Lake Boga Flying Boat Base was a

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) flying boat base at

Lake Boga Lake Boga () is a town in Victoria, Australia, located next to the lake of the same name. It is situated within the Rural City of Swan Hill within the Mallee region of north-west Victoria. At the 2016 census, Lake Boga had a population of 985 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia during World War II.

History

When the

Imperial Japanese The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

attacked Darwin and Broome in 1942 resulting in the loss of 16 flying boats, the establishment of a safe landing point for flying boats was required inland as a remote facility outside the sphere of Japanese airplanes. Lake Boga was picked as it allowed almost unlimited choice of landing/take off directions and was free of obstructions. It was also close to nearby infrastructure. Required for Australian,

Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1939 until ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

flying boat servicing and repairs, Lake Boga was commissioned in June 1942. No. 1 Flying Boat Repair and Service Depot was set up to provide the repair and servicing requirements. Lake Boga was recommended by Squadron Leader Gareth O'Brien since he was familiar with the area having grown up in Kerang. Of note, Myles O'Brien (Father to Gareth) was the local solicitor and owned the first automobile in Kerang. SQN leader Gareth O'Brien saw service with the Royal Naval Air Service in Yorkshire UK in the late 1920s and Cairo, Egypt in the early 1930s. Being an avid photographer of that time he took many black and white photographs that still exist and have been published in some historical publications. Flight Lieutenant (at the time) Gareth O'Brien was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

for dropping two bombs from his aircraft on a submarine in the English Channel, 6 March 1918. A direct hit was reported by the observer and it was thought to have sunk but SQN Leader O'Brien, in a letter to his father, thought he perhaps only gave it a 'shake up'. Facilities constructed at the base included workshops and hangars on the foreshore, a stores area, living quarters, sick quarters at Castle Donnington, a first-aid and dental post, a radio transmitting station and a VHF transmitting station. Flying boats serviced, repaired, restored, rebuilt or overhauled during the operation of the base were

PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...

Dornier Do 24 The Dornier Do 24 is a 1930s German three-engine flying boat designed by the Dornier Flugzeugwerke for maritime patrol and search and rescue. A total of 279 were built among several factories from 1937 to 1945. Design and development The Dorni ...

OS2U Kingfisher The Vought OS2U Kingfisher is an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest because of its low-powered engine. The OS2U ...

Short Sunderland The Short S.25 Sunderland is a British flying boat patrol bomber, developed and constructed by Short Brothers for the Royal Air Force (RAF). The aircraft took its service name from the town (latterly, city) and port of Sunderland in North Ea ...

, Supermarine Walrus and Martin Mariner. The station at Lake Boga closed in November 1947. The underground communications bunker has been transformed into the Flying Boat Museum. Catalina (A24-30) has been reconstructed as a memorial to the personnel who served at No 1 Flying Boat Repair Depot during World War II. The site is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

References

External links

OzatWar website

Former Royal Australian Air Force bases Victorian Heritage Register Aerospace museums in Australia Military and war museums in Australia Victorian Heritage Register Loddon Mallee (region) Rural City of Swan Hill {{mil-aviation-stub

History

See also

References

External links