"place_id","name","alt_name","type","address","suburb","postcode","region","latitude","longitude","summary_html","history_html","source_html" 2,"Army hut","moved to site postwar","Military accommodation","79 Sussex Street",Acacia Ridge,4110,Brisbane City,-27.5385494232178,153.050521850586,,, 4,"Public Pill Shelter","Archerfield Quarry","Civil defence facility","174 Mortimer Road",Acacia Ridge,4110,Brisbane City,-27.5771503448486,153.015762329102,,,"
BCC Heritage Unit citation; BCC Works Dept Plan
" 6,"United States (US) 13th Station Hospital","Base 2 Head Quarters (1945); Current site of Holy Spirit Primary School","Medical facility","Ross River Road (cnr Hatchett Street)",Aitkenvale,4814,Townsville,-19.3012313842773,146.754516601562,"Patients of the acute medical or surgical class in the Townsville area were hospitalised at the United States (US) 13th Station Hospital located on the corner of Ross River Road and Hatchett Street.
","The US 13th Station Hospital at Aitkenvale initially consisted of 250 beds in late March 1942.
This could expand in an emergency with 200 extra beds.
Raised walkways connected the prefabricated 'tropical' wards with ramps to assist trolleys and wheelchairs.
There were initially twelve ward 'tents' with floors, frames and screens.
A staging area and camp for two mobile hospital ships (89th & 96th) was located on land across the road from this hospital (in the vicinity of Ross River Road) which totalled 47 acres.
By June 1943, the hospital had 450 beds which included separate wards, an administration, surgery, x ray, laboratory, post office, clothing warehouse and patient recreation huts. A performance stage and movie screen had also been constructed to entertain patients.
Two buildings were transferred to this hospital from the 85th Station Hospital at Majors Creek/Woodstock when it began to close in January 1944.
This included the former Chapel and a building which became the Red Cross facility.
Hospital patients did not just include those wounded by the enemy.
The hazards of mosquito born disease and 'malaria discipline' were taken seriously as it reduced operational capability.
Malaria education packs of repellent and malariol tablets were supplied to all troops to prevent infection.
Base Surgeon records noted that wool gloves were to be issued to soldiers in Townsville to prevent mosquito infection.
These were to be used instead of proper mosquito gloves, until stocks of the former were exhausted.
Somewhat obviously, the Surgeon noted that it would be:
doubtful that wool gloves would be used by an American soldier in a tropical climate without stern disciplinary measures.
The 13th Station Hospital began a staged closure between April and June 1944.
Patients were then transferred to the US 44th General Hospital at Black River.
The closure of the hospital saw several US installations relocate to this site and vacate civilian buildings in the city.
On 7 July 1944 US Base Intelligence occupied one of the former buildings.
In December 1944 this Office interrogated a number of Chinese who had been formerly prisoners of the Japanese and were captured in New Guinea.
The interrogation was to ascertain whether they could divulge any information of interest to US Intelligence.
Additionally it was to determine if they were loyal and suitable for employment (mainly as labourers) within the United States Army.
In July 1944 the APO 922 Postmaster was moved into a building formerly used to hold medical supplies.
In the same month the entire Base Headquarters including the Chaplains' Office were also moved to the site.
The Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School now occupies the site.
Recent construction works have uncovered building remains from the former hospital.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1., [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 3 Chaplains' Office., [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 4., [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 9,"Aitkenvale Weir Airfield","Weir State School","Airfield","In vicinity of Ross River Road near Weir State School",Aitkenvale,4814,Townsville,-19.3150787353516,146.735382080078,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference.
" 10,"Fifth Division Head Quarters","Aitkenvale Park","Headquarters","near Aitkenvale Library, near Ross River Road & Aitkenvale Park",Aitkenvale,4814,Townsville,-19.2925321863452,146.771855950356,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",, 12,"Breakfast Creek Brothels","Breakfast Creek Hotel carpark","Recreation/community","2 Kingsford Smith Drive",Albion,4110,Brisbane City,-27.4401569366455,153.045806884766,"Before World War Two, prostitution in Brisbane fell into two categories. There were brothels that were tolerated by the Queensland Government and known to the police and health authorities. As well, there were individual street prostitutes.
The Breakfast Creek Hotel carpark had two such brothels, that serviced troops from Camp Ascot Park, Camp Doomben and Eagle Farm Airfield.
","Brothels had existed in Brisbane prior to World War Two under the watchful eye of the Queensland Police. A crisis arose in September 1942, when Brisbane's prostitutes could not cope with the large numbers of Allied servicemen arriving in Brisbane. The Federal Government entrained Sydney prostitutes on the 'Curtin Special' to head to Brisbane to aid the war effort. Established brothels remained close to the City Centre but a number of short-term brothels operated close to some of the large military camps located in the suburbs.
During 1942, as Brisbane was the headquarters for the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) Command, it developed into a major Allied base. The burgeoning numbers of Australian and American soldiers either working or on leave in Brisbane placed heavy pressure on the local accommodation and recreation facilities. By September 1942, there were approximately 250,000 servicemen based in or near Brisbane, a figure close to Brisbane's entire population in 1939.
Brisbane's prostitutes could not cope with the overwhelming demand in servicemen's business. In September 1942, the Queensland Government made informal appeals to the Commonwealth Government for assistance with this sensitive issue. A representative of the Curtin Government made approaches to the Sydney underworld, particularly the well-known Thommo's two-up school in Surrey Hills. Soon Sydney prostitutes were volunteering for service in Brisbane. The Federal Government hired a train (unofficially dubbed the Curtin Special), paid the train fares of the girls and arranged cheap accommodation in Brisbane. Though paid low wages, the prostitutes were urged to increase their earning capacity through a frequent turn-over of clients.
Wartime brothels were located in either pre-war establishments located close to the City or were placed in the suburbs close-by to a large military camp. The former included brothels in Ernest and Nott Streets at South Brisbane and at 'Killarney' in Fish Lane at South Brisbane. In the City, there was a brothel in 'Ballarat House' in Margaret Street with servicemen lined up at the door holding a &163;2 note to prove that they could pay. 'Elsie's' was located in Albert Street in the block running between Margaret and Mary Streets. It was marked with a green painted door entrance. The door sat above the footpath on a concrete step so that the clients could not easily run out of 'Elsie's' without paying. Australian singer and harmonica player Horrie Dargie was an Australian soldier on leave in Brisbane when one day he passed 'Elsie's' and wondered what went on behind the green door. Horrie Dargie became a popular 1950s Australian recording artist. He laid claim to writing the popular song The Green Door and based it on 'Elsie's' brothel. This song became a world-wide hit, most notably for British pop star Shakin' Stevens in July 1981.
In the suburbs, there were brothels at Breakfast Creek, Bulimba and at Chermside. Two brothels operated at the rear of the Breakfast Creek Hotel. The prostitutes serviced the US troops from Camp Ascot Park, Camp Doomben and Eagle Farm Airfield. The brothels were located close to a local school. But as the US servicemen were lining up along the street to use the brothels in full public view, there was a community outcry and the brothels closed. Two separate brothels serviced the Chinese workers Camp attached to the US Army barge factory at Bulimba. One brothel was run in the open from a gully along Lytton Road. The other brothel had a Madam collect customers in her Buick that was parked at the corner of Lytton and Apollo Roads. The Chermside brothel was in an old house at the corner of Gympie and Hamilton Roads diagonally across from the local police station. It serviced the large Camp Chermside that had been established by the Australian Army in October 1940. 'Holland House' at 92 Yundah Street, Sandgate attracted servicemen who were on leave at the seaside.
Due to concerns about the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, most large camps had a Blue Light Tent that issued condoms to personnel. The US Navy operated a Prophylactic Station in South Brisbane from 3 October 1944 to 16 June 1945. 'Yungaba' at Kangaroo Point was requisitioned by the Australian Army's 126th Army Special Hospital (ASH) that ran a Venereal Disease (VD) Clinic for servicemen. Servicewomen were treated at the small VD isolation ward at the 'Ryndarra' hospital at Yeronga.
The incidence of individual or street prostitution in Brisbane was over-exaggerated during the war. Petty jealousy, xenophobia and moral intolerance led to accusations of prostitution made against Australian women who were simply dating American servicemen.
","BCC list
" 15,"Chemical Warfare Section (CWS) Depot and RAAF No.5 Transportation and Movement Office (TMO) Headquarters","Crosby Park","Headquarters","Royal Terrace",Albion,4010,Brisbane City,-27.4344902038574,153.047058105469,"The role of the US Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) in the South West Pacific Area was complicated by the fact that its task to develop, repair and issue protective and offensive items was shared with the US Army Quartermaster service. Thus for example, while the CWS was responsible for the storage of chemical grenades from September 1943, the storage of chemical and incendiary bombs was the province of Ordnance. The CWS however was responsible for the inspection and servicing of those munitions. Other elements of the Service were responsible for the provision of chemical warfare training to rear-echelon troops and for those advancing through Base 3 (Brisbane) to active theatres of war.
","Crosby Park, in the centre of a populous Brisbane suburb, was one of a number of local parks leased by the US Army. Despite its proximity to a large population base this park was designated as a Chemical Warfare Centre, and stored quantities of poisonous chemicals and gases during its time of occupation. Construction of the Centre commenced in early 1943, and by October its operation was in the hands of 62nd Chemical Depot Company, aided by elements of the 105th Chemical Processing Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company. Included on the site was a gas mask repair shop of approximately 96′ x 48′, used by the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company. There the Company repaired and provided waterproof seals for gas mask canisters.
The 10th Chemical Maintenance Company trained at Edgewood Arsenal and arrived in Australia in April 1942 and moved to Brisbane as part of Base Section 3 to repair the gas masks or respirators, and assist the operations of the 62nd Chemical Depot Company and the Chemical Warfare Centre. It was one of only two Chemical Maintenance companies to operate in the South West Pacific. Maintenance companies were also intended to function as salvage and repair centres holding skilled mechanics for the latter task. The company strength varied from 123 in 1942 to 93 in November 1944.
The failure of the chemical-based M1A1 portable flame-thrower during the New Guinea campaign left the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company tasked with a major repair project. Throughout 1943 it tested the weapon and overhauled all units in the South West Pacific Area. Heat and humidity was causing the corrosion of the nitrogen, hydrogen, and fuel cylinders used on the flame-throwers, and deterioration of the batteries. The 10th developed a test kit for soldiers in the field to be able to quickly identify defective cylinders, which were then sent back for repair. The weapon was also waterproofed so that it could be totally immersed and still work, overcoming a significant problem that had beset the use of flamethrowers in the tropics. Many of the flame-thrower units arriving from the United States were found to be faulty and required repair before issue. The work undertaken by the 10th proved the weapon could be made reliable and the US Sixth Army re-equipped its infantry divisions to take advantage of the tactical advantage the weapon gave in combat operations. This in turn required the l0th Chemical Maintenance Company to run operators classes for flame-throwers at the Chemical Warfare Centre.
