Secret WW2 R.A.A.F Base in Central Victoria
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Today we're out in Flagstaff, an old gold rush town in the Central Goldfields of Victoria, where a major Royal Australian Air Force depot was secretly constructed during World War II.
This facility did not appear on any maps and was not mentioned in the newspapers. But here it is.
In this video we're going to take a look into the hidden history of this secret depot, why it was only partially completed, and what happened to the things that were here when they wound up. You won't believe what can be hiding beneath your feet in some of these old gold towns!
I'm an ex-RAAFie, Victorian and amateur historian myself. I do several historical adventures on my channel including WW2 aircraft crash sites and abandoned railways. Your channel is right up my alley. New sub!
What is your channel? I also explored a few WW2 crash sites around Mildura
@@bradslade5436 youtube.com/@allthingsoutdoors?si=8HTmFATjvuVWRhDz
Syd Pearson and Peter Rahill told me that Merlin aircraft engines were recovered from filled in shafts right next to the bitumen road at Flagstaff. The crated engines were so heavy that in the 40's, the RAAF personnel couldn't be bothered to take them any further into the bush. The recovery team got them when March mining was asked for help with their earthmoving equipment. Syd and Pete worked for March mining at the time. I think it was their crane that was used originally too?
Michelle your videos are getting better and better, adding John with his knowledge and history is a real bonus. Thank you to both. The stories you have recorded are very important to the history of our nation. Great stuff .
Thanks John and Michelle, this story is incredible and you have both brought it to life so well.
As an old Maryborough Victoria boy, I know this legend very well. The way I was told it, the depot was originally meant for Maryborough Qld, but as RAAF HQ was in Melbourne at that time, somebody saw Maryborough on the order and immediately thought it was meant for Maryborough Victoria, so that's why those old building foundations were there. The runway was originally, meant to align with the Railway line so that goods could be brought in both by rail and air,, but by the time they worked out that they had the wrong Maryborough, work had already started, but it was never completed as they eventually went to the right Maryborough. After the war a pre-fab house building plant used part of the site for about 20 years. Yeah, there's a lot of interesting side stories around Maryborough, if you only know where to look.
Sorry, you've fallen for an urban myth. All the old documentation says Maryborough, Victoria - John
@@VictorianHistoryAdventures Could they have mixed up the story with the one about Maryborough train station originally being for Maryborough QLD?
In Castlemaine we call it Scaryborough 😂
@@Womble1252 As a commercial driver who has had to deliver there many nights over the years, you Castlemanians named it right. Some weird types there, even more than that "City" further south.
Let's build it well away from the Japanese threat.....coastal Qld should be fine?
The out take was a nice touch..
It was worth every second of research and filming you did too!
Well done Michelle & John. Another well researched and fascinating story. Thanks for sharing.
Michelle, my father was a Sergeant in the RAAF in charge of transportation during and after the war, he was responsible for picking up and transporting air force planes and equipment from Vic, SA, New South Wales, and Queensland, I remember as a lad travelling around Victoria in the RAAF trucks picking up equipment for the big auction at Tocumwal N.S.W. I remember going with him and other Air Force Personal to Central Victoria.
Excellent research and so well put together, thank you for all video you have put together to date and please keep them coming , so much out there that still needs to be told.
Really appreciate the hard work you guys do and it's great to learn about our history.
+Love it. Especially I served in the RAAF some 15 years.... interested in any other hidden military sites.
There is an air force museum at Nhill, Victoria. They have open days sometimes. I've always wanted to visit, as I'm only 40 klms away!
This was a fun and educational video, I thank you both for your efforts which are worthwhile. There is a fellow that lives down the street from me, that used to work for rolls Royce, in Richmond, he said they had great piles of boxed merlin engines that were eventually scrapped or even dumped at a nearby tip. Seems a shame, dono what I would do with a huge engine like that, wouldn't fit in me Holden.
This video was very interesting and exceptionally well produced - keep up the enthusiasm
Fascinating story. Thanks for all the time and effort that went into making it.
What a great team you 2 are.. Love the detective work around finding the site where they dumped those aircraft parts. Thanks
Sad about those Fairey Battle parts, only 4 surviving aircraft out of the 2201 produced exist today, all of which had to be restored.
