Timber Building in Australia

| Gregory Nolan |

Extraordinary times produce extraordinary buildings. The timber buildings of the Second World War are a significant but as yet unrecognised group of such buildings.

In the days following the attack on Pearl Harbour, Australia was under threat of invasion and the Australian Government worked furiously to establish the necessary infrastructure of war. A frantic building effort followed where traditional design preferences and forms of construction were abandoned. In a peak of experimentation and innovation in timber construction, Australia's architects and engineers explored design technologies virtually unknown in pre-war practise. The resulting buildings bore little resemblance to the timber structures of rural or industrial Australia built before the war. Borne out of emergency, they featured a new aesthetic in timber that was lean, strong and graceful.

These buildings were not the product of any single or collective architectural inspiration. They were unashamedly utilitarian buildings. Their design was driven by the need to use what was at hand to build in the defence of the nation. Nevertheless, many of these structures contain that special character that goes beyond just building. They contain and demonstrate a unique vocabulary of architectural and structural solutions in timber.

Despite their design as short term structures, many of these timber buildings survived to be a resource for a changing Australia. Many remained in the hands of the military. Other were used to house arriving migrants or were converted to schools, colleges, hospitals, barns and stores. So many have been in daily view throughout Australia that the demolition of considerable numbers has gone unnoticed. Examples in original condition are becoming increasingly rare.

Fifty years after the war, it is now time for their value to be recognised.

Much of the information contained in this article is drawn from a report prepared for the Office of the Director General of Accommodation and Works - Army and I acknowledge and thank them for their permission to publish it here.

Timber has been an important structural material in Australia since at least 1788, and until about 1900 it enjoyed a primary role in most building construction. Steel production in Australia was limited and duties made imported steel expensive. In 1915, with the commissioning of BHP's Newcastle steelworks, these conditions changed. After the First World War the practical development of timber construction technology in Australia stagnated.

In the 1930s, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) established timber engineering as a major research area and between 1935 and 1938 introduced shear connector and modern glue lamination techniques to Australia. Both technologies were extensively used overseas (CSIR 1938, p.607) but there is little evidence that Australia's practising professionals adopted them. Steel established itself as the dominant material for large or structurally complex buildings in Australia.

In September 1939, Australia was at war. Timber was not initially seen as a vital war material. Though Australia was a primary source of physical resources for Empire forces, the reshaping of the economy was relatively slow and somewhat hesitant (Younger 1982, p. 595). The construction industry continued its pre-war patterns of activity:

(In 1939) the building industry was by far the largest consumer of timber... Instead of falling off during the early stages of the war..., civilian building activity was maintained and in some States even showed a considerable increase due to the growing public interest in real estate as a wartime investment. (Controller of Timber 1944, p. 357)

Meanwhile, Australia's defence infrastructure was expanding. The need to house troops led to the expansion of existing training camps such as Kelvin Grove in Queensland and Northam Camp in WA, and to the establishment of new ones, such as Puckapunyal in Victoria.

Most buildings in these training camps were the army 'P' series of huts, designed to be constructed by local labour, using readily available timber (see figure 1). Similar to the semi-permanent accommodation provided for most armies in the world at that time, the design of the 'P' series hut provided a simple gabled building, accommodating a platoon of men in an open single room. Standardised, cheap and reliable, the 'P' hut was adapted to become messes, laundries, guard houses, headquarters, Quartermaster (Q) stores and aid stations. In addition to the 'P' huts and their variants, drill halls and larger Q store buildings were also constructed in timber.

There is little evidence that large timber frame buildings were constructed in this phase of the war. Although steel was essential for war purposes, it was still available for building and remained the preferred material for larger structures.

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy launched its surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbour. Less than a week later, the British battleships, Prince of Wales and Repulse, were sunk off the east coast of Malaysia. Singapore surrendered. With its only experienced troops in the Middle East and little real defence infrastructure at home, Australia was extremely exposed.

