WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

From 1943 to 1944, Noonkanbah was used as a RAAF staging base. Large petrol and
bomb dumps were established in the station's vicinity. Aircraft would fly from Perth
and land at Noonkanbah to be fuelled and armed, before flying out on bombing
missions against the Japanese. As part of the RAAF defence system, a number of
radar stations were established in the Kimberley to monitor the coastline.
Meteorological facilities were also provided at the new RAAF aerodromes, including
at Truscott and Noonkanbah.
Unlike many other residents, Aboriginal people were not evacuated from the
Kimberley during the Second World War: they were needed in the region. Allied
personnel relied on the assistance of Aboriginal people to help them traverse
unfamiliar land and navigate dangerous, uncharted water. Albert Barunga, a Worrorra
man who had earlier helped the stranded Kingsford Smith and his crew, guided
Australian naval vessels on coastal patrols in the region, as did Sam Woolagoodja and
several others. Mission residents were engaged in a range of defence work, as were
many Aboriginal stockmen who joined the Home Defence.
Army personnel used Liveringa Station as a base to prepare new recruits. Men were
trained to use machine and mortar guns under fire, and undertook mock raids, which
the Aboriginal locals excelled at. Using their knowledge of the land, 40 Aboriginal
men travelled overland from Mt Anderson via Pea Hill and captured the whole base at
Noonkanbah in a mock raid. Nyikina Traditional Owner Ivan Watson reflected that 'it
just goes to show if you know the place where you're operating you have a much
better chance of defeating an opposition that doesn't know those things' (Ivan Watson
quoted in Marshall 1988). Aboriginal men and servicemen also competed in boxing
and shooting competitions (Marshall 1988).
Aboriginal people's skills were recognised and valued by Australian and Allied
defence force personnel. As the ranking system in the Home Defence was associated
with skills, and Aboriginal knowledge was highly valued, Aboriginal men sometimes
outranked their European bosses. At Mt Anderson station, for instance, an Aboriginal
stockman was ranked above the station manager (Marshall 1988). Kimberley
Aboriginal men were seen as potential reinforcements for the infantry, light
horsemen, and tank squadrons, but they were not sent overseas. They provided
essential support to the Australian and allied forces, including by keeping pastoral
stations running, and ensuring that Defence personnel stationed in the Kimberley had
a reliable supply of meat (Ivan Watson cited in Marshall 1988).
Post-war modernization and development
While pastoral stations continued to operate during the war, after the bombing of
Darwin and Broome in 1942, all pearling activity ceased in the Kimberley. Japanese
workers and other resident aliens were interned, and most white residents evacuated.
Six luggers resumed operations in 1946, but most of the pearling fleet had been either
requisitioned or destroyed. Few pearlers could afford to purchase new luggers and
equipment. Given the anti-Japanese feeling at the time, at first only non-Japanese
workers were employed. It was not until 1953 that Japanese divers and tenders were
invited back.
In the second half of the twentieth century, the market for pearl shell declined
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