I'll add to that there's an urban legend of excess U.S. military material (jeeps etc. still in boxes) being stored in shafts in the Dandenong Ranges during WW2. I remember reading about it in the local paper back in the 80s and of those who were searching for them. Would be amazing if it were true but I'm pretty sure people would remember things like that and that there would be official records of such.
P.S. Great video, very interesting ! Have done quite a number of bush walks through central Victoria, seeing old ruins etc. always leave you wondering about their history. Subscribed !
Same here NSW just below the border of QLD so remote rural off grid I take a few months every year and search out unmarked bases in QLD and NT its a gift that never stops giving , so many caches that where dynamited closed enough said .
there may not be records. sometimes the order is not written, just verbal and says "get rid of them. dont care how, just get rid of them".
@@vsvnrg3263 True that and a lot of the tunnels storing them where dynamited shut.
Something engaging always feels much shorter than its actual running time. An interesting little known story, important because it shows an aspect that was part of the response when Australia found itself on the receiving end of a series of rude surprises. Well presented, well constructed and edited, dialogue is concise and clear, visuals are engaging, does not drag, is not repetitive, and no soap opera theatrics. The opening titles are better than quite a lot of high end productions.
As a kid I played on the old aircraft seats,fuel tank joy stick and aircraft bits.
These bits were all recovered from a mine shaft.
Great video. Cheers
Fun fact. While some might scoff at the thought of Japanese aircraft flying over Victoria, the submarine force that shelled the Sydney and Newcastle, also made it as far as Bass Strait , launching a small reconnaissance plane which flew over RAAF Sale and RAAF Williams at Point Cook/Laverton.
Not many people no about that or the German raiders laying mines in bass Strait.
I was told about that aircraft flying over Melbourne on a Sunday morning by the daughter of the man who spotted it flying over Thornbury and Croxton railway station. The source was reliable because he was a Public Works Inspector and Local Air Raid Warden, so his Aircraft Recognition skills should have been better than average.
I think that the Japanese Float Plane would have flown from Point Cook out to Broadmeadows Army Base, which would have been known about from WWI. The aircraft would have then flown over Essendon Airfield and seen much of the wartime development, then the aircraft would have headed along Bell Street, which at the time was the outer edge of Melbourne, spotted the railway line and turned towards Melbourne. He was then spotted by my witness as he was preparing for Sunday morning Church in his little office in his backyard.
From Croxton, the aircraft probably flew towards the Melbourne CBD, and then would have followed the more populated East side of the Bay and down to Point Nepean and back out over Bass Strait to the waiting Japanese submarine probably somewhere near King Island.
The reason why I mention King Island is because it was common knowledge amongst the people of King Island that the local fishermen would spot mysterious lights at night out near where the Continental Shelf dropped away. Certainly the skipper of an submarine would prefer to stay as close to really deep water as possible in order to get away as safely as possible, rather than risk getting caught in the shallower waters of Bass Strait where detection from aircraft might be easier.
There was also a mention in a documentary about a Bofors Gun crew at Point Cook having spotted the Japanese aircraft flying over, and being refused permission to open fire because their Officer was busy ringing Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Road to request permission to open fire! As if you are going to find anyone of seniority on Duty early on a Sunday morning?
Can you just imagine how frustrated that gun crew would have been? By rights the Gun Crew should have been ordered to Open Fire on a clearly marked hostile enemy aircraft flying near to an important RAAF Base.
If it had been a captured aircraft then it would have had the Japanese markings painted over with white crosses.
I wonder what happened to the Officer on Duty who failed to open fire and allowed a reconnaissance aircraft to fly at will over Melbourne on a Sunday morning.
Who was on Radar Duty that morning?
Was there any response from those on Duty at Point Nepean?
Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺
@@markfryer9880 Your story adds nicely to events. It has been of interest to me for many years yet is largely unknown.
A lot of research went into this - Thanks, very interesting.
