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PRICELESS wartime memorabilia that tells the story of Mildura’s vital role in World War II will soon return to public display.

The 80-year-old building that houses a large number of Mildura’s No.2 Operational Training Unit (2OTU) memorabilia and displays was damaged by storms that ravaged the region in November and remained closed during the busy school holiday period.

Although the November storm damage was repaired, a full inspection of the structure deemed it uninhabitable.

Works required included a full restumping of the building and replacement of the ceiling, with the further complication that the building contains asbestos.

Control of the RAAF Museum, the original headquarters for the RAAF base at Mildura Airport, was handed over to the Mildura RSL in 2011 after ageing membership, health issues and shortage of volunteers impacted the RAAF Association Mildura branch, which previously managed the facility.

Mildura RSL has been in negotiations about the future of the museum and plans are in place to move the memorabilia to a new, larger home before hopefully settling into a more permanent location, depending on available funding.

Mildura RSL veteran services manager Paul Mensch this week said plans were afoot to move the museum into the former Tandou agribusiness building at the airport, which will provide about twice the space of the original building, which was designed to last five years.

Mr Mensch said Mildura RSL wanted to make the museum more financially viable with the extra space.

“We’re planning on opening a bit more often and, with a few more volunteers, getting school groups through,” Mr Mensch said.

“It’s probably twice the size, so we do have room to put more in and we also have an undercover carport area where we will be able to put more aircraft pieces that we have got stored away,” he said.

“We have a working bee on February 23 to move the items, but to have everything set up and ready to go will probably be a few weeks after that. Then we will be up and running and open.”

Mr Mensch said the reopening, in conjunction with the No.2 OTU Heritage group, would provide an opportunity to expand delays, refresh the museum and potentially introduce a better learning experience for visitors.

“There’s about 12 or 13 rooms so we will be able to dedicate a specific room to different aspects of Mildura’s involvement in World War II,” he said.

“We’re working on a floor plan for the new building and where each item will go and the good thing about that is there is not a hell a lot of heavy stuff – a lot of it is photos and images and stories, so it’s more about the setup.

“We do plan to firstly get everything out of the old building safely and then set it up and start marketing it to schools and pushing it harder and being open a little bit more often, making it more viable.

“We’ll be able to freshen it up and take some ideas, even like the Wentworth Military Museum has done, with interactive headphones telling different stories that we can really start to look at, really tell the story of what we need to tell out there.”

More than 1200 RAAF fighter pilots were trained at 2OTU before being deployed over the skies of the Pacific and Europe during World War II, while 52 pilots and seven ground crew died during their training at Mildura.

“We make a big deal of the pilots and ground crew who passed away here, but of the 1200 pilots that came through another 380 died in theatre,” Mr Mensch said.

“One in three never came home, so we have got to tell that story and have something to make that story personal.”

Mr Mensch said the estimated cost to upgrade the original building was in the vicinity of $400,000, forcing the RSL to look elsewhere to find a new home.

“It is a shame, but you have got to be realistic,” he said.

“There was a few of the old RAAF buildings relocated around town, but considering there was something like 350 buildings out there, it is a little bittersweet to be moving out.”

He said the ultimate goal was to upgrade the Bellman hangar that was used by 2OTU and use it as the museum’s permanent base.

“Hopefully, with the support of governments, we can spend a bit of money on the Bellman hangar to make it airtight so we can move the whole display there and have some aircraft on display as well,” he said.

“We envisage it will be in the Tandou building for at least 18 months to two years and then hopefully we get some grants and move towards the Bellman hangar, where we would have a hell of a lot more space and show a hell of a lot more wartime memorabilia and displays.”

Article written by: Allan Murphy

Article provided by The Sunraysia Daily
https://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au