After the exploits by last night’s fire, I gather myself to head off early this morning to delve into history and discover the best kept secret of World War II! I meet my tour group and expecting an old country fellow to tell us tales as old as time, we’re greeted by Sam from the north of England! I’d say from the era of the late 1990’s!

Sam starts out by asking how many Americans we have on the tour – there are none, he smiles and lets us know, he can speak more candidly about the happenings that went on in Charleville.

Our first stop is by the airport, over 300 Australians built 101 buildings for the Americans to take up residency as a line of defence during the second world war. Following the war, the Americans bunked out, buildings and all.

If you take a look at a B17 bomber, one of it’s feature is the bubble in the nose, where the bombardier takes his place, he’s the guy who coordinates the dropping of the bombs.

To assist in this process there is an instrument called the Norden Bomb-Sight, a machine who enabled a more accurate shot, to avoid more civilian casualties. My understanding was this was relatively new intelligence and to ensure the patents, upon returning from a mission, the bombardier personally delivered these machines to the “secret” location which was guarded 24/7!

A hut encased with 30cm concrete walls that has withstood an attempted demolition by a digger!

I give you the Norden Bomb Vault:

Our next stop takes us to look through a fence at an original plane hangar, another small hut which is the communications tower – interestingly still in use today. Charleville sits some 1,300m above sea level and is conduit for Brisbane to relay messages to other parts of the world. No wonder my phone drops out on the Gold Coast, my line of sight to Charleville must be compromised.

We then proceed to visit the “Bitumen Baths”. It is believed the US base commander wanted to ensure his men were kept clean and parasite free, fit for war! He commanded that each week, the men would bathe or ‘dip’ in crude grave like baths that had been fashioned from the earth and lined with bitumen to contain the unknown chemical solution. I’m sure we would all acknowledge hardships soldiers go through during a time of war. Take a minute to image these men lining up for their weekly chemical dip in a bitumen lined bath in summer temperatures that reach 48°c!

We then move through a variety of concrete slabs showing us where the mess hall would have been, the dance hall and so on. An interesting note to take from this tour – US military were paid nearly 4 times more than their Australian counterpart working side by side. The Australian soldiers worked tirelessly in what can only be described as the harshest of Aussie bush conditions – heat, flies, lack of shade. The Americans demanded air conditioning in their hangars due to the heat, again when they left they took them home with them as well.

Whilst Charleville holds its head high and has claimed its rightful place in the history books, its not hard to understand why so many ‘villies (Charleville locals), look back on that time with loathing.

PSS – Sam the northern England lad, did a great job! An interesting tour and well worth the $15 and a bit of time.

The rest of my day saw me visit a far distant cousin and then to return to my camp site and sit under the shade of a tree reading my book until the sun when down.

For my evening escapades, stargazing is on the agenda. I arrive with anticipation at the Cosmos Centre and take my seat next to a power telescope that is going to transport me to another galaxy! It did not disappoint. Away from the city lights, the night sky is truly magnificent, we were also fortunate the moon’s arrival was late as well which provided the perfect backdrop for a starry night. From Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and beyond, we each took our turn looking through the powerful telescope to see the beauty beyond.

We are quickly reminded we’re really just looking at the light bouncing of dust particles and that our sun, is at half life. Destined to only continue to shine for another 4.5 billion years. I’m going to let that struggle go for generations long after I’m gone to worry about.

This tour was sensational – the arrival hall, fascinating and informative – definitely worth a visit!