Royal Geological Society of Queensland
26°S 146°E Oakleigh :-
Charleville has important connexions with Australian aviation history. On their 1919 flight from England to Australia Ross and Keith Smith made a landing near the town to affect repairs to their aircraft. In 1922 the first commercial airflight in Australia took place when Qantas flew paying passengers from Charleville to Longreach.
During WWII the Charleville airport was taken over by the US forces as a strategic bomber base and the RAAF established the meteorological office at the airstrip. In 1943 the RFDS base was established.
Seems the a/f was there long before US occupancy, that occurred after war started anyway, unless of course someone knows different....