The
Hangers...
Welcome to my 23rd cache hide... I have placed this cache to
bring people's attention to a bit of local history. The subject of
this cache are the two large hangers, which you can't miss. Please
read below for the history of the base and some information on the
hangars.
The History...
The Tocumwal Airfield began operation in the second world war in
response to the Japanese moving south in the Pacific Ocean. There
was a real threat that they were going to invade Australia, and
Tocumwal was a major airfield which was going to be used in that
defense.
When occupied by the USAF (US Air Force) it was called McIntyre
Field. In 1942, the RAAF took over operation of the airfield and
called it "Tocumwal".
During its operation the airfiled was 25 square miles in size and
was home to many different types of planes. including 54 B-24
Liberator bombers, 11 Vultee Vengeance, 5 Kittyhawks and an
Airspeed Oxford.
After the war it was also used as a vast storage and repair depot
with aircraft such as Avro Anson, Airacobra, Beaufort, Boeing,
Boomerang, Dakota, Hudson, Lancaster, Lincoln, Meteor, Mosquito,
Mustang, Spitfire, Beaufighter, Vampire, Winjeel and
Wirraway.
After the RAAF left Tocumwal in 1960, over 700 aircraft were
scrapped through until 1963. Many aircraft were smelted on site
into aluminum ingots, pots and pans. The Holden Motor Company
brought much of the Aluminum
Similarly, almost all of the 608 buildings on the airbase and at
the hospital, were sold and removed. With post war building
supplies almost impossible to get, this was popular at the time,
but there was little foresight as to the historical value of this.
There are a few buildings left, and many foundations which are
subject of some caches in this series.
Abot 200 of the houses were moved to developing suburbs in
Canberra. The suburbs which received the houses were Anislie and
O'Connor. You can view the whole story at this link
The
Tocumwal Archive
There were originally six large hangars built on site, there are
three remaining today. One is used by the gliding club onsite to
store aircraft.
The longest of all four runways that were made, has been covered by
soil. If you drive about 400 meters west of the cache named "Gate 9
- Tocumwal Airfield" along the road the cache is on, you can see
some white markers in the field, inside the airport fence line.
This marks where that runway is. This location will be subject of
another cache soon.
Our house is on land that used to be part of the airbase. When I
have been working on our block, I have found old aircraft tools,
red bricks from buildings and old bullet casings.
There are other caches around the area which have information about
the airfield. These caches will be listed with the title "McIntyre
Field"
The are well worth visiting, as the locations are very historical.
Another image is shown below, it is an aerial shot of the airfield
facing south.
Visit this link Tocumwal Airfield During
WW2 or Visit this link
A Brief History of Tocumwal Aerodrome
For more information if you like. It's not a bad read, and has some
good information and pics.
A Little Bit Extra.... As this cache features the hangers
themselves, which were an iconic part of the airbase, and a town
icon today, I have included a little bit extra below...
Below is an image of a Liberator Bomber, which flew and trained out
of McIntyre Field
Below is an image of a Boomerang, a small Australian build fighter
which also operated out of the base.
Also check out this wiki link on the Boomerang Fighter. If you want
to see one of these in action, check out the Temora Airshow as they
often fly one there.
Wikipedia -
Boomerang
I have listed this cache with a terrain as 1. It is just off the
side of a pretty quiet country road. If you have children, keep
them in your eyesight. If you use a wheelchair, you should be able
to wheel up to this one and reach for it. Cache is an Eclipse Tin,
which are highly suitable for this type of hide (see hint.
Once again, have fun and be careful with the kiddies near the road.
Also, anywhere in Australia, BE CAREFUL AND ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
SNAKES, ESPECIALLY WITH THE KIDS. Good luck and importantly, have
fun.