As news from the war fronts worsened, the national pulse quickened. By Government direction, superfluous activities were stripped away to make way for greater concentration of the available manpower and technical skills on war production or direct military effort. (Younger 1982, p. 613)

As the Government ordered the resources of the Commonwealth for the nation's defence, it recognised that timber had become an essential war material.

Civilian uses of timber were dramatically curtailed soon after the outbreak of hostilities (in the Pacific), mainly by gradually tightening control of civilian building activities, total prohibition of which, without Government consent, were imposed as from the middle of 1942. (Controller of Timber 1944, p. 345).

As the numbers of Allied troops in Australia increased, the defence building program that had begun in 1939 redoubled to house personnel and equipment. To co-ordinate this mass of construction work:

on 17 February (1942), at the same meeting at which it decided on 'total mobilisation'... the Full Cabinet decided to create an Allied Works Council.(McDonagh 1978)

Commencing work in a small room in Victoria Barracks in Melbourne on February 28, 1942, the Allied Works Council (AWC) grew and then merged with the Works and Services Branch of the Department of the Interior in late 1942. By July 1943, the AWC's administrative and technical staff totalled over 4, 600. Working in co-operation with the various branches of the Australian and US military, the AWC took the role of project and construction manager for national defence projects. Five central directorates were established with the works directorate including engineering, architectural, administration and air services sections. This central agency was then mirrored in state based organisations that carried out the work set by the central agency or adapted standardised designs to meet local demands.

This two tier system had a noticeable effect on the design of war time structures. The majority of buildings conformed to standardised national designs, prepared by the central agency or with their involvement. However, unique and individualistic buildings were scattered amongst them, designed by regional AWC staff to suit a local purpose.

The AWC initially used local civilian contractors for much of its work and coordinated the construction effort of state government service agencies. However, as its scope of works increased during early 1942, the AWC faced a severe labour shortage. To solve this, the Civil Construction Corps (CCC) was formed by National Security Regulation on April 14, 1942. By July 1943, the CCC had enrolled 53, 500 men (see figure 2).

With the total mobilisation of the economy for war, Australia's building professionals realised that traditional design preferences and forms of construction had to be abandoned:

Confronted with a huge building programme to meet the requirements of war, and realising the necessity to conserve steel, the Allied Works Council's Directorate of Works quickly recognised the advantages of the use of Australian timber as a building material for large engineering structures. Many thousands of square metres of covered space for the storage of supplies, aeroplane hangars, maintenance workshops, munitions factories, which would normally have been built in steel, have been built in timber.

Hitherto the use of timber had been limited in this country to small structures, but Allied Works Council Engineers quickly adapted themselves to the designing of all types of timber framed buildings and overcame associated difficulties.

With the ever increasing demand for supplies of Australian hardwoods, came the difficulty of allowing sufficient time for seasoning. Finally the use of green timber became unavoidable. Green timber had not previously been employed in a major structural role, and its behaviour was a subject of experiment. (AWC 1942, p. 61)

The needs of war demanded that all available timber construction technologies be adopted and it appears that the AWC and associated agencies conducted experiments in both design form and construction technology to determine the most efficient for their purposes. With military planners concentrating on defending south eastern Australia, contractors for the AWC began construction of 39. 6 m (130') clear span timber framed hangars at Tocumwal, NSW on February 19, 1942, and on other sites around Australia shortly after. The gable shaped trusses for these buildings were fabricated with shear connectors and steel plate joints and remain some of the largest clear span timber trusses in Australia (see figure 3). In July of the same year, Australia's first large scale glue laminated building, a 29 m (95') span arch roof factory, was constructed in Alexandria NSW with AWC involvement.

The influence of the US military in the types of timber construction employed was probably very strong. While Australian architects and engineers did not exploit pre-war developments in timber technology, timber construction was widely accepted in the United States and the US military introduced proven technologies and designs to Australia. The most notable of these was nail joint construction. It was used for the design of 'igloo' store and hangar buildings, prefabricated ordinance buildings and trussed beams. The technology particularly suited both construction with green hardwood and the emergency of the times, as it allowed the use of large quantities of small size timber (see figure 4 and figure 5).

