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Celebrating the history of forest and bushfire management in Victoria – (Peter McHugh – 2018-19) Page 1
Forest Fortnight #18 – Keep the home
fires burning ….
Thursday 18 July 2019 The 1940s were a busy and difficult time for the
forestry profession.
One of the pressing requirements placed on the
Forests Commission during WW2 was to organise
emergency supplies of firewood for civilian heating and
cooking because of reductions in the supply of coal,
briquettes, electricity and gas.
Firewood was substituted for steam locomotives in
shunting in marshalling yards because of an earlier
explosion at the State Coal Mine at Wonthaggi in
February 1937, made worse by problems in securing
black coal from NSW.
Approximately 280,000 tons of dry wood was also
needed annually to produce charcoal as a substitute
fuel for motorists.
And let’s not forget the massive and ongoing timber
salvage and roading program in the mountain ash
forests of the Central Highlands after the 1939
bushfires.
Skilled labour was very hard to find because many
foresters and experienced bushmen enlisted to serve
overseas in the 2/2 Forestry Company…
Prior to the War, less than 1000 tons of firewood was
delivered into Melbourne each week, but new
estimates of an annual shortfall of a massive 300,000
tons were forecast.
A rail siding and large firewood dump were established
at Brookwood next to the Altona North workshops and
in its first year of operation, the Forests Commission
dispatched some quarter-million tons into the City.
The Paddle Steamer Hero and two barges (Canally and
John Campbell) were purchased in 1942 by the
Commission from Arbuthnot Sawmills at Koondrook as
part of the solution.
The Hero, under Captain Spencer Clarke, transported
the much-needed redgum logs about 80 km
downstream from the Barmah State forest to Echuca.
But first, the Commission needed to repair what was
left of the aging and dilapidated Echuca Wharf. About
80% had already been cut up for firewood by the
Victorian Railways reducing it to its current length of
75.5 metres. Forty-two new piles were driven and a
considerable amount of decking replaced. A ten-tonne
steam crane was also brought up from Point Cook.
Some historians say it was the Commission that saved
the iconic Echuca Wharf from being totally lost.
The logs from Barmah were crosscut at Echuca and
taken by steam train to Melbourne. Importantly, much
of the labour came from Italian war internees,
sometimes known as enemy aliens.
Firewood was also cut at POW camps at Graytown near
Heathcote by sailors rescued from the German Cruiser
Kormoran after a fierce battle with the HMAS Sydney
off the Western Australian coast in November 1941
where both vessels sank.
In January 1942 the Forests Commission identified
seven camps to accommodate about 2000 Internees
and POWs. Ultimately, it’s believed there were as many
as 20 smaller firewood camps, but it’s still unclear
exactly how many operated and little remains in
archives or in the bush to betray their whereabouts.
The camps at Mt Disappointment are probably the best
known.
Another 7000 people, including whole families, were
interred at Rushworth, Murchison, Tatura, Gippsland
and Myrtleford…. but that’s another story….
The Emergency Firewood Project continued long after
the War ended and over the period from 1941 to 1954,
nearly two million tons was produced.
https://victoriasforestryheritage.org.au/images/exter
nal%20articles/heropaddlesteamer.pdf
https://www.victoriasforestryheritage.org.au/activitie
s1/producing/firewood/ww2-supply.html
https://www.ozatwar.com/pow/pow.htm
Celebrating the history of forest and bushfire management in Victoria – (Peter McHugh – 2018-19) Page 2
The Paddle Steamer Hero was built at Echuca in 1874 by George Linklater and traded on the Murrumbidgee River as a hawking
vessel until the 1930s when it was sold to Arbuthnot Sawmills at Koondrook as a logging boat. The PS Hero was purchased by the Forests Commission in 1942 to tow logs 80km from the Barmah
Forest to Echuca.
In 1950, the Forests Commission sold the Hero and barges to Collins Brothers and they moved to Mildura. Later in 1956, the
Hero was sold to Chislett Brothers at Boundary Bend, near Robinvale, and again it worked as a logging boat. Sadly, in January
1957, the PS Hero caught fire at Boundary Bend and sank. Over the years it was stripped and slowly deteriorated. Its paddle
wheels were removed and installed on the PV Pride of the Murray. Photo circa 1969.
The PS Hero was refloated in 1989 and now operates as a luxury craft from Echuca.
Logs were often transported on barges with outriggers. The barges were either towed or left to float down the river which took
several days. with a long drag-chain to keep the vessel in the deepest part of the river. Because of the seasonal variation in river height, the boats could only be operated for about eight months of
the year. Sometimes river levels fell so quickly that paddle steamers and their barges would be trapped in pools, occasionally
for months at a time.
PS Hero and PS Alexander Arbuthnot hauling logs on the Murray - circa 1930. Low water, overhanging trees, sandbars, driftwood, dangerous currents and sudden shallows were everyday hazards
for paddle steamers. Snags, where red gum trees which had fallen into the river, presented the most dangerous problem. They were
impossible to spot in the brown water of the Murray and frequently caused holing and sinking of vessels. Paddle steamers
navigated sandbanks by rushing the small ones and winching across the large ones. State Library of SA photo.
