ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL
HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE AND
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
RECOMMENDATION TO THE
HERITAGE COUNCIL
Name: Former RAAF Base and Migrant Camp, Benalla
Hermes Number: 196487
Page | 1
Name: Former RAAF Base and Migrant Camp, Benalla
Hermes Number: 196487
Page | 1
NAME / FORMER RAAF BASE AND MIGRANT CAMPLOCATION / 1 & 57 SAMARIA ROAD BENALLA
HERITAGE OVERLAY NO: / -
FILE NUMBER: / FOL/15/5269
HERMES NUMBER: / 196487
NOMINATION
A nomination was accepted by the Executive Director on 7 March 2015.
The nomination was made on the basis that the former RAAF Base and Migrant Camp satisfies the following criteria of the Heritage Council’s criteria for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:
Criterion A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.
Criterion B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history.
Criterion C
Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history.
Criterion G
Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance of a place to Indigenous peoples as part of their continuing and developing cultural traditions.
extent of NOMINATION
The nominated extent is shown hatched on this aerial photograph submitted with the nomination.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Assessment and recommendation SUMMARY [s.34A(2)(d)]
It is the view of the Executive Director that this place should not be included in the Victorian Heritage Register for the reasons outlined in this report. The information presented in this report and the attached documents demonstrates that the former RAAF Base and Migrant Camp, Benalla may be of local significance, rather than state level significance.
The Heritage Council may wish to refer the recommendation and submissions to the Benalla Rural City Council for consideration for an amendment to the planning scheme.
RECOMMENDATION REASONS
REASONS FOR NOT RECOMMENDING INCLUSION IN THE VICTORIAN HERITAGE REGISTER [s.34A(2)]
Following is the Executive Director's assessment of the place against the tests set out in The Victorian Heritage Register Criteria and Thresholds Guidelines (2014).
CRITERION A
Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria’s cultural history.
STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION A
The place/object has a clear ASSOCIATION with an event, phase, period, process, function, movement, custom or way of life in Victoria’s cultural history.
Plus
The association of the place/object to the event, phase, etc IS EVIDENT in the physical fabric of the place/object and/or in documentary resources or oral history.
Plus
The EVENT, PHASE, etc is of HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, having made a strong or influential contribution to Victoria.
Executive Director’s Response
The nominated place is part of a larger site which was initially established as a RAAF Base and then developed as the Benalla Migrant Camp. Nominated as the Benalla Migrant Camp, the place has clear associations with both Australia’s involvement in World War II and the post war phase of immigration into the country. Both of these phases are important to Victoria’s history. The place was established during World War II as an Elementary Flying Training School with more than 120 structures erected on site. A number of these structures and associated facilities were reused after the war for migrant accommodation. A small number of these structures remain on the nominated land, including nine P-Type huts, some of which have been relocated to the site. The association of the place with both World War II and post war migration is well documented.
Criterion A is likely to be satisfied.
STEP 2: A BASIC TEST FOR DETERMINING STATE LEVEL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CRITERION A
The place/object allows the clear association with the event, phase etc. of historical importance to be UNDERSTOOD BETTER THAN MOST OTHER PLACES OR OBJECTS IN VICTORIA WITH SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME ASSOCIATION.
Executive Director’s Response
The nominated land of the former RAAF Base and Migrant Camp contains remnants of fabric which indicate the former uses of the site. The most significant remnant structures are the P-Type huts, only some of which remain in their original location. A large number of components from both important phases have been removed from the whole site and structures have been added to former RAAF land adjacent to the nominated land. As a result the integrity of the whole place has been compromised.
More intact places, with sufficient fabric to clearly enable the association with both of the important phases in Victoria’s cultural history, are already included in the VHR. The former Ballarat RAAF Base (VHR H2113), Block 19 at the former Bonegilla Migrant Camp (VHR H1835) and the former Maribyrnong Migrant Hostel (H2190) have substantially the same associations as the place at Benalla, the former as a World War II RAAF Base and the latter two as Migrant Camps. The retention of a large number of structures, and the layout of these structures on their sites, enable these places to clearly demonstrate their respective associations in a far clearer manner than at Benalla.
