There have been a number of significant historical events in the Kimberley Region since the discoveries of Baudin, Flinders and King.  The five brief stories that we have included on our site are associated with tragic events over a period of eighty years from 1864 to 1944. 

Camden Harbour, situated in the south eastern corner of Brecknock Harbour, was the site for the first European settlement in north western Australia.  In 1864, three ships, the STAG, the HELVETIA and the CALLIANCE sailed from Melbourne and arrived at Camden Harbour by late December.  By 5 January 1865 the CALLIANCE was wrecked, many horses and sheep had died, stores had been washed away by the 9m tides and a number of settlers had returned south. 

On 4 June 1865, Mary Jane Pascoe died just four days after giving birth to the settlement's first baby.  Mary Jane's grave (right) is still prominent on Sheep Island.  By 29 October 1865, the last of the settlers and government staff were leaving the settlement on the brig KESTREL.  This page presents some current photos and a brief insight into the tragedy of Camden Harbour.

The MV Koolama was built and launched in Glasgow in 1937 and was delivered to Fremantle in April 1938 to run the State Shipping Route to Wyndham.  On 20 February 1942, the KOOLAMA was bombed by Japanese planes about 20 miles north of Cape Londonderry.  The ship was beached in Koolama Bay at the mouth of the King George River. 

The majority of passengers and crew were ferried ashore to a beach on the western side of Koolama Bay.  After many days of hardship, they made their way overland to Drysdale River Mission (Pago) then on to Kalumburu before being airlifted south.  The KOOLAMA was temporarily repaired and limped into Wyndham where she was  again bombed by Japanese planes while moored to the wharf.  The KOOLAMA overturned and sank, and now lies at rest 100m from the wharf, covered by 20m of water and 4m of soft mud.

Truscott Airbase was established in 1943-44 as a forward base for launching raids into Indonesia to slow the approaching Japanese Army and Airforce.  A Liberator bomber crashed on takeoff in 1945 with the loss of 12 lives.  A small stone cairn amongst the wreckage (left) is a stark reminder of those who gave their lives for their country.  Our brief story on the history of Truscott Airbase provides a glimpse into another part of the Kimberley history.

Kimberley Aviators - These two pages contain brief stories of survival after the forced landings of the German aviators Bertram and Klausmann in the seaplane "Atlantis"  and the Australian aviators, Kingsford-Smith, Ulm, Litchfield and McWilliams in the "Southern Cross".

Camden Harbour Settlement | The Koolama Incident | Truscott Airbase | Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith | The Seaplane "Atlantis"

This page was last updated 02 February, 2007  -  download Kimberley History.pdf