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In the foreground of this 1946 shot are two P-51K Mustangs that had served briefly with 86 Squadron from July 1945. Behind them are Boomerangs, Kittyhawks, Spitfires and Wirraways.
WW2 Fighter Graveyard – 6AD Oakey
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Pyre of the Fighters
No 6 Aircraft Depot was established on March 15 1943, 430km west of Brisbane, and 3km north of Oakey, a pleasant rural community on the fertile Darling Downs.
The middle phase of the Pacific war had begun; the Allied forces in Australia were on the verge of what the official historian called “the limited offensive”, and the RAAF’s role in the island-hopping clashes about to be fought would prove instrumental on the airborne path to victory. The Depot was a segment of the Condamine station, a cluster of Heavy Bomber (Liberator) airfields placed west of the Great Dividing Range, assumed to be safe from the sweep of carrier borne enemy aircraft. The aerodrome at 6 AD comprised two surfaced runways, secondary landing grounds, dispersal bays, engine workshops and village sized personnel accommodation in timber bungalows. Apart from the Mess facilities included a swimming pool, cinema, tennis court and a cafeteria decorated with boldly coloured portraits of Depot ‘identities’.
The Echo of Merlins
On October 17 1943, temporary CO, Flying Officer F A Coles together with a formation party of 60 officers and airmen arrived at Oakey, and airframe and engine maintenance work began shortly before Christmas. The first aircraft to be repaired was RAAF Spitfire F.VC A58-27 (RAF No. BR484), on February 4 1944 – one of the first batch of 245 new Spitfires imported in August 1942 in support of the then desperate defence of northern Australia. (At some stage enroute, the Spitfires were codenamed Capstans). Six AD’s zenith was between February 1944 and through to the end of hostilities. Aircraft types serviced, reassembled and test flown in this period included the Beaufort, CAC Boomerang, P-40E/K/M Kittyhawk, Lancaster III, P-51D and K Mustang, Noorduyn Norseman, Spitfire F.VC and LF.VIII, and the CAC Wirraway (A20). In addition, Seafires were assembled for the Royal Navy, and B-24D and J Liberators from the nearby HB Bases at Cecil Plains, Leyburn and Brymaroo underwent maintenance at 6AD’s Number 1 hangar.
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