Criterion A is not likely to be satisfied at the State level.
CRITERION B
Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria’s cultural history.
STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION B
The place/object has a CLEAR ASSOCIATION with an event, phase, period, process, function, movement, custom or way of life of importance in Victoria’s cultural history.
Plus
The association of the place/object to the event, phase, etc IS EVIDENT in the physical fabric of the place/object and/or in documentary resources or oral history.
Plus
The place/object is RARE OR UNCOMMON, being one of a small number of places/objects remaining that demonstrates the important event, phase etc.
OR
The place/object is RARE OR UNCOMMON, containing unusual features of note that were not widely replicated
OR
The existence of the CLASS of place/object that demonstrates the important event, phase etc is ENDANGERED to the point of rarity due to threats and pressures on such places/objects.
Executive Director’s Response
Nominated for its use as a Migrant Camp, the place is one of a small number of sites in Victoria that remain to illustrate the phase of post war immigration. Despite this, the phase is more clearly demonstrated at the more extensive and intact camp at Bonegilla (VHR H1835) and at the former Maribyrnong Migrant Hostel (H2190).
The distinction between the use of the Bonegilla Migrant Camp as a reception centre and the Benalla Migrant Centre as a holding centre, specifically for unsupported mothers, is not sufficient to justify rarity of the latter at a state level. Both facilities were developed and maintained as accommodation centres for non-British migrants.
The importance of the place is largely dependent on the presence of nine P-Type huts which in themselves are neither rare or uncommon in Victoria. Both the former Ballarat RAAF Base (VHR H2113) and Block 19, Bonegilla (VHR H1835) contain large numbers of these, and other P-Type huts are located at sites throughout Victoria.
Criterion B is not likely to be satisfied.
CRITERION C
Potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history.
STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION C
The:
· visible physical fabric; &/or
· documentary evidence; &/or
· oral history,
relating to the place/object indicates a likelihood that the place/object contains PHYSICAL EVIDENCE of HISTORICAL INTEREST that is NOT CURRENTLY VISIBLE OR UNDERSTOOD.
Plus
From what we know of the place/object, the physical evidence is likely to be of an INTEGRITY and/or CONDITION that it COULD YIELD INFORMATION through detailed investigation.
Executive Director’s Response
The place is likely to contain some historical archaeological deposits, including post holes from former structures, artefacts in the cistern and beneath the floors of surviving structures. These deposits may be in a condition to yield information about the use of the site.
Criterion C is likely to be satisfied.
STEP 2: A BASIC TEST FOR DETERMINING STATE LEVEL SIGNIFICANCE FOR CRITERION C
The knowledge that might be obtained through investigation is likely to MEANINGFULLY CONTRIBUTE to an understanding of Victoria’s cultural history.
Plus
The information likely to be yielded from the place/object is NOT already WELL DOCUMENTED or READILY AVAILABLE from other sources.
Executive Director’s Response
It is unlikely that the site contains substantial, undisturbed historical archaeological deposits and artefacts that may contribute meaningful knowledge about Victoria's cultural heritage that is not already well documented or readily available from other sources. In part this is due to the construction style of many of the buildings, and the history of subsequent disturbance, which means that the site is unlikely to contain intact occupation deposits that relate to the use of the place.
Criterion C is not likely to be satisfied at the State level.
CRITERION G
Strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. This includes the significance of a place to indigenous people as part of their continuing and developing cultural traditions.
STEP 1: A BASIC TEST FOR SATISFYING CRITERION G
Evidence exists of a DIRECT ASSOCIATION between the place/object and a PARTICULAR COMMUNITY OR CULTURAL GROUP.
(For the purpose of these guidelines, ‘COMMUNITY or CULTURAL GROUP’ is defined as a sizable group of persons who share a common and long-standing interest or identity).
Plus
The association between the place/object and the community or cultural group is STRONG OR SPECIAL, as evidenced by the regular or long-term use of/engagement with the place/object or the enduring ceremonial, ritual, commemorative, spiritual or celebratory use of the place/object.
