Kalumburu (and Kalumburu Community, formerly Drysdale River Mission) are bounded localities within the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

(postcode 6740). Kalumburu Community is the northernmost settlement in Western Australia. According to the 2011 census, it has a population of 412 people Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
and is inhabited mostly by

Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

from the Wunambal and Kwini language groups. Kalumburu Community is remote from any main roads – the nearest is the

Gibb River Road The Gibb River Road is a road in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. Description The road is a former cattle route that stretches in an east–west direction almost through the Kimberley between the to ...

, 270 km to the south via the Kalumburu Road. It was the site of a

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 ...

airbase, which was attacked by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

planes in 1943.

History

In 1905, the

Order of Saint Benedict The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

(OSB) decided to establish a mission near the

Drysdale River The Drysdale River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river rises in the Caroline Ranges, flows in a northerly direction and discharges into Napier Broome Bay near Kalumburu. The river contains several permanent pool ...

. The mission was established in 1908, 20 kilometres north-east of the present site, at Pago, near the southern end of Napier Broome Bay, by Benedictine

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

s from

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. In 1937, water supply problems forced the missionaries to move to the present site at Kalumburu Pool, on the King Edward River.

World War II

Following the outbreak of World War II, the Australian government commissioned an airfield at the mission. After Japanese forces occupied the

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in 1942, Drysdale became a frontline

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(RAAF) base, acting as a staging post for Allied squadrons based further south. The airfield was a refuelling and ammunition depot for the RAAF anti-submarine aircraft operating between Darwin and Fremantle. On 19 February, the mission provided assistance to the crew and passengers of the merchant vessel '' Koolama'', which had been attacked by Japanese planes. In February 1943, Allied signals intelligence suggested that Japanese aircraft would be built up in

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

for attacks on Darwin. Eight

Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort t ...

s from No. 31 Squadron RAAF were despatched to Drysdale River, to prepare for a pre-emptive strike. On 28 February, it was confirmed that the enemy aircraft had arrived at Penfui, near

Kupang Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as o ...

. An early morning strike destroyed 12 Japanese aircraft on the ground and damaged another 10. Two Beaufighters were damaged by Japanese fighter aircraft but returned to Drysdale River. On 27 September 1943, the base and settlement were attacked by 21 Japanese Kawasaki Ki-48 bombers, based at Kupang, Timor, with a fighter escort. The Superior of the mission, Father Thomas Gil O.S.B, aged 45 years, and five Aboriginal people ranging from the age of 1 to 45 years were killed. This included a mother and son. All victims were buried together on mission grounds, the Aboriginal people on either side of Father Thomas, following the funeral at the damaged church. Many buildings at the mission were also destroyed or severely damaged during the raid. In April 1944, Flt Lt D. S. Askew, the commanding officer of No. 58 Operational Base Unit, reported 367 aircraft movements during that month, the busiest period since operations had begun. He also wrote: "Approximately 250 operational hours were flown from Drysdale resulting in approximately 60,000 lb of bombs being dropped on enemy territory". The military significance of the airfield declined once Truscott Airfield was constructed, about 32 km (20 mi) north, in 1944.

Post-war

In 1951, Drysdale River Mission was officially renamed Kalumburu. Management of the community was later taken over by Kalumburu Aboriginal Corporation, on behalf of the Kalumburu Community Council. The community retains strong links with the OSB, including a priest and several Benedictine nuns.

Medical services

Kalumburu is 568 km via a poor quality road to the nearest hospital. During the dry season, this takes about 12 hours. There is a small clinic staffed by two remote area nurses with a visiting doctor once per week. This community has been extensively studied and is the subject of publications in regards to Aboriginal health (e.g. trachoma and kidney disease). In 2008 a new clinic was being built, in collaboration with the Australian Army and Western Australia Health. There is provision for a small dialysis unit, although staffing and equipment are yet to be finalized. The

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an aeromedical retrieval service in Australia and the largest of its kind in the world. It is a non-profit organisation that provides urgent and emergency medica ...

land on the Kalumburu strip to the north of the town. There is also the old Truscott Airbase which can be used in cases of emergency.

Population

According to the 2021 census of Population, there were 388 people in Kalumburu. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 88.4% of the population. * 92.3% of people were born in Australia and 81.2% of people spoke only English at home. * The most common response for religion was Catholic at 83.8%. * 10.6% of people stated that they finished year 12, with 14.4% of people stating they had finished school at a year 9 level or below.

Town planning

Kalumburu Layout Plan No.2 was prepared in accordance with State Planning Policy 3.2 Aboriginal Settlements. Layout Plan No.2 was endorsed by the community in 2004 and the

Western Australian Planning Commission The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is an independent statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that exists to coordinate strategic and statutory planning for future urban, rural, and regional land use. The WAPC f ...

in 2005. The layout plan map-set and background report can be viewed at Planning Western Australia's website.

Climate

The Köppen–Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as

tropical savanna Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...

(''Aw'') with very hot daytime temperatures year round and cool winter nighttime temperatures.