Camp Meeandah was a US Navy Seabee depot until shortly before the RN arrived in Brisbane,
and it was transferred to the Admiralty on loan . A ‘tented
village’ which was transferred with the base.
RN use of the Camp
The site was used to accommodate the non-technical elements
of Mobile Naval Air Base No. VII (MONAB VII) which arrived in
Australia in late July 1945 with no operational base
available to house it. The unit was to be operated
alongside Tram portable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No 1 (TAMY
I) sat Archerfield Airport and the administration components
were located at R.N. Camp Rocklea, 1½ miles north of the
airfield at
Archerfield
with the administration
offices for TAMY I. MONAB VII commissioned at Camp
Rocklea & Camp Meeandah on August 8th 1945.
The technical ratings were employed at the Kerry Road site
at Archerfield, 16 miles south of Camp Meeandah and 300 men
were ferried by buses to their place of work; mid-day meals
were served at another site near the airfield. On
completion of the day's work they were Bussed back to their
‘tented village’.
Returned to USN Control
Although MONAB VII was paid off on November 5th 1945 the personnel of MONAB VII who were not drafted back to the UK or other units (this appears to be the majority of the non-commissioned personnel) were transferred to the books of HMS NABSFORD,
TAMY I. being formed into Mobile Repair Unit No.3 and work continued as usual.
Based on this it is unclear when Camp Meeandah was returned
to US custody but February 1946 is most likely. The ship's
company of TAMY I was to be reduced by two thirds during the
month as the unit began running down to closure and the
accommodation at Camp Meeandah was no longer needed.
Click here for a list of
Primary sources
Additional sources:
Admiralty Fleet Orders:
Confidential Admiralty Fleet Orders:
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