Tocumwal Aviation Museum

Name: Tocumwal Aviation Museum
Address: 205 Burma Road, Tocumwal, NSW, 2714, AU
Telephone: +61358950602
Rating: 5

Home
Australia
Tocumwal, NSW
Tocumwal Aviation Museum

To engage, educate and inspire visitors to foster an appreciation for Tocumwal’s unique and significant aviation history and heritage.
(2)

27/05/2026

Repurposed and relocated engineering, then and now.

Known as the Igloo Hangar, this dome shaped hangar was originally constructed in 1944 at RAAF Station Tocumwal for use by Number 7 Operational Training Unit. The hangar was located adjacent to where the museum is today.

Following the end of the war, and the transition of the base to aircraft storage and disposal facility, Hangar 2 was used to store surplus aircraft including B-24 Liberators, Beaufighters, Wirraways and Oxfords.

Following the closure of the base in Ocotber 1960, the Igloo Hangar sat abandonded. In December 1960, R.J. Cornish & Co of Cobram contacted the Department of Interior wishing to purchase the building for their orchard operations. Over the next 3 years the hangar was used to store grain and hay.

In 1963 the Department declared the hangar surplus and it went to auction. Ultimately R.J. Cornish & Co. were successful in bidding on the building and relocated it to their site at Cottons Road in Cobram East to be used as a packing shed. Over 60 years later, the Igloo Hangar remains in use at the Cornish orchard.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

07/05/2026

Abandoned engineering, then and now.

Building Number 110 was the RAAF Station Tocumwal Motor Transport building, located within the Depot Area of the base.

The base had hundreds of vehicles to service and maintain, including trucks, jeeps, cars and motorbikes. The workshop expanded over time as the number of personnel and vehicles continued to grow until the peak of operations in mid-1945 and included two underground petrol tanks for refuelling all those vehicles.

Only the concrete slab, incorporating workshop pits, remains today as a reminder of what once stood there.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

28/04/2026

Not quite abandoned engineering.

The concrete water tower located on the corner of Hennessy St and Emily St was constructed for the Tocumwal Air Depot project during April and May 1942 and has a capacity of 300,000 Imperial Gallons which is about 1.36 million litres...that would fill about half an Olympic size swimming pool.

The initial purpose of this water tower was primarily to provide water to the 5,500 personnel who lived in the Camp Area. The tower served the various Officer and Airman's messes (catering), fire services, and numerous toilet and shower blocks located within this area. Water from this tower also served the Operational Training Unit area (where the museum and terminal buildings are located today).

Ultimately this tower was used to supplement the town's water original supply tower (located adjacent to the Recreation Reserve) and capacity was expanded with the addition of a larger steel tank.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum open from 10am daily.

24/04/2026

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them

At the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, we’re proud to showcase Tocumwal’s significant wartime history and heritage, to ensure current and future generations remember the service and sacrifices of our service personnel.

Lest we forget.

14/03/2026

Then and now, Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-12 Boomerang A46-54 in storage at RAAF Station Tocumwal and now at Toowoomba Airport, where it completed it's first post-restoration flight this week.

Following the end of WW2, Boomerang A64-46 was received by Care and Maintenance Unit Tocumwal for storage pending disposal. That process took nearly 10 years. In 1955 the aircraft was sold to R. H. Grant Trading Company who were the primary contractors engaged by the Disposals Commission to scrap surplus aircraft stored at Tocumwal.

Owner Greg Batts has been restoring the aircraft over many years and the first flight has been a long time in the making. It is incredible to see an aircraft which was stored for disposal at Tocumwal in 1946, return to the air 80 years later. Hopefully we'll see Boomerang A46-54 return to Tocumwal at a future airshow.

Images via Tocumwal Aviation Museum collection and Lenn Bayliss.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

06/03/2026

Abandoned Engineering - Target Paddock.

On the eastern side of the Berrigan-Mulwala Road is a property called Kilnyana. During the war, 4600 acres of this and neighbouring properties were taken over by the Royal Australian Air Force for an air to ground gunnery range. Initially for use by Number 5 Operational Training Unit, it was also used by Number 7 Operational Training Unit and remained active until the early 1950s.

