Mailors Flat Concrete Ammunition Bunkers

Mailors Flat - Koroit Road, Mailors Flat VIC 3275

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Vic. War Heritage Inventory

Statement of Significance

• Additional Place Information

  • Physical Description 1

    Mailors Flat Concrete Ammunition Bunkers - Physical Description 1

    Two in-situ concrete barrel vaulted buildings located in a paddock to the south of the airport runway. Each building has a doorway at one end and a small window opening at the other with timber frames remaining in poor condition. The ceilings are punctuated by a series of circular holes for ventilators. The solid concrete construction suggests they were erected as munition stores. Around each building there appears to be remnants of a raised earthen embankment.
    
    
    COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
    Other localities in Victoria that have similar bunkers include Mallacoota; Sale; Bairnsdale; Ballarat; Mildura; Benalla; Nhill; Werribee; Cressy; Lake Boga; and Essendon. Of these, the most complete set of buildings is at Ballarat. Mallacoota and Lake Boga (sea planes) have concrete bunkers that were bomb-proof command posts. Benalla has one hangar and some remnant accommodation huts. Werribee (old Geelong Road) has five hangars and a workshop. [Patrick Millar, Heritage Victoria, pers. com., 2005]

    Physical Conditions

    Mailors Flat Concrete Ammunition Bunkers - Physical Conditions

    Fair

    Integrity

    Mailors Flat Concrete Ammunition Bunkers - Integrity

    Minor Modifications

    Veterans Description for Public

    Mailors Flat Concrete Ammunition Bunkers - Veterans Description for Public

    Two concrete ammunition bunkers are situated on private farm land near Warrnambool Airport, on the Koroit - Mailors Flat Road, Mailors Flat. The bunkers are barrell-roofed structures with an entrance at one end and a small window at the other. The ceilings are punctuated by a series of circular holes for ventilators. The solid concrete construction suggests they were erected as munitions stores. Around each building there appears to be remnants of a raised earthen embankment. They were probably installed in the early 1940s, after the Australian Army had taken over control of the Warrnambool Airport as part of wartime security measures.

    Warrnambool Airport, situated west of Warrnambool in the vicinity of Mailors Flat, was established just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. It was used as an RAAF airfield during the Second World War and the base for coastal patrols during the war. These concrete bunkers were erected as ammunition storage shelters at this time c. early 1940s. There was a fear in the south-west of Victoria that the Japanese would land at Portland or Warrnambool, and there were measures taken to prepare for a Japanese 'invasion', for example the stone mileposts along the major roads were moved.
    
    Since the war, the airport has operated as a civil air field. Although originally erected in association with the army base at Warrnambool Airport, the site where the bunkers are located is a privately owned property adjoining the airport site (currently owned by the Russells). The ammunition bunkers are located in a paddock and appear to be unused.

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Heritage Study and Grading

    Moyne - Moyne Shire Heritage Study Stage 2

    Author: Helen Doyle in association with Context P/L
    Year: 2006
    Grading: Local

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• Public contributions

  Notes See all notes

  Update as at 2019

  Graeme Broderick • 15/01/19

  The Mailors Flat Concrete Ammunition Bunkers are still in place and visible from the Yarpturk School Road at Yarpturk. One is in the Warrnambool Drag Racing area and the other is on private land. Both Bunkers are substantially sound as one can see the concrete was mixed on site and poured around a wooden structure. The concrete shows no sign of deterioration. The insides of each is painted white with air holes in the roof.

  Images See all images

  • 

    The south Bunker

    Graeme Broderick
  • 

    Northerly Bunker

    Graeme Broderick
  • 

    Two Ammunition Bunkers

    Graeme Broderick