By the end of 1942, the architectural and engineering staff of the AWC had acquired considerable skill in building with unseasoned Australian hardwood. Shear and split ring connectors, largely ignored since their introduction to Australia in 1935, became the structural standard in the thousands of truss roofed buildings with spans between 10 m and 20 m. This included messes, assembly halls, stores and workshops. In addition, shear connectors were used to fabricate heavy latticed timber columns designed to carry gantry cranes (see figure 6 and figure 7). Shear connector truss designs over about 20 m span, such as those used at Tocumwal, NSW, were abandoned. Green hardwood shrank too much for such trusses to be reliable. For spans over twenty metres, nailed lattice and nailed truss arches were used.

Though reported and used in particular local applications, the AWC did not pursue glue laminated construction after their initial experiment in 1942. To be used successfully, the technology required seasoned timber and specialist equipment. Both were in short supply.

As the war progressed, the forms and designs of buildings were simplified wherever possible. Complex structures, such as the curved roof inland store buildings constructed for the RAAF in 1942 and 1943, gave way to simpler post and beams buildings. These used inclined rafters on regular rows of columns to provide large areas of cheap storage. The largest of these stores, built late in the war at sites such as Holsworthy in NSW and Tottenham in Victoria, had floor areas over 6, 500 sq. m.

The construction of timber hut buildings continued throughout the war. The 'P' type hut with its conventionally framed or trussed roof, evolved until, for certain applications, it resembled a true portal frame building. It was also adapted to suit tropical conditions.

Experiments with the prefabrication of timber huts and entire camps began as early as August 1942. Though apparently successful in their planning, transportation and on site erection difficulties arose and the AWC did not use remote prefabrication further in Australia. Building projects in this country continued to be constructed on site by local or CCC labour using local material. However, as the war moved away from Australia's northern shores, the need to house Australian and US troops deployed in the Pacific Islands became critical. Therefore, from May 1943 till the end of August 1944, the AWC operated special prefabrication depots in Sydney.

... during the 16 months... the Council supplied to the US Army... prefabricated material amounting to 1. 7 million sq. m of hutments, hospitals capable of providing beds for 28, 250 inmates, with another series totalling 9, 000 beds which were completed by October 31, 1944; warehouse units to a total area of 750, 000 sq. m; 250 Air Force control towers; and 140 cool stores with a total space of 1, 700 cu. m. (AWC 1944, p. 1)

These buildings were bundled as complete units, with all necessary cladding and components, and shipped to forward island areas.

By 1944, the Australia's strategic position had changed.

As the possibility of attack by the Japanese on Australia's eastern shore line became less imminent, ... many of the defence project... were not required for their original purpose, as operational units moved northwards; and it would seem as if many of the aerodromes, stores, etc., built at enormous cost would be wasted. Nevertheless, they were essential at the time... The phase following the extreme defensive activity... is characterised by the use of Australia as a base for supplies, etc., and to that end, large stores for Navy, Army and Air Force, have been erected in various centres all over the State.(Dwyer 1944)

Large scale camp construction was replaced throughout the Commonwealth with the establishment of hospital and rehabilitation complexes. With the threat of air strikes removed, increased stores areas were constructed near the major cities and their valuable ports. Large transhipment and storage works where constructed at Bandiana and Wallangarra where the rail gauges between states varied and new facilities were built for the Royal Navy as its presence in the Pacific increased. Maintenance work increased (AWC 1945).

Though major new facilities were still being constructed in early 1945, the driving urgency that had characterised construction and planning three years earlier had passed and on February 15, 1945, the AWC was incorporated into the new Department of Works. This department in turn became the Department of Works and Housing. In August, 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese surrender was announced and on September 2, the formal instrument of surrender was signed. After a period of consolidation, demobilisation began and a review was made of post war defence infrastructure needs. A core of establishments was retained and surplus ones sold off or mothballed. No longer required, buildings needing maintenance were demolished. Characteristic of this process was the fate of the large 'air repair' depot constructed at Tocumwal, NSW, to service US aircraft. In 1942, 608 buildings, including hangars, stores and aircraft repair shops, were built on this 41. 5 sq. km site. Today, only four of the six 39. 6 m (130') span hangars and a few ancillary buildings remain.

