Bankstown Aerodrome

Item details


Name of item:	Bankstown Aerodrome
Other name/s:	RAAF Bankstown (1940-44); HMS Nabberley (1944-46); RAAF No. 2 Stores Depot (1946-48); Bankstown Aerodrome (1949-2003)
Type of item:	Complex / Group
Group/Collection:	Transport - Air
Category:	Airport Terminal
Primary address:	345 Marion Street, Georges Hall, NSW 2198
Local govt. area:	Canterbury-Bankstown

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	101		DP	1112420

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
345 Marion Street	Georges Hall	Canterbury-Bankstown			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	Bankstown Airport is historically significant because of the contribution that it and the local government area made to Australia's defence efforts during World War II. It demonstrates the strategic importance of the Bankstown region during World War II. The airport has additional significance because of the impetus it gave to development in the locality during and after World War II. Bankstown Airport is considered to be a representative example of a World War II air base. It was an important centre of aircraft manufacture and assembly during World War II - the only air base to be associated with aircraft manufacture and one of only two air bases in New South Wales associated with the assembly of aircraft manufactured elsewhere - and has research potential due to its uses as an air base and an aircraft manufacturing and assembly facility. It is understood to be the only air base in New South Wales to include more than three types of World War II era hangars surviving in-situ and has retained a relatively large number of World War II era buildings. The place is significant for its continued airport use and its role in the Australian aircraft industry.
	Date significance updated: 11 Jul 01
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Allied Works Council
Builder/Maker:	Allied Works Council, New South Wales department of Public Works, Bankstown Council
Physical description:	Bankstown Airport is a large complex situated to the east of the Georges River. The site is largely open, accommodating three parallel runways traversed at their western end by a single runway. The control tower is located at the western end of the site. Buildings and car parks associated with airport operations are situated at the north eastern part of the site, while the facilities associated with Hawker de Havilland are located on the southern side of the airport. The following information is based on the inventory for Bankstown Airport that is included in Volume 3 of Survey of World Wars 1 & 2 Buildings, Sites and Cultural Landscapes in NSW (2006). As was the case with most air bases, the original layout of the Airport was organised into functional zones, which consisted of: - Accommodation blocks, amenities, ablution facilities and canteens near the entrance to the site on Marion Street; - To the south was the headquarters building and parade ground to its east; - To the south of these was a group of buildings including huts containing office space, hangars and landing strips; - Aeroplane parks were dispersed around the perimeter of the airfield and also adjacent streets in a haphazard fashion for defensive purposes; - Two parts of the site were used for aircraft manufacture: the Clyde Engineering works at the north eastern corner near Birch Street and the Hawker De Havilland complex in the southern part of the site near Milperra Road. The original disposition of the site is still legible to some extent across the existing Airport, which consists of: - The hangar and office precinct, which includes former Clyde Engineering buildings and includes the areas occupied by accommodation, headquarters, parade ground and the hangar/office zone; - Runways include some of the areas in which plane parks were situated; - Air traffic control on the western boundary of the site; - The former Hawker De Havilland facility is now part of Boeing's operations; - The Australian Aviation Museum is situated in a Bellman type hangar which comes from another site and is situated in the south western part of the site. Remaining World War II buildings and features include: - Sealed road network, including kerbing and guttering; - Timber headquarters building (former RAAF base); - The parade ground (which has not been built over); - A large sawtooth-roofed structure at the end of Airport Road; - A large gable-roofed hangar in Cyrrus Place; - Six Bellman type hangars. This was a well-known type of hangar that was designed in England by engineer NS Bellman. The hangars could be erected and dismantled by unskilled personnel. The hangars were produced locally by Lysaght's. One has been relocated on the site; - Two Royal navy B1 type hangars, which were designed in Britain; - Two Singapore type hangars, another British design; - Two timber latrine huts and an office hut that were relocated to their present positions; - Brick power station; - A hangar erected for Clyde Engineering and a relocated World War II hut near Birch Street; - A number of buildings associated with the Hawker de Havilland factory on Milperra Road.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Bankstown Airport is considered to have low archaeological potential.
	Date condition updated:21 Mar 19
Modifications and dates:	World War II timber framed huts and Nissen huts in that part of the site used for accommodation purposes have been demolished or removed from the site. A number of buildings have been moved to new locations within the site. Buildings have been modified or reclad. Parallel runways were constructed in 1962, The control tower was commissioned in 1970.


Current use:	Civil aviation aerodrome, aircraft parts manufacture
Former use:	RAAF base, Royal Navy air station, aircraft parts manufacture.

History

Historical notes:

Sydney's main airport at Mascot began operating in January 1920. Evidently aviation grew during the following decade to the extent that the site of Bankstown Airport was earmarked as the location of a second or training aerodrome for Sydney by the Department of Civil Aviation in 1929. However, it was not until World War II that any action took place when some 255 hectares were resumed for the purposes of establishing an aerodrome. It has been suggested that a major reason for selecting the site was its relatively close proximity to the Clyde Engineering Works at Granville, where aircraft production took place. Clyde Engineering subsequently opened a facility at the airport.

