Daly Waters Airfield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Daly Waters Airfield was an airfield located at Daly Waters, Northern Territory, Australia.

1 History
2 Units based at Daly Waters
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] History

Daly Waters was Australia's first international airfield. The airfield was a centre for the London to Sydney air race of 1926 and was a refuelling stop for early Qantas flights to Singapore.

The airfield was a waypoint on the "Brereton Route" the early months of 1942 during World War II for operations between Australia and Java. It was a staging base for aircraft from Cloncurry, Queensland and then up to Darwin, Northern Territory area airfields.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) requisitoned the airfield and on 15 March 1942 it became RAAF Station Daly Waters. Daly Waters became an operational base known as RAAF Daly Waters on 15 May 1942. In late 1943 the RAAF base was wound down as the war proceeded north.

The 64th Bomb Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group were based at Daly Waters from 16 May 1942 until 2 August 1942.

The aerodrome was closed to commercial traffic in 1965. The original Qantas hangar still stands, housing exhibits of photographs and equipment from the area's aviation past. It is still utilised by the RAAF for joint military manoeuvres.