By early 1944 the requirement for specific chemical warfare tasks slowed and the unit began to undertake general garrison duties. In August 1944 the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company was withdrawn from Brisbane and sent to New Guinea.
","G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
R Marks, Brisbane—WW2 v Now, Vol 5, Crosby Park…chemical warfare depot.
" 16,"Public Pill Shelter","cnr Bridge Street and Hudson Road","Civil defence facility","Hudson Road",Albion,4035,Brisbane City,-27.4253253936768,153.041870117187,,,"BCC list
" 17,"56th Searchlight Company (Royal Australian Engineers)","Bartley's Hill Reserve","Fortifications","Blair Street",Albion,4010,Brisbane City,-27.4317092895508,153.052368164062,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 25,"Amberley RAAF Airfield",,"Airfield","Aviation Street",Amberley,4306,South-East,-27.6347217127453,152.708930969238,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"Currently a Royal Australian Air Force Base
" 27,"Public Pill Shelters (6)","Annerley Shelters","Civil defence facility","Annerley Road",Annerley,4010,Brisbane City,-27.5032653808594,153.031188964844,,,"BCC list
" 28,"Annerley Drill Hall","7th Base Ordnance Depot","Training facility","158 Dudley Street",Annerley,4103,Brisbane City,-27.5112152099609,153.03727722168,"Originally known as the Junction Park Drill Hall, this hall was constructed in the south eastern corner of the site facing Dudley Street during WWI. A simple gable roofed hall it is of a general type constructed in other parts of Queensland from around 1914. It had a single large space with offices arranged down one side of the building. Drill halls like this were designed to allow all-weather training for local militia as well as provide an office each for those units that might share use of the site.
","Annerley drill hall became the headquarters and offices of the 2nd Brigade Area and Machine Gun Section 2nd Light Horse, Headquarters Machine Gun Section and two companies of the Ninth Infantry, area office and store 9A and for two companies of cadets. In addition to these companies, the 3rd AMC (Field Ambulance) and the 34th AMC (Company) were also placed at the site.
During World War II, encampments for personnel of the Australian and United States armed forces were placed wherever space could be provided. Training depots like the one at Annerley provided a range of facilities for the garrison troops. At the end of the war the site is believed to have been used by 7th Base Ordnance Depot for the storage of 3.7-inch static anti-aircraft guns.
","BCC Heritage Unit file
" 30,"Public Bus Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","cnr Waldheim Street and Ipswich Road",Annerley,4103,Brisbane City,-27.5095691680908,153.032958984375,,,"BCC list
" 31,"Public Cantilever Shelter & Slit Trench","Heffernan Park (Dutton Park shelters)","Civil defence facility","260 Annerley Road",Annerley,4103,Brisbane City,-27.500452041626,153.029190063477,"Public Cantilever Shelterand Slit Trench
","The design implemented by Brisbane City Council to build many public air raid shelters enabled them to be utilised as bus shelters or general shade after the war. The outside brick walls could be removed leaving a cantilevered roof concrete structure.""
","BCC Herirage Unit citation; BCC list, Air Raid Shelter opposite Dutton Park, near the corner of Cornwall Street and Rusk Street, Brisbane
" 32,"Antill Plains Airfields",,"Airfield","Adjacent to the Flinders Highway/western rail link",Antill Plains,4811,Townsville,-19.4369029998779,146.833129882812,"The Antill Plains airfields were constructed during the early months of 1942. Often misspelt as ""Anthill"" in reference to the numerous termite mounds in the locality, the unusual name actually refers to an early landholder. The main Townsville–Charters Towers highway ran through the middle of the three strips and the Antill Plains rail siding was in the vicinity of this base.
","Other airfields also lined the road to Charters Towers. Fighter aerodromes (such as Anthill Plains) were always located nearer the coast to provide speedy interception in case of carrier attack. Medium bombers were located further out (Woodstock and Charters Towers), with heavy bombers being based at the extremity (Reid River). These had the greatest operational range and were vital if any strike was to be made against a retreating carrier force.
Owen Cary was a Signaller in the Australian 9th Infantry Battalion and arrived in Townsville around April 1942. The Battalion arrived at Stewart Creek junction near Townsville at night. They then boarded another train that took them to Antill Plains where they camped for several days. Carey's memories of the Antill Plains rail siding are of heat, spear grass and no tents.
There must have been an aerodrome just over the back of us as 'Bel Aero Cobras' (sic) fighter planes used to take off and fly over us, just above tree top height. They seemed to go like a bat out of hell as we weren't used to fighter planes, or any planes traveling so fast.
These were likely to have been Bell P39 Airacobras of No. 35 and 36 Pursuit Squadrons (US). They left Anthill Plains (next to Oak Valley) at the beginning of May; however, around a dozen of these fighters were forced down or destroyed between Cooktown and Horn Island during a severe storm.
The four graded Antill Plains airfields are now partially covered by the waters of the Ross River Dam catchment area. The Townsville–Charters Towers highway that ran through the vicinity was moved to the south-east during the early 1970s to clear the catchment area. The airfield locations can still be seen from the air and are more clearly defined when the dam waters recede in the dry season.
","Unpublished memoir of O K Cary Signaler 9th Infantry Battalion 1941–1944, written December 1985 (Author collection).
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Defence Schemes- Australia: Plans for the Defence of Townsville and the North East Area - Second Report of the Joint Planning Staff, Mar 1942, AWM 54, item 243/6/119.
" 35,"Archerfield Aerodrome","Archerfield Airfield","Airfield","381 Beatty Road",Archerfield,4013,Brisbane City,-27.5686425989023,153.008480072022,"Archerfield replaced Eagle Farm as Brisbane's domestic airport in 1931. During the war's early years (1939–41), Archerfield was used as an RAAF training facility. On 20 July 1942, US General Douglas MacArthur transferred his headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane. Archerfield developed into a major United States Army Air Force (USAAF) repair and maintenance base. Planes serviced included: B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-24 Liberators, P-40 Kittyhawks, DC-3 Dakotas, B-26 Marauders. In May 1944 with the major US base completed at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, the USAAF gradually left Archerfield, returning it to RAAF control.
Archerfield also served the Dutch and British forces. In July 1944, the Dutch established a Netherlands East Indies (NEI) Government-in-Exile at Camp Columbia, Wacol. As Dutch transport planes serviced Camp Columbia, a NEI Transport and Maintenance Section was established nearby at Archerfield.
From February 1945, the British Pacific Fleet used some of Archerfield's facilities. The Fleet Air Arm occupied two igloos until 1946. A total of 35 wartime buildings including ancillaries such as lavatories and guardhouses were constructed during the war. The pre-war Hangars 3, 4 and 5 were extended. The Allied Works Council directed all construction.
The RAAF remained at Archerfield until 1955.
","Three days prior to war's declaration (3 September 1939), No. 23 Squadron (RAAF) flew into Archerfield. No. 3 Flying Training School (later renamed No. 2 FTS) operated from November 1939 to April 1942 with planes commandeered from the Airwork Company.
The pre-war QANTAS hangar was extended by 1,072 square metres. Airwork's hangar received a saw-tooth roof addition. A building complex was erected near the Mortimer and Beatty Roads corner for the RAAF. Two Bellman hangars were built in the southeast corner. In July 1941, anti-aircraft (AA) gun emplacements were proposed but AA guns were unavailable.
At the Pacific War's outbreak (8 December 1941), Archerfield was placed on 'War Alert'. Slit trench and air raid shelter construction, building camouflage, decoy aircraft usage and a 24-hour standby flight of Wirraway CA-1 trainers and Hudson bombers were implemented. An aircraft dispersal area was established in the bushland south of Mortimer Road. By March 1942, AA guns were installed; extending the grass airfield's northeast corner was approved, severing Boundary Road and relocating the Queensland Aero Club buildings; and the USAAF 68th Pursuit Squadron arrived. Full camouflage work was underway by April.
In July 1942, Archerfield became a major USAAF aircraft servicing base occupied by the 81st Air Depot Group, a component of General Kenney's 5th Air Force. ""Camp Buckley"" was erected nearby to house USAAF personnel. US film stars transitting there during the war included: Bob Hope, John Wayne, Gary Cooper.
MacArthur visited Archerfield in March 1943 to present Kenney with the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1943–44, the Commonwealth Department of Aircraft built five timber-framed, single span igloos along Kerry Road. Four igloos were hangars. The fifth was a store. The igloos were connected to the airfield by a taxiway across Beatty Road. QANTAS and ANA initially occupied two of these igloos, conducting repair and maintenance work for the Department of Aircraft.
From May 1944, the USAAF began to hand-over to the RAAF. A Lockheed Ventura, with future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in its crew, operated from Archerfield.
The Dutch transferred personnel from Melbourne and Canberra to Camp Columbia. They came on Lockheed Lodestars and Dakotas. By June 1944, 16 Dutch Dakotas were concentrated at Archerfield, where a NEI Transport and Maintenance Section under Captain P. Schelling was established.
The British Pacific Fleet was formed on 22 November 1944 with Brisbane designated as an Advanced Fleet Base. The Royal Navy occupied two Kerry Road igloos from February 1945. On 15–16 February 1945, the Duke of Gloucester visited Archerfield. No.23 Squadron returned in 1948.
At Archerfield RAAF Station were the following RAAF units:
No 3 Elementary Flying Training School (various small planes) - formed at Archerfield 6 November 1939 - renamed No 2 Elementary Flying Training School on 2 January 1940 - disbanded 31 March 1942 Fl Lt T.C. Curnow to 10/6/40; Fl Lt J.H. Wright to 21/11/41; Wing Com G.C. Mathews
No.4 Communications Flight - 'Archerfield's Own'
formed at Archerfield 7 September 1942 - 1 Avro Anson, 1 Lockheed Hudson, 2 Wirraways
disbanded there 16 April 1946. flew mail, supplies, VIPs (Blamey)
also flew Avro Ansons, Tiger Moths, Moth Minors, Dragon Rapides, Beauforts, Douglas Dolphins, Vultee Vengences, Norseman, Lodestars, Gannets, Venturas
Sqd Ldr J. MacDonald to 21/10/43 and replaced by Sqd Ldr V.H. Byrnes, 1 November 1943 renamed No.4 Communications Unit. 30 October 1945- Sqd Ldr. G.T. Newstead became CO
No.38 Squadron (Dakota DC-3 transports) - 27 December 1944 Sqd Ldr R.G. Cornfoot
No.323 Radar Station 7 February 1945 to 16 April 1945 Flying Officer F.R. Dennis
No.324 Radar Station 27 February 1945 to 10 June 1945 Fl LtW.D. Neal
No.325 Radar Station 28 February 1945 to 2 May 1945 Pilot Officer A.E. Irvine
No.342 Radar Station 2 March 1945 to 2 May 1945 Fl Lt V.B. Aldrich
No.2 Air Ambulance Unit established in March 1942 at Canberra
transferred to Archerfield from Kingaroy on 7 September 1944 Sqd Ldr. A.N. Pentland
replaced by Sqd Ldr J.G. Hitchcock on 16 September 1945
disbanded 8 December 1945
Flew 5 Hudsons, 3 Fox Moths, 6 Dragon Rapides DH-84, 2 Gannetts, 1 Moth Minor 6 Dakotas replaced the Hudsons in July 1945.
to Madang, Tadji, Lae, Hollandia, Morotai, Jacquinot Bay, Nazab
55 patients, 18,762 lbs of medical supplies carried 2–27 June 1945
USAAF units at Archerfield:
8th Fighter Squadron
16th Bombardment Group
17th Bombardment Group
91st Bombardment Group
368th Bombardment Group
21st Troop Carrier Squadron
374th Troop Carrier Squadron
22nd Air Base unit
8th Material Unit,
30th Material Unit
15th Weather Unit,
565th Air Warning Battalion
2nd Field Hospital
BCC Heritage Unit citation, NAA digital plan; Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.2.