Thank you for doing this story I have been telling people about this for years but I had no proof.A friend that grew up there told me and they had a aircraft seat as a swing that came from the mine back in the day
I liked visiting the airport museum and airstrip near Mallacoota. They have a great display of WW2 military memorabilia.
That’s great bit of detective work to find the hole 👍👍
Your productions are excellent. Thank you for the significant work you contribute in this way to our community. ❤ Suggestion: use re-usable coffee cups. Much kinder on our environment, coffee stays hotter for much longer. 😮Small, but big thing:-) 😊I am a rural district nurse driving long goldfield distances. My current favourite is Fressko Ceramic “12 Oz”.
Well done folks,quite an adventure you have had along with your discoveries.
There was a stores depot in Dubbo, too. I remember that the buildings rooves were iron ,& the outer edges irregular to simulate a body of water. The railway line ran beside the buildings.
There were quarters nearby, which included a Sergeants' Mess & an Officers' mess. The Sergeant's mess was panelled with plywood from Moaqquito aircraft & was active into the 1980's.
The sites were eventually dismantled and turned into residential lots.
Nice goin, my Grandfather on my talked about Beaufort. We knew about Maryborough Vic Airfield being built by mistake, shoulda been Maryborough QLD. Carisbrook is a real kool place, haven't been there for years. Geelong a drive. Also, there are supposed to be Cave and Tunnels under Ballarat. Bit happened during 1939-45 but, my fav time 1900-50. Keep up the good work, stay vertical Eh!
nar, mate, this is bullshit about a mistake with the qld maryborough. they still say that about the magnificent train station that was supposedly meant for qld too. its a good story though. mark twain commented that the victorian maryborough was a train station with a town attached.
Well done Michelle and John. Great history lesson. Funny how I have just started detecting near there and knew nothing about it. Keep up the great videos 😁👍
Another great history lesson! We are looking forward to the next one. Thanks, John and Michelle 👌
Thank you, I enjoyed that very much and cant wait to see the next one.
Very interesting and quite unique in presentation,I like it and have subscribed, thankyou ..
Another interesting professional video, well done guys 😊
Job well done 👏, my mum was in the raaf ,stationed at Lake boga, repair depot for Catalina and sounderlands,looking forward to more stories, thank you cheers 🍻
So so interesting thank you for taking the time to produce such interested information and history about Victoria. Which they taught this a school going up
Awesome videos,love sitting back and learning from them. Keep them coming.
You two are doing such a great job...please keep it up. Your ventures into the less known are fascinating
Very interesting, thank you both for your efforts. 👍
Excellent video and a great little known story outside of Maryborough. Was there recently and knew nothing of this piece of history.
Brilliant and informative video - thanks so much Michelle and John for your great work. Cheers, :-)
Love this video very very interesting history we have when guys like you find it Well done on all of your research Not an easy thing to do Keep up the great work ❤
It sounds like the Dubbo’s airforce base, with hangers and railway junction. Unfortunately, flogging it off was the top priority. Was that tottenam in NSW? Thanks Michele and John.
Australia had bases just about every by Wars end,we use to train alot troops before moving forward to Bases closer to Operational Area's Look up Ashley Street,Tottenham
Good stuff, .. well researched and informative as always. Thanks folks.
Just getting better with hard work and talent
Incredible video, really enjoyed it guys, keep up the great work 👍 👏 🍻🍻🇦🇺🇦🇺🤝🇦🇺🇦🇺🏔🏔🦘🦘
A wonderful video and no doubt the result of a great deal of research
Great research and a fascinating story
Great video. Thanks.
you've done good detective work. I'm amazed you've discovered that exact mine
👋 from Kyneton. ❤ your channel!
Fantastic video! Just found you guys will definitely be looking forward to your upcoming videos :)
wow that red part showing at 4:39 is 1 house away from my childhood house that i grew up in, i lived there for the first 15 years of my life before moving away
Again hello from remote rural off grid here NSW I have a hobby of finding the x American and ADF military bases just across the border in QLD and NT interesting finds that keep on giving. You can always scope out where the horse walked nice comment indeed.
Another Brilliant Doco. Thank you
Great presentation
Thank you 🙏
Great video huys, love your work. Please keep up the stella work.
