WW1 trenches archeological dig at Jerrabomberra Wetlands. Photo: John Freeman
While preparing a history of the Jerrabomberra Wetlands Nature Reserve, early air photos of the reserve came to light with ‘strange squiggles’ on them. It turned out that this was the site of a trench warfare and bombing school – quite a find in the year of the centenary of World War I!
The trenches have long been filled in, but the Jerrabomberra Wetlands Management Committee recognised the potential of the site to generate community interest and further funding.
A collaborative project between the Committee, the Australian National University’s (ANU’s) School of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the ACT Parks and Conservation Service aimed to locate, protect, interpret and promote physical evidence of the Australian Imperial Force school.
A group of students from the ANU used ‘Time Team’ equipment to investigate the site, including ground-penetrating radar, magnetometry and resistivity testers. Unfortunately, this work proved largely inconclusive and more intrusive methods were required. The ACT Heritage Council approved limited excavation in the hope of intersecting some artefacts and gaining visual evidence of the 1916 trenches.
This work unearthed visual evidence of trench warfare training. When operational, the site contained a series of trenches used for different purposes such as supply, mortar bombing and front-line trenches. The trenches were constructed by soldiers from the Canberra region who were based at Goulburn at the time.
Other trench warfare training sites of this type in Australia have been lost to development, leaving the site at the wetlands as perhaps a lone example of this period in our history.
The sustainability of programs and funding is a concern for many conservation reserves, even those on public land. The Committee is hopeful that the discovery of the trenches will help to generate community interest and stakeholder engagement to support further research and development, and, in turn, support of conservation initiatives elsewhere within the wetlands.