Huts
Post and Beam Stores
Trussed Roof Buildings
Workshops and other Major Buildings
Arched Buildings
Hanger Buildings

Huts

The 'P1' type that formed the basis of this series (of huts) was a timber framed building on stumps in the traditional Australian manner. The red gum or jarrah stumps were seated on sole plates and were given galvanised ant caps. The stumps were joined longitudinally by bearers which in turn were crossed by floor joists. The floors were of tongue and groove hardwood boards. The walls were frames of nogged and braced studs between plates. There were five windows on each long wall which were initially covered with corrugated galvanised iron shutter but later glazed... The largest variation occurred in roof trusses and these were generally strengthened with each modification from simple tie beams in early examples to later king post trusses and knee braces. Roofs were clad with either corrugated galvanised-iron or asbestos. Internally the buildings were unlined and unfurnished except for a row of clothes hooks. (ACS 1990, p.49)

This standard hut was varied considerably as the war progressed and these standard buildings were adapted for other uses. The original 'P1' hut design was a 4. 9 m (16') wide building. This increased to 5. 7 m (18' 8") and then to 6. 1 m (20') as the war went on. Though the simple gable roof shape remained, verandahs were added and eaves extended.

In the north, the proportions of the huts changed. The 2. 4 m (8') height to the underside of the truss's bottom chord was reduced to 2. 2 m (7' 4") and the pitch of roof was decreased. The truss rafters were extended to form 1. 2 m (4') wide eaves that shaded the buildings. This overrun was supported from the wall framing with knee braces. Windows were replaced with a continuous line of top hung shutters down both of the long walls of the building. These were fitted with mosquito proof gauze. Each end wall had a central ledged, braced and sheeted door and a gauze covered ventilation opening above. Additional ventilation was provided at floor level. These huts were clad in horizontal corrugated iron while the roof sheeting was either corrugated iron or fibre cement sheet. Internal walls were unlined. Extensive efforts were made to keep mosquitos out of these buildings. The eaves to wall junctions and the ridge were covered with mosquito proof gauze and the gaps between the corrugated roofing and the purlins were plugged with mud or cement.

As early as 1943, the US military introduced a true portal frame version of the hut. In these buildings, the floor platform consisted of squared timber posts supporting ant caps, a grillage of bearers and floor joists, and a timber floor. Standardised light timber portal frames were assembled, then erected and braced. Light purlins, nailed directly to the portal rafter, supported the corrugated fibre cement roof sheet, while infill wall panels between the portal columns supported the weather board lining to the bottom half of the external wall and asbestos sheeting to the top half (see figure 8).

Corrugated galvanised iron had become rare for all types of building by 1943 so painted or black corrugated iron was used for walling. In other locations, timber was more readily available and weather boards replaced the iron. These ran either the full height of the wall or to half the height and flat asbestos cement sheet clad the rest. Corrugated fibre cement roof sheet was widely used instead of galvanised iron.

Timber species used for hut construction varied considerably between regions. Cyprus pine was popular for stumps, flooring and wall frames in the west of NSW and in the Hunter Valley. Local species were favoured but where demand outstripped supply, timber was transported from other regions. Large quantities of oak and ash species hardwood were shipped from Tasmania and Victoria to Queensland during 1943 as the timber suppliers in that state struggled to meet the demand for flooring and scantling generated by the construction of camps and wharves (AWC 1945 p. 46).

It is difficult to estimate the number of huts constructed in Australia during World War II. However, some feel for the extent of construction can be gained by examining the production of the AWC's US prefabrication program. Operating out of its Sydney depots, this scheme shipped the components for 17,000 prefabricated huts throughout the Pacific Islands between May 1943 and August 1944 alone.

Today, fewer than 500 World War II huts remain in Army hands.

