While mum and Dad were visiting, we took a trip out to the Mareeba War Museum. It's the largest privately owned collection of military hardware in QLD, apparently. It consisted of a small block building housing the small items (combat knives, radios, etc) adjoined to a large open-ended wartime hanger. As you'll see, the entire hanger is jam-packed with old vehicles, aircraft and other bits and bobs. There's an amazing amount of variety there, and it was well worth the $14 entry fee.
Some photos:
Ikara Missile (rocket launched torpedo)
Folding-wing naval jet, showing the roof of the huge hanger (all support structure made out of wood!)
6WD Studebaker truck. I've decided that I need to get myself one of these.
Alternatively, an old Blitz truck would also surfice. One thing I didn't know - both Chevy and Ford made basically identical Blitzs for the war. Shown here is a Chevy in the foreground, with the Ford version next to it. The Ford truck was the museum owner's expedition vehicle to retrieve aircraft and other artifacts from the cape. It's done 6 trips to Cape York with him, mostly in expedition-style driving - no roads/tracks, but cross-country path making, to get to plane crash sites or other areas of interest. Has never failed to proceed, but apparently the ride is less than plush.
And where would a WW2 museum be without a Jeep? This was one of a couple of well-kept (original, not restored) examples. This was set up as a radio truck. There was also a short-wheelbase Blitz decked out as a radio truck, but it was hiding away under the wing of a bomber.
The full gallery of photos can be found here :
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| 2008-10-25, Mareeba War Museum |
