![The forgotten Kearnan siding south of Terowie]()
The forgotten Kearnan siding south of Terowie
A few months ago I undertook what I thought would be a straight forward history research into WW11 munition storage bunkers in
Terowie with the help of my great friend Dean. What could be hard about finding military details from only 80 years ago, its really not that long ago and there must be very documented details of the site?
Well, lesson number one, do not take anything for granted and think everything would be recorded and easy to obtain. I had sent email request to all major Australian Military Historic
places in both
Canberra and South Australia and yes they all got back to me, with the same answer, they had no details of such site and wished me all the best in my quest to find 100% true accurate facts. I had even put out a few Facebook posts in both
Peterborough and
Terowie in the hope that any locals there may had first had details of the site and able to help me out, but again no such luck, with a number of people saying they knew of the site, but could not give any true, accurate facts.
In the meantime I had contacted the owner who’s land is where the bunkers are located and he gave me the green light to enter his property to inspect the sites, and like others that I had spoken to, the owner did not really know any real substantial history of the site. The night before were had planned to visit the site, I made contact with yet another man who once lived in the area and I struck gold, he knew of the site, what it was called and a few other details, that unfortunately could not be 100% verified. The most important fact was that his dad had actually a contract to work the land for 2 years after the site was established and all from the Australian Army.
![The historic and forgotten Kearnan Railway siding looking south]()
The historic and forgotten Kearnan Railway siding looking south
![This is where the action railway lines were at Kearnan Siding]()
This is where the action railway lines were at Kearnan Siding
![The end of the Kearnan Siding]()
The end of the Kearnan Siding
Arriving at the site, we had arranged with
Ross from the
Terowie History Group to accompany us, as like us had heard of the site but did not know any real reliable details and had never visited the site, so it was a learning curve for him a
well. Lots of photos on hand, we then went back to the
Terowie History Rooms where we were greeted by Jan,
Ross’s wife and we were treated to Coffee and Cake. It was great to meet both
Ross and Jan, but we still did not have any concrete facts on the site.
![Standing on the platform of the former Kearnan siding looking north towards Terowie]()
Standing on the platform of the former Kearnan siding looking north towards Terowie
![Looking south from the siding]()
Looking south from the siding
![Looking south from on top of the platform]()
Looking south from on top of the platform
Weeks later while feeling very dejected that my history research was going to be a no goer, I received and email from a Professor from Flinders University. The very first thing I did was to ring her and asked how she became involved with my little pet project. One of her friends was working at the Army Museum of South Australia at the Keswick Army Barracks and knew she had a great interest into Military History.
![Standing on top of the blast wall looking into one of the munitions bunkers]()
Standing on top of the blast wall looking into one of the munitions bunkers
![Kearnan Munitions Bunker]()
Kearnan Munitions Bunker
![Kearnan Munitions Bunker]()
Kearnan Munitions Bunker
A few more weeks went by with a number of emails as
well as phone calls and this is what I can now pass on to anyone that is interested as the true, 100% facts that I now have on the site.
Anyone that travels the Barrier Highway between Whyte Yarcowie and
Terowie will pass within metres of an old, long forgotten specifically made railway platform that was made for the sole purpose of unloading and then when needed, the loading of munitions and explosives for the war effort in the Pacific during the hight of WW11. What made this platform even more special, was that on one side of the platform was the broad gauge railway line that was completed in 1880.
![Looking down on two Kearnan Munitions bunkers in 2021]()
Looking down on two Kearnan Munitions bunkers in 2021
![Looking into on of the munitions bunkers]()
Looking into on of the munitions bunkers
![The height of the blast wall]()
The height of the blast wall
The munitions and explosives were railed up from
Adelaide and then offloaded for storage at the purpose made Kearnan Munitions site, while the other side of the platform had narrow gauge railway where these goods were then reloaded onto freight trains and made the rail journey to
Alice Springs and then further north during the Pacific war campaign.
![On top of Kearnan Munitions Bunker looking towards the blast wall]()
On top of Kearnan Munitions Bunker looking towards the blast wall
![Kearnan Munitions Bunker]()
Kearnan Munitions Bunker
![Looking at the blast wall]()
Looking at the blast wall
The site was named Kearnan after the then Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Reginald Kearnan who at the time was AA&QMG in the HQ 4 MD and was responsible and had a big hand in the establishment of
Terowie for the transhipment point on the railways for both Australian and allied troops and in 1943 was promoted to Colonel.
The Kearnan site was constructed in 1942 and consisted of 5 “U” shaped earth structures that then had a large earth blast wall near
the entrance of each
bunker. Each
bunker had locked doors and the site was guarded by Australian Soldiers.
![These long mounds were part of the Kearnan bunker complex]()
These long mounds were part of the Kearnan bunker complex
![One of the large mounds that were once part of the bunker complex]()
One of the large mounds that were once part of the bunker complex
![Part of the Kearnan bunker complex]()
Part of the Kearnan bunker complex
All the bunkers were covered with galvanised roofs that were painted in a red/brown colour that would act as camouflage from the air and blended into the surrounding land that was cultivated and the natural colour of the earth blended in with the painted roof.
The site held munitions
well after the end of the war, as it was a safe location and as the war had then ended, there was no need for the tonnes of explosives and munitions that were safely stored at the Kearnan’s and finally in 1948 the site officially closed. As
well as the 5 “U” shaped bunkers, there was also 5 long earth structures that were used as part of the Kearnan complex.
![Looking east and down on one of the bunker complexes]()
Looking east and down on one of the bunker complexes
For safety reasons, the Kearnan site was constructed around 5 kilometres from the actual
Terowie township so in the event of an explosion, towns people and Army personnel stationed in the actual town would be safe. Also purpose constructed in the town was the
railway siding known as Bongoola that was used as the point were all Australian and Allied troops disembarked and again embarked on their journey north to
Alice Springs by train. At the hight of the war, there were around 5000 troops posted in
Terowie and at the time was regarded as one of South Australia’s most important railway facilities outside of
Adelaide.
![Looking east and down on one of the bunker complexes]()
Looking east and down on one of the bunker complexes