Bankstown Remote Receiving Building, Bankstown, New South Wales, during WW2

BANKSTOWN REMOTE RECEIVING BUILDING RAAF
REVESBY, BANKSTOWN, NSW
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII

The Bankstown Remote Receiving building RAAF was a semi-underground concrete reinforced building located at Picnic Point National Park near today's TransGrid South Sydney substation beside the George's River. It was located in the Lewis Gordon Estate in the Parish of Bankstown, County of Cumberland. The Bankstown Remote Receiving Building worked in conjunction with 1 Fighter Sector Headquarters bunker which was located just over 4 miles away. There was a Remote Aerial System and earth mound located approximately 240 metres ESE of the Radio Receiving Bunker.

Sketch of land acquired for the
Remote Receiving bunker

Plan:- NAA

Sketch of the western half of the Remote Aerial
System located around a mound of dirt

Photo:- 2012 AUSIMAGE © Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd

The former Bankstown Remote Receiving Bunker was slightly to the
west of the TransGrid substation and the aerial mound was located
inside the perimeter of today's substation. See positions below.

Photo:- 1943 AUSIMAGE © Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd

The view of the same location above in 1943

Photo:- 1943 AUSIMAGE © Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd

The Remote Receiving Bunker was located in the left hand
square and the aerial mound in the right hand square

Photo:- 2012 AUSIMAGE © Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd

The same location in 2012

Photo:- 1943 AUSIMAGE © Jacobs Group (Australia) Pty Ltd

The Radio Receiving Bunker is located in the right hand fork of
the track at the top left of this photo. You can see a dark line.
The aerial mound can be seen at the lower right of the photo.

Plan:- NAA

There was an RAAF VHF/DF Station located NNE
of the Bankstown Remote Receiving Station

COPY ONLY

Original on 171 56/1

this copy for 171/1/1493

UTILIZATION OF SEMI-UNDERGROUND BUILDINGS

D.A.S.P.

Herewith is list of above buildings as requested in your minute dated 29th November, 1943.

signed W/Crd.
Richmond.
for G/Capt.
D.W.B.

2/12/43

SEMI-UNDERGROUND BUILDINGS

(a) COMPLETED AND IN USE	Building Details Drawing No.	Locality Plan Drawing No.
BANKSTOWN, N.S.W. Remote Receiving building (Less air conditioning)	41/42/2508	(R.S. 790 (R.S. 979
etc	etc	etc

An article in the Daily Telegraph (Sydney) dated Sunday 27 January 1952 reported on the Turner family of ten who were found living in a "tunnel" (the W/T bunker) under a mound of dirt in bushland near Picnic Point about 17 miles from Sydney. They had no sewerage, water or electricity. They carried water more than a mile in tins and bottles from the Georges River for drinking, cooking and washing.

Joseph Turner and his wife and children comprising five girls and three boys aged from two to seventeen years lived in the "tunnel" which was about 100 feet long by 50 feet wide. Mrs. Turner was in hospital at the time and their eldest child, Colleen, 17 years old, was looking after the children whilst Mr. Turner worked in an Alexandria foundry. The family had been evicted from a Housing Commission home two years earlier after non-payment of rent.

In May 2020 I was contacted by Ian Armstrong who sent me some photos of concrete rubble in the location of the former Bankstown Remote Receiving Building to the west of the TransGrid Substation. See photos below.

Photo:- Ian Armstrong 2020