Post and Beam Stores

There was a considerable number of standard designs for post and beam stores used during World War II. Column spacings were usually set at 5 m (16' 8") and 6. 1 m (20'). The number of bays in the transverse section increased from the narrowest two bay store, about 10 m wide, to the widest recorded nine bay store, about 48 m wide (see figure 9 and figure 10). Rafter sizes varied with the intended permanence of the building or the expected wind load conditions for the site. Though usually built from green hardwood, oregon was used on at least one site in Sydney.

The design for standard six bay wide ordinance stores was produced by the Works Directorate of the Department of the Interior, Melbourne and approved in October, 1942 . The building had a concrete floor which, when built adjacent to railway sidings, was built up on well compacted retained ground. The superstructure of the building had seven rows of columns, fixed to the floor with steel angle brackets. The two outside rows of columns on each side of the building were 125 x 100 mm (5" x 4") members, while the three taller central rows were 150 x 100 mm (6" x 4"). The columns supported single 150 x 100 mm (6" x 4") inclined transverse rafters splice jointed over each column. The size of these members often increased in the last bay when the roof cantilevered over the outside walls to form an awning. Longitudinal tie beams joined the top of the columns in each row. Transverse knee braces joined the column to the inclined rafters while longitudinal ones braced the column to the tie beams.

This grid of columns, rafters, tie beams and braces carried 125 x 50 mm (5" x 2") purlins at nom. 1 200 mm (4') centres and a roof of corrugated iron or fibre cement sheet. 125 x 50 mm (5" x 2") wall girts ran outside the perimeter columns and supported the external lining, again corrugated iron or fibre cement sheet. There were four sets of ledged and braced top hung timber sliding doors on each long wall and one set positioned off centre at each end. The buildings were usually dark, with only a few small glazed roof lights and any open doorways providing natural light.

Post and beam stores buildings were erected for all services all along the eastern seaboard but they appear to be concentrated in south eastern Australia. They provided the mainstay of general ordinance storage during World War 2 and provide a significant proportion of storage for the Department of Defence today.

Trussed Roof Buildings

Two major systems of joints were employed for the majority of truss designs. In the south, where the influence of American construction personnel was not great, trusses were usually constructed with bolt and shear connector joints. These designs used fewer but heavier members and more readily resembled the mortise and tenon truss types that had been in use in Australia before the war. In the north, where American influence was greater, large numbers of trusses were constructed from a greater number of lighter timbers joined with nails.

An example of a standard design of this American truss type was the 30. 5 m (100') wide stores building, designed by the Engineering Headquarters of the US Army in 1943 and constructed at several sites around the Brisbane waterfront (see figure 11). Each building had four rows of columns that were 300 mm ( 12") diameter natural round posts, concreted 900 mm into the ground. They were spaced at 4. 55 m (15') centres on the perimeter rows and 9. 1 m (30') on the central rows. The columns supported transverse 10. 6 m (35') span parallel chord lattice truss rafters over the two outside aisles and a 9. 1 (30') m span lattice truss rafter over the central aisle. These transverse trusses had pairs of 100 x 38 mm (4" x 1 1/2") unseasoned hardwood as top and bottom chords, pairs of 100 x 38 mm (4" x 1 1/2") webs nailed to the outside faces of the chord pairs and single 100 x 50 mm (4" x 2") webs nailed in the centre of the chord pairs in a double warren truss pattern. The nails were hand driven and their spacing was left to the discretion of each carpenter. Though this resulted in some end splitting as the timber dried, it did not appear to impair the effectiveness of the joint (Dept. Of Works and Housing 1946, p. 42). The roof trusses for these buildings were prefabricated on site and this reduced construction time.

Workshops and other Major Buildings

This group of buildings includes both unique and standardised building designs.

One major type is a standard RAAF ordinance store design that originates from the beginning of the war. Some of the five buildings at the recently decommissioned Dubbo facility were completed in November 1942. They are large segmented truss roof structures, over 60 m wide and 95 m long, with five longitudinal rows of solid hardwood columns supporting transverse segmented Pratt trusses. These span 15.7 m (52') between the lines of columns and have spaced pairs of members for top and bottom chords, single vertical compression members and spaced pairs of diagonal tension members. The trusses were fabricated with bolts and shear connectors from unseasoned local hardwoods (see figure 12).

