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By tk *Port's bidding practice runs aground *Tweaking continues on Beaufort waterfront park design *Lack of insurance an issue on Jekyll *Beach work buried in problems: placing utilities underground might cause more harm than good in the long run for beach residents *Destin approves harbor CRA funding
THAM P 9.
The aerodrome's stage four was, in hindsight, a crime and a tragedy. At the war's end, Tocomwal as Australia's major aircraft depot, received hundreds upon hundreds of all types of aircraft for mothballing and storage. The rows of aircraft, packed wing tip to wing tip After languishing in the elements for ten years or more, they were all, every last one of them, chopped up and smelted down into ingots of aluminium. Post-war, with everything in short supply, aluminium was a much needed commodity. It was needed for pots and pans and for the new Holden motorcar coming into production. Scrap metal merchants set up smelters on the aerodrome and bought the planes by the hundreds - 157 Pounds 12 Shillings and 6 pence each for complete Beaufighters, 20 Pounds for Beaufords, 15 Pounds for Kittyhawks, 8 Pounds for Vultee Vengeances - Liberators, Flying Fortresses, Mustangs, Mosquitoes, Wirraways, all went to the furnaces. Today, anyone of these aircraft would be priceless. It's easy to be wise after the event, but it's beyond understanding that someone, somewhere did not have the foresight to save a few of these Australian treasures. Similarly, nearly all the 450 aerodrome buildings and all the hospital buildings were sold and removed. After the war when building materials were virtually unobtainable, the hangars, huts and workshops were snapped up by builders, giving no thought to any historical value. One of the biggest hangars, a giant igloo type, can be seen today in use at Cornish Fruit Growers at Cottons Road, Cobram, and many huts, built in the shape of houses form a section of the suburb of O'Connor in Canberra where they are now Heritage Listed by the National Trust. Three hangars remain at the aerodrome, two for storage, but one still lives in active use by the Sportavia Soaring Centre. Within its cavernous interior, particularly at night, there is an atmosphere of the past. We frequently see elderly ladies and gentlemen standing quietly inside it, lost in thought and memory. It is for these people and their children and grandchildren, that the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome Museum is collecting history in stories and photographs, had a book of record published, acquired a WW11 aircraft and is planning to display it all in an appropriate museum setting. Today, there are several restoration groups in Australia, which are moving heaven and earth to reconstruct some of the aircraft that we have lost. The aerodrome is associated with the Liberator reconstruction group, which regularly visits our area to search for missing parts. They use metal detectors and proper archaeological dig techniques - they have unearthed many valuable parts to add to a wing from New Guinea and a fuselage from Gippsland in Victoria. It is a ten year project and they work with voluntary labour, freely give. Why do they do it? Why does Tocumwal wish to have an Historic Aerodrome Museum? It does so in order to pay tribute to the men and machines of World War 11. It is not to glorify war, which is the most terrible of man's follies, but to acknowledge the determination of young people who saved our country for us. We would do well to preserve what little history we do have and to ensure that the ideals and achievements of those earlier times are recorded and displayed, so that today's young people can look, read, and wonder and dwell upon the thought -
And secondly, we wish to have an Historic Aerodrome Museum, because in today's terms the aerodrome is an asset. Country towns struggle for existence. All along the Murray River, the border towns are reidentifying themselves. No longer just a poker machine destination, the area is now marketing its real benefits to the tourism industry. The Murray development initiatives are encouraging each of the districts to analyse, develop and promote all their natural advantages and then, most importantly, to link all the districts into a cohesive package for tourism. We see the Tocomwal Historic Aerodrome as having the potential to be a major component of that package. So, many people are now recognising the worth of a Tocomwal Historic Aerodrome Museum, not only for the past, but also for the present and the future of Tocomwal. Annual membership of the group is available for $10.00 per person, for participation in monthly meetings and in projects such as the current effort to map and sign post significent aerodrome sites. And if you feel that you can assist with a story, a photograph, any memorabila, a contact, or even a donation, then you will be helping to breathe life into a sleeping giant, the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome. Address for correspondence:-
THAM corrections. Below Heading THAM Para 10, line 1 cricis should be crisis. At the present time. The second last para from bottom. Line 1 pparachutes should be parachutes, line 5 Dakopta
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