Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building

Civil defence facility
South-East

Rifle Range Road, Lowood 4311

A reinforced concrete Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building was built east of the Lowood airfield, to the west of the intersection of Rifle Range Road and Forest Hill–Fernvale Road. This abandoned facility survives on private property.

History

RAAF Station Lowood was constructed in late 1941 for No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS). It was used by two USAAF fighter squadrons in early 1942, before becoming a RAAF Operational base (OB) for dive bombers.

The RAAF took over Lowood again in September 1942, and by February 1943 Lowood was being developed as an Operational Base (OB), with Coominya No 2 as ancillary landing ground. By 23 May 1943 the MRC was still working on taxiways to the hideouts and by 30 May work had started on a new Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building. This facility, along with the new Operations building, was a semi-underground reinforced concrete construction, with a curved roof section. The W/T Transmitting building, with a shorter curved roof section than the Operations building, was located about 4km east of the airfield.

By December 1943 the Transmitting building and the Operations building were reported as 95% complete. However, fitting out of the two semi-underground buildings was still occurring in early 1945. With the threat of Japanese air attack on Lowood fairly remote at this point in the war, there was probably no rush to complete such buildings. On 9 December 1943 a conference at RAAF HQ had in fact decided, regarding the Lowood Operations building, that “owing to the very dispersed location of this building it may be regarded a shadow operations signals building only” (for use only under conditions of enemy attack).

Source/comments

Main Roads Commission, Queensland, 1949. The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.

Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks. Brisbane.

National Archives of Australia 774. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Lowood, Qld 1943

National Archives of Australia 171/56/10 Part 2. DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - RAAF Lowood Qld - Aerodrome works, 1944-1947

National Archives of Australia 171/1/1493. RAAF Headquarters - DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Utilization of semi-underground buildings. 1943-1948

National Archives of Australia Z5. Lowood - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] site for VHF/DF [very high frequence/direction finding] transmitter site. 1942.

National Archives of Australia LS863. Lowood - Plan of Bomb Shelter Compound and Access on Resub. 3 of Sub. 1 of Portion 287, Parish of England, County of Cavendish.1943

National Archives of Australia QL618/1. Acquisition of land from Walter Utz. RAAF Order. Lowood Underground Operations Building. 1943-1949.

Dunn, P. Lowood Airfield during WW2

Dunn, P. Lowood Operations building underground bunker, at Mount Tarampa, Qld near Lowood Airfield

Dunn, P. Lowood Transmitting building near Tarampa, Qld during WW2

23 Squadron RAAF

No. 24 (City of Adelaide) Squadron

State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.