" 39,"Camp Ascot (US Army)","Eagle Farm Racecourse","Military camp","230 Lancaster Road",Ascot,4007,Greater Brisbane,-27.4274368286133,153.067733764648,"Camp Ascot was the first US Army camp established in Australia, following the arrival of the 'Pensacola' Convoy on 22 December 1941. It was located in the Ascot Racecourse due to its close location to the major Brett's Wharf at Hamilton. The Americans were not permitted to damage the racetracks so it was largely a tented camp containing only a few, temporary, pre-fabricated buildings. Until War's end in 1945, it remained a delivery and transit camp for various US Army and Navy units upon their arrival in Brisbane.
","On 22 December 1941, the 'Pensacola' Convoy reached Brisbane's Brett's Wharf at Hamilton, bringing the first US Army troops to Australia. Upon disembarking, the troops marched up Racecourse Road and entered Ascot Park Racecourse to establish a tented camp. The units comprised the 147th Artillery Regiment, 131st and 148th Artillery Battalions, motor transport units, US Army Services of Supply (USASOS) personnel plus pilots, ground crews and aircraft for P-40E fighter and A-24 dive-bomber squadrons. On 28 December, the convoy's combat units departed for Darwin and Java on Holbrook and Bloemfontein. The remaining troops stayed at the new US Army Camp Ascot Park.
The camp was built within the grounds of the Ascot Park (now Eagle Farm) Racecourse. Because the racecourse was an important Brisbane existing sporting and recreation facility, the Americans were not permitted to alter its buildings or damage its three concentric racetracks. The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) initially provided personal items, such as writing paper, library books and magazines for the Americans.
By May 1942, when the 648th US Engineer Regiment reached Brisbane, the unit described the Camp as ""a big fancy racetrack"" though they found the facilities poor. The Regiment's kitchen comprised a makeshift tin shack with coal stoves, an open hearth with primitive utensils. US troops had to chop wood daily to supply the kitchen's fireplace. They shared this small shack with the 69th US Engineer Regiment, the 707th and 708th Regiments and a Base Communications unit. Only open-air showers were available and there was no hot water available except by boiling. A tin horse trough was used as a shaving basin. The latrines were corrugated iron sheds containing unfamiliar timber 'dunnies' supplied with sawdust instead of toilet paper. The American soldiers referred to the latrine as 'the Can'. There were no lights except in the Mess Hall. The men slept on the wooden floors of their tents. Two US Army and two Australian army sentries guarded Ascot Park's main gates.
In May 1943, the 837th Signal Service Detachment was deactivated and renamed the Special Intelligence Service (SIS) commanded by Colonel Harold Doud. In 1944, SIS was relocated into 'permanent' quarters at Camp Ascot Park. The camp had become a tent city, packed with US Army 'Bell Tents' and divided into camps 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'. A temporary movie theatre was placed in the main grandstand. Ascot Racecourse's flowerbeds were beautifully maintained to aid camp morale. A baseball diamond was marked in the racetrack's grass field centre. Two warehouses including a Mess Hall, complete with a Day-Room (Reading Room) was placed in the members' car park. Prefabricated demountable huts (20 to 40) were placed around Camp Ascot but outside the fenced racing circle. A tramline that ran from outside the racecourse and into Brisbane City, where most amenities for troops on leave were located, serviced the camp.
SIS expanded and was allotted Oriel Park (just four streets away from Camp Ascot Park) as as site to place temporary additional facilities. Americans from the Womens' Army Corps (WAC), Australians from the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) as well as Canadians were based at Oriel Park. In June 1944, SIS sent an Advanced Headquarters to the new Allied base at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. By 1 August 1945, the entire SIS had left Camp Ascot Park and the unit was concentrated at San Miguel in the Philippines.
","A grand, hillside 1885 Ascot home, ""Nyrambla' was requisitioned by the US Army circa July 1942 as the headquarters of Central Bureau in Australia. This was a joint US/Australian secret code-breaking organisation. It put the forerunners of IBM computers into the garage at 'Nyrambla' to aid code breaking. In April 1943, it decoded an intercepted Japanese signal that lead to the ambush and death of
Admiral Yamamoto, who had planned the attack on Pearl Harbour. Central Bureau remained at 'Nyrambla' until 1945.
","In late 1941, Detachment 6, 2nd Signal Service Company arrived in Manila as a reinforcement for General MacArthur's Philippines Command. Major Joe Sherr and Operations Officer Lieutenant Howard W. Brown led 6 Sergeants, 3 Corporals and 6 Privates. On 17 March 1942, MacArthur left the Philippines for Australia. As he was a master of cryptanalysis and deemed important to the war effort, Sherr departed with MacArthur. Brown was evacuated on 14 April to Australia where he joined MacArthur's Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) operation. Some other members of 2nd Signal Service Company were also evacuated but not all escaped. In Australia, Sherr was promoted to Colonel to head a new unit, the 837th Signal Service Detachment.
On 1 April 1942, MacArthur ordered the formation of a joint US/Australian SIGINT organisation called Central Bureau, to be established under Major General S. B. Akin with its headquarters in Melbourne. MacArthur described the role of the group as ""the interception and cryptanalyzing of Japanese intelligence"".
At first, Central Bureau was made up of 50% American, 25% Australian Army and 25% Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel. Later more Australians joined. Central Bureau was attached to the Headquarters of the Allied Commander of the South-West Pacific Area (SWPA) in Melbourne.
On 20 July 1942, General MacArthur moved his Headquarters to Brisbane. Central Bureau immediately relocated to Brisbane, establishing its headquarters in 'Nyrambla' at 21 Henry Street, Ascot. Nyrambla was built in 1885–86 as the residence of the manager of the Australian Joint Stock Bank. In September 1942, the US 837th Signal Service Detachment relocated to Brisbane. Initially sent for three-days to the US Camp Doomben at Doomben Racecourse, the Detachment's 6 officers and 18 enlisted men moved into 'Nyrambla'.
Central Bureau had banks of IBM Tabulators, the forerunner of computers, which were used by the cryptanalysts to decode intercepted Japanese ciphers that concealed an original text message. These machines were placed in the rear garage of 'Nyrambla'.
The 837th Signal Service Detachment's Sergeant Donald Moreland installed the IBM equipment at Ascot. While in Melbourne, he had installed the SIGABA (ECM Mk. 2) cipher machine. SIGABA was used to encipher messages from plain text into a secret cipher text under the control of a decipherment key.
At 'Nyrambla', Central Bureau decrypted a Japanese Army Air Service signal intercepted by No. 51 Wireless Section at Darwin. The signal contained the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Japanese Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's itinerary for his forthcoming trip to Rabaul. As a result, on 18 April 1943, Yamamoto's aircraft was intercepted off Bouganville by US P-38 Lightning fighters and he was killed. In May 1943, the 837th Signal Service Detachment was renamed Special Intelligence Service led by Colonel Harold Doud.
The IBM machines were later moved from the 'Nyrambla' garage to the Ascot Fire Station at 83 Kitchener Road. After the IBM machines were removed, the Australian No.11 Cipher Section led by Captain Ian Allen (Allan?) occupied the garage. It was filled with Typex machines operated by Australian Women Army Service (AWAS) staff. They worked around the clock shifts. Each shift consisted of 12 women and several male cipher mechanics. Messages were sent to Washington, India and to the British code breakers at Bletchley Park in England. In 1944, when the AWAS and then the RAAF took a lease on 'Nyrambla', the 837th Signal Service Detachment returned to Camp Doomben. To avoid camp conditions, 8 SIS men rented a house at 45 Eldernell Street, Hamilton and furnished it with G.I. cots, a dining room suite and a housekeeper. When conditions became crowded at 'Nyrambla', the RAAF women from the Womens' Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) were billeted nearby at a house at 26 Henry Street. After SIS left for Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea in late 1944, the Eldernell Street house was leased by RAAF No.3 Base Supply Depot members.
In 1988, a group of US ex-servicemen unveiled a plaque at 'Nyrambla'. It reads:
Central Bureau, an organisation comprising service personnel of Australia, USA, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, both men and women, functioned in this house from 1942 till 1945. From intercepted enemy radio messages, the organisation provided intelligence which made a decisive contribution to the Allied victory in the Pacific.
A second plaque recognises:
","…the service given by the men and women of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals at this site during World War II… They passed this way.
BCC Heritage Unit citation
Scott, Eve, A Woman At War, (Greenslopes, Brisbane: McCann Publications, 1985).
US Army Special Intelligence Service, S.I.S. Record 1942–1946, (?; SIS record Association, 1946).
" 41,"Camp Doomben (United States Army)","Doomben Racecourse","Military camp","Hampden Street (cnr Nudgee Road)",Ascot,4007,Greater Brisbane,-27.4258689880371,153.076049804688,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 42,"Racecourse Road (cnr Kingsford Smith Drive)","cnr Racecourse Road and Hamilton Road","Civil defence facility","Racecourse?Road (cnr Kingsford Smith Drive)",Ascot,4007,Greater Brisbane,-27.4392356872559,153.064361572266,,,"BCC list
" 48,"Public Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","1 Mareeba Road",Ashgrove,4060,Brisbane City,-27.4437026977539,152.986190795898,"Public Shelter (demolished)
",, 49,"2/1 Australian Chemical Warfare Laboratory","St John's Wood Hall (See Ashgrove CWS)","Scientific facility","Gresham Street and?Royal Parade",Ashgrove,4060,Brisbane City,-27.447286605835,152.974166870117,"The use of chemical weapons by the Japanese in China increased the threat of chemical warfare during WWII. The Allied forces in Australia stockpiled chemical weapons to be used in retaliation, and carried out experiments on the effectiveness of various gases and compounds. The Australian government also established significant chemical weapon stocks and established a number of testing facilities and depots across the country.
","This military organisation was originally formed as part of the Royal Australian Engineers in mid-1942, under the leadership of infantry Captain Jim McAllester. Known initially as the 2/1st Australian Mobile Anti-gas Laboratory, it was located in Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria. Following a name change to 2/1st Australian Chemical Warfare Laboratory in February 1943 it was moved to Brisbane to be closer to field operations. Approval was given to re-establish the laboratory at St John's Wood in August 1943, and it was in operation at that site by October.
