Three brothers, Gordon, Douglas and Keith Blythe who owned and operated several pastoral leases in the east Kimberley[1] devised an Air Beef Scheme (also known as the Glenroy Air Beef Scheme) by which a meatworks including an abattoir, carcase freezing facilities and an aerodrome were built at the remote Glenroy Station on the Mount House lease, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east of Imintji Aboriginal Community near Derby.
Gordon Blythe had convinced MacRobertson Miller Airlines (MMA) to do a trial air shipment in May 1947 when four carcasses were slaughtered and left at the station at 2am, arriving in Perth in good condition at 3pm the same day.
The trial being considered a success, a company Air Beef Ltd was established as a joint venture between the Blythes, MMA and Australian National Airways (ANA), with each party putting up one quarter of the capital and the Western Australian Government (through the North West Development and Advisory Committee, which was headed by Russell Dumas), assisting and providing a loan for the remaining quarter.
It was hoped that the scheme would spawn a network of inland abattoirs throughout northern Australia, however this did not eventuate;[1] plans for a similar facility at Fitzroy Crossing were shelved.
By 1953 the southern section of the Gibb River Road to Derby was completed and the first live shipment of cattle by truck from the east Kimberley was made.