PART TWO

The Air Yard' comprised of several sites in the city, not all were close to the airfield:

	Airfield facilities at Archerfield
	Erection, inspection & repair, air radio and air gunnery workshops at Kerry Road, Archerfield,
	Engine & ancillary workshops at Rocklea Factory
	Workshops for the reduction of airframes to spares and produce at Benedict Stone Works,
	Airframe parts and engine store at Runcorn
	Accommodation at Rocklea Camp.

One of the main problems facing TAMY I was transport; owing to the dispersed nature of the ‘Yard’ large numbers of personnel needed to be ferried to and from their accommodation to their places of work. Aircraft erection, airframe inspection and repair, air radio and a part of the air gunnery workshops were situated at Kerry Road, Archerfield airport, about 2 ½ miles from Rocklea Camp and 3 miles from Rocklea Factory. Later site acquisitions like Benedict Stone Works were 5 miles away across the city.

The unit’s accommodation was to prove problematic for other reasons too; the entire ship's company was accommodated in Rocklea Camp, but the dining hall and galley were located half a mile away in Rocklea Factory, the site of the engine and ancillary workshops. Feeding the ship’s company was further complicated by the fact that the main galley was approximately 100 yards from the dinning hall, necessitating all cooked food being ferried across in hay boxes. Meal service was provided along cafeteria lines, employing 4 Chief and Petty Officers and 52 ratings to operate the dining hall and galley.

A number of vehicles were loaned from the Department of Aircraft Production, including several 100 seat buses, without which the movement of several hundred ratings to and from Kerry Road twice a day would have been entirely impracticable. The allocated lorries, which were to be made available to TAMY I upon its arrival in Australia, did not arrive until several months later.

There was no Sick Bay in existence at any of the TAMY I premises; a building planed for March, was not to be constructed until late September. Meanwhile makeshift arrangements were made utilising several rooms in both the Rocklea Factory and at Kerry Road for examination and treatment of light cases. This resulted in the necessity of sending all cot cases to hospital. An attempt to provide a temporary Sick Berth at Rocklea Camp saw several beds set up in one of the huts, but the conveying of food from the distant galley limited numbers and when MONAB 7 arrived the accommodation shortage saw the hut taken over for ordinary accommodation purposes again. No dental surgery existed, and all patients had to be sent to local service establishments to receive treatment.

It was clear that arrangements for flying would be limited, Archerfield was a busy civil and military aerodrome; flights were restricted to maintenance test flying, routine storage flights and aircraft ferrying. These restrictions resulted in no proper duties for the Lieutenant Commander (Flying), Lt. Cdr H. J. Lavers, with TAMY I, his duties were adequately carried out by the Senior Test Pilot, Lt. (P) G. Crowe RNVR; Lt.Cdr Lavers was appointed to MONAB 6 shortly after it arrived at R.A.A.F Maryborough, where he performed the same duties. Initially, TAMY I set up its own flying control alongside that of the civil control in Archerfield control tower but this system was abandoned as the volume of naval flying grew. Civil control of all flying was adopted and a naval flying control officer acted as liaison.

By far the greatest difficulty encountered by the TAMY upon its arrival in Australia was the complete absence of ground equipment and air stores. Much of this was to be issued from local stores; the rest was still en route from the UK on the slower transport ships. Work commenced using borrowed stores and equipment, loaned from the Department of Aircraft Production, Royal Australian Air Force and American sources, together with some local manufacture of parts. The spares shortage was so severe that engine overhauls could not be undertaken for several months, parts requiring complete replacement on overhaul simply did not exist in Australia at that time. Another problem was the carrying out of essential constructional work; the partitioning and fitting up of workshops and offices and large items such as the building of stop butts, without which no air gunnery testing could be carried out. All of these works were scheduled to be carried by the Allied Works Council, but their work programme was so far behind schedule it would be months before anything would be started, therefore manpower and resources from the unit were utilised to put these projects in hand. An air to sea firing range was also established in Moreton Bay.

The retard party arrived at Archerfield during the second week of April. April was the first month of operation for the Air Yard, the original monthly output for which TAMY I was complemented called for 15 major inspections, 25 minor inspections (and modifications), 25 aircraft erections, and 25 engine overhauls, together with component repair work arising from these tasks. The need to divert manpower to construction works meant that only 4 Corsairs were erected, 3 Expediters were erected by a civil firm at Archerfield with assistance from ratings from the Yard.

The programme for May was; erect 15 Seafire III & 35 Corsair IV, and perform Minor Inspections on 7 Corsair IV. Performance was well short of these targets with only 9 Seafires & 15 Corsairs being erected but all minor inspections were completed. This shortfall was due to a lack of workshop equipment coupled with spares shortages. In an attempt to improve output the ‘stage’ system of aircraft erection was introduced, necessitating a new lay out in the erection hangar.

The required monthly output for TAMY I was to be increased for future months, rising from 25 to 75 erections, major and minor inspections remaining at the same levels but an additional new function was to be introduced from June, the reduction to spares and produce of category Z (beyond repair) aircraft sent back from the forward area. To facilitate this new function, additional premises were acquired at the Benedict Stone Works; these were situated about 7 miles from Rocklea Camp, and fairly convenient for access to the wharves.

 The transport and manpower problems encountered so far prompted a request to be sent to the admiralty to increase the complement of the Motor Transport component, and for an increase in the number of radio mechanics borne due to increasing commitments.

R.N.A.M.Y Archerfield

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