| Photographs: | |
|---|---|
| List: | Register of the National Estate |
| Class: | Historic |
| Legal Status: | Registered (20/05/2003) |
| Place ID: | 101442 |
| Place File No: | 8/01/000/0511 |
| Statement of Significance: |
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RAAF Base Fairbairn, comprising the base layout, parade ground and street trees and the hangars and other functional buildings, including the Signals building and the magazines and explosive store (and blast mounds), is of potential national significance for the integrity of its planning and functional buildings and for its historical associations. RAAF Base Fairbairn is associated with the development and establishment of the Australian Airforce from 1928 and as part of the perceived need to prepare for the onset of the Second World War in 1939. Drawings prepared in 1939 by the Office of the Chief Commonwealth Architect, E Henderson, set out the base according to the prevailing philosophies, based on British ideas. These ideas included the clear separation of functions, and expression of the social organisation of the airforce. In common with other pre and early wartime bases the increased funding made available by the Commonwealth after 1938 allowed many buildings and service structures to be erected in brick. Art Deco features, evident in the treatment of windows and doors and in the architectural massing of buildings, illustrate the influence of new Commonwealth architects following the austerity of the First World War and Depression years. Buildings which particularly illustrate this phase of development include the Guardhouse (33), Hangars 46-48, the Hospital (44) and the Explosive Stores and Magazine (69-71). The Bellman Hangar (203)
is important in illustrating the mass production techniques employed during the wartime years, to develop and supplement existing and new RAAF bases, and the continuing
influence of British design concepts. RAAF Base Fairbairn is associated with coastal defence during the Second World War. From April 1942 to April 1944 the station was the base for the Netherlands East Indies Air Force which on 5 June 1942 sank a Japanese submarine 115 kilometres east of Sydney. The peacetime role of RAAF Base Fairbairn was reinforced during the immediate post war years when major exhibits for the Australian War Memorial were stored and dismantled at the base during preparation for exhibition in 1955. Of these exhibits, AVRO Lancaster G for George, is an important icon in the War Memorial's display. The transfer of Defence Departments to Canberra in 1954 led to the establishment in 1956 of the VIP Squadron, increasing the base's association with person's and events within Canberra, and nationally, during the war years and subsequently the post-war period. General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief South West Pacific area, visited Canberra, and the base, in 1943 at the invitation of the Commonwealth Government. In 1954 Queen Elizabeth the Second visited Canberra as one of the first visiting dignitaries and heads of state to arrive at RAAF Base Fairbairn. The base has been the arrival point for Heads of State and other visiting dignitaries to Canberra from the 1950s to the present day. Of particular importance have been the arrival, amongst others, of Pope John the Second and American Presidents Bush, Clinton and Johnson. The relocation of the Staff College to RAAF Base Fairbairn, from Point Cook, in 1960 reinforced the strategic role of Canberra in the training of army and airforce officers. The development of the landscape of the base reflects this role and evolution of the airforce culture from wartime to peacetime role.(Criterion A.4) RAAF Base Fairbairn is important in demonstrating the functional planning of airforce bases in the late 1930s in Australia under British influence. Individual structures of exceptional interest include the Guardhouse (33), the Hangars (46-48) and the Explosive Stores and Magazine (69-71). (Criterion B.2) RAAF Base Fairbairn is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of airforce bases designed and implemented in Australia in the late 1930s. Particularly important characteristics include the separation of functions and the social organisation of the Australian Airforce in the Inter-War and wartime years. Individual structures important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of their type include Hangar 46, the Guardhouse (33), the Bellman Hangar (203), buildings 69-71 and the Explosive Stores and Magazines. (Criterion D.2) RAAF Base Fairbairn is important for its association with the development of the RAAF Staff College from 1960. (Criterion G.1) (Principal Australian Historic Themes: 3.8 Moving goods and people by air, 7.7 Defending Australia) |
| Official Values: Not Available |
| Description: |
