From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland with the main administrative centre around the town of Atherton and the nearby settlement of Tolga. A huge schedule of construction work under the direction of the Allied Works Council commenced, involving the building of tent encampments, hutments, mess kitchens, hospitals and storage sheds.

Stores and equipment had to be provided for troops training on the Tableland, also replacement of lost or worn-out clothing, equipment and weapons for troops of the Australian Imperial Force units of the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions returning from the Middle East and New Guinea. What was to become the largest Australian Army storage and repair centre on the Tableland was established on a hillslope west of Tolga, early in 1943. Known as 13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (AAOD), the complex consisted of about 150 buildings, including 18 large igloo storage sheds, an attached vehicle park, salvage area and workshops. The centre of the site is located between present Griffin Road and Tate Road, Tolga.

Most buildings were removed after the closure of the depot in 1946 and the area reverted to farm and grazing land. Today the concrete slab floors of eight igloo storage sheds remain, with others having been removed recently to make way for an expanding housing precinct. An early farm house which has been relocated onto a slab, was used during the war as a AAOD officers’ quarters.