BANKSTOWN BUNKER

The 'Bankstown Bunker' is a disused RAAF operations bunker that was located on the Corner of Marion and Edgar Streets, Condell Park in Sydney, Australia.^[1][2]

Contents

History

Inside the bunker

Location

Future plans for the site

Other confirmed bunkers in Bankstown

See also

References

External links

History

This facility was once a three story semi-underground Royal Australian Air force base that was secretly used during the Second World War. It is classified as a "semi-underground building" as work commenced in late 1942. Its official commissioning was in January 1945 as the Sydney "Air Defence Headquarters" (ADHQ) replacing the No.1 Fighter Sector Headquarters (FSHQ)^[3] that was based at the Bankstown Capital Hall. However workers from the bunker have advised that there were people working in the bunker since 1943, however official records cannot confirm this. The primary use of the FHSQ and ADHQ was the location, tracking and interception of all planes in the eastern area of the South West Pacific (SWPA). The bunker was manned by members of the No.2 Volunteer Air Observer Corps (VOAC), The Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) and a few members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The bunker was manned at all times in shifts called "Flights". Many of the bunker workers were local, however accommodation was provided for them in Chapel Road Bankstown. Transport to the bunker for the workers was supplied by buses with blacked out windows. All workers had to undergo a strict training for this particular assignment including plane identification which was also provided at chapel road Bankstown. There were two points into to the bunker which were guarded by military police.^[4] A transmitting station for the bunker was located in Johnstone Road, Bass hill and was a building of above ground construction. The bunker appears to have been decommissioned when the ADHQ was disbanded in 1947. ^[5] A caretaker was then assigned to the take care of the bunker. After the war the base was disbanded and it wasn't until 1971, The then editor of Bankstown's Torch Newspaper, Phil Englisch was invited by members of the RAAF No. 2 stores depot in Regents Park into the bunker for "disposal of surplus assets", many photos were taken and an article was placed in local newspapers detailing the find. In 1972 the bunker was set on fire by persons unknown. In 1976 the location of this sight was acquired by the NSW department of housing and redeveloped into town houses which cover most of the site.

Inside the bunker

The bunker consisted of reinforced concrete with 1.5 metres thick walls.^[6] Inside the bunker there was a code room, plotting rooms, two escape tunnels, radio transmitter room, kitchen, dining area, bathrooms, bedrooms and the main operation area had a large map of the South West Pacific theater of World War II. There are rumours of a tunnel running from the bunker to an unknown location. The bunker also had its own emergency generator' air conditioning and fifty telephone lines.^[7] The telephone lines went to various locations including radar stations and VAOC lookout posts which reported aircraft locations to the bunker.

Location

There is a small reserve between the town houses at the end of Taylor Street. It is under this hill that the bunker has been buried. The entrance to the bunker has now been sealed and the area over the top of the bunker has been landscaped with artificial hills as to conceal its position. It is still possible to enter the site through an undisclosed location.

Future plans for the site

There have been several plans for uses for the bunker since the 1970s including a car park and museum. The most recent plan was put forth by the Australian Bunker and Military Museum in Queensland (ABMM) to Bankstown city council in 2006, yet nothing has come of it.

Other confirmed bunkers in Bankstown

There is one other confirmed bunker in Bankstown which is a "Remote Receiving station" little is known about its history, however it has been noted that it was "heavily vandalised" in 1945. It was located in Picnic Point National Park, near the South Sydney Power station,^[8] according to residents of the area, it still exists. There are several other rumours of bunkers in the Bankstown area, such as under an electricity block house on the corner of Milpera road and Henry Lawson Drive, a demolished bunker under Condell Park High School.
During World War 2, Bankstown was a hive for military activity. Bankstown Airport was home to several fighter units and several "dummy houses" existed in and around Bankstown Airport. These houses were built to make Bankstown Airport and its surrounds appear as farm. The area around Chapel Road Bankstown (were Paul Keating Park and The council chambers are located) was living quarters for the various military personnel that worked in Bankstown as well as training facilities for the various plotting rooms around Sydney.

See also

★ Middle Head Fortifications - A defense fort overlooking Sydney Heads.

References

1. http://www.bunkerboyz.org/bankbunk.htm The Bankstown Bunker, info and images, rumours and gossip.
2. Images of the Bankstown Bunker located in Condell Park.
3. http://www.sandgate.net/~dunn/raaf/1fshq.htm
4. (information supplied by R. Eyers VAOC worker)
5. (National Archives of Australia document 151/2/1098)
6. http://www.bunkerboyz.org/bankbunk2.htm More images and proof of the Bankstown Bunker.
7. Joan Lawrence, Brian Madden and Les muir. (Page 89). ''A Pictorial History of Canterbury Bankstown.'' (Alexandria: Kingsclear Books 1999. Printed by Australian Print Group.) Retrieved on the 13th of August 2007.
8. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Bankstown01.jpg

External links

★ www.ozatwar.com / Australia @ war.

★ Australian Bunker and Military Museum.

★ Bankstown Bunker images

★ Sydney Cave Clan, explorers of Sydney's underground tunnels drains and bunkers.