WWII Snake Creek Armament Depot - NT

Information

The Snake Creek Armament Depot is valued for its historical association with the events of World War II in Northern Australia and with the important part played by the Adelaide River district as a wartime military base. The Allied Works Council commenced Construction on this site in late 1943. The Armco Shelters are constructed of Corrugated Steel bolted semi-circular in section with flat steel plate ends, they have a concrete floor Internal dimensions are 15.4m X 7.5m, cental hieght is 3.3m, double sheet doors 1.8m X 2.1m, the shelters are covered with gravel to approximate depth of 600mm .The site has various types of structures which demonstrate the diversity and complexity of structures comprising a large military ordnance depot of this type. The timber framed storage buildings and laboratories are unique and are the last remaining from the War. It is one of the major fixed installations built during World War II and is the largest of its type in the Northern Territory. The Depot site provides valuable evidence of the impact of World War II on the Territory, and the remaining structures on site have a powerful visual effect.
Snake Creek Armament Depot is one of the Northern Territory’s most extensive extant World War II military sites. It was constructed between 1943 and 1945 after the Navy identified the need for a semi-remote magazine. The design included a road system and a 2.85 km rail loop from the North Australia Railway, an ammunition storage area capable of storing 3,500 tons of high explosives, and related facilities. A total of sixty-nine structures were built, some into the hill slope and some entirely above ground. It appears that the whole complex was camouflaged against aerial observation. The RAAF controlled the facility between 1953 and 1962,The facility fell into disuse in the 1970s and subsequently the site was vandalised and much material removed. There is one large building still standing today, that was a Bomb Inspection Laboratory built in the mid 1950's.