TOWNSHIP FOR ARMY

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 October 1939, Page 8

TOWNSHIP FOR ARMY

“HUSTLE” JOB NEAR SYDNEY. SYDNEY, October 4. On a sweeping square mile of country not far from Sydney an army of men have begun to make a new township. They are transforming bare paddocks into a busy settlement of 204 brick, weatherboard, and fibro huts, and will finish the buildings before the end of this month. It will be the home of about 6500 men. New South Wales’s quota of Australia’s special new force of 20,000. Tho building of the camp, to cost £54,000, will be one of the most energetic construction projects ever carried out in Australia. About 700 men are working up to 13 hours a day every day, including Saturdays and Sundays. There is little time taken off for recreation. Powerful floodlights replace the sun at night. The men start at 6 a.m., work until 8, have three-quarters of an hour off -for breakfast, and work till noon. After three-quarers of an hour off 'for lunch, they work till 5, and resume at 5.45, continuing until midnight. Apart from a few local workers, the men live and eat at the site. With country allowance and overtime, the individual earnings of many of the men amount to £lO and more a week. To the cry of “You’re working for the King now, boys,” more than 100 of the men piled into lorries with their kits to be taken to the site on the first day. They arrived at 8 a.m. and were followed by an endless stream of lorries laden with bricks, timber and other building materials. By noon the foundations of two huts had been laid. Water pipes had been laid, portable huts for offices were up, telegraph poles were rising, and stacks of building materials were piled up. Marquees to accommodation the men and the floodlights were in position by night. Together with the men preparing materials and fittings in Sydney, about 200 men are engaged on the construction of the camp. The 204 huts to be finished by the end of the month will accommodate four battalions. Other works will be carried out later to accommodate technical units.