RAAF base Fairbairn is located in Block 660 described as 'Sub-lease' Canberra Airport. The need to locate the base to one side of the airfield in 1939 resulted in the location of the facility on the eastern side of the valley away from Mt Ainslie. Orthogonal planning alignments with married quarters to one side of the entrance, single men's quarters to the other, allowed clear differentiation and segregation of functions. Single Officer's quarters were located to the north-east on the axis of the sergeant's and single-men's mess buildings. The parade ground, located at the eastern end of the operational zone acted as a formal interface between domestic and operational areas of the base. The layout of the base as set out in the 1939 plan remains intact, illustrating the separation of functions and the social organisation of the RAAF. Additions and extensions overly or extend but do not obscure the original planning, dominant alignments, functional zones or the parade ground. This is a consequence of the non-strategic post war role of the base. Although the accommodation areas of the base have been adapted to meet post war requirements their functional relationships and access are intact. Richmond and Fairbairn Avenues remain as they developed in the post-war years during the VIP phase of use and continue in use as streetscapes providing a transition to the urban areas of Canberra. The following structures, erected 1939-1942, remain in place to illustrate the pre-war planning principles and development of the base during the wartime period: - Building 33 Guardhouse (drawing dated 1939) - Building 44 Hospital (Sick Quarters) (1940) - Buildings 46-48 Hangars (1939) - Building 52 Powerhouse and Gun Testing (1939) now squash courts - Building 42 Cinema (1940) now the gymnasium - Building 57 Survey Flight Photographic Building (1940) now staff college - Building 80A Photographic Store (1942) now library - Buildings 69-71 Explosive Stores and Magazine (1939) - Building 73 the east Powerhouse (1939) - Building 55 the Transport building (1939) - Building 203 Bellman Hangar (pre 1945) - Building 43, the Sergeants Mess of 1947 and 1953, replaced an earlier structure but in conjunction with a range of single storey huts continues to articulate the functional zone of single men's quarters located between the operational areas and the base entrance. - Building 121 and its neighbours and the Chaplains Office 107 in addition to 28 Squadron buildings 81-95 are typical of the timber framed, weatherboard and fibre-cement clad single storey huts of the wartime period. - Buildings 215 and 245 comprise the camouflaged Signals building erected in 1942 to look like a shearing shed. 2. Buildings The buildings identified under planning comprise individually significant buildings and supporting buildings. The following buildings are considered individually significant. - Building 33 Guardhouse (1939): A standard design incorporating Inter War Art Deco and Functionalist style elements. Similar examples exist at Amberley and Dubbo RAAF bases. The building is in two linked sections constructed in cavity brick on concrete footings. The front two storey section, with low roof profile, includes the ground floor guard room and upper floor rooms previously used as telephone exchanges. The two cells, and floor of the front section are combined below an in situ concrete floor/ceiling slab. Steel doors with secure inspection hatches remain in place. The rear single storey section, with its steeply pitched roof, provided accommodation for guards, a transformer room and fire tender garage. Windows typically employ horizontal glazing bars to timber sash windows. A car port has been attached to the rear of the building, but otherwise the building is relatively intact. - Building 44 Hospital (Sick Quarters) (1940): A single storey cavity brick building with similar window details to the guardhouse. Not seen internally. Externally retains its original H plan form and architectural form in the Art Deco influenced Georgian Revival style. The hipped roof is now covered with Colorbond sheeting. Important features include the horizontal emphasis of the windows and the detailing of the centrally placed main entrance. The latter includes the simple entrance steps in brick, the attached fluted quarter round pilasters and the fluted detailing of the lintel. A header brick course at window head level increases the horizontal emphasis of the building. - Buildings 46-48 Hangars (1939): Saw tooth roofed identical hangars with steel framed central spaces and roof trusses in the prevailing Inter War Art Deco and Functionalist style employed by the Commonwealth. Each building was extended soon after completion by the construction of a small armaments store. The saw tooth roof comprises two sets of three roof lights facing away from a central, spinal rectangular section roof light expressed in the south west elevations as a low pediment surmounting the symmetrical massing of the two storeyed brick and concrete end sections. The latter housed offices, stores and small workshops. Brickwork and window detailing are similar to the guardhouse and base hospital. Entrance to the hangars for aircraft is along each long side through sliding doors over the full length of the building. This was to allow maximum operational access and egress. Hangar 46 remains essentially intact. Hangars 47 and 48 have been modified to varying degrees including raising the roof profile at each side to allow larger aircraft to enter. Hangar 47 was modified in 1945 to create a VIP suite while Hangar 48 has been extended to improve its operational role. The 1939 control tower upper section was removed and has been replaced twice, the last time in 1965/66. The original control tower base is expressed as a concrete, upper floor slab on the south-western corner of Hangar 48. - Building 42 Gymnasium(1940): As erected the gymnasium featured a central sports area, flanking verandahs with canteen, stores, post office and bank, changing rooms and billiard room. Designed in the prevailing military vernacular style, similar to building 45, the sports area of the gymnasium was expressed at roof level with the supporting functions below the lower roofed perimeter areas. The building has gone through a range of