Cootamundra

12 While the first three bulk storage aviation fuel tanks are visible from the road, there is more to Cootamundra’s No. 3. Inland Aviation Fuel Depot than meets the eye. Hidden from view are two much larger underground tanks buried into the hillside. These tanks shared the same welded construction but were 300,000 gallons in capacity and appear to be encased in concrete. A few weeks before the estimated completion of the first three tanks, with the Imperial Japanese Army advancing down the Malayan peninsula, the RAAF fuel committee recommended expanding fuel storage at existing and new IAFD sites, including Cootamundra’s, on 10th January 1942. Just over a month later, on 15 February 1942, Britain and its allies were devastated by the ‘Fall of Singapore’ after a short battle with the Imperial Japanese Army. UNDERGROUND TANKS UNDERGROUND TANK 5 UNDERGROUND TANK 4 Lieutenant-General Percival and party on their way to surrender Singapore to the Japanese. 1943. Imperial War Museum Pictured top to bottom: Underground Tanks 4 and 5 located on aerial SIX Maps photo. NSW Government Spatial Services External opening to access tunnel at base of Underground tank Entrance tunnel access to Tank 4