Arltunga Mission (1942 - 1953)

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Arltunga Mission was the new name given to the Roman Catholic Little Flower Mission in 1942 when it was forced to relocate from Charles Creek to Arltunga, 100kms east of Alice Springs. The arrival of the Army and the establishment of Alice Springs as an Army base due to World War II was a deciding factor in the move.

Two Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and two Sisters from the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, along with all the Aboriginal residents of Little Flower Mission, were taken to Arltunga in Army trucks in September of 1942. Facilities at the new site were not ready for their arrival and the two Sisters and one of the Missionaries returned to Alice Springs, leaving the Aboriginal people and one Catholic Brother to work at the Mission site. Building materials were supplied by the Military in March 1943 and over the next few months a Mission School was established. It is unclear whether there were also Mission dormitories. At the Mission the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart were in charge of the boys and the girls were under the control of the Sisters from the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

In 1953, the Arltunga Mission moved again to a new site, 80kms south-east of Alice Springs, where it was renamed Santa Teresa Mission.