Second World War RAAF Buildings, Maryborough Airport

Second World War RAAF Buildings is a heritage-listed group of air force base buildings at Saltwater Creek Road, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 23 March 2007.HistoryThe Second World War buildings at Maryborough airport were constructed during the early 1940s as part of the facilities of a military aerodrome serving Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No 3 Wireless Air Gunner School and No 3 Air Navigation School. Following the war, Maryborough City Council redeveloped the aerodrome as a civil airport retaining these buildings in use.Maryborough was established in the late 1840s to supply sheep stations on the Burnett River and provide an outlet for their wool. The Port of Maryborough was a port of entry and during the 1860s and 1870s Maryborough flourished as the principal port of the nearby Gympie goldfield and as an outlet for timber and sugar. The establishment of manufacturing plants and primary industries sustained its growth as a major regional centre. As such, it had a small civil airfield before the Second World War.In 1938, in response to the threatened outbreak of war, an Australian Air Force was developed, which included the establishment of a major base at Amberley in southern Queensland. Following the First World War and the development of civil aviation in the 1920s and 1930s, it had become apparent that air power would play an important role modern warfare. At the outbreak of war in 1939, urgent consideration was given not only to the construction of aeroplanes, but also to the training of technicians, pilots and aircrew. It was realised that although British factories could step up production of aeroplanes and equipment, it would not be able to train all of the aircrew needed to operate them.