Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that can help answer the question.
Query: When was the Dubbo RAAF Stores Depot constructed?
The Dubbo RAAF Stores Depot is an heritage-listed former Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) stores depot located at Cobra Street, Dubbo in the Dubbo Regional Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The depot was designed by Sidney Williams & Co and built from 1940 to 1943. It is also known as Dubbo RAAF Stores Depot (former), No. 5 (1942) and No. 6 Stores Depot (1942–52); No. 2 Stores Depot Detachment D (1952–92); Defence National Storage and Distribution Centre Detachment (1992-1995). The property is owned by private companies, Andorra Developments and Belmorgan Property Development. The depot was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 29 June 2004.
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), formed March 1921, is the aerial warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It operates the majority of the ADF's fixed wing aircraft, although both the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy also operate aircraft in various roles. It directly continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, and humanitarian support.
Parliament House in Darwin is Australia's newest Parliament Building, it has been the seat of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 1994. Parliament House is located on State Square in the centre of Darwin, which is also the administrative centre of the Northern Territory law and government. It features Post modern features. The Northern Territory Library is housed in Parliament House.Construction of Parliament House began in 1990, and the building was completed in 1994, and officially opened by the Governor-General of Australia, Bill Hayden on 18 August 1994. Before Parliament House the former Northern Territory Legislative Council established in 1948 was housed in various temporary buildings around Darwin. After 1974 the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly continued to operate on the same basis, and settled in buildings on the current location until 1990 when they were demolished to allow commencement of the construction of Parliament House. From 1990 to the end of 1994, the Assembly temporarily met in the Chan Building.
Caribou Air Force Station was the first of five, United States Air Force, Air Material Command (AMC) installations that were constructed during the period of 1951 – 1953. Each of the five installations was built specifically to provide operational storage of the nuclear stockpile, and to provide a specified number of weapons to their adjacent Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases. The first four installations were built and occupied by 1953. The fifth installation, although completed in 1953, would not be utilized until 1955. The first installation, code named “Site Easy” was originally known as the “North River Depot”. It was constructed between 1951-1952, and operations began in 1952. Funds were provided in 1951 to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), for the planning and construction of an ordnance storage site in the vicinity of a new Strategic Air Command Base. The AFSWP was directed to utilize the services of the Corps of Engineers, Department of Army, for planning and construction, and was made responsible for monitoring such work, and for operational security measures during these phases. The original directive to the AFSWP stipulated that upon completion of construction the installation would be turned over to Headquarters, Air Material Command for operational responsibilities.
On 25 October 1962, after the end of the Malayan Emergency, the RAF handed over their first airfields in Malaya to the RFMAF, at Simpang Airport; it was opened on 1 June 1941, in Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur which was formerly part of Selangor and the national capital city. The first aircraft for the fledgling air force was a Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer named "Lang Rajawali" by the then Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Several Malayans serving with the Royal Air Force transferred to the Royal Federation of Malaya Air Force. The role played by TUDM was limited initially to communications and the support of ground operations against Communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency. TUDM received its first combat aircraft with the delivery of 20 Canadair CL41G Tebuans (an armed version of the Canadair Tutor trainer). TUDM also received Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters, to be used in the liaison role.
With the formation of the Malaysian Federation on 16 September 1963, the name of the air force was changed to "Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia" or "Royal Malaysian Air Force". New types introduced into service included the Handley Page Herald transport and the De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou. TUDM received Sikorsky S-61A-4 helicopters in the late 1960s and early 1970s which were used in the transport role. 
TUDM gained an air defence capability when the Australian Government donated 10 ex-Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) CAC Sabre fighters. These were based at the Butterworth Air Base. After the withdrawal of British military forces from Malaysia and Singapore at the end of 1971, a five-nation agreement between Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom was concluded to ensure defence against external aggression. The RAAF maintained two Mirage IIIO squadrons at RAF/RAAF Station Butterworth, Butterworth Air Base as part of its commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangements. These squadrons were withdrawn in 1986, although occasional deployments of RAAF aircraft continue.
The former Gona Barracks is important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as evidence of Queensland's preparations for military involvement in various world conflicts. Specifically, Gona Barracks is associated with the expansion of military training for militia forces after the introduction of compulsory military training in 1911, the provision of facilities for specialist militia units, and the continuation of voluntary military forces until 1998. The place contains World War I drill halls built for militia units of infantry, and more specialised groups such as the artillery, engineers and service corps, and as such demonstrates the extent of the various sections of the armed forces at the time and the commitment of the citizen soldiers who composed these units. The general size of the barracks site also demonstrates the site's early history as the Brisbane Grammar School endowment, from 1879 to 1911.
In 1951, the Department of Defense (DOD) allocated funds for the construction of an ordnance storage site at Loring AFB. The designs called for a self-sufficient "maximum security storage area for the most advanced weapons of mankind". The mission of the facility would be the protection and maintenance of the weapons used by SAC. The facility was in the northeast corner of the base, and construction began on 4 August 1951. In addition to 28 storage igloos and other weapons storage structures, the facility included weapons maintenance buildings, barracks, recreational facilities, a warehouse, and offices.
