Tindal

History

Tindal was initially built for the RAAF as Carson's Airfield in 1942. The airfield was constructed by the US Army's 43rd Engineer General Service Regiment. Its purpose was to provide a base for Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers that could strike at Japanese targets in Papua New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, but the turning tide of the war rendered this unnecessary and no aircraft were deployed there before the cessation of hostilities. In 1946, the airfield was renamed in honour of Wing Commander Archibald (Archie) Tindal, the first RAAF member killed in action on the Australian mainland during World War II; he died while manning a machine gun against Japanese raiders bombing Darwin on 19 February 1942, and was buried at the Adelaide River war cemetery. In 1959, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir Frederick Scherger, proposed building a second airfield in the Darwin area. Like Tindal, he had been in Darwin when it was bombed by the Japanese in 1942, and believed that Australia's defences in the north needed to be strengthened. Following a survey, Tindal was selected in May 1963 as being close enough to RAAF Base Darwin to afford mutual protection, but far enough from the coast to be defensible and to avoid the effects of tropical cyclones. Other factors, such as being outside the projected nuclear fall-out zone should Darwin be targeted by a nuclear weapon, as well as an adequate water supply and suitable road and rail connections, also influenced the decision. Conceived as an "Un-Manned Operational Base" (later to be known as a bare base), Tindal was to have no permanent staff and very few buildings. Essentially it would consist of a runway, taxiways and hardstanding along with the minimal infrastructure, such as electricity and water, to permit…

Most-observed species

• Neem

  Azadirachta indica A.Juss. · Magnoliopsida
  2,719
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  2,239
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  1,837
• Red-collared Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus rubritorquis Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  1,791
• Mudar

  Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T.Aiton · Magnoliopsida
  1,518
• Bar-shouldered Dove

  Geopelia humeralis (Temminck, 1821) · Aves
  1,506
• Masked Lapwing

  Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  1,483
• Great Bowerbird

  Chlamydera nuchalis (Jardine & Selby, 1830) · Aves
  1,353