LOVERIDGE LOOKOUT AND VOLUNTEER AIR OBSERVERS CORPS (VAOC) OBJECTS

The Loveridge Lookout and objects integral to the place including four logbooks, one roster book, a Morse Code key instrument, and a VAOC badge.

Loveridge Lookout is of historical significance to the State of Victoria. It satisfies the following criterion for inclusion in the Victorian Heritage Register:

Importance to the course, or pattern, of Victoria's cultural history.

Possession of uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of Victoria's cultural history.

Special association with the life or works of a person, or group of persons, of importance in Victoria's history

The Loveridge Lookout is significant at the State level for the following reasons:

The Loveridge Lookout is historically significant as one of two remaining Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) posts in Victoria established to support the defence of Australia during World War II. The Lookout was continuously occupied by a group of VAOC civilian volunteers, most of whom were women, from its establishment in June 1942 to its decommissioning in September 1945. Its operation is recorded in a complete set of logbooks (1942-45), a roster (1943), the original Morse Code Key instrument used to relay messages, and a VAOC badge worn by one of the volunteers held by the Anglesea and District Historical Society. [Criterion A]

The Loveridge Lookout is rare as one of two known VAOC observation posts in Victoria and the only which survives with associated objects that explain its use and operation. This class of place is endangered to the point of rarity in Victoria due to the destruction or loss of the VAOC observation structures and their associated records following the end of World War II. [Criterion B]

The Loveridge Lookout and Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) Objects together demonstrates how the VAOC made a strong contribution to the course of Victoria's history through the work of its volunteers, mainly women, in supporting the defence of the coastline and inland sites from enemy attack during World War II. [Criterion H]