On 7 June 1940 approval was sought for finance to acquire land and establish the airport at Bankstown. The land was formally resumed on 5 August 1940 and work proceeded on preparation of the site. Documentation for three Bellman type hangars was prepared by August and on 2 December 1940 the Royal Australian Air Force Station - Bankstown was formed and what was known as the No. 2 Aircraft Park was transferred to Bankstown from Laverton in Victoria a week later. The unit wasresponsible for hangar construction and aircraft assembly. An aircraft park was an operational base where large numbers of aircraft used for training and operational purposes were parked.

Bankstown was initially intended as a training facility but because of the fears about a Japanese invasion it was given operational status for defence purposes and from 1941 fighter squadrons were located there. Twenty two RAAF units were associated with the place. No 101 Fighter Control Unit, which was formed in February 1941, became No 1 Fighter Sector Headquarters and operated at Bankstown until January 1945. The first Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force intake at Bankstown took place in September 1941.

The operational section of the base consisted of unsealed airstrips and headquarters building and parade ground that separated technical functions (hangars, the control tower, operations room, offices and the like) from residential functions (barracks, messes and the like, situated near Marion Street). Plane parks (hideouts) were set up around the perimeter of the airfield in a random manner so that the destruction of aircraft by enemy forces would be more difficult.

The RAAF presence was augmented by the establishment of a hospital that also served the area more generally. The aircraft manufacturing company De Havilland established an aircraft assembly plant fat the airport during 1942.
The importance of the Bankstown facility increased as Australia's war effort against Japan deepened. Hoxton Park was selected as the dispersal airfield for Bankstown. From March 1942 the 41st USAF Fighter Squadron was based at the airport and by November that year a hangar had been erected for American use. De Havilland's first Australian built Mosquito aircraft was completed in July 1943.

At the end of 1944 the Royal Navy moved onto the airport and commissioned a Mobile Naval Air Base, which was officially known as HMS Nabberley.

The No. 2 Aircraft Park was disbanded on 28 March 1945. It had provided a major economic boost to the Bankstown area in terms of industrial investment and infrastructure, which were maintained and expanded in the post war period and had a great influence on the future path of development in the region. In 1946 the Royal Navy handed the airport back to the RAAF. During February that year the Department of Air made a request to use the airport for private aviation and aircraft manufacture in a bid to relieve pressure at Mascot Airport. As a result Bankstown was used by civilians and the Air Force. The Department of Civil Aviation assumed responsibility for the airport in 1948. The RAAF retained a presence until 1977.
During 1950 several of the airport's accommodation buildings were taken over by the Department of Immigration for hostel purposes. A gravel runway was constructed in 1952, augmented by three intersecting runways and taxiways in 1962. Runway lighting was installed in 1965 and the control tower commissioned during 1970. Bankstown Airport was reputedly the largest general aviation airport in the southern hemisphere by 1970. Residents became increasingly concerned as the airport continued to grow and development consolidated around it. The Federal Airport Commission took over control of the airport on 1 January 1988, followed by Bankstown Airport Limited in July 1998. The airport was then sold in 2003.

The Airport was only one of a number of facilities that were built in Bankstown during World War II. Others included accommodation barracks for Fighter Section Headquarters in Chapel Road, wireless transmission and receiving stations in Marion Street, Yagoona and Manahan Street, Condell Park, an anti-aircraft gun battery in Wattawa Reserve, Condell Park and Fighter Section Headquarters in Marion Street.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	(none)-
7. Governing-Governing	Defence-Activities associated with defending places from hostile takeover and occupation	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	Bankstown Airport is historically significant because of the contribution that it and the local government area made to Australia’s defence efforts during World War II. It demonstrates the strategic importance of the Bankstown region during World War II. The Airport was an important centre of aircraft manufacture and assembly during World War II. The airport has significance because of the impetus it gave to development in the locality during and after World War II.
SHR Criteria b) [Associative significance]	This criterion has not been ascertained.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	This criterion has not been ascertained.
SHR Criteria d) [Social significance]	The place is significant for its continued airport use and its role in the Australian aircraft industry.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The place has research potential due to its uses as an air base and an aircraft manufacturing and assembly facility. It is understood to be the only air base in New South Wales to include more than three types of World War II era hangars surviving in-situ.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	Bankstown was the only air base to be associated with aircraft manufacture and was one of only two air bases in New South Wales associated with the assembly of aircraft manufactured elsewhere. It is the only air base in New South Wales to have more than three extant types of World War II hangars.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Bankstown Airport is considered to be a representative example of air bases constructed during World War II.
Integrity/Intactness:	The airport has retained a relatively large number of World War II era buildings.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Bankstown Local Environmental Plan No. 209		09 Mar 01	49	1185-1196
Local Environmental Plan	Bankstown Local Environmental Plan 2015	I18	05 Mar 15
Heritage study

References, internet links & images

None

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1060175

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