Lake Boga is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is situated within the Rural City of Swan Hill

Rural City of Swan Hill

The Rural City of Swan Hill is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the north-western part of the state. It has an area of 6,103 square kilometres. In 2001 it had a population of 21,000...

 within the Mallee

The Mallee

The Mallee is the most northwesterly district in the state of Victoria, and also encompasses the agricultural district of South Australia. Definitions vary, however all are based on the Victorian distribution of mallee eucalypts...

 region of north-west Victoria. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Lake Boga had a population of 725. The town is located 325 kilometres (202 mi) north west of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 and 17 kilometres (11 mi) south east of the regional centre Swan Hill

Swan Hill, Victoria

Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia. It is located on the Murray Valley Highway, on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At the 2006 census, Swan Hill had a population of 9,684.-History:...

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History

The Wemba-Wemba

Wemba-Wemba

The Wemba-Wemba are an Indigenous Australian group in north-Western Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia, including in the Mallee and the Riverina regions. They are also known as the Wamba-wamba....

 Indigenous Australian people occupied the lake for thousands of years before the arrival of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell in June 1836.

Two German Moravian missionaries, Reverend A.F.C. Täger and Reverend F.W. Spieseke, established Lake Boga mission

Lake Boga mission

Lake Boga Mission station was established on the south-eastern shores of Lake Boga, Victoria, Australia in 1851 by the Moravian Church on the land of the Wemba-Wemba. The mission was established by Reverend Andreas Friedrich Christian Täger and Reverend Friedrich Wilhelm Spieseke...

 in 1851. The mission closed in 1856 due to lack of converts, disputes with local authorities and hostilities from local landholders. The Moravian Church established a subsequent mission site near Lake Hindmarsh in 1859 (see Ebenezer Mission

Ebenezer Mission

Ebenezer Mission station was established near Lake Hindmarsh, Victoria, Australia in 1859 by the Moravian Church on the land of the Wotjobaluk. The first missionaries were two Germans, Reverend Friedrich Hagenauer and Reverend F.W. Spieseke. In 1861 the Victorian Colonial Government gazetted as a...

).

The Post Office opened on 8 August 1887.

Lake Boga in World War II was once a site of a top-secret air base which housed more than one thousand personnel who serviced and repaired the flying boats at the Number One Flying Boat Repair Depot.

Planes like Catalinas were regularly seen coming in to land on the circular lake, only to leave soon after on secret allied missions.

The depot and bunkers were deemed top-secret military sites but when Qantas and then subsequently the RAAF came in their flying boats to inspect Lake Boga "It was supposed to be top-secret but... there were about three hundred people on the shore watching these aeroplanes come in!"

The museum now inhabits an underground bunker, built in the forties to withstand enemy attack. It is a long domed structure with turf over the top and a wheelchair access ramp now snakes down to the entrance. Inside, the building retains much of its air of mystery. The claustrophobic space is filled with memorabilia from the depot, as well as maps and photos illustrating the strategic importance of the site.

The town today

The town is located next to the lake of the same name which is popular with water sports, particularly water skiing. The surrounding area is used for agriculture including fruit and vegetable growing and grain production. There is a sizable wine grape industry in the area and one local winery.

There is a PBY Catalina

PBY Catalina

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...

 flying boat

Flying boat

A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...

 on display as Lake Boga was a Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 flying boat maintenance facility during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, known as the Lake Boga Flying Boat Base

Lake Boga Flying Boat Base

Lake Boga Flying Boat Base was a Royal Australian Air Force flying boat base at Lake Boga, Victoria, Australia during World War II.When the Imperial Japanese attacked Darwin and Broome in 1942 resulting in the loss of 16 flying boats, the establishment of a safe haven for flying boats was required...

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The town has an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 team competing in the Central Murray Football League

Central Murray Football League

The Central Murray Football League is a major country Australian rules football competition based in northern Victoria, Australia and southwest New South Wales, Australia.-History:...

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Regional water shortage caused by drought resulted in Lake Boga becoming completely dry. In March 2010, work began to refill the lake and by June the lake was full to the brim The lake has an approximate capacity of 37000 megalitres (48,394,172.9 cu yd).