Len Waters Estate

The suburb of Len Waters Estate was created in 2009 and zoned for industrial use.

Len Waters

The suburb is named for Len Waters, Australia’s first Aboriginal Australian military aviator and only publicly known fighter pilot in World War II. Len Waters flew 95 sorties in P-40 Curtiss Kittyhawk fighters, mainly ground attacks. After the war he worked as a shearer. He died of pneumonia on 24 August 1993 at Cunnamulla in Queensland, survived by his wife and six children. He is buried in the St George cemetery.

As Australia’s first Aboriginal fighter pilot, Len Waters featured on a stamp commissioned by Australia Post in 1995. He is also commemorated by Len Waters Street, Ngunnawal, Canberra; Leonard Waters Park, Boggabilla, New South Wales; and Len Waters Plains, Inala, Brisbane.

Hoxton Park Aerodrome

The Len Waters Estate is on the site of the former Hoxton Park Airport or Aerodrome. In 1929 the Aero Club of NSW bought land at Warwick Farm for a Flying Country Club. The area was called Hargrave Air Park in 1930 but was also known as the Hargrave Park Aerodrome. A blueprint of the aerodrome situates it between the Hume Highway, Brickmaker’s Creek and Cabramatta Creek, which marked the northern boundary. The airstrip ran parallel with the highway between Old Sydney Road and the railway line. The Aero Club House was built on the north side of Brickmakers Creek. The club covered most of the land originally owned by Arthur Devlin and Hugh Byrne which you can see in early maps of Liverpool pre-1930s.

In 1944 the British Navy took over Hargrave Park as HMS Golden Hind. In mid-1946 during World War II Hargrave Park opened as an emergency housing settlement with 200 huts. This developed into Hargrave Housing Settlement and was closed in the early 1960s. Hargrave Park then became included in the suburb of Warwick Park, and later Len Waters Estate.