The mobile chemical warfare laboratory operated by the unit had been constructed in recognition of its need to be mobile in Australia in event of enemy chemical attack, and potentially to be used in the Pacific area of operations. The tasks and processes adopted by the unit were similar to those of British units, and were well established by the time they settled in as St John's Wood. The Laboratory was tasked with the examination of enemy chemical weapons, ammunition, and protective clothing and respirators.
At various times the St Johns Wood Laboratory also stored larger quantities of chemicals. In February 1944 for example, 75 boxes of 25-pounder shells containing bromobenzylcyanide (known as BBC) were delivered for training purposes. The site is believed to have been cleared when abandoned by the Army.
","G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007.
" 51,"65 Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) Barracks",,"Military camp","Robert Street",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2699661254883,145.484329223633,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 53,"Atherton Hospital","and Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA) Haven Hut","Medical facility","Jack Street",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.265962600708,145.480026245117,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 55,"Atherton War Cemetery","Atherton General Cemetery (War Plot)","Cemetery","Rockley Road",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2761383056641,145.493713378906,"The third largest war cemetery in Queensland and located at the southern entrance to the Tablelands town of Atherton, the Atherton War Cemetery contains 164 graves, each with simple white marble headstone. At the top of each headstone is engraved the national emblem and the service or regimental badge, followed by rank, name, unit, date of death and age. The cemetery forms an important memorial to the Australian soldiers and airmen who died on the Atherton Tableland during the Pacific conflict as a result of war wounds, accidents or sickness.
","With the decision to develop the Atherton Tablelands as a rehabilitation and training area for Australian troops returning from the Middle East came the need for the development of a major hospital program in anticipation of mounting casualties. The Australian Army General Hospital complex established at Rocky Creek railway siding between Atherton and Mareeba became the largest medical facility to be built in north Queensland during World War II. Containing some 2000 beds it was a key component in preparations for the New Guinea and island offensive that commenced in mid-1943. Initial development of the hospital was underway by October 1942 with the arrival of a small camp hospital detachment.
An earlier Atherton cemetery was closed in 1928 after the area was found to be too small and swampy for future use and during the same year a new cemetery reserve was gazetted on an open hillside at the southern entrance to the town. The Atherton War Cemetery was created on land adjoining the Atherton General Cemetery in 1942. The first burial at Atherton War Cemetery took place on 4 January 1943, a day before the arrival of the 2/2 Australian General Hospital at Rocky Creek. Gunner AM Hemsworth of the Royal Australian Artillery was the first of 164 Australian war dead to be buried at the War Cemetery.
Graves at the Atherton War Cemetery were initially marked with simple wooden crosses. In January 1944 the cemetery was resurveyed by members of the 7th Graves Registration and Enquiry Unit and the layout was redesigned in keeping with the principles of the Imperial War Graves Commission. The wooden crosses were subsequently replaced by rows of white marble headstones and the earlier central flagpole was replaced by the Cross of Sacrifice-a tall finely proportioned stone cross with a symbolic bronze sword attached to its face. The last wartime burial at the Atherton War Cemetery took place on 1 December 1946 for Lieutenant F Stuart-Boyle of the Australian Army Ordnance Corps. The cemetery contains the graves of 151 Australian Army and 12 RAAF personnel, and one member of the Young Mens' Christian Association.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Atherton War Cemetery, Queensland Heritage Register place 602765, Brisbane.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 56,"Australian Army Aerated Water Factory",,"Factory site/industry","Hopkins Road",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2673454284668,145.474075317383,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 57,"Australian Army Canteen Services warehouse","Merriland Hall","Supply facility","Mazlin Street (cnr Robert Street)",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2692184448242,145.483703613281,"In November 1943 an Australian Army Canteen Services (AACS) warehouse, of the timber truss arch ""igloo"" type, was erected at the Atherton Showgrounds. Atherton was the centre of a major troop concentration on the Atherton Tablelands. After the war the igloo was purchased by the Atherton Show Society, becoming known as Merriland Hall.The igloo is situated within the Atherton Show Grounds, at the corner of Robert and Mazlin Streets, and consists of the corrugated iron-clad igloo (now the auditorium) and a 1958 brick frontage which contains part of the backstage area and dressing rooms. A weatherboard clad cafeteria with a gabled roof has been attached to the rear (north side) of the igloo. The igloo is approximately 200′ (60m) long and has an overall width of 100′ (30m), standing on a concrete slab foundation. There are sixteen trusses spanning the interior space, each made entirely of sawn pieces of native hardwood nailed together. A raised timber dance floor has been constructed in the front section of the building. Raised galleries, approximately 4m wide, have been constructed along either side of the dance floor for seating. The west side of the auditorium has been modified to include both male and female toilets in a narrow concrete-block extension.
","The Atherton Tableland was chosen as the site of a major concentration of troops and stores during 1943, for a number of reasons. It was close to New Guinea; near a port (Cairns); had a cooler climate yet was suitable for training in jungle warfare; and it was a mostly malaria-free area for the hospitalisation of those suffering from tropical diseases. The physically exhausting terrain and climate of New Guinea meant that Australian troops had to be regularly rested and rehabilitated, preferably close to their theatre of operations.
From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland, with the main administrative base established around the town of Atherton and the nearby settlement of Tolga. This created a constant flow of Army traffic through Atherton's main street, and many of Atherton's buildings were used to house both Australian and American forces. The School of Arts building was taken over by the Red Cross, and the Girl Guides hall was used by the Australian Army for its historical section, while the Sharples Theatre became an Army Canteen. The Barron Valley Hotel was requisitioned by the Australian Army as an Officers Club, and briefly acted as General Blamey's headquarters.
The military also took over the Atherton Showground in 1942. Bake houses (3rd Australian Field Bakery Unit) were built on the western side of the show ring and supplied fresh bread for all the forces in the area. In November of 1943 a large igloo warehouse was erected at the showground for the Australian Army Canteen Services (AACS) by the Queensland Building and Engineering Co., under the auspices of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The AWC was formed in February of 1942 to co-ordinate and facilitate the needs of the Australian and US military forces in Australia during the war. The work carried out by the AWC included roads, camps, hospitals, ammunition depots, aerodromes, mess and recreation facilities, and gun emplacements.
For the construction of the AACS igloo, D. Prangley was in charge, under the supervision of R C Nowland, a government Senior Architect. Australian War Memorial photographs of the igloo's construction also claim that work was supervised by the 54th Australian Deputy Commander Royal Engineers (Works).
Although the original US design was intended to be covered with camouflage netting, the igloos built for Queensland were sheeted with iron. These changes provided a stronger, more durable building. The AACS igloo is constructed with nailed hardwood timber arches, where each arm is made up of two half arches more or less freely pinned at two abutments close to ground level and at a central or crown pin. Each half arch consists of two adjacent trusses laced together at top and bottom chord level and each truss consists of a top and bottom chord laced together in arch form. As a result, each half truss is made up of four main timber chords sprung into arch form, and light timber bracing nailed into position to form a curved open-lattice box truss. The centre section of the roof has been angled up into a low-pitched gable with rafters rising up from the upper chords of the trusses to meet a ridge beam running down the centreline of the igloo.
The igloo was purchased at a bargain price by the Atherton Tableland Agricultural Society after the war. After the Shire Hall, built in 1898, was destroyed by fire in 1948, the igloo became a Community Centre. A committee was formed to manage the hall and they set about building a dance floor measuring 5,000 square feet with a further 2,000 square feet of galleries for seating. The committee gave a Grand Ball to celebrate the opening and the Merriland Hall went on to host most of the social and cultural occasions of Atherton for many years. In 1958 a brick frontage and additions to the stage and dressing rooms were constructed.
","Merriland Hall. Queensland Heritage Register 602016
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Pullar, M. 1997. Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland. A Report for the National Trust of Queensland.
National Archives of Australia, 286/3. Atherton Tableland Base Area, December 1942-November 1944.
Australian War Memorial Images.
Known locally as the BV, the hotel is an Atherton institution. A large two-storey building of brick and concrete construction, it is located on Main Street in the heart of the commercial centre of Atherton. The hotel comprises four wings built around a central courtyard. The enclosed brick verandah which covers the footpath is the principal feature of the front façade. At street level the front of the hotel retains its early wall tiling. The public bar has changed little since the war years and above the entrance doors a glazed sign bears the name of the hotel in large stylised letters. The newly completed hotel was requisitioned by the military during World War II and was returned to its civilian owners in 1945.
","The original Barron Valley Hotel-a bush shack beside the track from Port Douglas to the Herberton tinfield-was built on this site in the 1890s. It was soon replaced by a single-storey hotel which was also a Cobb & Co. station and general store.
In 1908 it was rebuilt again as a two-storey timber establishment known as McCraw's Barron Vally Hotel, which became a social centre in the timber-logging and farming community of Atherton.
Sconder Nasser, a Lebanese migrant whose family had emigrated to Clermont in Queensland in the late nineteenth century, took over the ownership of the hotel in 1930. Sconder and his wife Amelia, moved to Atherton after the disastrous 1916 Clermont flood. Initially they both worked at the Exchange Hotel across the street (destroyed in 1933 and rebuilt as the Grand Hotel) before purchasing the Barron Valley Hotel. In the late 1930s Nasser decided to replace the two-storey timber hotel with a more substantial building and engaged the well-known Cairns architects Hill and Taylor, to design it. The new Barron Valley Hotel was a two-storey brick building with 30 bedrooms, a billiard room, two bars and a lounge and dining room which could be opened up to form a large dance floor or ballroom. The hotel was opened with a dance evening in July 1941.
In late 1942 following Japan's entry into World War II, the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey, ordered a survey of the Atherton Tableland with the intention of developing facilities for a rehabilitation and training area for Australian troops to be returned from the Middle East. Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions started arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and began establishing tent encampments around Atherton, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. The 9th Division returned to Australia during February and the following month began moving into camps around Kairi, Tinaroo and Danbulla.
Transfer of the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland created a constant flow of military traffic through Atherton's Main Street. Many of the town's buildings housed both Australian and American forces. The School of Arts building was taken over by the Red Cross and the Girl Guides hall by the Australian Army historical section, while the Sharples Theatre became an army canteen. The military took over the Atherton Showgrounds establishing 3 Australian Field Bakery and building the giant Australian Army Canteen Services igloo-warehouse, which today serves as the showground pavilion, now known as Merriland Hall.
The Barron Valley Hotel was initially taken over by United States forces as an American Red Cross Service Club. In mid April 1943 the hotel was requisitioned by the Australian Army as 3 ADCS Officers' Club, Type A. It served for two and a half years as a club, mess hall and quarters for Australian Army officers passing through the Tableland. Army personnel including members of the Australian Womens' Army Service served as waiters, cooks and bar staff. For a few months before moving his headquarters to Port Moresby Lieutenant General Blamey made the hotel his base.
