Americans inspect our Uranium deposits in August 1942

AMERICANS INSPECT OUR URANIUM DEPOSITS
IN AUGUST 1942

On 4 August 1942, General Kenneth Walker accompanied a civilian from Washington on a B-17 Flying Fortress from Townsville in north Queensland to Darwin where they were met by a party of Australian officials. On 6 August 1942 they travelled to Alice Springs where they were met by more Australian officials. After a few hours at Alice Springs they flew back to Townsville that night.

The "Native Labour Company" were employed by the Australian government in a mine "near" Alice Springs. My initial thoughts were that this could have been the Uranium mine? The "Native Labour Company" comprised about 500 Chinese labourers who were professional labourers who had been rescued from the Japanese from Nauru Island in the South Pacific Ocean and Ocean Island in the Gilbert Island chain. It is believed that the "Native Labour Company" were actually mining wolfram at Hatches Creek and Wauchope Creek near Alice Springs to make tungsten to hard military artillery.

General Kenneth Walker was in command of the Allied Air Forces in the Northeast area with the assistance of Group Captain Garing of the RAAF.

Can anyone help me with more information on this visit
and what may have eventuated!!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I'd like to thank Kevin Parkes from Townsville for supplying me with the above information on the "Native Labour Company".

I'd like to thank Ann Yen for her assistance with this web page.

REFERENCE BOOK

Byrd, Martha, "Kenneth N. WALKER - Airpower's Untempered Crusader"

"Bayonette of Australia"

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products