functional changes, including that of cinema, but now operates as a gymnasium. The verandahs have been enclosed. Retains much of the original detailing externally and has been respected internally. - Building 57 Survey Flight Photographic Building (1940) now staff college: Designed in the prevailing vernacular military style, similar to building 45. The complex roofscape features a combination of hipped and gabled forms expressing the H form plan. Windows are typically timber sash with horizontal glazing bars, reflecting the Art Deco influence. No evidence of former use internally although the planning appears to be essentially intact. The building has been PVC siding clad externally and re-roofed in Colorbond sheeting. - Buildings 69-71 Explosive Stores and Magazine (1939): A group of three identical stores set in earth blast mounds open to the north, away from the base. The buildings are in red brick with timber framed hipped roofs supported on half trusses stepping from and supported by the brick walls. Windows wire reinforced, doors timber. Woodwork painted white. Each store features two lightning rods attached to separate timber flagpoles. - Building 43 Sergeants Mess (1947): Single storey building erected in the immediate post-war period and extended in 1953. Although the mess building is architecturally unimportant its interior spaces illustrate the RAAF's strong sense of tradition in terms of the social organisation of bases and the relative importance of the Sergeants Mess. - Building 203 Bellman Hangar: Designed in England and manufactured by Lysaghts of Newcastle, the portable Bellman hangars, of which some 123 were made, allowed for quick dismantling and erection. Steel framed with a low pitched roof clad overall with corrugated galvanised iron sheeting. The extension of the door supports beyond the shell of the building allowed maximum access to the useable spaces. - Buildings 215 and 245 Signals: Not seen internally. Externally a light steel frame clad with thin weatherboards as camouflage covers a brick structure characteristic of those buildings erected on the base between 1939-1942. 3. Landscape Planting Planting at the base started in the 1940s with a line of single trees along the centre of the entrance road, Fairbairn Avenue. The details of the overall planting were documented in a Tree Survey in 1985 for the RAAF. It is beyond the scope of this assessment to document changes in the landscape or the accuracy of the 1985 survey. Plantings identified during the survey of buildings includes trees which relate to key planning alignments of the base and the immediate post-war period. These are: - Cedrus atlantica outside the base medical centre - Cupressus arizonica outside the base entrance and on the traffic islands associated with the former Instruction building and the single officer's mess. - Populus alba pyramidalis as street trees along Fairbairn Avenue and Richmond Avenue, the main thoroughfares and alignments of the base. During the post-war period domestic tree and shrub plantings, associated with peacetime use of the base, have added to the overall appearance of the base, acting as unifying elements. A small golf course on the northern side of the base, not included in this assessment, emphasises the peacetime role of the facility. |
| History: |
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In 1911 the Government Gazette sought 'two mechanists and
aviators' to form a military aviation corps in Australia. The two people selected were Henry Petre
and Eric Harrison. These two
arrived from England in 1913 to assist in the search for a site for a flying
school. Sites were considered in
Victoria at Langwarrin, Cribb Point, Altona and Point Cook and in the ACT at Fairbairn,
Narrabundah, Jerrabomberra and Tuggeranong. In 1912 Captain Watt had considered that the Duntroon Plains
were ideal for flying. This was
objected to by Surveyor Charles Scrivener, Director of Commonwealth Lands and
Surveys, on the basis of noise and safety. Point Cook in Victoria was selected since it was near the Army Headquarters in Melbourne and had access to the sea as well as suitable land. Canberra's altitude was considered potentially problem causing, with the interim seat of government in Melbourne too far away. The first aircraft to land at Canberra may have been that flown by Lt Colonel Richard Williams, followed the next day by Major Lawrence Wackett. The purpose of the flight was to put on show a [Duntroon] college graduate who had succeeded in the Flying Corps. The Australian Air Force was established on 31 March 1921, under the Command of Lt Colonel Williams. The first aircraft were an 'Imperial gift' of 128 planes after the First World War in 1921. The first airfield was located near Northbourne Avenue. In May 1927, the provisional Parliament House was opened, each of the services providing a contingent for the event. The RAAF camp was located at the new airfield close to the Duntroon/Queanbeyan Road, at its intersection with the track to Majura. The RAAF contingent included 450 airmen with 21 aircraft from Richmond, NSW, and Point Cook in Victoria. In 1928, the present site for the 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. The airfield was managed by the Department of Home Affairs from 1931 and in 1940 changed to the Department of Air when RAAF Station Canberra was established. 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. Over 30% was to be spent on the air force, reinforcing the high priority for expansion of the air force. Major capital works were envisaged with the construction of many architecturally impressive buildings. 