Canterbury-Bankstown - History

History

The original inhabitants of Canterbury and Bankstown were the Gweagal, Bidjigal, (also known as Bediagal) and a small portion of the Dharug people.

Five years after the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove in 1788, a man by the name of Rev Richard Johnson, a chaplain aboard the First Fleet, was the first to receive a land grant of 40 hectares in what is now known as the 'Canterbury-Bankstown region'. The land was located in the Ashbury-Hurlstone Park area. He named his estate 'Canterbury Vale', presumably after the See of Canterbury in England. The date of the grant was May 1793 although he (Johnson) occupied the land months earlier. Johnson also cultivated land around his cottage in Bridge St Sydney and at another location called the Brickfield near Central Station. Johnson was praised by Watkin Tench as being one of the best farmers in the colony.

The first ambulance to service the area was in 1908. It was called the 'Canterbury District Ambulance Corps' and it used volunteers to transport patients to the hospital. A stretcher on wheels with a hooded cover over it (hand litter) was used to transport patients to the Western Suburbs Hospital. If a patient lived in an area around Belmore, the hand litter was transported by train from Campsie to Belmore, then it was pushed along the rough unsealed roads to the patients home, back to Belmore station, then taken by train to Campsie Station and along the streets to hospital.

The Canterbury District Memorial Hospital commenced business on the 26th Oct 1929. The hospital was opened by Secretary for Public Works Buttenshaw. Prior to the opening of the hospital, residents attended the Western Suburbs Hospital or the cottage hospital located in Marrickville, which was established in 1895.

In 1940, the events of World War II were made known to the residents of Canterbury-Bankstown. Men and women who were drafted had to report for duty at a drill hall located on Canterbury Road Belmore. Camps were set up in Canterbury Race Course and surrounding parks in the region. In that same year thousands of Australian troops travelled along the goods line to Darling Harbour, ready to embark for the Middle East.

In 1940 the department of Civil Aviation purchased 250 hectares of land in Bankstown for the construction of Bankstown Airport and an RAAF Station was formed. The facility was a secondary airport to Mascot Airport. In 1942 a command bunker (Sydney Air Defence Headquarters) of semi underground construction was established on the corner of Edgar and Marion Street Bankstown. The bunker was manned by No. 1 Fighter Sector RAAF, members of the No.2 Volunteer Air Observer Corps, the WAAAF's, the RAAF and the United States Army Air Forces. The primary use of the Sydney Air Defence Headquarters was the location, tracking and interception of all planes in the eastern area of the South West Pacific.

In 1941 WAAAF's were posted to Bankstown. The women were trained as clerks, wireless telegraphists, mess orderlies, drill instructors and drivers, a portion of these women were assigned to work in the command centre (Bankstown Bunker) located on Black Charlies Hill. In 1942, Belmore House, the current sight of today's Roselands Shopping Centre was used by the Australian Army for the training of troops. Tents on the property were used to house an infantry battalion and an ambulance corps. The site was vacated after a year. Units of the US Air Force were based in Bankstown after 1942, earning the suburb the nickname 'Yankstown'. Also in 1942 a military hospital was established for the U.S. Army at Herne Bay, now known as Riverwood. It was the largest military hospital in Australia during World War II. Known as the 118 General Hospital it consisted of 490 timber barracks-type buildings, which could house a total of 4,250 beds and accommodate up to 1,250 patients and 3,500 staff.

Within the same year 16 US fighter planes that were based at Bankstown airport flew over Canterbury racecourse at low altitude during a race meet. This was to let the Australian public, especially those of the district to know that they, their allies were there for their protection. Regardless of these events, punters were annoyed at the disruption caused.

From 1944 to 1945 a Volunteer Air Observer Corps operated in Bankstown. These volunteers were both male and female, were of 15 to 60 years of age and were given several weeks training. There were over 300 volunteers who worked in shifts that the air force called 'flights' 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This freed RAAF personnel for other duties. In 1945 Bankstown Airport was occupied by the British Fleet Air Arm, known as HMS Nabberley, and the RAAF by 1946.