In early 1942, the Imperial Japanese attacked Darwin and Broome, resulting in the loss of 16 flying boats, the establishment of a safe landing place for the Allied flying boat force was required as a remote repair facility outside the sphere of Japanese airplanes. The north-western Victorian town of Lake Boga was picked as its lake allowed almost unlimited choice of landing/take off directions and was free of obstructions. It was remote, but also close to nearby infrastructure, like road, rail and electricity power.
On 28th June 1942, saw the arrival of the first RAAF personnel under the command of F/Lt.G.S. Moffatt. On July 12th, 1942, the first Catalina flying boat arrived when a quantity of stores and equipment was flown in from Rathmines, N.S.W. Compared to a Walrus that had alighted four months earlier on an inspection visit, the Catalina seemed enormous, with its graceful hull and huge wing span topped by two powerful Pratt & Whitney 1200hp 14 cylinder radial engines. The RAAF base would become known as the No. 1 Flying Boat Repair Depot, a large unit of almost 1,000 personnel that serviced and repaired Flying boats serviced, repaired, rebuilt or overhauled during the operation of the base were PBY Catalina, Dornier Do 24, OS2U Kingfisher, Short Sunderland, Supermarine Walrus and Martin Mariner. Most aircraft, had just flown back from the frontlines of the war against Japan. The flying boats were from three nationalities and four services: the RAAF, Dutch naval air service, USN and USAAF.
The end of the war saw the base close down in November 1947. Although the memories of the wartime years were kept alive through the research and passion of Swan Hill resident, the late Brett Freeman. The original edition of Lake Boga at War was published by Brett in 1995. It was one of most successful Australian aviation history books of its era, bringing to life the remarkable activities at this little-known base.
This revised edition seeks to bring these stories to a new generation of readers - there has been slight reduction in page numbers to conform to current printing formats.
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