Have You Been to Wilson's Prom

[xcvator]

I was trying to find some information about an old ww2 airfield just south of Yanakie when I found this document, it's a bit of a long read, but geeze it's interesting

https://historyofwilsonspromontory.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/wilsons-promontory-the-war-years-1939-1945-by-terry-synan.pdf

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

It's sort of still there.  The area of the Air field isn't marked or signposted.

Parks Victoria and various others have done their best to remove any evidence of its existence.
It's the big flat area before the road goes over the Darby River road bridge and then works its way up around the Hilly section.
It's actually not that far inside the Gate to the Park.
 

[Fizzie]

I was trying to find some information about an old ww2 airfield just south of Yanakie when I found this document, it's a bit of a long read, but geeze it's interesting

Very interesting, thanks X

It's sort of still there.  The area of the Air field isn't marked or signposted.

Parks Victoria and various others have done their best to remove any evidence of its existence.

You'd have to wonder why 

[DaveTrees]

You'd have to wonder why 

From the late 1970s (I think) until relatively recently, the Yanakie Airbase has been maintained as a firebombing base by DELWP/PV.  It was last used operationally during the 2009 Prom fire, but is in the process of being decommissioned because modern firebombers can't really operate safely off grass strips these days (especially strips prone to being dug up by wombats & with resident populations of roos & emus!)  It's still a designated helicopter landing zone, however.

Once the firebombing base infrastructure is removed (which is just some sheds & portable buildings - nothing of historic value.  All the WW2 infrastructure was pulled down decades ago, probably even before it became part of the National Park in 1969) there will hopefully be some interpretive signs installed about the history of the site.  That's the plan, anyway ..... I am managing the decommissioning process as part of my job !

It's only a short walk in off the main Prom road .... it's signposted "Airbase Track", about 10km from the park entrance.  Not much to see other than a couple of sheds, retardant storage tanks & the strips themselves outlined with painted tyres.

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Thanks Dave, I'm sure there was a Memorial to Z force (I think?) at Tidal River, somewhere near/opposite the Store/Shop.
But couldn't remember any road signs that indicated the Airfield.
I used to stay at Duck Point on occasion as a blow-in.  It's not far from the Yanakie Store (Last chance for Fuel at that time) 

[DaveTrees]

Yes, the Commando Memorial at Tidal River is pretty impressive ... it was fully refurbished in 2010 or thereabouts, and there's a big bronze plaque with the history of the units that trained there.

The track into the airbase wasn't signposted until a year or so ago.

[xcvator]

I knew about the air force being there from being in the air cadets at Morwell. We had a camp there in about 1960. At that time there were no building anywhere in the area and it was not in the national park, that started at Darby River, but if you went for a bit of a wander around there were lots of concrete pads of various sizes from a few square metres to some covering an acre or more, I would guess that they are still there, but at that time we weren't told about it's history, like a lot of other Australian war history, it was just swept under the carpet 

[Cruiser 105Tvan]

Yes Xcvator.
It's almost like "the powers that be" are ashamed of the struggles that it took to make Australia what it is.

[DaveTrees]

It's almost like "the powers that be" are ashamed of the struggles that it took to make Australia what it is.

 

There's heaps of easily accessible info about the WW2 history of the Prom ..... especially in the Foster Museum.  It's history isn't hidden at all.

(..... and the Yanakie AOB was only ever really a landing strip for recce flights along the coast - there were no units ever actually based there.  It's more "interesting" than "significant" in the overall scheme of things).