Ingleburn Military Heritage Precinct and Mont St Quentin Oval

Ingleburn Military Heritage Precinct and Mont St Quentin Oval is a heritage-listed conservation area at the site of the former Ingleburn Army Camp at Campbelltown Road, Ingleburn, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The heritage buildings on site were built from 1939. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 March 2013.

History

The Military Heritage Precinct and Mont St Quentin Oval is part of the former Defence Site which was originally established in 1939 on 276.8 ha of land. The Defence site expanded to cover an area 311 ha during its use as a Defence site.

The Ingleburn Defence Site The majority of the land on which the Ingleburn Defence site was located was first granted to the first colonial surveyor, James Meeham by Governor Macquarie in the 1816. The estate, then named "Macquarie Fields", was purchased by Samuel Terry in 1831. Terry added to the estate which remained in the Terry family until 1877. At this time the land was subdivided with the largest land parcel, which later contained part of the Defence site, being purchased by James Ashcroft. Subsequently, the intact estate was purchased by member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Alexander Ross in 1904 and was subdivided into two land parcels in 1917. The parcel which later contained the Defence site remained in the Ross family and was purchased by Frederick Moore in 1927. Moore added land to the estate and then subdivided it into a mix of small town allotments, small farm allotments and larger parcels of about 100 acres. By 1939 only a few of the allotments had been sold off.(Austral Archaeology Pty Ltd, Hoxton Park Recycled Water Scheme October 2008)

The onset of hostilities in Europe in 1939 and Australia's entry into World War II in September 1939 instigated the rapid expansion of both the Permanent Military Forces and the Citizens Military Forces, (CMF). From September 1939 volunteers from the CMF began their one-month training for service in Australia and its Territories and another 20,000 volunteers formed the Second Australian Infantry Force. This expansion and the introduction of universal conscription requiring all single men of 21 years of age to undergo military training in preparation for active service created the need to establish a significant network of military training facilities. The Liverpool site, where army training occurred during World War II, was inadequate for the additional training required by the increasingly technological nature of warfare in preparation for WWII. It was the recognition of these factors that led to the identification and establishment of the Ingleburn Defence Site as suitable and plans were drawn up for the site in 1939.

The 276.8 hectare parcel of land at Ingleburn was selected as the site for the first purpose built army training defence site in Australia. The land was acquired by compulsory resumption, formally gazetted in May 1940, yet the camp received its first recruits on 1 November 1939, long before the 333 buildings comprising the WWII training facility were completed. The facilities constructed included barrack accommodation, officers' quarters, mess halls, Sergeant's offices and mess, Officers mess, ablution blocks, latrines, administration offices, transport facilities. The sleeping barracks, mess halls and offices were usually P1 type wooden huts.

Recruits arriving at Ingleburn received basic training and further specialised training. At Ingleburn they were trained to work as a battalion which was followed by training at Liverpool, to work as a company. Ingleburn Defence Site also played a major role in the formation of military units, prior to their dispatch to active service during WWII. It was here at Ingleburn that the first troops to see active service in WWII, the 16th Brigade of the 6th division of the Second AIF, was formed. On 3 January 1941, the Australian forces broke the defences of the Italian forces at the Battle of Bardia. The town of Bardia fell to the Australians 2 days later. Thousands of prisoners of War were taken as well as valuable supplies. Another Battalion of noted service during WWII to have formed at Ingleburn was the 2/13th Battalion known as "The devils own" because of their involvement in the eight month Siege of Tobruk. These are only 2 of the units to have seen distinguished active service which formed at Ingleburn during WWII.

The Mont St Quentin Oval was initially used as the main parade ground for the Ingleburn Army Camp prior to the establishment of more parade grounds around the Defence site. It was also initially the place troops were officially farewelled on their dispatch overseas and also the place they were welcomed back on their return from active service. It was from Ingleburn that many troops were demobilised.

In 1941 with the establishment of the Australian Women's Army Service, Ingleburn expanded its training role to train female recruits. Women between the ages of 18 and 45 years trained in auxiliary roles such as drivers (military vehicles including 3-ton trucks), orderlies and in clerical positions. In addition to this Ingleburn was the site of the First Field Hospital an adjunct of which, the central military hospital provided training and an assembly point for field medical units.

At the end of WWII, the frenetic war time activity at the Ingleburn Defence Site abated and some land was leased out to local farmers. Nevertheless, the site still retained a military function becoming the home of the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment. It was later home to the 4th and the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.