These buildings were constructed inland to be out of the attack range of most carrier aircraft and the curved roof was often camouflaged. They were some of the largest stores buildings constructed during the war. Their design was relatively conservative when compared to other buildings constructed at about the same time and they have proved very sound. In addition to the Dubbo buildings, three were built at Drayton and two at Macrossan, both in Queensland. Two more were built at Merredin in Western Australia.

Other major workshop buildings were constructed at a range of sites throughout Australia. These were often unique buildings designed for specific tasks.

Arched Buildings

Arched store buildings are particularly significant World War II timber structures. They became the standard solution for buildings that required spans longer then 20 m and were constructed extensively in areas under a strong US military influence. They were built on at least one Sydney site, extensively throughout Queensland, and probably throughout the Northern Territory. At least two groups of standard designs were used in addition to several unique designs.

The most common arched buildings are the 31. 7 m (104') span three pin nailed arch 'igloo' stores. In these structures, light hand nailed boxed and trussed arches were constructed from green hardwood. Though boxed curved timber trusses were used to form arches in Victorian times, this was the first time numerous nailed arches were used to form large structures. They were built to several American designs of 31. 7 m span (104')and one adapted AWC design of 32 m (105') span. All were three pin arches. The arch rise varied between 8. 0 m (26' 3") and 8. 4 m (27' 6") The main arch chords were 76 x 50 mm (3" x 2") or 76 x 38 mm (3" x 1 1/2") for the American designs and 100 x 50 mm (4" x 2") for the AWC design (see figure 13).

Many of these buildings were constructed. Seven were constructed at Rydalmere in NSW. Twenty two were constructed at Garbutt Airport at Townsville, ten at Stewart, three at Cairns, five at Tolga, near Cairns, one at Rockhampton, one at Eagle Farm and several were constructed at Coopers Plains Army base near Archerfield, all in Queensland. Additional buildings were constructed at other locations. The buildings at Garbutt and Coopers Plains have been demolished. The Navy has handed over control of the buildings at Rydalmere to the Australian Estate Management Group (AEMG) who have leased the property out. All seven buildings still exist in their original condition. The single building at Eagle Farm, also under AEMG control, exists although it has been significantly altered.

These buildings are significant as they represent an introduced technology that was quickly adopted by the AWC and adapted to suit Australian conditions. The technology flourished while design conditions during the war favoured timber construction. However, with the departure of the American forces, it was largely abandoned by Australia's design professionals. This pattern of introduction, acceptance and rejection indicates as much about the conservative nature of Australia's past design practise as it does about the ready versatility of Australians to accept foreign ideas and to exploit them fully in times of urgent need.

Another type of igloo is the durable 51. 8 m (170') span AWC designed nailed lattice arch building derived from the lighter type US 51.8 m (170') span igloo design. The arches of these AWC designed buildings rise 10. 4 m (34') from their supports and were fabricated with 125 x 63 mm (5" x 2 1/2") arch chords and 75 x 38 mm (3" x 1 1/2") braces. Five buildings were constructed for the RAAF and still exist in private hands at Archerfield in Queensland (see figure 14 and figure 15). Four were constructed of green hardwood and one was constructed of oregon.

Until the recent opening of the Maribyrnong footbridge, these light and graceful buildings were the longest clear span timber structures existing in Australia.

Hangar Buildings

While open ended 'igloo' buildings were often used for hangar buildings from 1943, trussed hangars and cantilevered workshop hangars, built with bolt and shear connector joints from green hardwood, were used during the early stages of the war.

The most important of these are 29. 3 m (96') (see figure 16) and 39. 6 m (130') span hangars (see figure 17 and figure 18). The Works and Services Branch produced the designs for these two building types by late 1941. The trusses were designed so that 'the angle of the top chords decreases in stages as the ridge is approached so that the panel points of the top chord fall approximately on the outline of a parabola' (Langlands 1942, p. 86). This broken top chord led to these trusses being called 'hog back' trusses. Construction drawings for the Werribee buildings are dated from as early as 24/12/41.