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. In common with other bases established in the mid-nineteen thirties, plans were begun in 1938, with approval for one hangar with control tower attached, a sergeants mess, barracks, office and store. By October 1939, No 8 Reconnaissance Squadron established camp, supported by Duntroon cadets, on the eastern side of the civilian hangar, with curved roof, which had been erected earlier on the site. The commanding officer was Squadron Leader P G Heffernan. 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. Many of the buildings came from the office of the Department of the Interior, Chief Architect, C Whitley. In common with other pre, and early wartime, bases in the period 1939-1942, many of the structures were erected in brick. These included the guardhouse, hospital, powerhouse, armaments building, photographic store, sick quarters and the entrances to the hangars. Other structures such as the staff residences, huts, photographic building, gymnasium and school of instruction were constructed in weatherboard on brick foundations. On 24 October 1940, the former Canberra Aerodrome was taken over from the Civil Authorities by the RAAF. The new brick hospital was completed in April 1941. The original establishment was for 1344 personnel, including 24 Army Officers and 120 WAAF, two of whom were officers. By 1942, living quarters were however, only available for 460 personnel. New huts were dispersed amongst the trees or scattered to match other patterns in the district. An operations and signals building was to be built to represent a typical shearing shed. The Station was a base for a training school for Army co-operation 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 present 'drag raceway' pavement, off Glenora Drive, may be on the original Queanbeyan Road, widened to accommodate the new aircraft. The Squadron's Captain, Gus Winkel, sank a Japanese submarine 115 kilometres east of Sydney on 5 June 1942. The operational problems of the base were highlighted on 13 August 1940 when a plane crashed on approaching the airfield. Fatalities included James Valentine Fairbairn, Minister for Air, after whom the airfield was to be named, and Brigadier Street, Minister for the Army. The crash site is marked by the Air Disaster Memorial. In February 1941, Canberra Aerodrome, Headquarters of the RAAF at the Federal Capital, was renamed Fairbairn Aerodrome. Before the end of the Second World War, Prime Minister John Curtin died on 5 July 1945. Curtin's body was flown to Perth from RAAF Base Canberra. During the war years the base was associated with General Douglas Macarthur who visited Canberra at the invitation of the Commonwealth on 18 March 1944. During the post war years from 1950 No 36 Squadron operated the Governor Generals Flight from the base. By 1945, the base was fully developed in its wartime role. In January 1945, the 'Southern Cross' aircraft used by Kingsford-Smith was overhauled, painted and made ready for flight test. On 21 May 1945, the Southern Cross was successfully tested by Wing Commanders Harry Purvis and Charles Kingsford-Smith, before its flight to Sydney on the 22 May 1945. 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 Duntroon-Queanbeyan Road controlled by a guardhouse. The site planning was clearly zoned into five areas, with a separate explosives storage area to the north-east. The latter included two storehouses and a magazine. The functional zones included: - married NCOs quarters and Commanding Officers and married Officers residences to the south-east of the axial entrance road linked to the single officers quarters and garages -single airman's quarters associated with the Sergeants Mess, Hospital (Sick Quarters) and Gymnasium and Recreation Rooms - a parade ground and administration buildings associated with the three hangars and DCA control tower, a transport building and a workshop and store. Other buildings included a Photographic Building for Survey Flight (No57), a Film Store Building (No80A) and the School of Instruction Building (No. 56). The latter was used for Link training, Haskard Teaching, lectures and Bombing Training. The bomber training utilised a camera obscura in the upper part of the building. A Signals building, camouflaged as a shearing shed, was constructed from concrete blocks by Messrs Cody and Willis of Burton Street, Glebe, between May and October 1942, on the property known as Dundee. This building is utilised today as the Joint Targetting and Imagery Exploitation Centre which comprises buildings 215 and 245. Messrs Burton and Willis also constructed Bomb Dump buildings south of the airfield between the Molongolo River and Pialligo Avenue. (The Bomb Dump buildings are under separate assessment at File No. 8/1/0/474) The introduction of air pageants in the 1930s was used by the RAAF to publicise their presence in Canberra during the post-war years. In 1954 Air Force Week was implemented, and from 1965 to 1977, Open Days were held every few years. In 1954 Defence Departments were transferred from Melbourne to Canberra resulting in growth of the base. 34 Transport Squadron, precursor to 34 VIP Squadron, in 1944, became the first operational squadron to officially have women posted to it. The VIP role of Fairbairn, and 34 VIP Squadron established in 1956, is demonstrated by the close association of the base, in particular Hangar 48, with persons and events within Canberra and nationally during the post-war period. In 