease and secure tenure. Land was granted to Defence for 99 years at the present site. In the Parliamentary session of 1937-38 a new budget statement, as part of the New Defence Program Statement, outlined the provision of additional funding for Defence. In 1937 the Department of Defence had promised to establish an Air Force station at Canberra within three years, as part of the systematic build up to the perceived onset of war. The plan for the base was prepared in 1939 by the Office of the Chief Commonwealth, Architect E Henderson in line with prevailing British standards. On 24 October 1940 the former Canberra Aerodrome was taken over from the Civil Authorities by the RAAF. The original establishment was for 1344 personnel, including 24 Army Officers and 120 WAAF, two of whom were officers. The Station was a base for a training school for Army cooperation personnel, established in December 1941. From April 1942 to April 1944 the station was base for three squadrons of the Netherlands East Indies Air Force, Nos 18, 119 and 120. No 18 Squadron, equipped with B25 Mitchell bombers, was officially formed in April 1942. The Squadron's Captain, Gus Winkel, sank a Japanese submarine 115 kilometres east of Sydney on 5 June 1942. Drawings of the base indicate that 1939-1942 was the primary wartime construction period with some 71 structures completed. Access to the site was directly from the Canberra-Queanbeyan Road controlled by a guardhouse. The site planning was clearly zoned into five areas, with a separate magazine and explosives storage area to the north-east. Messrs Burton and Willis, of Burton Street, Glebe, constructed five Bomb Dump buildings south of the airfield between the Molongolo River and Pialligo Avenue in 1942. The tree covered hills to the east of the airfield were utilised at this time to provide some degree of camouflage and dispersal for an operations/signals building, petrol dumps, aircraft dispersal and a fusing area to allow progressive arming of the bombs held in the bomb dumps. The drawings for the Bomb Dump buildings were prepared by the Commonwealth Department of the Interior, Works Branch, which described the structures as Concrete Store Buildings. Writing of them as Bomb Dumps follows the RAAF terminology used in the official files of the time and better identifies their planned utilisation. A map of the area dated 1942 suggests that there were at least two types, A and B. The five Bomb Dump Buildings are not in Defence ownership. In 1988 one of the bomb dump buildings was refurbished to allow the storage of flammable materials. The buildings are now privately owned although the area is reserved for future possible airport use. |
| Condition and Integrity: |
|
Integrity: Refer to description Condition: Refer to description |
| Location: |
| Off Pialliga Avenue, Pialligo, comprising five buildings located on Section 18 Block 3, located at approximate ACT Standard Grid coordinates: 1. 217960E 599220N 2. 217830E 598930N 3. 217570E 598650N 4. 217700E 598230N 5. 217470E 598170N. |
| Bibliography: |
|
AWM Series, Operations Reference Book No 18 Sqn NEI, Canberra 1/4/42 to 30/9/45 (AWM 64 Item 1/101). Canberra Times, 6/6/1942 & 9/6/1942. Department of the Interior 1942, RAAF Canberra Concrete Store Building - Drawings C 2318 (Negatives held in National Trust Collection). Gibbney, J., Canberra 1913-1953, 1988 Canberra. Griffiths, P., RAAF Canberra Bomb Dumps. Hideouts and Dispersal Area. (A Heritage Study for University of Canberra, Cultural Heritage Management. Wallace, G., Are You There DonR: the True Story of 18 Squadron NEI/RAAF Forces from 1942 - 1950. (AWM 6940.544994 A678). |
Report Produced: Wed Feb 10 01:39:07 2010