Ingleburn

The decision to create the Second AIF in September 1939 necessitated the construction of new camp facilities across Australia to accommodate the new force as existing camps were already occupied by militia units called up for full-time training. One of these camps was erected at Ingleburn, near Liverpool in New South Wales, on 648 acres of farmland acquired for the sum of £20,000. The first troops to occupy the camp were from the 16th Brigade and arrived in the first week of November 1939. The camp facilities were spartan at first - consisting primarily of unlined, windowless corrugated iron huts - but were progressively improved as the war continued. The camp was officially named Bardia Barracks on 6 August 1951, after the 16th Brigade's first battle, and was expanded with the acquisition of another 320 acres of land in 1952. It was home to the 13th National Service Training Battalion during the 1950s, and then the Infantry Centre until 1971. Thereafter, Bardia Barracks was utilised principally by Army Reserve units and was closed in 1999.