1954, Queen Elizabeth visited Canberra arriving at RAAF Base Fairbairn. RAAF Base Fairbairn also acted as the point of arrival and departure for subsequent visits by the Queen and other members of the Royal Family. The base has been the point of arrival for all major Heads of State and dignitaries visiting Canberra, including Queen Elizabeth the Second, Pope John the Second and Presidents Bush, Clinton and Johnson of the United States of America. The base is also associated with the development of the Australian War Memorial to accommodate important wartime exhibits including AVRO Lancaster bomber G for George, a Spitfire Mark ii P7973 and a Messerschmidt ME262. The latter plane was dismantled in the prefabricated Bellman Hangar, with the other aircraft dismantled in the main hangars. By 1961, the site of the present Canberra Airport buildings and private facilities were clearly identified on the opposite side of the runways. A detailed plan of 1965 shows changes to the base including: - additions to each of the 'ranks' residential areas, including houses, huts, playgrounds, basketball courts and a golf course - new underground fuel tanks, a Bellman Hangar, - WRAAF and Staff college facilities including catering. The DCA control tower remained in place attached to Hangar 48 nearest to the runways. The expansion of the domestic airport in subsequent years led to the re-routing of the Duntroon-Queanbeyan Road around the extended airstrips. In 1966 the DCA control tower was relocated from the corner of Hangar 48 to the front of Hangar 48. During the post 1960s period the base changed from its wartime appearance with the introduction of additional tree and shrub plantings, reflecting the pattern of Canberra's suburbs, to supplement those planted in the 1940s. In 1960, the Survey Flight Photographic Building was adapted for use as the Staff College when the training facility moved from Point Cook, Victoria. A library was added to the facility in 1972, when the adjacent film store was adapted. The library is known as the HN Wrigley Centre. Adjoining huts and buildings have been used as lecture and teaching space. The Staff College traces its origins back to 1943 with the commencement of the No.1 War Staff Course and the No.1 Unit Commanders Course at Mt Martha in Victoria. The objectives of the courses were to assist officers to think clearly and express themselves briefly, in addition to understanding the organisation and officer’s duties. A RAAF Staff College was implemented at Point Cook in October 1948. The base's primary role in 1999 is as Headquarters Training Command Base administered by the Air Officer Commanding Training Command. Principal functions include training, operational and support facilities. The major role of the base is to provide Base Support Services to 307 Air Base Wing, 34 Squadron, RAAF Staff College, Australian Defence Force Helicopter School, Air HQ Joint Targeting Imagery Exploitation Centre, Canberra Area Medical Unit Fairbairn, 28 Squadron, Air Power Study Centre, Directorate of management services, ASTA, Hawker Pacific, Bureau of Meteorology and Air Services Australia. The sale of the site to the Capital Airports Group was announced on 21 March 1998. From 29 May 1998 the base has been subject to a new lease with the RAAF remaining on site until May 2003. Most elements of the site will have closed by 2001. Building 56, the Instruction Building (1939), was demolished in the latter half of 2002 following proposals to provide new, secure, hangar facilities for the VIP Fleet following the events of 11 September 2001 in America. |
| Condition and Integrity: |
|
Integrity: The majority of the single storey huts associated with the wartime phase of operations have been removed. Asbestos cement roofing has in general been replaced with Colorbond sheeting. Some buildings have been relocated within the base, in particular the remaining single storey huts. Condition: In general the buildings of the base are in good condition as would be expected on an operational base. The eaves of the former Instruction building show some degree of water damage over the entrance. Exposed timber weatherboards are in need of painting (June 1999). |
| Location: |
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Glenora Drive, Majura, comprising:
The base layout including Fairbairn, Laverton, Richmond, Amberley and Point Cook Avenues, Ewart Street, Pearce Avenue and the Parade Ground; Street and Landscape trees associated with the base layout; and The following buildings and structures: - 33 Guardhouse - 44 Hospital (now Sick Quarters) - 46-48 Hangars - 52 Powerhouse and Gun Testing (now squash courts) - 42 Cinema (now the gymnasium) - 57 Survey Flight Photographic Building (now staff college) - 80A Photographic Store (now library) - 69-71 Explosives Stores and Magazines - 73 the east Powerhouse - 55 the Transport building - 203 Bellman Hangar - 43 Sergeants Mess - 215 and 245 camouflaged Signals building. |
| Bibliography: |
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Jane Hingston, RAAF Base Fairbairn Heritage Study: A Beginning, Semester 1 1998 University of Canberra. Allom Lovell 1992, RAAF Williams Laverton, Volumes 1 & 2 Department of Housing and Construction, 1986, Statement of Significance Buildings and Conservation Areas RAAGF Point Cook, Victoria Griffiths, Paul, ' Dundee', a cultural historical landscape study, University of Canberra, 1993 National Archives of Australia: Photographic Collections, Royalty and Australian Society |
Report Produced: Wed Feb 10 00:54:08 2010