Bulldozers used to clear for airstrip

When I was a young boy, I witnessed the construction of the airstrip at Woy Woy in the early 1940s west of Blackwall Mountain.

My family often took holidays at my grandmother's house west of where the strip was built.

I can still remember two massive bulldozers separated by a few hundred feet with a massive chain connected to both of them.

They would head in the same direction pulling the chain which would then pull down all the scrub and small trees.

When the strip was cleared and levelled, a red type of gravel was used for the surface which was then compacted.

When the war was over, the RAAF often used the airstrip.

On one occasion, I can remember an RAAF Avro Anson and a Walrus amphibious reconnaissance aircraft using the airstrip.

The reason the strip was built was for it to be used in an emergency and to be used as a forward fighter strip to protect Newcastle and Sydney if the Japanese got too close to the Coast.

Letter, 11 May 2012

Patrick Ryan, Woy Woy