History

During the 2nd World War supplies of oil and petrol in Australia were limited and the government of the day promoted the production of charcoal which could be used to produce gas for power and heating. A new wave of logging began in the forest, now targeting younger Ironbarks and the setting up of charcoal kilns.

The problem this program faced, with so many able-bodied men participating in the war effort, was a lack of labour. Fortunately at the time there was also concern about the number and activities of “enemy aliens”, nationals from the Axis powers, and how to control them. Throughout Australia these men were forcibly sent to rural areas to provide labour for charcoal production and to work on a number of other labouring projects. 

In the forest region this mainly involved Italian nationals from 1943. They were billeted in temporary camps in and around the forest as well as nearby Mendooran, Mogriguy, Breelong and Dubbo. Local forestry officers supervised their work but they seem to have had a fair amount of freedom, being allowed to travel at times unattended and even, under supervision, to local dances, where they were shunned by some but others declared them to be “very polite”.

One of the more curious stories from this time is that of the Chinese charcoal burners of the forest. Far from being “enemy aliens” China was an Allied ally and these men had volunteered to aid the war effort in their new home. In May of 1942, a Mr. P J Choe, a merchant of Sydney, brought 16 Shanghai Chinese, most likely refugees from the Japanese invasion of China to work charcoal kilns out of Mogriguy. They were commended in February 1953 as being the “best aliens in charcoal production”.

Charcoal production involved cutting smaller trees that could be fed into a large metal vat and gradually burning them down to charcoal which could then be transported to a charcoal gas production factory. If you see a 6 inch stump in the forest it is likely to have been harvested for this purpose.

By July of 1945 the last of the aliens had left the forest and all the kilns sold off, the last being those at Three Corners, several to nearby farmers for use as grain silos and other purposes. There are some silos on the south side of Old Harbour which may be old charcoal kilns. In the forest today the best location I have found to see remnants of these kilns is on the Charcoal Burners Track along Goondy Creek included as a walking track on this site.