About This Unit
11 Base Workshops
Workshops are the equipment equivalent of medical units for soldiers. Electrical and Mechanical equipment has progressively become a more critical component of force combat power since the middle of the 19th century, when their primary focus was armaments and wheeled vehicles (wagons). Their role took an exponential bound with the advent of sophisticated modern small arms and artillery, then motorised vehicle propulsion followed in WW1 by radio telecommunications and a general proliferation of electrical/electronic equipment. The need to recover, repair and maintain this equipment as far forward as possible so that it can be returned to the battlespace as quickly as possible, has grown proportionately as has the requirement for trained personnel to do it.
These personnel are organised in the Australian Army as Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; with the 'Royal' title attached in 1948 they are now known as the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, or RAEME. They are deployed across the battlespace, embedded in the 'A' Echelons (ie one step back from the Forward Edge of the Battle Area (FEBA) of combat units, in what is described as 'First Line' all the way back to 'Third Line' / Communications Zone echelons which are generally in mainland Australia. A RAEME soldier is known as a 'Craftsman'. RAEME Craftsmen repair and maintain equipment as diverse as tanks, trucks and armoured personnel carriers, helicopters, radios, radars and computers, artillery guns and missile systems. Among the wide range of trades available in the Corps are vehicle mechanics, electronics technicians, aircraft technicians and armament fitters.
11 Base Workshops was a unit in its own right. It was a '3rd Line' level of repair facility and occupied part of the site of the former Rocklea Ammunition Factory on the southern side of Compo Road Salisbury (Brisbane) in about 6 November 1944 when General Motors made space available to the Australian Army for use as a Tank Workshop Depot.
The 11 Aust Base Workshop Camp was established on Lillian Avenue on the site of a former Salisbury Civil Constructional Corps CCC Transit Camp. They extended the former smaller CCC Camp further southwards adding more buildings. The 11th Australian Base Workshop was bounded by Lillian Avenue to the north, Bidder Street to the west, and Regis Street to the east. Its southern boundary was about half way between Golda Street and Leah Avenue.(1)
Source
(1) OzatWar website https://www.ozatwar.com/ausarmy/11australianbaseworkshop.htm (www.ozatwar.com) (sourced 19 July 2021)