Bob’s Creek: What might have been

But for an administrative oversight the City of Rockhampton might have had a future and flood-proofed airport, sixty-five years ago.

Bob’s Creek, twenty-two kilometers south of Rockhampton, is one of many unremarkable, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Bruce Highway crossings. Hills and gullies punctuate the landscape to the west, which then rises steeply to the Razorback Range (and Mount Morgan). East of the highway, however, lies a vast uninterrupted plain. In 1939 these eastern grazing lands became the focus of intense municipal and federal government interest as defence and civil aviation officials investigated alternate city airport sites. This was barely a few weeks before the commencement of the Second World War, and already “The provision of an advanced operational base at Rockhampton to meet full requirements of the air force” had become “an urgent matter.”¹

“East from where the railway line crosses the Bob’s Creek … was found to be eminently suited for development into a first class airport, K.N.E. Bradfield, 11.10.1939.” (QImagery, QAP5233005l, Frame 5, 19 May 1994, 4,900 m).

This last pronouncement by the Defence Department Secretary, Frederick Sheehan, marked a significant reversal in Commonwealth policy regarding the regional development of aviation infrastructure. Several factors influenced this turnaround, not least being the looming prospect of war with Germany, and Japan.² A recent constitutional crisis had also revealed serious Commonwealth limitations (vis-a-vis civil aviation). While Canberra controlled the purse-strings, there was little it could do in this realm without the cooperation of the States. This bizarre situation followed a 1936 High Court ruling “that the Commonwealth could not under its trade and commerce power exercise general control over the subject-matter of civil aviation in the Commonwealth, including intrastate civil aviation.”³ Paradoxically, even as war clouds were gathering in the late 1930s, Canberra had to secure the support of State Premiers before it could begin developing the nation’s aerial defences.

Many regional aerodromes had been established, and others improved during the early 1930s when unprecedented levels of Commonwealth funding were released via the Unemployment Relief Act, 1934. Some of the Queensland towns that benefited from this federal funding included Camooweal, Cloncurry, Longreach, Blackall, Charleville, Cooktown, and Roma.⁴ Federal policy in 1938 was to prioritize those towns associated with important mail services, or essential for defence requirements.⁵ State Premiers were led by the Commonwealth to believe that “the greater the number of first class aerodromes throughout the country districts, the greater the inducement for the country people to become air-minded and this in itself is an important development very necessary to the future defence of this country.”⁶

The Graziers’ Federal Council and the Associated Chamber of Commerce of the Commonwealth of Australia (ACCCA) had also been lobbying the Federal Government “to set aside portion of the Petrol Tax money for the establishment and upkeep of [regional] aerodromes.”⁷ By late 1938 however Rockhampton had received just £56 from the Commonwealth for aerodrome improvements, whereas Mackay had received £400 and Mundubbera £200.⁸ The Commonwealth at that time was already maintaining about 220 landing grounds throughout the several states.⁹ Rockhampton however had been omitted altogether from discussions when the Prime Minister met with State Premiers in mid-1939 to discuss urgent public works of Defence value. Instead, fifteen other regional centers deemed to be of greater strategic importance were earmarked for works totalling £133,500.¹⁰ It was against this backdrop of constitutional uncertainty and international anxiety that there suddenly emerged a renewed interest in expanding Rochmapton’s capacity for military air operations.

Leading these Commonwealth investigations was a young, recently graduated engineer and Rhodes Scholar, Keith ‘Bill’ Bradfield.¹¹ Bradfield visited Rockhampton on 16 September 1939, just two weeks after Britain declared war on Germany. In the following weeks he made detailed assessments of the existing Connor Park airfield, and several alternative sites in and around the city. In his fourteen page report, dated 11 October 1939, he notes that the existing Connor Park site was flood prone, and likely to become unserviceable on average once every seven years.¹² He also added that only one of its four existing runways was long enough to meet the 1,100 yard minimum length then required for a 2nd Class aerodrome. The site’s loamy soils and tufty grass covering, moreover, were also deemed unsuitable for sustained air operations. The former caused aircraft to slip when wet, and the latter produced excessive dust when dry. The proximity of the Athestane Range (a.k.a. The Range) to the east was also identified as a major obstruction and disadvantage, being higher than the minimum 1:20 clearway prescribed by aviation regulators. The Boy’s Grammar School, the Wandal Church, the hospital, the reservoir, the convent and the AWA mast were thus all singled out as air navigation obstructions.¹³

Contour survey plan of the proposed Bob’s Creek airfield, prepared for Bradfield in October 1939 (National Archives of Ausralia, ID 162847).

