Kurth Kiln
[1] Dr Ernest Edgar Kurth from the University of Tasmania was commissioned to design the kiln with the aim of mass-producing charcoal as an alternative fuel in the response to war-time petrol rationing.
At the start of the war, the country had sufficient petrol for only three months supply and by May 1940 the Commonwealth Oil Board estimated that only 67 per cent of the total capacity of about 140 million gallons was on-hand.
[5] On 17 June 1941 the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies announced further restrictions to motorists limiting them to two gallons per month which were enough for 1,000 miles per year so many simply put their cars up on blocks for the duration and switched to public transport or walked.
District Foresters were authorised to issue petrol coupons for timber industry trucks, which, in the absence of private cars and utes, often served as family transport too.
The main areas of State forest producing charcoal were in a broad arc across Central Victoria at places like Beaufort, Trentham, Lionville, Macedon, Broadford, the Dandenongs and Gembrook.
The simplest method was the "beehive kiln" where wood was stacked vertically into a conical heap to allow air and smoke movement and then covered with a layer of sticks and twigs.
A special vehicle-mounted unit which converted charcoal into flammable gases (principally carbon monoxide and hydrogen) was known to be suitable to power internal combustion engines.
[5] Charcoal was relatively simple to produce but had a well-deserved reputation for being inconvenient to use for short trips, inefficient, under powered, dirty, belching black smoke, catching fire and occasionally exploding.
[5] This massive increase required nearly 280,000 tones of dry wood annually to feed the hundreds of kilns set up across State forests, as well as on private land, at a time when labour was critically short.
The assistance of an expert Advisory Panel, representing charcoal producers, manufacturers and distributors of vehicle gas equipment, the Department of Supply and Development, and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, was enlisted under the Chairman of the Forests Commission, Alfred Vernon Galbraith.
Preliminary arrangements were made for bag supplies, for railway sidings in Melbourne, and for processing of charcoal bought by the Branch in excess of the requirements of private grading firms.
[4] The Commission had the added responsibility of providing emergency firewood to Melbourne for heating and cooking purposes as a result of reductions in the supply of coal, electricity and gas.
[11] In July 1941, Professor Kurth provided details of his kiln design and nine pages of handwritten notes on its operation to Galbraith which marked the beginning of the project at Gembrook.
[3] The claimed advantages could not be ignored by an organisation under pressure to secure Victoria's war-time charcoal supplies, so Galbraith enclosed £5 to Professor Kurth in a letter on 16 July 1941 for the use of his patented design.
[2] The selection of the suitable site on State forest for Professor Kurth's kiln depended on adequate supplies of water, wood, and gradient.
[2] Much of the Gembrook landscape had been cleared for agriculture, supported a thriving timber industry and also mined for gold and gemstones since 1859 so most of the older mature forest had been disturbed in some way.
There was also a critical shortage of labour to operate the kiln during the war years which was exacerbated by a major timber salvage program underway in the Central Highlands after the deadly 1939 Black Friday bushfires.
A construction contract for the kiln was awarded to builders Stanley and Nance of Middle Park on 17 October and the detailed design work was done by the Forests Commission’s own architect, Mr S. J.
[12] The project cost £1799 17s 2d which included the establishment of the site, construction of the kiln, erection of buildings, purchase of equipment, the connection of telephone and supply of water.
[2] Continuing transport and distribution difficulties from Gembrook combined with an oversupply of charcoal from private operators meant the kiln was used only intermittently during 1943 and was shut down soon after.
[2] After the cessation of war hostilities, the Kallista District of the Forests Commission advised in February 1946, that they could absorb 40 returned servicemen for silvicultural, afforestation, fire protection, and utilisation works.
This was part of a five-year statewide plan drawn up and approved by the Allied Works Council [1] with funding allocated for the first two-year period totalling £3,842,175.
The remaining buildings began to slowly deteriorate and construction of an all-weather road network meant workmen could be housed at nearby townships instead.
[2] Kurth kiln began its transformation into a picnic ground in about 1978 led by District Forester Frank May with works supervised by two local overseers Tom Steege and Bob Ferris.
