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Allied Works Council (AWC) Machinery Workshop
Cairns Regional Council Store and Office
The main Allied Works Council (AWC) heavy machinery repair workshop for far north Queensland was located at Stratford, beside the old Barron River bridge. The workshop was completed about October 1943 by the AWC and Main Roads Commission (MRC). Facilities included spare parts and material stores, also a blacksmith and welding shop. Bulldozers, road graders, tractors and other heavy equipment used on AWC projects were repaired and maintained on-site. The workers’ camp was located nearby, on the present-day site of the Stratford Bowling Club.
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Workshop
History
The Curtin government established the AWC on 26 February 1942. Former Queensland premier Edward Theodore became its national director. The AWC’s role was to coordinate large scale defence construction projects throughout Australia. The Queensland director of public works, John Kemp, was placed in charge of the AWC in Queensland. Under Kemp’s direction, major defence projects were undertaken with the resources of the state’s Main Roads Commission and US engineer regiments.
The Civil Construction Corps (CCC) was established by the Curtin government on 14 April 1942 to provide a labour force of civilian tradesmen, plant operators and labourers to carry out construction...
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