Sconder's son Harold Nasser returned from military service in 1945 and took over the running of the Barron Valley Hotel which resumed its former role as Atherton's social centre. Since the war the BV has provided accommodation for many visitors including several Queensland governors. Members of the Nasser family were still the hotel licensees in 2010 and the dining room continues to be regularly used for meetings and social functions by local community and sporting groups.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Barron Valley Hotel, Queensland Heritage Register place 602587, Brisbane.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 60,"Australian Army Ration Stores","Golden Grove Ration Stores","Supply facility","Grant and Grove Street",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2560997009277,145.477600097656,"By the 1930s north Queensland had developed as one of Australia's important food producing regions, especially for sugar, bananas, vegetables, meat and dairy products. The seasonal nature of agricultural production meant that the region was able to take advantage of the available farm labour that had softened the impact of the Great Depression among local growers. However, the outbreak of World War II saw many rural workers enlist in the services, causing shortages in production. Added to this, the internment of Italian farmers as Enemy Aliens meant produce supplies were barely adequate by 1942, and food was severely rationed. By 1943 the heavy demand from the mounting number of Allied personnel stationed in the region outstripped local production and supplementary supplies of fresh food had to be obtained from Brisbane and the southern states. Storage and distribution of fresh fruit and vegetables was based around partly-prefabricated ration stores designed in Townsville for the Australian Army in north Queensland. These stores were basically a timber-framed and iron-clad shed with a low-pitched gable roof, sitting on a concrete slab floor with large sliding doors at each end. The sheds were open for ventilation below the eaves and covered with bird-proof wire-mesh. Most were erected on railway sidings such as the early Golden Grove butter factory siding opened in 1914 about two kilometres north of Atherton, where four ration stores survive. Of these, several sheds have been moved and modified for use as workshops and storage, but two still occupy their wartime sites.
","Provision of fresh fruit and vegetables to Australian and US forces in north Queensland and New Guinea was co-ordinated by the Committee of Direction of Fruit Marketing (COD). With large concentrations of troops at military camps throughout north Queensland, COD depots were established at Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns in December 1942, and Atherton by March 1943. Service demands required a substantial increase in the growing of vegetables in Queensland. At one stage during 1943, 109 tonnes of vegetables were railed weekly to Atherton. The US Quartermaster's Depot in Townsville received a further 68 tonnes and Australian Army depots in Townsville and Cairns another 54 tonnes of vegetables weekly. South-east Australia's rail system was overstretched, hauling heavy consignments of troops and munitions, as well as foodstuffs to Queensland and the Northern Territory. As rail transit time from Melbourne to north Queensland was seven to eight days, careful co-ordination was required between the COD, the Department of Commerce and Agriculture and the railways to ensure that fruit and vegetables arrived in edible condition.
The Allied Works Council during meetings in Brisbane in September 1942 considered requisitions for army ration stores at Atherton, Townsville (Stuart), Cairns (Queerah), Hughenden. Baronta and Pentland. Construction of stores for Atherton was ordered in November 1942 and work commenced on the first four stores at Golden Grove in January 1943. Today, other relocated examples of this design of Australian Army Ration Store can be found in Evans Street, Atherton; another stands adjacent to the Kairi Hotel; and a third serves as an equipment shed on a farm on the Tinaroo Falls Road.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Brisbane.
Atherton Centenary Book Committee. Tall Timber and Golden Grain: Atherton 1885–1985. GK Bolton, Printers, 1985.
Clem Lack. Three Decades of Queensland Political History 1929–1960, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1962.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 67,"Augustus Downs Airfield camp","Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Landing Ground camp","Military camp","Augustus Downs Station, Burketown Road",Augustus Downs,4830,North-West,-18.4648208618164,139.867263793945,"Representatives of the RAAF North Eastern Area Command and US Forces in Townsville ventured into the Gulf country in early 1942 to seek a suitable location for an advanced operational base (AOB) in the region. In April a landing ground site was chosen north of Augustus Downs homestead on the Leichhardt River. The cattle station was located over 160 road kilometres to the nearest railhead north of Cloncurry at Dobbyn, to which it was connected by an unformed track that was impassable in the wet season. However, a landing ground was urgently required in the region and construction was initiated by Burke Shire Council. By the end of May a single strip 6500 feet (1981 metres) in length had been cleared and graded. The powdery clay surface of the runway was consolidated with a thin layer of gravel and bitumen. A second runway running parallel to the main landing ground was cleared as an emergency strip for use during the construction, however no evidence of this strip remains.
","Communications and camp facilities constructed at the Augustus Downs landing ground included a combined operational cypher and signals room and an underground building for wireless telegraphy; in addition to latrines, ablution block, mess huts and kitchen. Access roads were also built. As with other remote area aerodromes, the work was completed by the Queensland Main Roads Commission. The difficult supply route involving a ten hour truck journey from Cloncurry to the site contributed to the cost of the isolated project.
A ground staff detachment of RAAF 29 Operational Base Unit was stationed at the airfield. With operations ordered to commence from Augustus Downs in late November 1942, an inspection of the landing ground was carried out by officers of RAAF 7 Squadron who discovered that due to the lack of dispersed hardstandings the main runway could not be used operationally in the wet because aircraft had to be parked virtually on the strip. Furthermore, although the camp was completed and well camouflaged the connecting road was impassable after rain, and the water supply from the Leichhardt River was contaminated by cattle.
A detached flight of three Beaufort bombers landed on 28 November for a mission the following day. Bombing up of the aircraft was carried out by the flight crews themselves with the use of a truck in the absence of bomb trolleys. Weather forecasts for their route were unavailable and the next morning only two aircraft could depart as all crew were affected by a form of dysentery from the water supply. The RAAF began having second thoughts about Augustus Downs as a Gulf AOB due to the cost of constructing an all-weather strip at the location and it was decided to abandon the landing ground and remove most of the facilities to a new airfield site at Inverleigh station nearer Normanton.
There was a final flurry of activity at Augustus Downs in April 1943 during what became known as the 'Gulf scare'. This incident is said to have originated from a report by a stockman of a Japanese barge landing men and equipment on the coast near Inkerman station, north of Karumba. Six Boomerang fighters were urgently dispatched from Townsville to locate the landing party. However, after several days of searching by aircraft and local Volunteer Defence Corps units no evidence was found of such a landing taking place.
By August 1943 the landing ground was abandoned except for several guards left to maintain the installations and a year later the RAAF had determined it had no further need for Augustus Downs. Since 1946 the Department of Civil Aviation has licensed the use of the airstrip to Augustus Downs pastoral station.
","NAA - DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Augustus Downs Qld - Aerodrome and camp area - Hiring of site Series number A705 Control symbol 171/93/1095 Item barcode 682602.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2—50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Representatives of the RAAF North Eastern Area Command and US Forces in Townsville ventured into the Gulf country in early 1942 to seek a suitable location for an advanced operational base (AOB) in the region. In April a landing ground site was chosen north of Augustus Downs homestead on the Leichhardt River. The cattle station was located over 160 road kilometres to the nearest railhead north of Cloncurry at Dobbyn, to which it was connected by an unformed track that was impassable in the wet season. However, a landing ground was urgently required in the region and construction was initiated by Burke Shire Council. By the end of May a single strip 6500 feet (1981 metres) in length had been cleared and graded. The powdery clay surface of the runway was consolidated with a thin layer of gravel and bitumen. A second runway running parallel to the main landing ground was cleared as an emergency strip for use during the construction, however no evidence of this strip remains.
","Communications and camp facilities constructed at the Augustus Downs landing ground included a combined operational cypher and signals room and an underground building for wireless telegraphy; in addition to latrines, ablution block, mess huts and kitchen. Access roads were also built. As with other remote area aerodromes, the work was completed by the Queensland Main Roads Commission. The difficult supply route involving a ten hour truck journey from Cloncurry to the site contributed to the cost of the isolated project.
A ground staff detachment of RAAF 29 Operational Base Unit was stationed at the airfield. With operations ordered to commence from Augustus Downs in late November 1942, an inspection of the landing ground was carried out by officers of RAAF 7 Squadron who discovered that due to the lack of dispersed hardstandings the main runway could not be used operationally in the wet because aircraft had to be parked virtually on the strip. Furthermore, although the camp was completed and well camouflaged the connecting road was impassable after rain, and the water supply from the Leichhardt River was contaminated by cattle.
A detached flight of three Beaufort bombers landed on 28 November for a mission the following day. Bombing up of the aircraft was carried out by the flight crews themselves with the use of a truck in the absence of bomb trolleys. Weather forecasts for their route were unavailable and the next morning only two aircraft could depart as all crew were affected by a form of dysentery from the water supply. The RAAF began having second thoughts about Augustus Downs as a Gulf AOB due to the cost of constructing an all-weather strip at the location and it was decided to abandon the landing ground and remove most of the facilities to a new airfield site at Inverleigh station nearer Normanton.
There was a final flurry of activity at Augustus Downs in April 1943 during what became known as the 'Gulf scare'. This incident is said to have originated from a report by a stockman of a Japanese barge landing men and equipment on the coast near Inkerman station, north of Karumba. Six Boomerang fighters were urgently dispatched from Townsville to locate the landing party. However, after several days of searching by aircraft and local Volunteer Defence Corps units no evidence was found of such a landing taking place.
By August 1943 the landing ground was abandoned except for several guards left to maintain the installations and a year later the RAAF had determined it had no further need for Augustus Downs. Since 1946 the Department of Civil Aviation has licensed the use of the airstrip to Augustus Downs pastoral station.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 69,"Babinda Public Air Raid Shelter","Public Toilets, ANZAC Park","Civil defence facility","ANZAC Park, 109 Munro Street",Babinda,4861,Cairns,-17.3440780639648,145.920944213867,"The former public air raid shelter at Babinda, built in early 1942, appears to be the most intact public air raid shelter to survive in north Queensland. It was built to a standard design, to provide seating for 50 people. The shelter is located in Anzac Park, on the south side of Munro Street, Babinda, where it now functions as a public toilet.
It is an above ground reinforced concrete structure with entrances at both the northern and southern ends, on the west side of the shelter. The reinforced concrete walls are 300 mm thick, while the concrete roof is 150mm thick. Internal blast walls form a corridor into the central space. The original toilet cubicles next to each entrance survive, although these have been sealed.
In form, the exterior of the structure has changed little from its original design. The interior has been converted into female and male toilets, with a dividing concrete wall erected through the centre of the structure. Apart from the addition of fixtures for water, power and lighting the only other apparent changes have been alteration to the offset ventilation vents to a more open style.
","The sudden fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 and the rapid, unchecked Japanese advance through the islands of the Netherlands East Indies raised fears of air attacks on Australia. The outlook during the first six months in 1942 looked grim and the possibility of Japanese air raids and invasion was considered likely. As a result, Babinda air raid shelter was one of a number of public air raid shelters constructed in Queensland during early 1942.
The impetus for building public air raid shelters was provided by the Federal and State Governments. Regulation 35a, an amendment to the National Security (General) Regulations of the National Security Act 1939–1940, was notified in the Commonwealth Government Gazette on 11 December 1941 (as Statutory Rules 1941 No.287), and authorised each State Premier to direct 'blackouts' and to 'make such provision as he deems necessary to protect the persons and property of the civil population'.
