Inside Melbourne’s WWII War Cabinet Room ahead of proposed sale
Tony Wright
The furniture is dark and carries the weight of sad history.
Dark brown curtains that match the carpet are heavy, pulled tightly to prevent light from escaping or letting in, and conceal thickened glass designed to thwart eavesdroppers.
It is paneled in a wall that allows a hidden recess to be revealed or covered in minutes. Behind him lay maps showing the course of a war that had gone beyond Australia’s borders.
As you might expect, arrows were scrawled on these maps, following the intended route of warships, the path of troops, or the flight of warplanes.
The strong men who anxiously studied the map walls knew full well that these arrows led to the possible deaths of the young Australians, their enemies, or both. These men had to guarantee Australia’s capital accumulation, and the entire machinery of government stood behind their war power.
Here, in this soundproof room, behind two sturdy, padded doors in a row, throughout the Second World War years, he met with members of Australia’s war cabinet.
It still stands there, within the bluestone walls of Melbourne’s Victoria Barracks, where the great St Kilda Road once ran.
This tag was given permission to tour the historic site as the federal government plans to sell off a huge chunk of Australia’s military real estate, including at least part of Melbourne’s Victoria Barracks, to raise an estimated $3 billion.
The barracks, with its distinctive ivy-covered bluestone walls at the front, was home to the Australian Department of Defense from 1910 to 1953 before moving to Canberra. It remains the defense administrative centre.
At the center of its national importance is the War Cabinet Room, built in 1917 and formed by a set of narrow staircases in what was known as Block A New Wing. Whatever the form of the proposed sale, it will be protected by heritage legislation.
Inside, there is a brass ashtray next to a bakelite telephone, which speaks of a century old.
Once upon a time, cigars and cigarettes were given away freely, and larger ashtrays were placed around the large wooden table that dominated the room for each man’s (always male) personal use.
A special air extraction system was installed to deal with the smoke while heavy decisions were being made.
Each member of the war cabinet had a button on his knee with which he could summon personnel and documents.
Cups of tea and biscuits were brought to cool off. According to the social history of Victoria Barracks, written by Agnes Hannan and first published in 1995, the standard order was seven cups of tea and six biscuits. It was not disclosed who smuggled the biscuit.
Three prime ministers led the war cabinet throughout the brutal six years of the Second World War.
Each was assisted by a small group of key ministers.
A Defense Advisory Council, made up of senior figures from government and opposition parties, met nearby, ensuring bipartisan support for the war effort.
The only person who attended every important meeting during the war years was Sir Frederick Shedden, the powerful secretary of the Ministry of Defence, the architect of Australia’s war management and a meticulous record-keeper.
Shedden arrived at Victoria Barracks in 1910 and remained at the barracks until 1971, except for service in London and France during the First World War and later periods of official business in London and Geneva. His office is located close to the war room, another revered part of Australia’s defense heritage.
Robert Menzies headed the war cabinet for the first two years, from 1939 to 1941. The Country Party’s Arthur Fadden shadowed Menzies for several weeks after he resigned as prime minister, having lost the confidence of the United Australia Party.
As Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen fought Japan, Labor prime minister John Curtin took responsibility for the final years of the war.
The war, the stress and anxiety of life-or-death decisions, interspersed with grueling trips to London and Washington and back and forth between Melbourne and Canberra, had robbed Curtin of his health.
Curtin died of a heart attack at The Lodge in Canberra as Australia’s 7th Division began its final operation against Japanese forces at the Battle of Balikpapan in Borneo. It was July 5, 1945, just two months before the Allied victory in the Pacific.
The War Cabinet Room at Melbourne’s venerable Victoria Barracks has, unsurprisingly, been preserved as an Australian treasure for generations.
But jelly is not a museum piece.
The room was used for meetings of both John Howard’s and Paul Keating’s cabinets and continues to host decision-making moments of national and military importance.
A collection of wartime maps still stands on one wall. In a cabinet in the next room is the War Book: a document that instructs all government departments on what to do when entering a state of war.
Major General Jason Blain says the war room is a constant reminder of the consequences of major decisions affecting Australia and its people.
“The decisions we make now are important decisions for our nation and our Defense Force, and doing that where the war cabinet room is located gives you a sense of gravity about ensuring those decisions stand the test of time,” says Blain, the Australian Army’s chief of land systems and the most senior Australian Defense Force officer in Melbourne.
Victoria Barracks dates back to 1856, when soldiers of the 40th Regiment of Foot, a British regiment that had previously suppressed the miners’ rebellion at the Eureka Stockade, were required to build their own accommodation.
The first building, Block G, is still standing. It is the only example of a military-built barracks in Australia, according to public servant Bronwyn White, who regularly gives tours of Victoria Barracks.
But in our long history there has been no corner of the barracks more important than the small, dark room where Australian leaders led their nations into battle.
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