Penny and Syd and all
Yes, heard from a local about the bitumen road from Portland Road to the
Airstrip and use of the Airstrip by the Americans during the war but
nothing about a bomb site. A little bit more detail is probably in order
for those going to the area. From Lockhart River Airport eastward to
Lockhart River settlement, about 4km, is completely bitumen and most of
the streets in LR are bitumen but from the Airport north to Portland
Roads (Aylen Hills ?) is about 26km by road from memory. Patches of
bitumen can be seen along the "mostly gravel" road through the 13km,
give or take a couple of k's, of the rainforest section. These bitumen
sections are apparently remnants of the Americans road.
Regardless of the history I would like to hear from anyone if it is
possible to drive the "mostly bitumen" road from the Airport through the
rainforest section during the wet without any trouble. Am not interested
in driving all the way to Portland Road during the wet.
Greg Little
Greg Little - Principal Consultant
General Flora and Fauna
PO Box 526
Wallsend, NSW, 2287, Australia
Ph 02 49 556609
Fx 02 49 556671
www.gff.com.au
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Penny Brockman
Sent: Saturday, 15 November 2008 10:39 PM
To: Syd Curtis
Cc: bird
Subject: FW: Iron Range history
Dear Syd
I was up there last November. There is still quite a bit of tar on the
road through Portland Road, and some rather expensive holiday homes
there. But most of the roads were of course dirt in various states of
repair. Usually good.
The bomb site is still obvious with trees growing well all round so that
it looks more like an overgrown grazing paddock. I didn't notice a rusty
steel structure. There were Marshalls Fig Parrots nesting in a tree on
the edge, and lots of good Iron Range birds in the vicinity.
> There has been b-aus discussion of Iron Range access in the
wet
> season. My comments are largely historical and not about the birds -
in
> case you wish to delete now.
>
> In the 1960s when I was involved in some trips up the Peninsula,
> conventional wisdom was that if travelling by road vehicle, you should
make
> sure to be out by the beginning of November - 'cos once the wet season
> starts you won't be able to get out until after it's over.
>
> Recent postings to b-aus indicate that is probably still sound advice.
The
> roads may have been improved since then, but the creeks won't all be
bridged
> to above flood height.
>
> Greg Little referred to the 'mostly gravel' roads in the Iron Range
area.
> It might be of passing interest to know that there used to be a sealed
> (bitumen) road from Iron Range to Portland Road. How come?
>
> It was a relic of WW 2. The Iron Range airstrip was constructed by
the
> Americans and I think I'm right in saying that it played a decisive
role in
> the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 7 & 8, 1942). The Angus & Robertson
> Encyclopaedia states that, "Not a shot was fired by opposing ships."
> (Japan: 3 Carriers, 7 Cruisers, a destroyer, plus subs. US/Australia:
2
> Carriers, 8 Cruisers, 11 destroyers.) The Americans had intercepted
> Japanese messages which alerted them to the proposed attack on Port
Moresby,
> and attacked the invasion fleet from the air.
>
> Iron Range was the major American air-base, and Portland Road was the
port
> that served it. Hence, the sealed road. In 1960s the bitumen was
badly
> broken up but still obvious; probably no sign of it at all now.
>
> And in passing, Iron Range was the location of "Operation Blow-down" -
in
> the mid 1960s. What I was told, is that the Americans wished to know
what
> would be the effect of an atomic bomb on a rainforest site.
(Presumably
> relevant to their Vietnam action.) They didn't use an actual atomic
bomb,
> but tried to simulate one by exploding an appropriate number of tons
of TNT
> placed on top of a steel tower.
>
> When I saw the site (a couple of years later) there was a clearing of
a
> couple of hectares with a fringe of dead trees. But I don't think it
was
> really equivalent to an atomic bomb: the rusty twisted remains of the
steel
> tower were still there. Surely a nuclear device would have vaporised
it?
> (I wonder if any of the tower still remains?)
>
> Cheers
>
> Syd
>
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