New camp for Army training area Tin Can Bay DPR/TV/1434

Engineers from 7 Field Squadron, based at Enoggera, Qld, are currently engaged in the construction of a new Army camp in the Tin Can Bay Training Area. The camp, named Camp Kerr, is situated seven miles from Tin Can Bay Township, which is 35 miles east from Gympie, Qld. The laying on of sewerage, showers and water supply, and the construction of seven miles of roadway throughout the camp area, will enable Camp Kerr to provide "A" Scale accommodation for a battalion. This will negate the need for a battalion moving into the area, to bring with it more than a few items of camping equipment. The camp construction, which began at the end of June involving 150 men, is expected to be completed by mid-September. The marshy topography of the region necessitated the inclusion of 18 culverts in the seven miles of roadway. Heavy rains over Tin Can Bay damaged culvert work which had already begun. However, rain hasn't been the only obstacle 7 Field Squadron has encountered in the course of their project. Several members recently found themselves acting as enemy for 9th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, who were engaged in the area on Exercise Samford Road. The Engineers' camp was the central object in a cordon and search operation by 9th Battalion during the Exercise. Only after repeated assurances by the Engineers to 9th Battalion soldiers, that they weren't Viet Cong, were they released after interrogation to return to their picks and shovels. Plans have been made for the inclusion of a new airstrip in the Camp Kerr project. An existing airstrip, which is about four miles from Camp Kerr, was built by 7 Field Squadron eight years ago. The Tin Can Bay Training Area is the main Army training area in South Queensland Area, and is widely used by both Regular and Citizen Military Forces' units.