In the darkest days of early 1942, when Australia faced the possibility of invasion, a plan was hatched to establish three secret Outback Queensland air bases. These would safely house American B-17 Flying Fortress bombers far from the coast where Japanese aircraft roamed. This plan successfully preserved the small fleet of B-17s enabling them to fly to New Guinea in the evening where they were fuelled and armed overnight. After a predawn take-off they would strike targets such as the key Japanese base at Rabaul before returning to the safety of their Australian bases deep in the Outback. Critical reconnaissance missions were also flown.
The most important of these bases was at Charleville where a large pool of American servicemen repaired and maintained the B-17 fleet. However, by late 1942 the war was moving north and the Americans departed as almost quickly as they had arrived.
This secret base was a hive of activity that was almost forgotten in the postwar years and is seldom mentioned in any history books. However, the social impact of the American presence was a lasting one and the verbal history of that unique period always remained among Charleville's population.
Following the establishment of the WWII Secret Base (museum) in recent years, new research has enabled Charleville's secret wartime history to be told.
