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