Bibra Lake Army Camp

It is important to note, any information collected on any area of the armed services in WW2 will always attract contention amongst real military historians.

With so many conflicting reports and information gleamed from both official and unofficial sources, units, sections and the like were constantly changing name, location, re-forming, disbanding etc. To collate a list such as the Searchlight Stations at the bottom of this post, is a difficult task and must be taken with a grain of salt.

Whilst limited information and records is available on the Bibra Lake Army Camp, which tends to be referred to as the Bibra Lake AWAS camp, it's believed there were a few other interim locations in the area in which whatever information is available, tends to be mixed up with (and not just for searchlight stations).

One was Searchlight Station 10 located on Lot 7, corner of Dixon and Warwick Roads. (Warwick Road no longer exists). The searchlights were reported to be clearly visible at night, when they were used to spot small planes flying over the area.

Australian troops returning from the Middle East in 1942, formed the 116 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (LAA) with the base initially located in Naval Base, before moving to Bibra Lake.

It's believed to have been constructed in 1943, with the women posted there as part of 66 Anti-Aircraft Searchlight (AASL), known as Searchlight Station 10, which was dismantled immediately after the war.

Most, if not all of the women, were from Tasmania and Western Australia and lived in pre-fab army huts in the vicinity of Bibra Lake, Cockburn.

Camp

The camp contained a combined kitchen, mess and recreation room, as well as concrete-floored latrines, ablutions blocks, engine shed and an underground command post, which was surrounded by barbed wire. No plans of the camp is known to exist.

It is hard to take the underground command post serious at this stage, as it appears that much of this report stems from the one hearsay source.

Whilst their work consisted of a variety of tasks, they were mostly responsible for cutting up firewood, cooking for the camp, cleaning guns and the searchlights.

Although the location was known as Bibra Lake and what with the thick dense bushland surrounding the entire area, the women never saw a lake or anything that resembled one. The nearest lake to them was said to be located on the junction of Forrest and North Lake Roads, which was only accessible via a bush track (We Answered the Call, Eileen Tucker, p.79)

Local dairy farmers supplied the camp with milk and in return, were given kitchen scraps to feed their poultry.

During one summer, a bushfire threatened the camp and all the women were ordered to evacuate. They packed their bags and stacked them by the road before returning to fight the fire with the male soldiers, clearing fire breaks and putting out small spot fires with wet sacks and branches.

An exhausted local Chinese market gardener was seen slowly walking along the road that evening. He’d been burnt in the fire, his ragged and burnt clothing hung from his body. They treated his burns, fed him and dressed him in an Army shirt, old battle pants and shoes. His small market garden a few miles away had been burnt down and he was on his way to his brother’s place a few miles up the road.

Two days later, two boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables were found outside the orderly’s room without a note (We Answered the Call, Eileen Tucker, p.79).

Surplus Army Building Material – The West Australian – 6 December 1945

Premier Frank Wise tells Charles North (Lib, Claremont) in the Legislative Assembly that the fighting services are liquidating surplus stocks of building materials through the Disposals Commission. Any materials that are no longer required should be made available to publicly sell.

Auction

A Commonwealth Disposals Commission Auction Notice, published 22 September 1945, identifies the site as Lot 7, Searchlight Station 10, Bibra Lake corner of Warwick and Dixon Roads, with the following items from the site auctioned at the end of the war:

• Combined Kitchen, Mess and Recreation Room, in sections, weatherboard, corrugated asbestos, skillion roof, wooden floor in sections» with lean-to at back;

• Latrines, sheet asbestos; GI skillion roof, timber frame, cement floor;

• Ablutions, sheet asbestos, G.I., G.I. skillion roof, timber frame, cement floor, cement bath; Engine Shed, GI, timber frame, cement floor, no .engine) ;

• Command Post (underground), timber;

• Cement Slabs, Barbed Wire fence;

• 2,000 gal tank on low stand;

• Tank on stand (heavy bush timber) approx. 10ft high with 6in x 1.5 inch decking, piping and ball valve;

• Bore, approximately 225 feet, casing 1.5 inch lead-off (engine room built over bore);

• Septic System, three pedestals and cisterns;

• 180 foot and 60 foot 1.5 inch piping.

The remains of the camp were placed under threat when the proposed Roe 8 Highway Extension planned to go through the Cockburn district.

Unit Members included:

May Dixon
Kath Harris
E Weston
Ivy Kathleen Sewell
Elsie Longson
Rona Vagg
Veronica Jose
Esther Piggot
Adele Searle
Doreen Hardwick
Jean Kay
May Donegan
Marie Cox
Rae Hine
Vi Willcocks
Valda Wallis
Molly Scott
Edith Burbridge
Eva Guy
Ellen Exlby
Constance Ryan
Liet Jean Gullan
Sgt W Vance
Peggy Knott

12 of the women have service records on the National Archives of Australia website.

Updates

Based on the evidence available (August 2015) here are two key possible uses for the camp:

1. Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Station manned by the AWAS

2. Regimental Headquarters for 116LAA Regt with 116LAA Regt Sig Sec co-located, and AWAS attached to Regt HQ and signals section.

City of Cockburn - Agenda Ordinary Council Meeting - 9 July 2015 (Notes)

13 August 1941 - The AWAS was formed to release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units. The service grew to over 20,000-strong and provided personnel to fill various roles including administration, driving, catering, signals and intelligence.

Following the end of the II World War, the service was demobilised and ceased to exist by 1947.

The City engaged Heritage Consultant, Eddie Marcus from History Now.

The site is located on Progress Drive, Bibra Lake. The site itself is located close to Hope Road, opposite Native Arc, Bibra Lake Scouts (The Bibra Lake Army Base shed became the Scout Hall) and the Cockburn Wetland Education Centre.

The site is owned by the State of Western Australia, with a Management Order to the City of Cockburn. It is reserved ‘Parks and Recreation’ under the Metropolitan Region Scheme (“MRS”) and City of Cockburn Town Planning Scheme No. 3 (“the Scheme”).