Six 39. 6 m (130') hangars and two 29. 3 m (96') hangars were built at Tocumwal in NSW. in Queensland, one 39. 6 m (130') hangar and four 29. 3 m (96') hangars were built at Charleville and two 29. 3 m (96') hangars were built at Garbutt Airport, Townsville. One 29. 3 m (96') hangar was built at Maylands in WA and one 39. 6 m (130') hangar and four 29. 3 m (96') hangars were built at Werribee in Victoria (Dept of Works and Housing. 1946, Appendix 1, p. 20ff). Four of the 39. 6 m (130') hangars at Tocumwal, the 39. 6 m (130') hangar at Charleville and all the buildings at Werribee are known to still exist.

The 39. 6 m (130') variant initially suffered considerable problems. It is probable that the stresses allowed were just too great for satisfactory performance from green hardwood. Many of these structures had to be propped and re-cambered. These problems are not recorded as occurring in the 29. 3 m (96') version. These structures are unique as they are the first long span trusses recorded that used timber as tension web members. They are the longest clear span gable shaped timber truss buildings known in Australia.

More timber buildings were built in Australian during World War II than in any other comparable period.

The personnel huts are not architecturally or structurally significant as individual buildings. As a group of structures, they demonstrate the regional variability necessary for minimum human comfort in an utilitarian building. They have an historical significance due to the context of their construction and to their use from the war till today. They were built in tens of thousands due to the urgency of threatened invasion. Groups of these buildings have housed the 2nd AIF and its allies, the migrants and refugees of Europe, military trainees for every Australian conflict from Korea to Vietnam, and civilians in a myriad of occupations. However, very few huts of the type constructed in the large personnel intensive camps remain in original condition.

The large buildings are architecturally and structurally significant. Unfettered by the weakness of the mortise and tenon joint and by nostalgia for the rude rural timber form, these buildings display a new and confident aesthetic in timber design that is regular, deliberate and expressive. They contain a repertoire of timber design solutions unknown to Australia's current design professionals. These buildings demonstrate a high level of engineering achievement in timber. The arched buildings at Archerfield were the longest clear span timber structures in Australia for over fifty years. Yet the lessons that they teach in handling the movement and use of unseasoned Australian hardwood remain unstudied.

As the Department of Defence rationalises its property holdings, the fate of many of these buildings is now being thrown into question. Very few World War 2 timber buildings of any type benefit from heritage protection. There have been so many of them in daily view that their increasing scarcity has gone unnoticed.

For these reasons, the place of these timber buildings in Australia's built heritage must be recognised and documented.

Allied Works Council 1945, Report on the Activities of the Allied Works Council for the period July 1, 1943 to February 15, 1945, Allied Works Council, Melbourne.

Allied Works Council. 1943, Report on the Activities of the Allied Works Council for the period February 26, 1942, to June 30, 1943, Allied Works Council, Melbourne.

Allied Works Council. 1944, Preliminary Notes for a History of the Allied Works Council; US Prefabrication, Allied Works Council, Melbourne, September 27.

Australian Construction Service. 1990, Summary History, Puckapunyal Army Camp, Puckapunyal, Victoria, unpublished report.

Controller of Timber 1944, Timber and the War, Australian Timber Journal, October.

CSIR, Division of Forest Products. 1938, Research Notes, Australian Timber Journal, November.

Dept of Works and Housing 1946, A report on the structural soundness of unseasoned timbers used in structures erected for war purposes, Dept of Works and Housing, Melbourne.

Dwyer, J. P. 1944, Some Wartime Achievements of Engineers, Journal of the Institution of Engineers, April - May.

Langlands, I. 1942, The Design of Large Modern Timber Structures, Proceedings, Victorian Institution of Engineers, September 24.

McDonagh, Brigadier J. F. 1978, Government Administration in World War II - Defence Facilities, Accommodation and Works Papers, Vol 1. No. 1, October.

Younger, R. M. 1982, A Concise History of Australia and the Australian, Hutchinson Group, Victoria.