The first European through the area was Charles Hunt who arrived in 1864 and the following year returned to blaze the track which became known as
'The Old Goldfields Road'. He was followed by Sandalwood cutters and itinerant shephards.
In 1865 one of the early settlers, E. J. Clarkson, was killed by Aborigines and it was decided to establish a police outpost at Youndegin 19km south of the present town.
The police outpost which is still standing, was build out of stone and mud with a thatched roof and a nearby York gum tree was used as the lockup. A constable Allerly was the first police officer in charge of the outpost.
In 1880 Constable Alfred Eaton arrived to take up duties. The goldrush of 1888 saw miners pouring throgh the area on their way to the Goldfields. Eaton, always the entrepreneur, built the Youndegin Arms to cater for passing trade. Amoung the food offered was parrot pie- which was considered somewhat of a delicacy.
It looked at this time as though Youndegin would be the major centre in the area. The arrival of the railway stopped all that. The railway passed to the north of Youndegin and by 1894 (the year the railway arrived) the pub had closed down and Mr Eaton had left the force, taken up land, and become the first farmer in the Cunderdin District.
THANK YOU
A huge thank you to Fairfax http://wwww.walkabout.com.au
and especially Bruce Elder who gave me permission to include the above article that he wrote.
Cunderdin during WW2
A huge thank you to 'Peter Dunn' for allowing me to use the following information that I found on his site 'AUSTRALIA @ WAR' . http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/index.htm
There is more information connected to Cunderdin as well as the rest of Australia. Take a look it's a well informed site.
On 6 February 1945 a German U Boat, U-862, sunk the motor vessel 'Peter Silvester' off the Western Australian coast.
B-24L Liberator, A72-124, ex USAAF No. #44-41657, of 25 Squadron RAAF, piloted by Flying Officer Hannah, was setting out on a third search for survivors, when it crashed after takeoff from Cunderdin airfield in Western Australia on 14 February 1945. The five crew members were killed in the subsequent fire which burnt furiously when the full fuel load ignited. The topped-up bomb bay tanks also fed the fire.
Those killed were:-Sgt. F.J. Naughton,Sgt. R. Higginbottom,Sgt. K.W. Uhr,Sgt. C.R.R. Taylor,F/Sgt. B.J. Johnson.
The cause of the crash was unknown although one private theory was that the squadron had an absolute minimum of training flights.
A72-124 had been delivered to the RAAF on 3 December 1944.
Cunderdin airfield has two bitumen runways. Off the end of one of the runways are the remains of A72-124.
REFERENCE BOOKS
'Tocumwal to Tarakan'
'Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator'
By Michael V. Nelmes
TAXIING ACCIDENT
INVOLVING A LIBERATOR
AT CUNDERDIN AIRFIELD, WA
ON 6 MARCH 1945
A B-24L Liberator, A72-134, ex USAAF No. #44-41510, of 25 Squadron
RAAF, taxied into soft sand off the runway at Cunderdin airfield in Western Australia on 6 March 1945, collapsing the nose wheel.Due to a lack of spare parts in the Squadron, it was converted to components. This aircraft had been delivered to the RAAF in November 1944.
REFERENCE BOOKS
'Tocumwal to Tarakan'
'Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator'
By Michael V. Nelmes
CRASH OF A LIBERATOR
AT CUNDERDIN AIRFIELD, WA
ON 31 JULY 1945
B-24M Liberator, A72-178, ex USAAF No. #44-41967, ran off the runway at Cunderdin airfield in Western Australia on 31 July 1945. It was repaired and returned to service.
It was received by the RAAF on 7 January 1945 and served with 99 and 25 Squadrons RAAF. It was eventually struck off charge in December 1952.
REFERENCE BOOKS
'Tocumwal to Tarakan'
'Australians and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator'
By Michael V. Nelmes
