Mount Evelyn in Yarra Ranges Shire, Victoria, Australia — Oceania

The Army Camp

— The Timeline Community Arts Project —

Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, June 18, 2026

1. The Army Camp Marker

Inscription. During World War II a Medical School was attached to the National Fitness Camp at Mt Evelyn Reserve. Australian servicemen and about 50 Americans were stationed there for medical and general training. The Americans were surprised that some familiar items were rationed here. The soldiers did bush training and marching around the York Road hill. They took their weapons out into the bush staged 'accidents' and practised extractions and bandaging of the 'wounded'. Wartime storage tunnels are believed to exist still under the oval.

Painted by Birmingham Primary School
Sponsored by Egon's Hair Shop

Erected by Mt Evelyn Township Improvement Committee.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Parks & Recreational Areas • War, World II.

Location. 37° 47.171′ S, 145° 22.787′ E. Marker is in Mount Evelyn, Victoria, in Yarra Ranges Shire. It can be reached from Wray Crescent 0.1 kilometers north of York Road (Victoria Route C402). Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 26 York Road, Mount Evelyn

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VIC 3796, Australia. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Oceania,

Australasia,

the Pacific Ocean,

South Pacific,

the Pacific Rim,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Rail Trail (here, next to this marker); The Aqueduct from Silvan (here, next to this marker); How this Project came about (here, next to this marker); Scouts 80 Years in Mt Evelyn (a few steps from this marker); Peace after War (a few steps from this marker); The First Train (within shouting distance of this marker); Swaggies in Tough Times (within shouting distance of this marker); The Berry Farm (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mount Evelyn.

Also see . . . Does Mt Evelyn have Wartime Tunnels?. Hidden Histories of Mt Evelyn

World War II tunnels or bunkers are rumoured to exist at the Mount Evelyn Recreation Camp or the Recreation Reserve. The Australian Army requisitioned the Camp in June 1942. American servicemen as well as Australians
Photographed by Dean Barton-Ancliffe, June 18, 2026

2. The Army Camp Marker along the Rail Trail
were stationed there. Locals remembered the soldiers marching along York Road and doing training exercises in the bush.

Noel Kerr recalled the 'Yanks camped on Do Drop In area' (now York on Lilydale) about 1944-45. He says they marched up one day, put guards at each end of Inverness Road, took over the woodcutters' timber mill next door to his grandparents' house, and set up targets. Over a few years Noel dug quite a few flat lead bullets out of the clay banks.

Rin Vanderwerth and a friend found a bomb in the Recreation Reserve area, identified by Army bomb disposal experts as an 'altitude bomb', and live!

Rumours abound that the supposed tunnels contained wartime relics – vehicles, planes, weapons, ammunition, explosives or dangerous chemicals. Military excavator Mark Rawson investigated the edges of the oval at the Reserve in 2002 and 2009, with inconclusive results.

'Tunnel' stories have a recurring theme of two boys finding – what? The tunnel entrance, revealed by a natural spring? Three tunnels with doors like the doors on shipping containers? The only person we know of who claimed to have seen the tunnels with his
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own eyes retracted his claim when we suggested he should inform the Army and the Police!

(Submitted on July 17, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 24, 2026. It was originally submitted on July 17, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria. This page has been viewed 9 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 17, 2026, by Dean Barton-Ancliffe of Rowville, Victoria. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.