Just outside Ross on Tooms Lake Road is a largely hidden reminder of Tasmania’s role in World War II. The Ross Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot, commissioned in 1942 and de-commissioned on 14 June 1944, formed part of a national system designed to support Australia’s air defence during the war.
The site is not accessible to the public, but elements of it can be viewed from the roadside. Beneath the hillside are four large fuel tanks buried underground, along with a substantial water reservoir, an earth-covered concrete ammunition bunker, and a concrete engine building that once housed the pumps used to move fuel around the depot. Other structural remains are still visible, indicating the scale of the installation.
Across Tooms Lake Road is evidence of a former railway spur. Fuel was delivered to Ross by rail tanker and pumped directly into the underground storage tanks. From there, aviation fuel was transported by road tanker to airfields elsewhere in Tasmania. Like other depots in the network, the Ross facility was deliberately located inland and away from airfields to reduce vulnerability to attack.
The Ross depot was one of 31 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depots constructed across Australia following the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Australian Air Force identified the need for secure bulk storage of aviation fuel, leading to the establishment of an investigative committee to select suitable locations and designs. The depots were built from brick, concrete and steel, with construction largely carried out by the Allied Works Council.
Of the 31 depots, only one was built in Tasmania, making the Ross site a rare example of this infrastructure in the state. By early 1944, all depots were fully operational, supplying fuel through a coordinated system that relied on rail transport, road tankers and cooperation between the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Army Air Corps.
Although operational for only a short period, the Ross Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot remains an important part of the region’s wartime history. It reflects how the Northern Midlands, better known for agriculture and wool growing, also contributed to national defence during a time of global conflict.
Visiting the site: The Ross Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot is located on Tooms Lake Road and is not open to the public. The remains of the site can be viewed from the roadside, and there is space to park on the grass verge. Visitors should not enter the field or attempt to access the underground structures.
World War II Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot
Ross Fuel Depot 1948 - courtesy of LIST