In the blazing heat of the Pilbara, some 36km south of Marble Bar in WA, in desolate semi-desert spinifex country, there can still be seen a few scarce remains of one of the best-kept secrets of Australian involvement in World War II.
The heavily camouflaged and carefully hidden No. 73 Operational Base Unit was known as Corunna Downs - the name of the still-active cattle station on which the base was located.
The long runways built to handle the heaviest four-engined bombers of the day remain - partly overgrown. It seems slowly but surely they are being reclaimed by the desert.
The main runways, measuring 1650m and 2300m long and each 50m wide constructed with bitumen surfaces, are now cracked and parched from exposure to the relentless sun out here and are pretty well covered with sand. In addition there were some 6km of taxiways now almost indistinguishable. A third 2000m runway was apparently planned but never built.
This is harsh, unforgiving country with nearby Marble Bar recognised as Australia's hottest town - certainly not a great place to be working in the pressure conditions of a WWII air base. In addition it is reported that servicemen out here were tormented by flies, scorpions and snakes.
A visit to this lonely centre today in our modern air- conditioned vehicles is much more enjoyable but somewhat eerie, with the piercing call of an occasional crow the only noise that disturbs the vast silence.
Of course, in this remote area, things were not always so deathly quiet, particularly as the regular roar of the four 1200hp engines of the long-range B-24 Liberator bombers wheeled at the end of the runway and paused before commencing their take-off run, heavily laden with bombs to pound Japanese bases on Java, Borneo, Celebes, Singapore and other island targets to the north of the Australia.
In its time it was quite a noisy, bustling place to be. Today, in its peaceful serenity, visitors can only imagine the activity all those years ago.
Boeing NT-43A Radar Test Bed, 73-1155 aka 'Bill Clinton Airplane'