In the Protection of Persons and Property Order No.1, gazetted 23 December 1941, Queensland's Premier William Forgan Smith, with powers conferred by Regulation 35a, ordered the Brisbane City Council to construct 200 public surface shelters in the city area (235 were built). Another 24 local governments in Queensland's coastal areas were ordered to produce surface or trench shelters for the public (135 non-trench shelters were built).
The Babinda public air raid shelter, the only public shelter ordered for the town, was ordered for construction on 16 January 1942. Other public air raid shelters built in 1942 included: Cairns (9), Atherton (1), Gordonvale (2) and Innisfail (3). Further south, shelters were built at Ingham (2), Townsville (15), Charters Towers (4), Ayr (3), Home Hill, Bowen and Proserpine (2 each), Mackay (8), Sarina (3), and Rockhampton (20). More shelters were constructed at towns from Gladstone to Southport, plus Kingaroy, Ipswich, and Toowoomba.
In addition to the public shelter building program, a large number of businesses built air raid shelters, as the owners of any building in the coastal areas where over 30 people would normally be present at any one time were required to build shelters either within the building, or adjacent to it. Air raid shelters were also built next to government buildings, to protect public servants and the public, and at railway stations. For example, air raid shelters survive behind the old Court House on Channon Street in Gympie, and at the Maryborough Courthouse; and there are still railway air raid shelters at the Landsborough and (former) Maryborough railway stations.
The Babinda shelter was constructed by Mulgrave Shire Council during 1942 to the same standard design as the public air raid shelters constructed in Cairns. They were above-ground structures designed to accommodate 50 persons seated, with 300mm reinforced concrete walls and a 150mm thick roof. The shelters contained an open entrance at either end protected by an internal blast wall. A small room at each entrance, referred to on plans as a closet, may have contained male and female toilets (water closets). The interior of the Babinda shelter comprised one large room with a timber bench along the western wall between the two internal blast walls, which could accommodate up to 20 persons seated; and a long, double timber bench positioned north-south in the centre of the room, which could accommodate a total of 30 persons seated. An alcove for a lamp was provided at the end of each blast wall. Eighteen offset open air vents around the building provided ventilation while protecting the occupants against direct blast from a near miss.
As the threat from air attacks lessened, the shelter was turned into a public toilet by Mulgrave Shire Council during 1944–1945 and remains today for this purpose. A mural was painted on the shelter in 1992. The building was last used as a public shelter during Tropical Cyclone Larry which passed through Babinda on 20 March 2006 causing severe damage in the town.
","Babinda Air Raid Shelter. Queensland Heritage Register 602743
Public Air Raid Shelter, Landsborough Railway Station, Queensland Heritage Register 602709
Queensland State Archives, Item 269093. Correspondence- Local Authorities- air raid shelters- civil defence- Steel Helmets. 1942–1946.
Queensland State Archives, Item ID 328630 Air raid precautions concrete pill box shelter 1941
" 72,"Balfes Creek RAAF Landing Ground","Balfes Creek Airfield","Airfield","Flinders Highway",Balfes Creek,4820,North-West,-20.1961326599121,145.922485351562,"Japan's entry into World War II led to considerable effort in aerodrome construction for the defence of Townsville from early 1942. An aerodrome site at Balfes Creek, west of Charters Towers, was requisitioned by the RAAF on 1 April 1942. Within weeks preliminary surveys had been completed and Main Roads Commission teams were at work with three strips pegged and cleared in the form of a triangle. By May it was apparent that during the urgent rush to establish airstrips west from Townsville along the Mount Isa railway, there had been considerable duplication of effort and overlap in instructions to surveyors and clearing teams. Confusion also reigned in respect of just what purpose various fields were eventually to be put. There was also the problem of how to get them built in time due to the shortage of equipment and men.
","Balfes Creek may have been originally intended as a base for one or more of four squadrons of A-24 Dauntless dive-bombers of the USAAF 3rd Bombardment Group (Light), which had been intended for the Philippines, but were diverted to Charters Towers during March 1942. Nearby dispersal strips for Balfes Creek were cleared at Tarangie and Powlathanga. Levelling and construction of the strips was undertaken by the US 46 Engineer General Service Regiment, equipped with a D-4 bulldozer. However, only the No.1 strip running parallel with the road and railway was completed before the US Engineers were transferred to Milne Bay in New Guinea.
By late 1942 the Allied Works Council was formally advised that Balfes Creek landing ground was to remain unsealed until a decision was made on its future role. Eventually both the RAAF and the Department of Civil Aviation decided they had no need for what was in effect a gravel runway alongside the highway. Balfes Creek had become another superfluous wartime airfield.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 74,"102nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station","Skull Creek Hospital","Medical facility","Junction of Skull Creek and Burster Creek",Bamaga,4876,North and Cape York,-10.9279499053955,142.386154174805,"Skull Creek Hospital was built in rainforest alongside the Cape York telegraph track, just east of the junction of Skull and Burster Creeks. Several concrete floor surfaces are still evident. They include the main ward and the patients' kitchen. The kitchen slab contains a cast-iron combustion stove while a corrugated iron water tank is located nearby. A row of 44-gallon drums marks the nurses' latrine.
","By May 1942 Horn Island airfield had received four of a total of eight Japanese air raids causing damage to a number of RAAF aircraft that were caught on the ground. As it was not possible to provide an emergency dispersal strip in the Torres Strait, attention turned to the area around Red Island Point near the tip of Cape York. A suitable airfield site was located and units of the US Army 46th Engineers General Service Regiment were sent to Cape York to start work on clearing and construction of the runway and dispersal areas. The strip was known as 'Jacky Jacky' to the Australians and 'Red Island' to the Americans. To overcome the confusion the commander of the US Fifth Air Force in Australia, directed that the name of the airfield be changed to Higgins Field in honour of Flight Lieutenant Brian Higgins, RAAF, killed in air operations on 25 May 1943.
By early 1943 a growing number of military personnel and construction workers were stationed at and around Higgins, and the associated radar and port facilities at Mutee Head and Red Island Point. With Japanese air raids and increased activity on Horn Island and at Merauke, the need for dispersed hospital facilities on the tip of Cape York became urgent.
From June 1942 a number of proposals were put forward for a base hospital at Cape York. A site was chosen south of Red Island Point and about eight kilometres west of Higgins Advanced Operational Base, near a fresh water spring which gave water in ample quantity all year round. The location had good natural cover afforded by surrounding trees to help camouflage the buildings. Because of the heavy tree cover the approach to the site could be achieved without giving a lead to its location.
Work may have already begun on the construction of a hospital at Cape York before a stop was ordered by the Australian First Army in December 1942. Any buildings erected were to be handed over to commander of Torres Strait Force.
During 1943, the Townsville builders, John Stubbs and Sons, were contracted by the Department of Public Works, through the Allied Works Council, to commence or complete work on the construction of a 90 bed hospital on Skull Creek.
On completion the hospital, which may have been reduced to a capacity of 60 beds, was staffed by a detachment of nurses and orderlies of 102 Australian Casualty Clearing Station from New South Wales. The unit was stationed at Skull Creek for about ten months before transferring to New Guinea. During this period, many of the patients treated at the hospital were Australian casualties from Merauke in Dutch New Guinea and local Aboriginal people, particularly women requiring assistance in child birth.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
This C-49 transport aircraft crashed and caught fire while coming in to land in the early morning of 5 May 1945 on a flight from Brisbane. The pilot, an Australian National Airways employee, the RAAF crew of three and two passengers all died in the crash. The tail section, wings and engines of the wrecked aircraft have been arranged within a fenced area near the junction of the Peninsula Development Road and the Bamaga airport road.
","The aircraft began its operational life as a Dutch commercial passenger airliner owned by KLM and in June 1940 was transferred to KNILM in the Netherlands East Indies. The DC-3 was one of the last KNILM aircraft to escape to Australia ahead of the rapid Japanese advance through the Indonesian archipelago. Taking off from Samarinda on the island of Borneo on 24 January 1942 it survived an attack by Japanese Zero fighters which left six people on board injured.
The aircraft was acquired after its arrival in Australia for use by the newly-formed Allied Directorate of Air Transport (ADAT). It was transferred to the USAAF in Australia in May 1942 with the serial number 41-1941, call sign VHALT, and known as 'Holey Joe'. Operation of the aircraft was taken over by Australian National Airways (ANA) in December 1942. The call sign was changed to VHCXD and the aircraft was subsequently converted to a freighter operated by ANA under charter for military purposes utilising RAAF aircrew. In June 1944 it was redesignated as a C-49H (DC-3) with the serial number 44-83228. Operation of the aircraft was taken over by RAAF 33 Squadron in March 1945 although it remained on charter to ANA.
On the evening of 4 May 1945 it left Archerfield airfield, Brisbane, on a regular courier run to New Guinea with a cargo of meat for Port Moresby. While circling to land at Higgins Field in pre-dawn darkness it crashed at 5.18 a.m. on the following morning, after striking trees on a low ridge west of the runway. The aircraft caught fire on impact and was partially destroyed, incinerating the four Australian crew and two American military passengers. The wreckage has since been recovered and fenced as a memorial.
","Dunn, P. 'Crash of C-49H at Higgins', Australia @ War
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994
NQ Study. See WWII report p. 116 (Higgins/Jacky Jacky)
RAAF Beaufort, Curtiss P-40 remnants, DC-3.
The fuselage and wings of a RAAF Beaufort bomber, A9-190, are located at what was probably a salvaged parts dump on the northern side of the Higgins Field runway. Although the Japanese surrender was announced in Australia on 14 August 1945 after the detonation of nuclear bombs over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki about a week earlier, disbandment of RAAF units and the return of men and aircraft from the Pacific war zone continued for over a year.
","While returning from Madang to Cairns on 10 October 1945 this aircraft suffered an oil pressure problem, which caused the pilot to divert to Port Moresby for repairs. The aircraft left Port Moresby with a crew of three and four passengers. Halfway across the Coral Sea the pilot was forced to feather one of the two engines and change course for Higgins Field, where the aircraft made a straight-in approach downwind without flaps or brakes. Continuing beyond the end of the strip, it crashed into an earth mound and was wrecked. Fortunately, no-one on board was injured.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Higgins Airfield was developed during late 1942 as a dispersal airfield for the Horn Island airfield, and was upgraded during 1943–1944. Higgins is now operated as Injinoo/Bamaga Airport, located about 8 kilometres southeast of Bamaga, on Airport Road.Sections of the gravelled taxiways, along with bitumen-sealed dispersal bays, survive around the runway. Most dispersal bays, some with earth mound protection, remain intact although many are now covered with regrowth. The Duty Pilot's Tower and associated facilities were once located near the centre of the southern side of the runway. The area contains gravel quarry pits and evidence of a bitumen processing plant. A row of three or more light machine gun posts are located near the control tower site. The camp area for RAAF 33 Operational Base Unit (OBU) is located west of the runway. Concrete features are concentrated around the site of the OBU kitchen and mess. The Repair and Salvage Unit (RSU) workshops and camp site occupies an area about 1 km north-west of the runway. The site contains a large concrete floor slab of a hangar. Two aircraft wrecks near the airfield include a Beaufort, A9-190, on the northern side of the runway and a Douglas DC-3, VH-CXD, located 3 km north-west of the runway, now in a fenced enclosure with a memorial.
