Brymaroo/Jondaryan Airfield

The outlines of two runways, linked by a taxiway, are visible west of Jondaryan/Nungil Road, with one runway to the north of, and one runway to the south of, Brymaroo-Irvingdale Road.

Brymaroo, also known as Jondaryan or Heavy Bombardment Field No.1, was one of four airfields built inland from Brisbane in early 1942 for use by US heavy bombers, should the Japanese land on the coast. The others were Cecil Plains, Leyburn and Condamine.

Two runways (131 and 54 degrees) were formed at Brymaroo/Jondaryan, and thinly sealed, while 18 ‘slung type’ hideouts were constructed in early 1943. By this time there was no particular need for the airfield, and it was not occupied until RAAF 99 Squadron (B-24 Liberators) moved there from Leyburn in 1945.

A plaque at nearby Alex Campbell Park, where a post-WWII Canberra Bomber has been mounted, also mentions use of the airfield by the ‘USAAF’s number 15 Squadron’. This could refer to the USAAF’s 15th Weather Squadron, which was based at Townsville, 1942-5.

A proposed satellite field for Brymaroo/Jondaryan was proposed at Irvingdale (around 8km to the west, between the current Wyoming airfield and the Irvingdale-Blaxland Road) but this does not seem to have eventuated.

More recently, the southeast end of the 131 degree runway at Brymaroo/Jondaryan has been used for training purposes, as a satellite of the Army Aviation Centre Oakey.