Force 10 from Narrabeen Mystery Cache

A little known chapter in our history occurred near Narrabeen Lake in the dark days of 1942. Situated on the banks of the Narrabeen Lake was a vast industrial complex that was producing and experimenting with a number of processes, some with military application.

The potential for some of these applications was so concerning to our foes that a daring plan was hatched. On the night of 31st May 1942 while Sydney’s defenses were being engaged elsewhere, a crack team of commandos slipped undetected into the complex, placed a homing beacon and slipped out before they were whisked away by a waiting submarine. Later that night a number of low flying planes used the transmission from the beacon to home in on a dam that supplied water and power to the complex. The dam was successfully destroyed, and the torrent of water that was released then almost totally wiped out the complex.

Today more than half a century later there can still be found some remnants of the destroyed complex. Even more amazingly the beacon is still transmitting (after 50plus years the signal is very weak) and can be used to help you reach the site of the attack.

To find the cache you will need a FM receiver (the one in your car will do fine) tuned to 91.80MHz which you may need to fine tune +- 0.1 MHz when you get to the required location. Transmission occurs during daylight hours (see below for times). On the weekend the signal repeats four times then to conserve power stops for ten minutes, before transmitting again. On weekdays the signal repeats three times then to conserve power stops for twenty minutes, before transmitting again.