Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No.9 Filter Section, 33 Zone Filter Centre

Edge Hill Community (Progress) Hall

In October 1942 RAAF No.9 Fighter Section in Cairns took possession of the Edge Hill Progress Association hall in Mayers Street, as headquarters and accommodation for 50 personnel of No.33 Zone Filter Centre. The camp was later extended to include adjacent properties. At the filter centre WAAAFs were employed as predictors and range finders to control the fire of the heavy anti-aircraft gun batteries positioned around Cairns.

Place information

Location

406 Mayers Street, Edge Hill

Cairns, QLD 4870

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Place type

Radar/signal station

History

Teleprinters kept information coming in which passed on to the RAAF operator on the main floor who controlled a simulated plot of all aircraft depicted on a large table map covering the whole far northern area including New Guinea and the Coral Sea. Gun Duty Officer Assistants manned the phones to alert aerodromes, anti-aircraft gun sites and ships in harbour of expected times of arrival and departure, and types of aircraft using the Cairns air-space. The unit was still operating from the Edge Hill hall in 1944.

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