Birdum is a locality in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

located about south of the territory capital of Darwin.

History

Railway

Birdum was the terminus of the

North Australia Railway The North Australia Railway was a narrow gauge railway in the Northern Territory of Australia which ran from the territory capital of Darwin, once known as Palmerston, to Birdum, just south of Larrimah. Initially its name was the ''Palmerst ...

from 1929 until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

While the town remains very much unheard of, even amongst Territorians, it features on an unusually high proportion of vintage 20th century world globes, thanks to the position it once held at the end of the line. From World War II onwards trains terminated at Larrimah, nine kilometres to the north, and Birdum lost not only its position of importance but also its pub, which was uprooted and shifted to Larrimah as a result. Much of the railway infrastructure remained in place until the line closed in 1976.

World War II

After the

bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Empire of Japan, Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the ...

during World War II, the Darwin civilian population was evacuated and the evacuees were transported by rail to Birdum siding where they were transferred to an army convoy to take them to

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

. An evacuation hospital was constructed at Birdum by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

135th Medical Regiment in September 1942. The

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

constructed a Base Personnel Staff Officer (BPSO) and Telecommunications Camp near Birdum. No. 11 Signals Unit RAAF, which was part of No. 55 Operational Base Unit (OBU) was based at Birdum. The unit would be on aircraft listening watch and have to listen for a word which would indicate the air raid against enemy forces or bases had been successful or not. The equipment used was Kingsley AR7 receivers.

Heritage places

The following places listed on the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the '' Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained ...

are located within Birdum: * Wimmera Home * Frew Ponds Overland Telegraph Poles

References

Notes

Citations

External links

*
Friends of the North Australia Railway

Around the World in a Morris Minor
Pictures, made by Kerry Whitfield in 2004.

Retrieved 4 May 2010. Towns in the Northern Territory Abandoned settlements in the Northern Territory {{NorthernTerritory-geo-stub