These disadvantages provided sufficient cause for Bradfield to investigate three alternate sites all within a twenty-one kilometer radius of the city. Altona Downs, sixteen kilometers to the west, was discounted because of its heavy black soil, and its undulating flood-prone surface (divided by a stream). Similar problems were encountered south-west of Gracemere. A site twenty-one kilometers south of the city (viz. Bob’s Creek) was found however to be “almost perfect” for modern aerodrome operations, being more suitable (than Connor Park) for military operations and more likely (due to the absence of obstructions) to attract future airline investment.¹⁴

Bradfield singled out the vast flat expanse immediately east of where the railway line (and Bruce Highway) cross Bob’s Creek, noting that it was “naturally drained” by watercourses in the north-west and south-east.¹⁵ He concluded that it would be cheaper to construct a new airport there, having four 1,500 yard runways, than to develop one at Connor Park having just two 1,500 yard runways.¹⁶ The site’s only significant drawback was its distance from the city, which was then a thirty minute drive from the GPO (as compared with 5 minutes, in the case of Connor Park). Bradfield recommended the immediate development of Bob’s Creek, and the possible retention of Connor Park for private flying and training purposes.¹⁷ The Commonwealth committed £1,000 pounds for the immediate development of Bob’s Creek, subject only to the City Council acquiring the site.

Council acted quickly on these recommendations, a formal agreement to purchase 640 acres at Bob’s Creek having been received the following month from the landowner – Archer Bros. Pty. Ltd. Only then, was it discovered that the recommended site fell outside of the city’s boundary. As such, Council’s resumptive powers (and those of the Queensland Main Roads Commission) also had no effect.¹⁸ Gladstone in the adjoining Local Government Area was still years away then from building its first aerodrome, and would have been unmoved by the prospect of maintaining a large and modern airport, eighty-five kilometers away. The planned development of a purpose-built, future-proofed modern Rockhampton airport appeared thwarted by a technicality, even before it had taken off. The Civil Aviation Department promptly urged the Department of Air to acquire the site for the Commonwealth (at a cost of £4,420) however this also proved a bridge too far, unhelped by annual electricity (£11,800) and water supply (£3,830) cost estimates.¹⁹ It was just a few weeks later that the northbound airliner Riama, unable to reach either Gladstone or Rockhampton in adverse weather, made a successful emergency landing at the undeveloped Bob’s Creek site.²⁰

Looking north towards the Berserker Range, from the Archer rail siding, with the propsed airport site (east of the line) in the middle distance (Mark Clayton).

Instead, the Commonwealth continued pouring money into upgrading the Connor Park site, where operations remained problematic throughout the war years.²¹ Used mostly for transiting military aircraft (and personnel), Connor Park’s significance increased as the allied war effort shifted focus from Europe, to the Pacific. Being half-way between the State’s two largest air bases (viz. Brisbane and Townsville), Rockhampton’s pre-war airport came to perform a vital wartime function. During October 1944 alone, for example, the RAAF’s 21 Operational Base Unit, stationed at Connor Park, refuelled 736 transiting aircraft with 120,616 gallons of fuel.²² Accidents were an inevitable consequence of these increased wartime operations. At Connor Park though, they were averaging at least one accident every two months throughout the war years, with almost as many aircraft coming to grief in the adjoining regions. Several American multi-engine aircraft were destroyed because they were unable to stop within the confines of the Connor Park runway(s), much as Bradfield had forewarned.²³ Evidence indicates that Connor Park had also acquired an unenviable reputation, one RAAF unit commander (based at the airfield) reporting in early September 1944 that military pilots were having to “conquer [their] earlier prejudices about landing at this aerodrome.”²⁴

Ever since then, flood waters from the nearby Fitzroy River have repeatedly caused the closure of airport operations at Connor Park. And predictably, these events are invariably followed by calls for the city’s airport to be relocated.²⁵ Perhaps, one day, someone might remember that Rhodes Scholar’s report describing an “almost perfect” flood-proof site, just twenty minutes from the CBD.

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