Editing Tocumwal (section)

==History==
Prior to European settlement, the Tocumwal area was inhabited by the [[Ulupna]] and [[Bangerang]] people. The first pastoral runs were established in the 1840s. The town was established in the early 1860s and gazetted in 1862 as:

"a Village to be called TOCUMWAL ... Situated on the Murray River, on the road from Albury to Deniliquin, about 50 miles west of Corowa, and 40 south-east of Deniliquin."<ref>[{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225234488 |title=TOCUMWAL. |newspaper=[[New South Wales Government Gazette]] |issue=120 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=18 July 1862 |access-date=28 April 2017 |page=1283 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Tocumwal Post Office opened on 1 August 1868.<ref name="a">{{Cite web | last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Tocumwal* | access-date = 20 March 2021 }}</ref>

Prior to [[Federation of Australia|Federation]], Tocumwal was an important [[customs]] point for goods moving between the then British [[colony|colonies]] of Victoria and New South Wales.<ref name="SMHTravel">{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Tocumwal/2005/02/17/1108500199570.html |title=Travel - Tocumwal |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=2007-02-18 |date=2004-02-08}}</ref>

A [[standard gauge]] branch line, from the [[New South Wales Government Railways]] (NSWGR) [[Main Southern railway line, New South Wales|Main Southern railway line]] at [[Junee, New South Wales|Junee]], reached [[Narrandera, New South Wales|Narrandera]] in 1881 and a branch from Narrandera was completed to Tocumwal in 1898.<ref>{{cite web | publisher = nswrail.net | title=Tocumwal Branch | url = http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:tocumwal |access-date = 2007-02-01}}</ref> The [[broad gauge]] [[Victorian Railways]] [[Shepparton railway line|Melbourne-Shepparton railway line]] was extended to Tocumwal in 1908, creating a [[break-of-gauge]] location at Tocumwal, but the NSWGR line from [[Finley, New South Wales|Finley]] to Tocumwal was closed in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bozier |first1=Rolfe |title=Tocumwal Branch |url=https://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:tocumwal |website=NSWrail.net |access-date=2023-09-28}}</ref>

During [[World War II]] the town was the site of [[Royal Australian Air Force]] [[RAAF Station Tocumwal|Station Tocumwal]], which was a major [[Royal Australian Air Force]] training airfield and aircraft depot. Units included (at various times) the 5 Operational Training Unit, 7 Operational Training Unit, 7 Aircraft Depot and the Paratroop Training Unit.<ref name="Logistics units">{{Citation |author1=Royal Australian Air Force. Historical Section |title=Logistics units |publication-date=1995 |publisher=AGPS Press |isbn=978-0-644-42798-2}}</ref> Today, the airfield is a renowned [[gliding]] site.

Also during the War, Tocumwal was the location of [[List of RAAF inland aircraft fuel depots|RAAF No.14 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot]] (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. Usually consisting of four tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the [[RAAF]] and the [[US Army Air Forces]] at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).<ref name="Logistics units"/> 

{{section or|date=August 2012}}

After the War ended, families were housed at the American Air Force Hospital and the men travelled daily over the river to [[Yarroweyah]], in Victoria, to work on farms, which they could then apply for under the [[soldier settlement (Australia)|soldier settlement]] scheme. The hospital was on or next to Barooga Station. Living quarters were in long [[Nissen huts]], with three or four families in each and a shared bathroom. Single quarters were at the front and a cook was employed.

Also after the War, about 200 Air Force houses in Tocumwal were disassembled and trucked to [[Canberra]] to be reused in as government housing for workers from [[Melbourne]] and [[Sydney]] who were constructing the new capital city. Called [[Tocumwal houses]], they remain a distinctive architectural feature in Canberra's suburbs, such as [[O'Connor, Australian Capital Territory|O'Connor]] and [[Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory|Ainslie]].<ref name=ACTLibrary>{{cite web |title=ACT Heritage Library Manuscript Collection: HMSS 0074 Tocumwal Houses Archive |url=http://www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/search/Manuscript_Collections/hmss_0074_tocumwal_houses_archive |work=HMSS 0074 Tocumwal Houses Archive |publisher=[[ACT Heritage Library]] |access-date=28 June 2020}}</ref>