Stories Past

by Lindsay Braden - Researcher Anglesea & District Historical Society

Loveridge Lookout - Anglesea's wartime Look-Out

During 1938 Mrs. Bertha Loveridge from  Anglesea's "Anglecrest"  financed a scenic lookout which was erected on the Crown Land reserve, just down the hill from her prominent 2 storey home. This popular viewpoint is still used to this day.

Four years later the popular structure took on a new role as Japanese armies came towards Northern Australia. It had a secret password which changed weekly, and was surrounded by a unfriendly barbed wire fence.  A stark sign stated - `RAAF PROHIBITED AREA' - the Volunteer Air Observers’ Corps had commenced operations at our seaside township. 

A group of  56 local volunteers, who knew very little about aircraft, kept the observation post open between 1942 and 1945 scanning the skies for friend or foe.

They played an important role in the ground warning strategy of the RAAF.  In this zone the effort was divided into two divisions - ground radar  station 13 at Cape Otway and 14 across the sea at Wilson’s Promontory. These were backed by air observation posts at Lorne, Anglesea and Torquay. This was to protect the Ocean approach to Port Phillip Heads.