","With Japanese advances into the South West Pacific Area, the RAAF's Horn Island Advanced Operational Base (AOB), where two runways had been constructed during 1941, became an important staging base for Allied missions over New Guinea and for the transit of aircraft to Port Moresby. By May 1942 Horn Island AOB had received four Japanese air raids causing damage to a number of RAAF aircraft caught on the ground. As it was not possible to provide an emergency dispersal strip on Horn Island, attention turned to the area around Red Island Point (now Seisia) near the tip of Cape York. In late June it was reported that a suitable airfield site had been located south east of Red Island Point.
By 8 August 1942 two companies of the US 91st Engineer Battalion (African American troops) had arrived and were in the process of unloading heavy equipment. By October the US Engineers were working on the airstrip and roads, and were also engaged in pile-driving for a jetty ""at Red Island Point"".
Some disagreement exists over whether the harbour for supplying the airfield was built at Red Island Point or Mutee Head. US records in August 1942 suggested the port of entry was moved from Red Island Point to Mutee Head. However, records of US improvements at Higgins included a 10 mile (16km) access road and a 120′ by 12′ (36.6m by 3.7m) wharf approach and a 80′ by 12′ (24.4m by 3.7m) loading leg. If the road ran from the wharf to the airfield, then the distance matches Red Island Point, not Mutee Head. In addition, by October 1945 a ""D"" shaped jetty (with three sections about 52m, 33.5m and 55m long) and a pontoon landing existed at Red Island Point for unloading fuel for the airfield. At this time it was reported that the jetty at Mutee Head had never been used, its position being unsuitable for tying up boats. A ""well constructed"" road also ran from Red Island Point to the airstrip, and a cold store existed about 2 miles (3.2km) south of Red Island Point.
The airstrip, with one 132 degree runway, was initially referred to as 'Red Island Point' by the Americans and 'Jacky Jacky' by the Australians. The first B-17 bomber landed on Jacky Jacky airstrip on 28 October 1942. However, all work on the airfield ceased during December as the wet season got underway. The US Engineers were transferred to New Guinea and the Allied Works Council (AWC) was asked to take over the remaining construction work and maintenance at the airfield, with the help of the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC).
In late 1942 the MRC commenced work on the construction of heavy (3.7-inch) anti-aircraft gun stations 444 and 445 for the defence of Jacky Jacky. The guns, set up as two sections, north and south of the airstrip, were initially manned by 35th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery and were operational by 22 January 1943. However, after a month the artillery personnel of 35th HAA Battery were transferred to Cairns and the gun stations were placed under care and maintenance until late 1943.
Meanwhile, to protect the facilities at Red Island Point and Jacky Jacky airfield against Japanese landings, in October 1942 the 31st Infantry Battalion (Militia, also known as the Kennedy Regiment), along with signals, engineer, artillery, anti-tank, Australian Army Service Corps, ambulance and LAD detachments, arrived after an overland journey up Cape York. As part of 11 Brigade the 31st Battalion had defended Townsville prior to the arrival of 5th Division (Militia) in May 1942. The 31st dug in around Townsville from late March to early May 1942, at first near the beaches, Kissing Point, and on high ground to the north and east of Castle Hill; and later to the west of Castle Hill between Rowes Bay and the showgrounds. The 31st Battalion moved to the Bohle River 19–20 May, changing places with the 51st Battalion of 11 Brigade, and then moved to the Little Bohle River 29–30 May. After training in the Many Peaks Range area in June, the 31st moved to Nome, southeast of Townsville, on 1 July 1942.
After further training exercises, the battalion was loaded onto trains at Nome between 25 and 27 September, and travelled via Cairns and Kuranda to Chillagoe. An overland convoy of 226 vehicles in eight groups then travelled up Cape York from the Walsh River to Red Island Point (via the Mitchell River, Palmerville, the Hann River, Musgrave Telegraph Station, the Stewart River, Coen, the Archer River, Moreton Telegraph Station (Wenlock River), the Skardon River and the Jardine River) between 1 October and 10 October 1942. Meanwhile, a carrier platoon and six US-supplied light tanks, each armed with two MGs (possibly twin-turreted M2A2 'Mae Wests'), were sent by sea to Red Island Point. The battalion took up defensive positions around Red Island Point and the airfield, and remained in the area until December. Transported by the Liberty Ship Willis Van Devanter (after being transhipped from Red Island Point onto the Willis Van Devanter by the steamship Poonbar), the battalion arrived in Cairns on 31 December 1942. In April 1943 the 31st Battalion was merged with the 51st Battalion, and the new unit (31/51st) later served with 11 Brigade in Dutch New Guinea as part of Merauke Force (11 Brigade becoming the first Militia unit to serve outside Australian territory).
Wet season failure of the drainage system under the western extension of the east-west strip on Horn Island meant that by January 1943 the RAAF was urgently reviewing the future of Horn Island Airfield and its suitability for use by heavy bombers. Jacky Jacky was inspected by the RAAF as an alternative AOB to Horn Island and a report of the inspection noted that it contained a 7,000 ft. (2,134m) strip complete with dispersal bays. However, the runway would require reconstruction with attention to drainage to make it suitable for an AOB.
Funds were allocated to the MRC for the essential reconstruction works at Jacky Jacky. About 250 workers constituting the first RAAF mobile construction company (No.1 Mobile Unit) were assembled at Sydney to undertake urgent works. On arrival at Jacky Jacky the men were housed in temporary accommodation while a prefabricated camp was established by the Townsville contractor, John Stubbs & Sons, who had been engaged to assist the MRC.
On 3 June 1943 Lieutenant-General George Kenney, commander of the US Fifth Air Force in Australia, directed that the name of the airfield be changed from Jacky Jacky to Higgins Field in honour of Flight Lieutenant Brian H. Higgins, RAAF, killed in air operations on 25 May 1943. Also in June 1943, RAAF No.1 Repair and Salvage Unit (RSU) was assigned to Higgins.
RAAF No.33 Operational Base Unit (OBU) arrived at Higgins in October 1943 to take over refuelling duties and the administration of the AOB. During the month the OBU camp area was cleared and sleeping huts and ablutions blocks were erected. The unit canteen and OBU administrative officers and operations building were completed during November, as was the RSU camp.
Although priming and sealing of the reconstructed runway had been ordered in June 1943, by late October it was noted that only 5,500 feet (1,676m) of Higgins runway was serviceable but not yet sealed. About 1500 feet (457m) of runway at the north-west end of the strip was still in the process of being rebuilt and strengthened where the drainage culvert crossed under the airfield. Work on drainage, taxiways and hardstands continued until early January 1944 when sealing of the airstrip at last commenced. Final sealed length was about 7079 feet (2158m) by 100′ (30.5m).
In late 1943 the Australian Army's 137th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery arrived at Red Island Point from Cairns to re-commission the HAA gun stations at Higgins which were operational again by 15 December 1943. The Artillery's 56th Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiment was formed at Higgins in December 1943 and became operative in February 1944. Composite anti-aircraft regiments were raised during 1943 to provide complete anti-aircraft defence against high and low flying aircraft, combining 3.7-inch HAA guns and 40mm Bofors guns. At Higgins 'A' Troop were equipped with three Bofors guns. To increase the field of fire against low flying aircraft, the Bofors guns were mounted on nine-metre high timber towers.
Beaufort medium bombers of No.7 Squadron RAAF, transferred from Horn Island to Jacky Jacky on 26 March 1944. From late 1942 a detachment of No.7 Squadron Beauforts had conducted maritime and anti-submarine patrols from Horn Island, and from November 1943 the squadron undertook bombing raids from Higgins with attacks on Japanese-held airstrips and villages in New Guinea. The squadron continued to be based at Higgins until late 1944.
In addition to No.7 Squadron and No.33 OBU, other units located at Higgins at various times included RAAF No.75 Wing Headquarters; RAAF 5 RSU from May 1944 to March 1945; a detachment of No.23 Squadron RAAF equipped with Vultee A-31 Vengeance dive bombers; a detachment of No.34 Squadron RAAF equipped with Douglas C-47 transport aircraft; and the Australian Army's 105th Light Field Ambulance.
By mid-1944 groups of camp buildings occupied the higher ground at the western end of the airfield. These included the squadron camp south of the northwest end of the runway; the OBU camp southwest of the squadron camp; and the RSU camp southwest of the OBU camp. The RSU motor transport area was to the north of the RSU camp; while the RSU workshops area with two gable roofed hangars (88′ 6″ by 22′, or 27m by 6.7m) was located northeast of the motor transport area, to the northwest of the runway.
The OBU camp included, amongst other buildings, an operations room, headquarters, armoury, medical section, post office and recreation hall, while the RSU camp included a recreation hall; a timber and bush pole picture theatre, stage and projection box; and a chapel. Next to the RSU camp were a homing beacon shed, mast and engine shed; and an ionospheric recording station with power house, recording room and bush pole aerial system. Northwest of the RSU workshops was a W/T transmitter building with masts, and to the northeast a radio range building with a tower. A separate camp for aircrews in transit was also built, consisting of 20 prefabricated huts with accommodation for 160 men.
A High Frequency/Direction Finding (HF/DF) station and a Very High Frequency/Direction Finding (VHF/DF) station were located north of the east end of the runway, while a three storey control tower and hardstand apron were located mid-runway on the southern side of the airstrip alongside a group of light machine gun posts. A bitumen melting and processing plant was constructed nearby. In sealing of the runway and dispersal bays, drums of solid bitumen were heated in 'bitumen kettles' to a liquid suitable for spraying. A row of metal kettles were used. These were square oil-fired heaters (about the size of a ships tank) positioned over a trench so that drums of solid bitumen could be rolled for immersion. The eroded trench, corroded tanks, bitumen drum dumps and sections of steel tramway track remain. Sixty bitumen sealed dispersal bays were formed along winding gravel taxiways extending to the south, west and northwest of the runway.
The importance of recreational activities was reflected in the construction of a tennis court, a basketball court and a swimming pool. A bush rest camp was established at the mouth of a nearby river. About 20 mango trees were planted around the OBU camp and paw paw and lime seeds were cultivated. A piggery was also established.
Aircraft movements through Higgins during September 1944 included 195 RAAF, 16 US, 16 Dutch and 25 civil flights. In the early morning of 5 May 1945 an air transport DC-3 'Courier' aircraft, VH-CXD, crashed and caught fire 3 km short of the airstrip while making a landing approach. The pilot, an Australian National Airways employee, the crew of four and two US passengers died in the crash. The tail section and wings of the wrecked aircraft remain at the crash site. The fuselage and wings of a RAAF Beaufort bomber, A9-190, are located at what was probably a salvaged parts dump north of the runway.
