 During the period 1925 to 1939 locals used to surreptitiously used the water tanks as a swimming facility.The abandoned Vestey's meatworks was used by the Darwin Mobile Force as their barracks from March 1939 until August 1940.In 1942, with the Japanese air force on the verge of reaching Australia, military authorities feared the tank would give invaders a reliable water supply and allow them to get further inland.