B-24 Liberator Memorial Australia

Restoring Australia's only surviving B-24 Liberator

This is the only remaining Liberator in the Southern Hemisphere and is one of only eight still existent in the world.

This intricate restoration work is proceeding in one of the impressive World War II hangars on the old Werribee airfield - just outside Melbourne in Victoria. It is our intention to eventually have the airframe completely restored.

The B24 Liberator Memorial Australia has gained Accreditation by Museums Australia (Victoria) meeting set criteria from the National Standards for Australian Museums and Galleries and joins the 75 Victorian collections Accredited in Victoria.

History of the Fund

Following earlier work by Eric Clark and Bob Butler R.A.A.F Wagga in 1988 hosted a two day meeting to examine the possibility of getting a B-24 Liberator on public display.

The meeting was arranged by B-24 Squadrons of Australia and was chaired by President Wing Commander R.A. Dunne D.F.C. R.A.A.F. (Retired) ex commanding officer of No. 23 (Liberator) Squadron. It was also attended by representatives of the R.A.A.F. the Australian War Memorial and others.

That meeting unanimously resolved to form the B-24 Liberator Memorial Fund with a foundation committee consisting of Bob Butler (Chairman) Eric Clark and Terry Lane together with ex-officio members representing the R.A.A.F. The Australian War Memorial and (later) the National Trust of Australia (Vic.).

The Committee first met in January 1989 to formulate plans and the rest of that year was spent becoming familiar with the task before it: searching for aircrafts or parts of them from which a display could be assembled.

In December 1989 the Fund was formally incorporated as a non-profit Association under the model rules of the Victorian Associations Incorporation Act 1981 with the title - B-24 LIBERATOR MEMORIAL FUND INCORPORATED.

At the Annual General Meeting in 1997 in recognition that the aircraft restoration was in fact proceeding the word "Restoration" was added to more adequately describe the Fund's purpose which is registered as:

"To do all that is necessary to acquire and restore a B-24 Liberator and associated aircraft and artefacts as a memorial to all those who served with Liberators during WW2 for display in an accredited museum as part of the national collection."