Fuel Dump Dispersal Area

As Horn Island was such a vital staging base for aircraft heading north, a massive amount of fuel was required. The fuel was brought to the island via ship, and delivered to the Horn Island wharf. During the Coral Sea battle, the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion unloaded and dispersed 7000 tons of aviation fuel at Horn Island in five days. During the early, rushed days of 1942 the fuel was not catalogued, or mapped. It became the 4 Works Maintainence Unit’s job to locate, catalogue and map all the fuel dump dispersal sites on the island. They collected the fuel drums and organised them into hidden areas around the island.