I was based at Tindal for quite a while.
YPTN was built in the mid 70's as a "bare bones" RAAF base. I believe the old Katherine strip was closed about '75. The houses used by the construction squadron were vacated by the end of '75 and were then used for a short time to house some refugees from the Indonesian invasion of Portuguese Timor.
I started working at Tindal in the early 1980's and Tillair had definately been operating out of TN since 1977.
The RAAF used to come in every so often for an "excercise" bring in bladder tanks for a fuel dump etc.
VB from the mobile mess was 20c a can!!