Great historical information and video production
Well done and thankyou
Love the channel guys!!
good show. it is believable that the flagstaff site did not appear on maps. ive seen, on a facebook page about port melbourne history, a wartime japanese map which showed water depths of hobsons bay but no sign of the fishermans bend airstrip. a rather important item to not be aware of. i knew of a junk collector who lived in garden city who roamed over fishermans bend to satisfy his urges to collect stuff. he used to fill his yard with firewood (he had no need for firewood in his house) and anything else he could get home on his pushbike. i could make good use of the firewood but could only sneak small amounts from him when he wasnt home. his daughter would get fed up with the backyard overflowing with junk so would go to the neighbour requesting they complain to the council. on one council cleanup (needing more than one truck, i might add ) the wing of a mustang aircraft was removed. he got the thing from back of the aircraft factories who had dumped it and he got it home on his bike. this happened in the late 70's. i dont know what happened to the wing.
Great work. Very interesting.
Emergency war airstrip located at the Carisbrook horse racing track . Infact as a kid i saw a plane with engine problems had land near there
Another great video, well done.
really good video thank you :)
Excellent interesting video 👍
Hi from NZ 👋
Great video keep them coming
Another ww11 USAF Base was also located near Club Terrace ,far east Gippsland, also the gear left behind was placed into a old gold mine shaft with the entrance blown up ,also the same Base released 2 black Panthers into the Bush ,Mascots ,hence the many sightings of Black panthers in the area in recent years ,a local claimed 30 years ago he found the cave and retrieved a jeep and Ammo plus firearms ,he even showed me some of the Relics he found
what a good story very informative thankyou
thanks for the video..
Great video good to see some keeping the history alive :) :)
The only Fairey Battle in Australia is being restored at the Sa Aviation Museum in Adelaide.
Great work, keep it up
My dad was sent to no 5 recruitment depot, just to the left of ararat. It was called rocklands recruitment depot.. there is nothing at rocklands, that I can see.
great animations
Very interesting, like a treasure hunt!
Growing up very close to Flagstaff i was always told that the airfield was intended for maryborough Queensland but mistakenly they started building near maryborough Victoria. Obviously that is not true but that's what I always believed growing up.
Yes, the 1942 documents clearly say Maryborough, Victoria - John
great history girl
How interesting.
Interested why you didn’t mention following up Bendigo folk who actually dug up the aircraft parts? You may have reasons but it sticks out as an oversight or obvious research path.
We contacted the now Bendigo Flying Club. Two of the three men from 1993 are now dead. The third did not respond. So we had nothing of interest to add to the video - John
Damn. Clicked on this thinking "Victoria's Secret" meant something else....
Subbed
Good stuff
You've got a like and sub from me
What bis a prophylactic hut?
the mind boggles at the size of the prophylactics it contains.
Great video, well worth the watch. But can I make a comment, two things, 1 Michell, it’s not natural to stand with one hand on your hip, relax, clasp your hands in front of you , also use your hands when talking. The other thing is your clothes. Not the sort of thing that you would wear in the bush. It looked really strange, black skirt, black leggings, black boots, black top. Can you see what I mean. I’m sorry if I offended you saying this, but I speak from experience many years in the industry. Thank you and good luck. Subscribed Dr
...........❤💯
"Wednesaday" 😆
They were hoping no one would notice - John
I find it strange that I need to Google the conversion of "feet" to "metres" while watching an Australian production. Please use the universal standardised conversion methods and not the inaccurate, popularised bullshit from another country.
Great job..more tax payers $$$.. gone missing ❤
I interested in the company names of those who should have built something 😂
Why does she talk so strange?
Yes, she needs to do some voice coaching to sound more natural in the B-roll stuff.
It’s not strange, it is a perfectly normal Aussie voice that is soothing and pleasant.
It sounds strange to you because you speak so badly that you don't know how Aussie English should sound.
all Aussies should speak as well as her but they don't and actually if you speak proper English some Aussies can't understand what you are saying.
Do not listen if you dont like her voice.
because she's not from adelaide. ( i just clicked on your site expecting you to be a yank ). dont you have bogans in adelaide? she talks alright to me.