The WWII Rocklea Munition Factory played significant role during WWII. It was one of Queensland’s largest construction projects during World War II, serving as Australia’s most northerly ammunition manufacturing plant.
Its importance increased once Gneral Douglas MacArthur established its headquarters in Brisbane and the Allied forces started to make progress. particularly after fighting reached New Guinea
However, it only operated till 1943 when the munition was shut down, some buildings were taken over by the 11th Australian Base Workshop on about 6 November 1944 for a Tank Workshop.
Other parts were used by the USAAF to recondition aircraft engines and another area was taken over by the British Royal Navy to similarly recondition aircraft engines. All of these engines were tested at the nearby Rocklea Engine Testing area which was located near today’s Salisbury Hotel on Orange Grove Road.
See also:
Queensland WWII Historic Places
The following pictures were taken by Paul Budde during a history tour organised by the Coopers Plains Historical Society, conduced by Simon Cole -July 2024. It was good to see that several buildings were successfully repurposed and as such protected for the future. However, disappointing that on none of these budlings has any information on its interesting history.
