Bibra Lake Army Camp

It is important to note that any attempt to document aspects of the armed services during the Second World War will inevitably attract debate, particularly among military historians. Records are often incomplete or contradictory, and information drawn from both official and unofficial sources can vary considerably. Units, sections and installations frequently changed names, locations or organisational structures, re-formed, relocated or disbanded entirely. As a result, compiling information on aspects like the Searchlight Stations is a challenging task and any conclusions should be treated with a degree of caution.

Information relating to the Bibra Lake Army Camp is limited. The site is most commonly referred to as the Bibra Lake AWAS Camp. However, it's believed that several temporary or interim facilities existed in the surrounding area for a range of army units. Over time, details relating to these sites appear to have become intermingled, not only in relation to searchlight stations but across other aspects of military activity in the district.

Searchlight Station 10
One such installation was Searchlight Station 10, reportedly located on Lot 7 at the corner of Dixon and Warwick Roads (the latter no longer exists). Contemporary accounts suggest that the searchlights were clearly visible at night and were used to detect small aircraft flying over the area.

In 1942, Australian troops returning from the Middle East formed the 116th Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Regiment. Its base was initially established at Naval Base before later relocating to Bibra Lake.

Searchlight Station 10 is believed to have been constructed in 1943 and operated by women serving with the 66th Anti-Aircraft Searchlight (AASL) unit. The station was dismantled shortly after the end of the war. Most, if not all of the women stationed there were from Tasmania and Western Australia and they were housed in prefabricated army huts in the Bibra Lake area of Cockburn.

Camp
The camp included a combined kitchen, mess and recreation room, along with concrete-floored latrines, an ablution block, engine shed and what was described as an underground command post, reportedly surrounded by barbed wire. No plans of the camp are known to exist. At this stage, the existence of an underground command post should be treated cautiously, as much of this information can be traced back to a single hearsay source.

The women stationed there carried out a wide range of duties, though much of their time was spent cutting firewood, cooking for the camp, as well as cleaning weapons and searchlights.

Despite the location being known as Bibra Lake and the surrounding area being thickly vegetated, the women reportedly never saw a lake or anything resembling one. The nearest body of water was said to be located near the junction of Forrest and North Lake Roads, only accessible via a bush track (We Answered the Call, p.79).

Local dairy farmers supplied the camp with milk and in return, were given kitchen scraps to feed their poultry.

During one summer, a bushfire threatened the camp and the women were ordered to evacuate. They packed their belongings and stacked them beside the road before returning to assist male soldiers in fighting the fire, clearing firebreaks and extinguishing spot fires using wet sacks and branches.

That evening, an exhausted local Chinese market gardener was seen walking slowly along the road. He had been badly burnt, his clothing torn and scorched. The women treated his burns, fed him and provided him with an Army shirt, old battle trousers and shoes. His small market garden several miles down the road, had been destroyed in the fire and he was making his way to his brother’s place nearby.

A few days days later, two boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables were found outside the orderly’s room, left without a note (p.79).

Surplus Army Building Material – The West Australian – 6 December 1945

Premier Frank Wise tells Charles North (Lib, Claremont) in the Legislative Assembly that the fighting services are liquidating surplus stocks of building materials through the Disposals Commission. Any materials that are no longer required should be made available to publicly sell.

Auction

A Commonwealth Disposals Commission Auction Notice, published 22 September 1945, identifies the site as Lot 7, Searchlight Station 10, Bibra Lake corner of Warwick and Dixon Roads, with the following items from the site auctioned at the end of the war:

• Combined Kitchen, Mess and Recreation Room, in sections, weatherboard, corrugated asbestos, skillion roof, wooden floor in sections» with lean-to at back;

• Latrines, sheet asbestos; GI skillion roof, timber frame, cement floor;

• Ablutions, sheet asbestos, G.I., G.I. skillion roof, timber frame, cement floor, cement bath; Engine Shed, GI, timber frame, cement floor, no .engine) ;

• Command Post (underground), timber;

• Cement Slabs, Barbed Wire fence;

• 2,000 gal tank on low stand;

• Tank on stand (heavy bush timber) approx. 10ft high with 6in x 1.5 inch decking, piping and ball valve;

• Bore, approximately 225 feet, casing 1.5 inch lead-off (engine room built over bore);

• Septic System, three pedestals and cisterns;

• 180 foot and 60 foot 1.5 inch piping.

The remains of the camp were placed under threat when the proposed Roe 8 Highway Extension planned to go through the Cockburn district.

Unit Members included:

May Dixon
Kath Harris
E Weston
Ivy Kathleen Sewell
Elsie Longson
Rona Vagg
Veronica Jose
Esther Piggot
Adele Searle
Doreen Hardwick
Jean Kay
May Donegan
Marie Cox
Rae Hine
Vi Willcocks
Valda Wallis
Molly Scott
Edith Burbridge
Eva Guy
Ellen Exlby
Constance Ryan
Liet Jean Gullan
Sgt W Vance
Peggy Knott

12 of the women have service records on the National Archives of Australia website.

Updates

Based on the evidence available (August 2015) here are two key possible uses for the camp:

1. Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Station manned by the AWAS

2. Regimental Headquarters for 116LAA Regt with 116LAA Regt Sig Sec co-located, and AWAS attached to Regt HQ and signals section.

City of Cockburn - Agenda Ordinary Council Meeting - 9 July 2015 (Notes)

13 August 1941 - The AWAS was formed to release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units. The service grew to over 20,000-strong and provided personnel to fill various roles including administration, driving, catering, signals and intelligence.

Following the end of the II World War, the service was demobilised and ceased to exist by 1947.

The City engaged Heritage Consultant, Eddie Marcus from History Now.

The site is located on Progress Drive, Bibra Lake. The site itself is located close to Hope Road, opposite Native Arc, Bibra Lake Scouts (The Bibra Lake Army Base shed became the Scout Hall) and the Cockburn Wetland Education Centre.

The site is owned by the State of Western Australia, with a Management Order to the City of Cockburn. It is reserved ‘Parks and Recreation’ under the Metropolitan Region Scheme (“MRS”) and City of Cockburn Town Planning Scheme No. 3 (“the Scheme”).