Events of WWII

Day three was filled with exquisite views as we drove through the Kimberley scenery, stopping at the Afghan Cemetery and The Grotto. The cemetery was very secluded in the serene bush-desert landscape, and the town of Wyndham was quite dated and deserted. The seclusion and emptiness which was embodied by the landscape, the cemetery and Wyndham contrasted with the immense amount of history and fullness which we discovered about the Afghan cameleers and Wyndham at the Historical Museum in the Old Court House. I felt wistful walking through a town so vacant and obsolete, knowing that it was once so significant and lively. Finally, the sights as we descended into the gorge known as The Grotto were simply breathtaking. It felt refreshing to dip my feet in the water after descending through the vast, unruly terrain. Today's activities made me realise just how much of an impact history can have on our attitude towards certain places and people, especially after discovering what they once were.

Display image in Wyndham Museum

I found the history behind Wyndham eye-opening. Not only about the historical relation to the town by both the Afghans and the Aboriginal people, but also just how close the potential invasion and conflict towards the town was. On the way back to Kununurra we altered our course to visit The Grotto. This was a pool hidden in a gorge, that was absolutely amazing: Boabs, slippery rocks and ridged rock walls lined the perimeter of the pool, while roped swings added to the fun of this experience.

While visiting the Wyndham Historical Society and Museum, I soon realised that the town was reliant on landscape and did not benefit from rapid economic change. Its initial life source was the discovery of gold at Halls Creek. After the gold rush, Wyndham was significant as a port for the transport of Cattle to Robbs Jetty in Fremantle. This continued until 1940, when trucks became a more efficient mode of transport. Nevertheless, during WWII Wyndham had the capacity to act as a military port but was bombed by the Japanese on March 3 1942. After the second World War, the town continued as a vibrant port until Kununurra was gazetted in 1961. This sounded the death knell for Wyndham. Today it is virtually a ghost town with a population of 500 people, yet its history highlights the town’s importance in the opening of the Kimberley during the pioneering heyday at the turn of the 20th Century. This economic and physical transformation is critical to Western Australia yet rarely receives recognition. As our quest to understand the history in the East Kimberley region continued, we ventured into the Wyndham and Port Wyndham. On arrival, we stood on the same shores as the very first Durack family expedition into the Kimberley region. There we visited the Museum which, much like the Kununurra museum, was jam-packed full of historical artefacts all of which we could touch and truly understand. It was any hopeful mechanic's dream with the old meat-works machinery. There were also a large number of old typewriters and radios, which were quickly becoming a favourite of ours. However, it was not all sunshine and rainbows in the museum; there was a large collection of images showing some of the terrible conditions Aboriginal Australians suffered through. Christine McLaughlin, our museum guide, shared a story from Robert Pierce, an American pilot stationed in Wyndham in World War Two around the "battle of Wyndham", and the bombings of Darwin. The key memory that stuck with me was when the soldier recalled the moment he felt closest to war: when he took a single shot at a Japanese Zero flying high above in anger rather than any combat mission he partook in later on in South-East Asia. This gave a new perspective on war time and was eye-opening to us all.