During World War II the airfield was built by the United States Army Air Forces and opened in October 1943. It was assigned to Third Air Force. It was used to train pilots as an axillary airfield to the group and replacement training center at Key Field, Mississippi. With the end of the war in September 1945, activities at Demopolis Army Airfield were diminished. The airfield was returned to civil control in 1946 and is now known as Demopolis Municipal Airport.
In 1886, construction commenced on the Queensland Government Treasury Building in Brisbane. The Public Works Department was one of a number of departments whose offices are moved to this new public administration building. The Queensland Government Cabinet met in the building until 1905.
In the post-WW2 era, from 1947 to the mid-1980s, the Forests Commission sponsored Australia's only military sawmilling unit, the 91 Forestry Squadron, which was a special reserve unit of the Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) . Established and commanded by FCV forester and WW2 veteran, Major Ben Benallack, the "Woodpeckers" as they were known comprised a small pool of specialised soldiers capable of rapid mobilisation in the event of a need. Several other Victorian departments such as the State Electricity Commission (SEC) did the same thing by supporting a construction squadron based at Newborough in the Latrobe Valley. It created a very active and capable part-time military group that completed many worthy projects across the State. The 91 Forestry Squadron operated bush sawmills, built timber bridges along the Murray River, the suspension bridge at Tarra Bulga National Park, the Snake Island jetty, logging roads and various demolition tasks. Numerous Commission employees and others from the forestry sector served long periods in the unit.
In the same year (1901) Ruddle mortgaged his hotel block to the church for £10,000 apparently to finance the erection of the Ruddle's building; Hall & Dods called for tenders for the erection of 3 shops banking premises and additions etc. Robin Dods (1868-1920) had a highly developed architectural imagination; his introduction of the formal and philosophical ideas of both the British Arts and Crafts movement and Edwardian classicism and his significant functional solutions to the problems of living and building in Queensland combined to achieve an architectural revolution in Brisbane. The two storeyed Ruddle's building situated between the Royal George and the TC Beirne Department Store (for whom Hall & Dods carried out several large commissions including substantial works to the Valley store) comprised several different tenancies whose presence was variously articulated in the form and decoration of the building. The western portion of building was designed and used as premises for the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (previously the tenants of TC Beirne the bank in the building until 1942 when they moved to their new premises on the opposite side of Brunswick Street). The ground floor portion housed the banking chamber; the first floor with its recessed loggia overlooking Brunswick Street (illustrative of Dod's interest in climatic adaptations) may have provided accommodation for the manager. The portion adjoining the hotel housed several commercial tenancies initially including a jeweller, a ham and beef store and a dentist. Above the stores was a photographer's studio occupied by William Ruddle's son, Roland until 1930/31.
This is a list of Royal Australian Air Force aircraft squadrons. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was formed in 1921 and traces its lineage to the previous Australian Flying Corps that served during World War I. The list also includes those squadrons that were under Australian and British operational control during World War II, and squadrons that were operated jointly by the RAAF and the Netherlands East Indies.
Gona Barracks has a special association with a substantial part of Queensland's military community. As a military training ground since the early years of World War I until 1998, thousands of servicemen and women have an association with the site which has played an active role during the major periods of defence organisation in this country. In more recent years, it has functioned as an Army recruiting centre, particularly for the Army Reserve who were based at the site.
The depot was constructed in 1927 when the Seaboard Air Line constructed its All Florida Railway to Naples. It was designed in the same Mediterranean Revival style the Seaboard Air Line used with its stations in Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Hialeah, and Homestead on the southeast coast of Florida (which were built around the same time), and is virtually identical to the Hialeah depot. The station only briefly saw Seaboard Air Line passenger service in the late 1920s before the railroad reduced its Arcadia to Naples Branch to freight service only. Seaboard ended freight service in the 1930s. During World War II, the depot was home to USO shows for troops stationed at the nearby Naples airfield.
While the Government initially planned to deploy the entire RAAF overseas, it later decided to focus the force's resources on training aircrew to facilitate a massive expansion of Commonwealth air-power. In late 1939 Australia and the other Dominions established the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) to train large numbers of men for service in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and in other Commonwealth air units. Almost 28,000 Australians eventually trained through EATS in schools in Australia, Canada and Rhodesia. While many of these men were posted to Australian Article XV squadrons, the majority served with British and other Dominion squadrons. Moreover, these nominally "Australian" squadrons did not come under RAAF control and Australians often made up a minority of their airmen. As the Australian Government had no effective control over the deployment of airmen trained through EATS, most Australian historians regard the scheme as having hindered the development of Australia's defence capability. Nevertheless, RAAF airmen trained through EATS represented about nine percent of all aircrew who fought for the RAF in the European and Mediterranean theatres and made an important contribution to Allied operations.
The building is located on Spring Street in East Melbourne, Victoria. Construction began in 1855, and the building was officially opened the following year; however, it was not totally completed until 1929. Beginning in 1901, it served as the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, during the period when Melbourne was the temporary national capital. The federal parliament moved to Parliament House, Canberra, in 1927, allowing the Victorian state parliament to return to the building.
