Amberley
Postcode: 4306
Amberley is a small community located in South East Queensland, south of Ipswich. Australia’s biggest air force base, the RAAF Base Amberley is situated here and the Bureau of Meteorology has a weather observation station in Amberley. To the south of Amberley is the Fassifern Valley.
Amberley had its lowest temperature of -4.9 degrees on the 8 August 1995, as southern Queensland suffered a severe cold snap. The previous coldest temperature was -4.3 degreess reached on 29 July 1994.
About 14 kilometres south-west of Ipswich, and about 50km or so west of Brisbane, Amberley is the location of Australia’s biggest airforce base. But so little is recorded in tourist directories about this place – in fact, it’s hardly ever mentioned – that one wonders if some arcane secrecy agreement isn’t in place to play down its whereabouts.
Anyway, aeroplane enthusiasts should enjoy the short trip out from Ipswich, and the locals seem friendly enough, which comes as no real surprise.
You will discover that Amberley has been an important link in the RAAF since World War II when it was a training base and staging centre for the US Army Air Corps. Since 1948 it has been the RAAF’s major base for bomber and strike operations. Over the last 50-odd years it has been home to a chain of aircraft ranging through Lincolns, Canberras, F-4 Phantoms and, currently, to the F-111.