Narromine (/næroʊmaɪn/) is a rural Australian town located approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) west of Dubbo in the Orana region of New South Wales. The town is at the centre of Narromine Shire. The 2016 census recorded a population of 3,528. Narromine holds strong historical ties to the Australian Military, as it was the location of RAAF No.19 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD) during World War II. The base contributed to the preparation of troops through a training organisation known as the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). The town was one of twelve locations for the No.5 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF in 1940.
Tocumwal is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of the city of Melbourne. The Newell Highway and Murray Valley Highway join at the Murray River, and form part of the main road route National Highway A39 between Brisbane and Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Tocumwal had a population of 2,682. The winner of several 'Tidy Town' awards, Tocumwal is affectionately known as 'The Jewel in the Crown That Is The Riverina District'.
Cootamundra, nicknamed Coota, is a town in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. It is within the Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council. At the 2016 Census, Cootamundra had a population of 6,782. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and Cowra. Its railway station is on the Main Southern line, part of the Melbourne-to-Sydney line.
Yarraman is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Yarraman had a population of 1,064 people.
NAIDOC Week is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, which was originally National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC). NAIDOC Week has its roots in the 1938 Day of Mourning, becoming a week-long event in 1975.
RAAF Base Rathmines is a heritage-listed former RAAF Second World War seaplane base and now used as community venues, sports venues and a visitor attraction at Dorrington Road, Rathmines, City of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. It was in use as an RAAF base from 1939 to 1961. It is also known as Rathmines Park, former RAAF Seaplane Base, Flying Boat Base, Rathmines Aerodrome and Catalina Base. The property is owned by Australian Christadelphian Bible School, Disability Life Enrichment, Don Geddes Nursing Home and Lake Macquarie City Council. The remains of the former air base was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 25 November 2005.
Boulder is a suburb of Kalgoorlie in the Western Australian Goldfields, 597 kilometres (371 mi) east of Perth.
Kalumburu and Kalumburu Community are both bounded localities within the Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley in Western Australia. Kalumburu Community is the northernmost settlement in Western Australia.
Mildura Airport is located 5 nautical miles southwest of Mildura, Victoria, Australia. It is the busiest regional airport in Victoria, the 33rd busiest Australian airport and has twice been named Australia's Rural Airport of the Year.
Cummeragunja Reserve or Cummeragunja Station, alternatively spelt Coomeroogunja, Coomeragunja, Cumeroogunga and Cummerguja, was a settlement on the New South Wales side of the Murray River, on the Victorian border near Barmah. It was also referred to as Cumeroogunga Mission, although it was not run by missionaries. The people were mostly Yorta Yorta.
Ross is a village in the Midlands of the state of Tasmania in Australia. On the Macquarie River, Ross is located 78 km south of Launceston and 117 km north of Hobart. The town is listed on the Register of the National Estate and is noted for its historic bridge, original sandstone buildings and convict history.
Abbotsford Bridge is a steel Allan truss-type road bridge that carries the Silver City Highway across the Murray River, between Curlwaa in New South Wales, and Yelta in Victoria, Australia. It is the only remaining steel truss bridge with a lift span that crosses the Murray. Opened in 1928, the bridge was built by the NSW Department of Public Works and was designed by Percy Allan. It was the second last vertical-lift bridge to be built over the river, the last being the Nyah Bridge, which opened in 1941.
Leonard Victor (Len) Waters was the first Aboriginal Australian military aviator, and the only one to serve as a fighter pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. Aboriginal people at the time suffered significant discrimination and disadvantages in Australian society, such as restrictions on movement, residence, employment, and access to services and citizenship. Born in northern New South Wales and raised in Queensland, Waters was working as a shearer when he joined the RAAF in 1942. Training initially as a mechanic, he volunteered for flying duties and graduated as a sergeant pilot in 1944. He flew P-40 Kittyhawks in the South West Pacific theatre, where he completed 95 missions, mainly close air support. By the end of the war he had risen to the rank of warrant officer. Following his discharge from the RAAF in 1946, he attempted to start a regional airline but was unable to secure financial backing and government approval. He went back to shearing, and died in 1993 at the age of 69.
The Cummeragunja walk-off in 1939 was a protest by Aboriginal Australians at the Cummeragunja Station, an Aboriginal reserve in southern New South Wales.
Deniliquin is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area.
On 31 January 1945 a Stinson Model A aircraft departed from Melbourne for a flight of 127 nautical miles (235 km) to Kerang, Victoria—the first leg of an Australian National Airways regular scheduled service to Broken Hill, New South Wales. It crashed 50 nmi (93 km) from Melbourne. All ten occupants were killed in the accident. The aircraft was one of four Stinsons imported in 1936 by Airlines of Australia (AoA). Three had now crashed with the loss of 17 lives, and the fourth would not be permitted to fly again.
An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th century to the 1960s to keep Aboriginal people separate from the white Australian population, for various reasons perceived by the government of the day. The Aboriginal reserve laws gave governments much power over all aspects of Aboriginal people’s lives.
Air Vice Marshal William Lloyd Hely, CB, CBE, AFC was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1930 before transferring to the RAAF as a cadet pilot. Hely came to public attention in 1936–37, first when he crashed on a survey flight in the Northern Territory, and later when he undertook two successful missions to locate missing aircraft in the same vicinity. His rescue efforts earned him the Air Force Cross. After occupying staff positions during the early years of World War II, Hely was appointed Officer Commanding No. 72 Wing in Dutch New Guinea in May 1944. Later that year he formed No. 84 Wing, commanding it during the Bougainville campaign until the end of the Pacific War.
