CMPs at Truscott Airbase, AUS

Robert Farmer · #1 07-07-09, 23:54

More photos again

Robert Farmer · #2 07-07-09, 23:55

Heres some more

Robert Farmer · #3 07-07-09, 23:57

The last for now

Keith Webb · #4 08-07-09, 00:53

Thanks for sharing those with us Robert.

Absolutely fascinating aren't they.

Looks like there have been scrub fires through most of it.

Philliphastings · #5 09-07-09, 04:58

Thanks for the pics Robert.

What an awesome sight !

Most people are probably thinking 'what a waste' but I rather think along the lines of what a terrific memorial.

Most Military sites in the southern sector of WA have been looted out by scrap dealers twenty or more years ago and you have to dig in the dirt to find their leftovers nuts bolts and oxy cutting slag.

So good to see genuine relics of the war effort still in situ and largely intact. There is no better way to tell the story of the ground crews, maintenance staff and airmen stationed at Truscott during the war...

Cheers

Phill

Mike K · #6 09-07-09, 06:35

Some explaining for our non aussie members,

The base was and is in a remote location on the NW coast, it was completely built from the sea . No roads existed then and now . They shipped in everything by barges . I believe it was a major staging strip for B24 raids into the Dutch East indies . The Libs would fuel up and load bombs and fly on from Truscott .

A air force vet told me a lot of misfits were posted there as punishment and a few of them went troppo ... the remoteness got to them and they took to the hills .

Some very odd things happened up there along that coast. A Jap recce floatplane landed and abducted a priest from a small vessel .. he was sadly decapitated by his captors later on. A DC 3 was shot down by the Broom raiders as they were returning .. the survivors all had a harrowing time on the remote coast .. the remanis of the DC 3 are still there to this day .
Mike

Philliphastings · #7 09-07-09, 06:58

Yes Mike, not forgetting the brown paper package containing a fortune in diamonds sent by the Dutch to avoid it's capture by the Japanese, and which ended up missing from the wreck and scattered through the bush, most never being found to this day.

The mind boggles and I reckon these types of legends help make the wild parts of Australia so fascinating,

Cheers

Phill

Stuart Kirkham · #8 08-08-11, 12:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

The base was and is in a remote location on the NW coast, it was completely built from the sea . No roads existed then and now . They shipped in everything by barges . I believe it was a major staging strip for B24 raids into the Dutch East indies . The Libs would fuel up and load bombs and fly on from Truscott .

The 'staging' B-24 Liberators originated from the 'secret' inland airstrip of Corunna Downs where the US Army Airforce and RAAF Airforce heavy bombers were based. The bombers would fuel and bomb up at Corunna Downs, fly to Truscott, fuel up again and fly off to Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).

This airfield was located 27 kms south of Marble Bar, Western Australia as it was considered 'out of reach' of Japanese aircraft. The remote distance from the north of Australia meant that the Liberators did not have sufficient fuel to complete their missions without the 'top up' at Truscott.

The airfield still exists today in it's original state apart from the buildings, which were removed after the war.

http://picasaweb.google.com/explorer...at=directlink#

This unused 250lb GP bomb tail fin and transit case was recovered from Corunna Downs a number of years ago. At the time that I visited the airfield, there would have been hundreds of these fins lying around.