Celebrating the history of forest and bushfire management in Victoria – (Peter McHugh – 2018-19) Page 3
The Canally, seen here sitting very low in the water, was one of the two wood barges owned by the Forests Commission. It is currently
being restored and converted into a paddle steamer to operate back on the Murray River. The second, the John Campbell, sank
into the mud at Mildura and was cut up for scrap in about 1987.
Two barges showing the different ways that logs could be loaded. Along the length or across the beam. When the rivers were in flood
the vessels could paddle almost anywhere but it was easy to get lost as familiar landmarks disappeared. Some boats were found miles from the river, left high and dry after the floods receded.
The Echuca Wharf was the longest and busiest on the Murray River. By 1884 it reached 332 metres in length but during World War II the Victorian Railways demolished much of it to provide
firewood for Melbourne, reducing it to its current length of 75.5 metres. The Forests Commission invested in stabilisation and 42
new piles and decking timbers and some historians say it was the Commissions intervention that saved the historic wharf from being
a total loss. Photo: State Library of SA.
Echuca Wharf after the War in about 1948. This photo has it all. It shows the PS Hero and the barge Canally tied up in front as well as the ten-ton steam crane that the Forests Commission installed just
beyond the couple. From: Murray River Paddleboats
10 tons of long firewood billets neatly stacked into a Victorian Railways goods truck. The firewood was transported by special
weekend trains to Brookwood and other depots before distribution across Melbourne by nearly 500 fuel merchants. About 250,000 tons were supplied by the Forests Commission in the first year of operation of the Emergency Firewood Scheme. Mallee roots from
farmland in northern Victoria were also dispatched by train. Source: State Library. Circa 1943.
In a major setback, a bushfire destroyed part of the Brookwood depot in 1950.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/23027320
Celebrating the history of forest and bushfire management in Victoria – (Peter McHugh – 2018-19) Page 4
The State’s forests were a busy place during the war years. Large quantities of wood were required to produce charcoal as a fuel substitute for motorists. In 1941, some 50–60 charcoal retorts
were operating in the Barmah Forest alone. And Kurth Kiln was being built at Gembrook. Photo at Daltons Bridge: Jim McKinty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurth_Kiln
Italian war internees, or enemy aliens, were employed to cut firewood at Echuca and other places along the Murray River. Often
without guards, they were supervised by Forests Commission foremen. Internees were paid a wage and enjoyed relative
freedom, unlike their POW counterparts. Photo: State Library Vic.
In January 1942 the Forests Commission identified seven Internment and POW camps for 2000 men to cut firewood but
about 20 smaller camps were eventually established. Their location is not fully known.
By 1944-45 the productivity of 300 Italian internees had risen to approximately 24 tons per man per week. The German POWs, on the other hand, were particularly dispirited and their production
had fallen to approximately 6 tons.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8230153
A sketch by inmate H. G. Duffner in 1944of the forest camp at Broadford. Source: Museum Vic.
There were three Internee and POW camps in the Mt Disappointment State forest. Camp No. 1, also confusingly known as the Broadford or Strath Alien Camp, was at the intersection of
Flowerdale, Allison’s and Two Tees Roads. Initially No.1 Camp housed Forests Commission staff until they were ordered to leave.
They moved to another camp which was on the corner of Flowerdale and Main Mountain Roads. Camp No. 1 then housed
about 75 Italians cutting firewood and producing charcoal for Melbourne.
Conditions were fairly relaxed with detainees not locked in. They had free range of the bush and could also hunt for food.
The site was later converted back to a Forests Commission training facility and used until about 1968. Whereas, camp No. 2 was
larger to accommodate 150 prisoners and was leased to Camberwell Grammar School after the War. Both camps were
destroyed in Black Saturday bushfires.
https://www.facebook.com/mountdisappointmentclonbinane/
Celebrating the history of forest and bushfire management in Victoria – (Peter McHugh – 2018-19) Page 5
Graytown camp No 6 near Heathcote was mainly for German POWs from the Cruiser Kormoran which sank off the WA coast in
1941. The officers were housed at the nearby Dhurringile mansion. Camp No 6 had previously been used by the Forests Commission in
an unemployment (susso) scheme during the 1930s Depression. And after the War, it was used again to house immigrants, especially those from the Baltic countries. Source: AWM.
There was a breakout in January 1945 of 20 German prisoners who tunnelled under the barbed wire.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206871122
Graytown, December 1943. German POWs felling a large tree for firewood. Source AWM.
It's reported that the German POWs initially enjoyed the outdoor work but became progressively dispirited as the War dragged-on
and their productivity dropped dramatically.
They were eventually repatriated back home to Europe, along with 2400 others, when they sailed from Melbourne onboard the
Orontes in January 1947.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22403646
Cutting firewood billets at Graytown. December 1943. Source AWM.
A small mobile saw bench used to cut firewood billets operated by German prisoners. Graytown, December 1943. Source: AWM