Standing alone in what is known as Target Paddock, there are two concrete structures. These were the air to ground range huts, used by personnel for protection from fire while aircraft used the range. They would also observe firing runs and communicate with the aircraft on accuracy and fall of shot.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily.

** Please note, Kilnyana is private property, please refrain from entering private property **

21/02/2026

One of our primary visions when we created the museum was to create a place where families of veterans who served at RAAF Station Tocumwal could learn more about their service history.

We were recently contacted by Lisa who was researching her grandfather's service history at RAAF Station Tocumwal. Her grandfather, Laurence Westwood, had a long service career, from the late 1930s to the mid 1960s. Laurence spent many years at RAAF Station Tocumwal, from 1944 when he was first posted to Number 7 Aircraft Depot, through to 1950. In 1959 he was once again posted to Tocumwal as the senior airman at the base and was here to see the closure of the base in October 1960 - we even found him in a photo of the closing ceremony and parade we have in our collection!

Laurence's career saw the Air Force transition from relatively simple aircraft of the 30's, the rapid advancement of technology during WW2 and the introduction of the first jet trainers, fighters and bombers. He was also at Tocumwal during the peak of operations and activity during WW2 and it's transition to a storage and disposal facility for aircraft of WW2 and the Korean War.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

13/02/2026

Then and now.

14 February 1945 and today. The accident site of B-24 Liberator A72-112 located near the corner of Woolshed Road and Carruthers Road, Tocumwal.

On the 14th February 1945, Liberator A72-112 of Number 7 Operational Training Unit crashed on approach to landing. The crew were completing the final flight of their operational training course and were returning to RAAF Station Tocumwal after a 11 and a half hour flight and encountered dusty clouody conditions when they arrived back at Tocumwal.

Having already made two unsuccessful attempts to land, the pilot was keen to land the aircraft. As the aircraft turned to line up with the runway on the thrid attempt to land, the pilot had allowed the airspeed to decrease below a safe limit and the aircraft stalled without sufficient height to recover.

Two of the eleven man crew were killed as a result of the accident, Warrant Officer Allen Jones and Sergeant Raymond Johnston, their remains are interred in the Commonwealth War Graves section of the Tocumwal Cemetery. This was the only fatal accident of a Liberator at Tocumwal.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

08/02/2026

Abandoned Engineering

This episode of our abandoned engineering series focusses on the secure telephone exchange buildings.

Two of these explosive proof telephone exhanges were constructed for the Tocumwal Air Depot, one in the "Camp Area" at the southern end of based and the other in the "Depot Area" in the northern area of the base. These telephone exchanges connected all of the telephone systems on the base via dedicated secure lines to Melbourne via the telephone exchange located in the Tocumwal Post Office.

Today, these exchange buildings are located within the Tocumwal Golf Course and farmland to the north. Made of 12 inch (300mm) thick concrete walls, floor and roof, they've remained in place and intact for over 80 years and likely to for another 80!

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

28/01/2026

Then and now, 1942 and today.

Arthur Houseman of the U.S. Army (left) with other members of the 4th Air Depot Group outside the Tuppel Hotel in Finley during their service at the Tocumwal Air Depot in 1942.

The U.S. Army 4th Air Depot Group travelled from their home base in Ohio via San Francisco to Melbourne before reaching Tocumwal in May 1942. The group was one of many U.S. units that were stationed at Tocumwal during 1942 prior to their relocation to Townsville.

Discover more of Tocumwal's SECRET past at the Tocumwal Aviation Museum, open from 10am daily at the Tocumwal Historic Aerodrome.

Address

205 Burma Road
Tocumwal, NSW
2714

Telephone

+61358950602

Website

https://www.tocumwalaviationmuseum.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Tocumwal Aviation Museum posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Tocumwal Aviation Museum:

Shortcuts

Want your museum to be the top-listed Museum in Tocumwal?