Corunna Downs Airfield

Corunna Downs Airfield
Corunna Downs Airfield
Part of World War II
Pilbara region; Near Marble Bar in Australia
	Corunna Downs Airfield location of the airbase in Western Australia
Coordinates	21°26′00″S 119°46′58″E / 21.43333°S 119.78278°E
Type	Airbase
Site information
Owner	Royal Australian Air Force
Operator	No. 73 Operational Base Unit RAAF
Open to; the public	Yes
Condition	Poor
Site history
Built	1942
In use	until 14 January 1946
Fate	Abandoned
Events	Long range missions against Japanese shipping and base facilities in the Dutch East Indies
Garrison information
Occupants	Australia No. 24 Squadron RAAF; No. 25 Squadron RAAF; United States 380th Bomb Group (Fifth Air Force, USAAF);
Airfield information
Location
Runways
NS	5,000 ft × 150 ft (1,524 m × 46 m) Dirt
EW	7,000 ft × 150 ft (2,134 m × 46 m) Dirt
Brockman's Station
Location	Salgash Corunna Downs Road, East Pilbara, Pilbara region
Nearest city	Marble Bar
Built	1942
Built for	Royal Australian Air Force
Original use	Military base
Current use	Public use
Western Australia Heritage Register
Designated	26 May 2006
Reference no.	3695

Corunna Downs Airfield was a secret Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base at Corunna Downs, 40 km (25 mi) south of Marble Bar in the Pilbara region of Western Australia during World War II.^[2]^[3]^[4] In 1942 the RAAF built a secret airbase on Corunna Downs Station, adjacent to the 1891 homestead. The airfield, created especially for B-24 Liberator long-range heavy bombers, comprised two intersecting bitumen runways, a north–south (165°) runway 5,000 ft × 150 ft (1,524 m × 46 m) and an east–west (107°) runway 7,000 ft × 150 ft (2,134 m × 46 m).^[2]

No. 73 Operational Base Unit was responsible for operating the airfield during World War II.^[5]

The base has been abandoned since World War II.^[7]

References

^ Kerr, Colin (21 January 2013). "Bombers hidden in the desert". The West Australian. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Register of Heritage places – Assessment Documentation". InHerit. Heritage Council of Western Australia. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
^ Images of World War Two airbase at Corunna Downs near Marble Bar, 1942, retrieved 8 January 2023
^ "Base played vital WWII role". Royal Australian Navy News. Vol. 38, no. 17. Australia, Australia. 11 September 1995. p. 13. Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Cafarella, Antonio (1998), Corunna Downs the invisible WW2 airfield, A. Cafarella, ISBN 978-0-9586209-1-8
^ 380th Bombardment Group U. S. A. A. F, retrieved 8 January 2023
^ "Airfield Opens". The Daily News. Vol. LXX, no. 24, 190. Western Australia. 24 October 1952. p. 8 (FINAL). Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.