In October 1998, following a period of scaling down of activity at the site, Gona Barracks officially closed. Units based at the barracks were dispersed to other Army bases, the museum shifted to Enoggera and a war memorial flagpole sent out to the Royal Australian Regiment Memorial Walk and Contemplation Building at Enoggera.
The Royal George Hotel and Ruddle's building are located on the strategic intersection of Ann and Brunswick Streets (now Brunswick Street Mall), Fortitude Valley. A hotel is known to have existed on this site since 1850. The three storey brick Royal George Hotel contains an early (possibly as early as 1850) two storey core to which several major stages of works have been undertaken. In 1886 major additions transformed the hotel into a late Victorian building; by 1924 a third floor had been added; works undertaken in the 1960s (the current manifestation of the hotel) stripped much of this Victorian decoration from the building. The adjoining two storey brick Ruddle's building was erected in 1901 by William Ruddle whose family operated the Royal George for some 60 years. The building was designed by Brisbane architect Robin Dods to complement the hotel (as it then was) and to accommodate a number of different tenancies including the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney. Together the two buildings form what was known as Ruddle's corner.
A heritage assessment of the Gona Barracks site determined that it was the buildings of the upper barracks around the parade ground that, as a group, were of a greatest significance. A partnership between the Queensland Department of Housing, Brisbane City Council and the Queensland University of Technology was formed to develop a mixed-use urban village precinct using the Gona Barracks site and adjacent land. The university built its Creative Industries precinct re-using Gona Barracks buildings and introducing new buildings, sited to reinforce the rectangular form of the Gona barracks parade ground. The re-development won major planning and design awards from the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
A heritage assessment of the Gona Barracks site determined that it was the buildings of the upper barracks around the parade ground that, as a group, were of a greatest significance rather than individual buildings. A partnership between the Queensland Department of Housing, Brisbane City Council and the Queensland University of Technology was formed to develop a mixed-use urban village precinct using the Gona Barracks site and adjacent land. The university built its Creative Industries precinct re-using Gona Barracks buildings and introducing new buildings, sited to reinforce the rectangular form of the Gona barracks parade ground. The re-development won major planning and design awards from the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
The Observer Corps moved to RAF Bentley Priory from its original location at RAF Uxbridge, along with Dowding and Fighter Command, during July 1936 and would remain at the Priory until it was stood down in December 1995. The Observer Corps was one of the cornerstones of Lord Dowding's air defence system and he said later in his despatch after the Battle of Britain:
The former RAAF Stores Depot at Dubbo, a complex of 1940s military storage buildings in their original configuration and landscaping, is significant as the largest and most intact example of the network of RAAF stores depots that were erected in strategic locations around Australia during World War II. The full collection of buildings, including the five Igloo stores, the three Bellman hangars and the Rabaul store, together with the various support buildings, internal roadways, connecting railway spur-lines and scattered siting, clearly demonstrate the scale and operational systems of a major wartime logistics depot for the RAAF.
Moreover, the site can be seen to exemplify the notion of a cultural landscape that has evolved over an extended period. Various aspects of its historic cultural layers - including inhabitation by Aboriginal people, associations with State Forestry, uses by unemployed people during the Depression, uses by the military during and after World War II, participation in the management of civil emergencies in the postwar period, and recreational uses by the Dubbo community - can be read in the landscape and in the buildings. As the only World War II stores depot to remain in military service until the 1990s, the former RAAF Stores Depot is important for its historic association with the development of Australia's defence over 50 years.
The former RAAF Stores Depot has strong associations with the thousands of military personnel and civilian employees who worked there between 1942 and 1996. It is also significant to the Dubbo community for its association with the major role played by the RAAF and the Australian military generally in economic and social life during World War II and over the succeeding decades.
Dubbo RAAF Stores Depot was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 29 June 2004 having satisfied the following criteria.
Most of the ten RAAF stores depots built around Australia were only temporary and were disbanded within the decade after the end of the war. The exceptions were Dubbo, Sandridge, Waterloo and Drayton. Only the former RAAF Stores Depot, Dubbo remained in military operation until the 1990s. It functioned in the immediate post-war period as a receiving store, holding a large numbers of weapons and surplus stock. The RAAF unit was also acknowledged in the town history as having rendered flood relief to the town and surrounding areas in February 1955, and more generally having "rendered invaluable service both to the town brigade and the bush fire brigades". In 1951 the National Service used the depot to support training flights from the military aerodrome, now Dubbo Airport. The site was transferred to the Army in 1952, leading to it being disbanded in November 1953 and reformed as "No.2 Stores Depot, Detachment D". RAAF involvement ended in 1956. The operational life of Detachment D ended in 1992. From 1992-1995 the depot was used as a tri-service facility before becoming surplus to requirements. Two small blocks of land were alienated in 1971 and 2003, on the north west corner and the south west corner respectively, for sale or transfer to the Department of Health and the Vietnam Veterans Association. In 1997 the associated RAAF Barracks site in Dubbo was sold for residential development. In June 2003 the former RAAF Stores Depot site was also sold to Belmorgan Property Development, the first time the land had passed out of public ownership.