OPERATION EXPOSED: The hangar of the former wartime US airbase near Charleville. Pic: Adam Head Source: The Courier-Mail
IT was the top-secret air base so covert even the locals were sworn to silence.
The US Air Force base, outside Charleville in outback Queensland, was deserted after World War II and has sat forgotten in the desert for more than 60 years.
Until now.
A chance discovery by an amateur World War II historian uncovered ruined parts of the base three years ago.
Until then the land had been earmarked for an industrial estate by the local council.
Jane Morgan outside a disused bomb vault at the former WWII US Air base located just out of Charleville. Pic: Adam Head
Relics are still being discovered as locals piece together the story of the top-secret operation, which doesn't even show up on many official US military records.
The base was camouflaged by mulga tree branches and chicken wire.
Even Australian civilians contracted to work on the base had to sign oaths to the US president pledging never to reveal the base's existence.
The remains of the mess hall at the former US Air base. Pic: Adam Head
Jane Morgan, manager of the Cosmos Centre, said the base was a fascinating chapter of Charleville's history.
"People suspected the Americans were out here, but they didn't know what they were doing," she said.
"Here is a whole chapter of the shire's history that had been completely forgotten.
"The story has just got bigger and bigger."
The base housed up to 160 aircraft, including B-17 bombers used to knock out supply lines for the Japanese army in the Pacific.
The old hangar is now used by the Royal Flying Doctors, but other fragments are still being uncovered with the help of old aerial photographs.
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