The role of Ingleburn Army Camp as a training facility and in forming military units for overseas service was boosted with Australia's involvement in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. Battalions bound for Korea were stationed at Ingleburn. One of the most marked changes to the site at this time was the introduction of housing for married personnel in areas set out as villages or suburbs. Bardia and Block H (later Valley View) villages were established on the Ingleburn Defence Site at this time. On the initiative of a number of servicemen's wives, a creche was set up and allocated one of the P1 type huts for their activities. Originally, residents from the barracks had to travel to Campbelltown or Liverpool to shop necessitating a trip of over an hour. This was the motivation for establishing the Bambi creche. It initially offered 4 morning and 5 afternoon sessions per week. Since its establishment it has grown with the addition of two more huts and has become a fully accredited childcare service offering services to the defence community and later the broader community.

Also in 1951, Ingleburn became a major centre for training for recruits of the reintroduced compulsory National Service scheme. This coupled with the Korean War activities, led to the expansion and development of the site and by the 1960s facilities included sporting fields, vehicle parks, a substantial recreation and training facility for the National Service men comprising 3 Romney Huts modified and assembled around a courtyard and much attention to landscaping of the camp with the planting of local and introduced species.

Training of National Service men remained a dominant role through the 1950s, when national servicemen were not required to serve overseas but provided a home defence and through the 1960s, when this policy changed and conscripts were expected to serve in the Vietnam War. It was during this latter period that Ingleburn became associated with the anti war movement as many conscientious objectors were locked up in the Bardia guard house and cell block before being transported to the Military Prison at Holsworthy. In 1972 National Service was abolished thus ending Ingleburn's role in training for national servicemen. From 1973 to 1998 the Ingleburn Defence Site was a place of training for the largest troop of the Australian Army Reserve. In addition, during the 1970s it housed the Military Police.

From 1990 when 93 ha to the north of the site was sold to Landcom, the military uses of the site were wound down and vacant buildings sold or demolished. The site was vacated by the end of 2000.

Military Heritage Precinct The Military Heritage Precinct was established in 2002 by Defence as a national memorial providing a focus for memorial and commemoration days, catering for private visits and community use. It conserves a selection of representative examples of buildings and memorials of significance.

The establishment of the Military Heritage Precinct was a means of consolidating some of the remaining heritage assets on the site into one area. It contains memorials, the guard house and cell blocks, the former Chaplain's and Post Offices and three P1 huts, the gate house and three P1 type huts.

The huts which were constructed in the 1950s for the Chaplain's Office and former military Post Office facilities are associated with the Korean War. The three earlier (1939-1945) P1 huts are examples of the style that provided the barracks accommodation and also administrative buildings. Of the three earlier barrack huts remaining in the Military Heritage Precinct, one is now used as a museum. The museum hut is a replacement for a similar hut which was in particularly poor condition.

Several of the early buildings from the establishment period still stand at Ingleburn remain in the Military Heritage Precinct. The formal entrance gates with two brick sentry posts, small check point hut immediately behind the gates and a main guard house were constructed early in the war, certainly by 1942. The cell block located behind the guard house and containing ten cells was a later addition in 1949.

Memorials The Military Heritage Precinct has several relocated memorials to those who served at the military base. A "Memorial Grove" of commemorative pine plantings was dedicated in 1987. Originally located outside the precinct, they were relocated there in 2002. It included a commemorative garden surrounding a rectangular sandstone column with a brass plaque commemorating members of Bardia Barracks who died while on posting at that location.

A memorial grove of pine planting was dedicated in 1987. A memorial to National Servicemen was inaugurated in 1997 and is the focus of ongoing annual commemorative celebrations. A memorial wall built in 2002 commemorates all infantry and training groups posted to Bardia Barracks. A paved area in the form of the "Rising Sun" badge along with plinth and flag poles serves as a memorial to the 16th Brigade which first assembled at Ingleburn in November 1939 and which went on to serve with distinction in the Middle East, Greece and Papua New Guinea, Crete, Syria, and Libya.

The most recent addition to the Military Heritage Precinct is a concrete statue in the form of a soldier, shown resting on arms reversed, which was moved from the closed Lakemba Returned Soldiers' Club to Ingleburn in 2008. It was originally unveiled in 1923.

The former Chaplain's Office at the Military Heritage Precinct is used for educational purposes, especially for visiting schools, and for meeting purposes. The former military Post Office is likewise used for visitors and the National Servicemen's Association members involved with maintaining and developing the memorial nature of the precinct.

Mont St Quentin Oval