Executive Director’s Response
The former RAAF Base and Migrant Camp, Benalla has some social significance for its association with migrants accommodated at the camp and their descendants. A number of these families live in close proximity to the place. Former inhabitants visit the site on an occasional basis and a museum which interprets the migrant experience has been established on site, however there is no regular, organised or enduring ceremonial use of the place to indicate that the relationship is particularly strong or special.
Criterion G is not likely to be satisfied.
RELEVANT INFORMATION
Local Government Authority / Benalla Rural CityHERITAGE LISTING INFORMATION
· Heritage Overlay: / No
· Other listing: / No
HISTORY
Elementary Flying Training School, Benalla
A landing ground was established on this site in 1928 by Benalla based members of the Port Melbourne Flying Club. Until 1939 it served as a civilian aviation emergency landing ground on the Sydney to Melbourne route and it is reported that about two hundred planes landed there in that period.
In 1939 Britain, with Canada, Australia and New Zealand, established the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) to rapidly train air crews for the British Bomber Command. The scheme operated from 1939 to 1945 and the Royal Australian Air Force initially committed to training 28,000 air crew over a three year period. This included navigators, wireless operators, air gunners and pilots and equated to training about 900 air crew every four weeks.
To achieve this the RAAF embarked on a rapid and extensive program. Five initial training schools were established in Australia, the first located at Somers in Victoria, and a network of twenty-eight EATS schools were established in eastern Australia by the end of 1941. Each of these schools specialised in specific skill sets required of air crew members and included twelve Elementary Flying Training Schools (EFTS) for training pilots to fly light aircraft. After initial training, these pilots progressed to Service Flying Training Schools, the first of which was established at Point Cook, Victoria. In Victoria, EFTS school were established at Essendon (no 3) and Benalla (no 11). Other schools included three Wireless Air Gunners Schools (the first and only one in Victoria was established at the RAAF Base in Ballarat) and Bombing and Gunnery Schools such as that established at Sale, Victoria.
The EFTS at Benalla was proposed by the Minister for Air, Mr McEwan, and was officially opened on 26 June 1941. The existing civil aviation landing ground was doubled in size at this time to accommodate the RAAF unit. Buildings and services were of a standard type adopted by the RAAF, with the common P-Type Hut design adopted to cover all military personnel requirements. This basic module was used and modified to produce facilities such as mess halls, guard huts, canteens, medical aid posts, dental surgeries, recreation huts, classrooms and offices. These facilities at Benalla are shown on an annotated site plan, a copy of which is held at the Benalla Rural Council. This plan shows a collection of more than one hundred structures, a number of hangars, a sports oval and parade ground. The base was provided with electric light, power and hot and cold water and a network of roads and the capital cost of the project was £85,000.
The EATS programme effectively ended in October 1944, and was formally suspended in March 1945. At this time nearly 3,000 pilots had been trained at Benalla as part of the EATS programme. The following year the base became a RAAF Care and Maintenance Unit and in late 1948 all aircraft were transferred to a similar RAAF facility at Tocumwal, NSW.
Post-War Migration to Australia and Accommodation Centres
In the immediate post-war years the Department of Immigration was established in Australia and a bold immigration programme was launched to increase the population, and hence the labour force, of the country. Between 1945 and 1965 more than two million migrants came to Australia as a result of an international promotional campaign to encourage migration to Australia. A large number of migrants arrived as part of an assisted passage scheme which targeted migrants from Britain but expanded to provide assistance to migrants from a variety of European countries. Others were displaced persons who had fled their countries during the war. In return these migrants were required to stay in Australia for at least two years and work in allocated jobs.
Reception and training centres were established to provide accommodation and training for newly arrived non-British migrants in Australia. Many of these were set up at former military camps where accommodation and facilities already existed. Contracted to work in allocated employment, migrants were initially housed in these centres while awaiting employment instructions. While at these centres, migrants received medical checks, and attended courses in English language and the Australian way of life.