Higgins field still had a RAAF unit in occupation in July 1947, with a Courier Service aircraft calling in each week, but the airfield was declared surplus to RAAF requirements in 1948. The Red Island Point jetty, the cold store and the airfield's buildings were purchased by the Queensland government for the Queensland Department of Native Affairs, but the Commonwealth retained (but did not maintain) the airstrip itself, leasing it from Queensland from 1951 to 1969 and thereby allowing ""immediate possession in the event of strategic necessity"". The airfield is now operated by the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council as Injinoo/Bamaga Airport.
","Higgins Field. Reported Place 29505, DERM
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Wilson, PD 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942–1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Seekee, V, 2002. Horn Island: In their steps 1939–1945. Vanessa and Arthur Liberty Seekee, Horn Island.
Davies, D. ""Horn Island Artillery 1942–1998"", p.6, Radar Returns, Volume 8 No 3, 2003.
National Archives of Australia 171/93/742; Director of Works and Buildings - Property - Higgins Field Qld - Operational Base - Hiring of site, 1943–1947
National Archives of Australia, ET354. Higgins Field North Queensland - RAAF landing ground, 1943–1944.
National Archives of Australia, QL656 PART 2. Higginsfield (Jacky-Jacky) RAAF Air Strip, 1943–1970.
Dunn, P. Higgins Field, Qld during WW2
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
Australian War Memorial, Item Number 8/3/70. 31 Infantry Battalion and 31/51 Infantry Battalion (War diaries, from December 1941–December 1942).
Personal communications with George V. Roberts, former Intelligence Officer, 31 Battalion, September-October 2012.
" 78,"Pius XII Seminary Observation post","Australian Catholic University Banyo Campus","Civil defence facility","78 Approach Road",Banyo,4014,Greater Brisbane,-27.3781471252441,153.088851928711,"The Pius XII Seminary opened in 1941. In 1942, the Australian army occupied the seminary's bell tower for use as an observation post to watch for enemy movements in Moreton Bay or along Schultz's Canal.
","The Pius XII Seminary was completed in 1941. It was possibly the last private civil building completed in Brisbane before wartime shortages of both building materials and tradesman forced all construction to concentrate upon military projects. The seminary was named after the Roman Catholic Pope Pius XII, who resided in the Vatican City located in Rome which itself was part of Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy. The seminary's foundation stone was laid on 19 November 1939, the same day that Pius XII was elected Pope, a position he held throughout World War Two, The seminary enrolled its first trainee priests on 22 March 1941 and was officially opened and blessed on 27 April 1941.
The outbreak of the Pacific War on 8 December 1941 meant that Brisbane could face aerial attack or seaborne raids. Japanese tactics in the Malayan Campaign had included infiltrating Allied defences by inserting Japanese troops by small boats or barges along isolated stretches of the coast or along river ways.
Built on Beehive Hill, the Seminary had commanding views across to Moreton Bay. In 1942, permission was sought from the Catholic Archbishop of Queensland James Duhig and the Seminary's Rector (Head) Father Vincent Cleary for the Australian Military Forces (AMF or militia) to establish an observation post in the seminary's bell tower. The tower was easily accessible by internal stairs. The army observation post had clear views of a section of Moreton Bay but more importantly could keep watch on the entrance to nearby Schultz's Canal that fed into Downfall Creek. The observation post was connected by an army telephone line to the Headquarters of Brisbane Fortress Command located at St. Laurence College on Stephens Road, South Brisbane.
The observation post was withdrawn prior to the end of World War Two.
","Brisbane City Council records
" 79,"United States Army General Depot","US Army Transport and Stores Depot","Supply facility","Earnshaw Road",Banyo,4014,Brisbane City,-27.3824348449707,153.077056884766,"This depot was the largest US Army vehicle storage and repair facility established in Australia during the World War 2. The warehouses were of an US prefabricated design that utilised prefabricated lattice trusses made from imported Oregon timber. After the war, the depot was handed to the Australian Army that operated the site as the Banyo Army Stores Depot. In 1947, Golden Circle purchased part of the site for its new cannery. The Australian Army vacated the Depot in 2001.
","During 1942, the United States (US) Army quarried the left side Earnshaw Road/Tufnell Road corner of the undeveloped site. The quarry closed in March 1943. In April, the US Army decided to redevelop it as a supply base to be known as the Brisbane General Depot. Its boundaries were Blinzinger Avenue (now Crockford Street), Bellare Avenue, Frederick Street, Northgate (now Earnshaw) Road, Bishopgate Road (now the boundary line of the Banyo Railway Workshops), Tufnell Road and back along the eastern fence line to Crockford Street. Numerous vacant allotments and Brisbane City Council (BCC) land were compulsorily acquired under lease by the Australian Government via wartime regulations.
US Army Corps of Engineers' Lieutenant-Colonel Edward E. Rosendahl designed the layout. He initially planned 14 warehouses, an administration block, a crated vehicle storage area and a railway siding for a expected cost in April 1943 of £30,000. Bulldozers began clearing the land in June and soon the first building, a temporary workshop/repair shed, was erected on the western side of Earnshaw Road. At this time, Rosendahl's proposal for the Depot had expanded to 18 warehouses. By October 1943, his ambitious building plan had been reduced to just 11 warehouses. But then another depot, proposed for Virginia, was dropped in favour of expanding the Banyo site. Earnshaw Road was temporarily closed during the early stages of construction. Thereafter the road was open to public access but traffic had to pass through two checkpoints sited at either end. At these sentry boxes, army guards noted the registration number and time of passing of civilian vehicles.
The Depot brought improvements to the residents of Banyo. In March 1944, US engineers widened Earnshaw Road to 24 feet. In May 1945, Earnshaw Road's bitumen upgrading was funded as a US Minor Works Project. Previously only Tufnell Road was sealed in Banyo. A 6-inch water main laid along Tufnell Road to service the Depot, was utilised by the BCC to provide reticulated water to nearby residents. Open drains dug across the Depot and under Crockford Street led down to Cannery Creek so alleviating flooding that was a scourge to local people. The Depot had ill effects on some locals. Margaret Skehan's block adjacent to Cannery Creek was cut in half by a drain and lost some value. George White had his Tufnell Road market gardens ruined when the Depot's sewerage treatment works was built on his adjacent vacant block in 1944.
After the Allies captured Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea in April 1944, it was converted into the major base to launch MacArthur's promised return to the Philippines. Many US Army facilities in Australia moved to Hollandia. The Brisbane General Depot was not affected. It continued to serve as a United States Army Service of Supply storage and repair base linked to depots at Meeandah and Brett's Wharf. The unit based at Banyo was the 338th Ordnance Company whose motto was 'Keep 'Em Rollin'. By June 1945, the Depot reached its peak, comprising 75 buildings, plus a Troops Camp housing 135 tents. It consisted of three separate areas each surrounded by barbed wire.
On the left side of Earnshaw Road was the Administration Block. This comprised a row of three wooden rectangular buildings, another square-shaped administration building and male and female latrines. A Motor Pool with two petrol pumping stations and two oil stores completed the top end of this area. Down the hill from the Administration Block were two rows of three warehouses. These six warehouses were 100 x 400 feet in dimension with post and lattice truss walls and concrete floors. At the area's bottom end where the cannery is now, were two 100 ft x 400 ft open storage areas with earth floors, a motor repair shed, plus a railway siding with an earthen loading platform that was situated near Bindha Station's current location.
On Earnshaw Road's eastern side was the Depot's second area. At its top end, nearest Tufnell Road, was the Troops Camp. Apart from a tent line housing enlisted men, it comprised 44 buildings. There were officers' accommodation huts, separate bathhouses and latrines for officers and their men, a headquarters building, infirmary, postal exchange (PX), recreation hut, supply shop, canvas motion picture theatre, 4 kitchens and 2 mess halls. Down from the Troops Camp was a row of two 100 ft x 400 ft warehouses, and a second row with another warehouse, a maintenance office and a workshop. To the east of these warehouses were four 100 ft x 400 ft open storage areas. The lower end of this area sloping down to Crockford Street was used for ordnance testing. Three parallel gravel roads that crossed Earnshaw Road ran through both sides of the Depot.
Bellare Avenue, Frederick and Crockford Streets with Earnshaw Road bounded the Depot's third area. It was a large open space storing crated US Army vehicles ready for shipping to combat zones. This third area included a small strip of land to the east of where Frederick and Crockford Streets intersect containing a drainage ditch into Cannery Creek. With War's end in September 1945, the US Army no longer required the Depot. Valued at £191,300, the Depot transferred to the Australia Army on 17 October 1945.
","""Banyo–Nudgee Heritage Trail""; Marks Book 14, 2 NA digital plans;
Jonathan Ford, ""Location 7: NORTHGATE US NAVY STORES"", Banyo–Nudgee Heritage Trail, (Brisbane: Bangee Festival Committee, 2000)"".
A civil landing area (Department of Civil Aviation landingground # 831) existed just north-west of the town at the outbreak of the Second World War. It did not have any hard standing defined runways but like many such grounds that site did see passing service aircraft traffic.
","Local historical records attest to the unscheduled stopover of likely an American twin-engine Douglas Havoc, although it is not clear whether any photographic evidence of the event survives.
American Army Units, particularly an Afro American labour battalion was camped for a time near the town. Late in the Second World War period Australian authorities did move to construct a number of hard surfaced runways on a new site on the eastern fringe. This site services the town of Barcaldine today.
","Roger and Jenny Marks, 'Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On'
" 92,"Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (A.E.M.E.) Igloo","Kingfisher Furniture Designs","Workshop","142 Bundock Street",Belgian Gardens,4810,Townsville,-19.2526569366455,146.788589477539,"The Igloo at Bundock Street was built for the (AEME) Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. In early 1944 it was used for the major repair and servicing of vehicles.
United States manufactured amphibious vehicles (Army Ducks). These were assembled and serviced here before being sent north to New Guinea, Morotai and Borneo for duty with Australian forces.
The majority of Igloos had an internal timber frame, where this example has a steel frame which has contributed to its survival.
Following its use in WWII, it has been occupied by a bakery, Harts Cordial and furniture shops. Currently, the igloo is the main display showroom for Kingfisher Furniture Designs(as at 2011).
",,"Townsville City Council Information sheet for Bundock Street 'Igloo', VP50, 1995.
" 96,"Townsville War Cemetery","United States (US) Military Cemetery","Cemetery","Evans Street",Belgian Gardens,4810,Townsville,-19.2460556030273,146.788284301758,"The Townsville Cemetery at Belgian Gardens existed prior to WW2 and was used to inter Australian personnel from 1939.
At the commencement of the Pacific War US, British and other Allied personnel were also buried at this Cemetery.
","In July 1943, the US Chaplains' Office noted that improvements were needed during the firing 'salute':
The firing detail shot into the hill [Jimmy's Lookout] west of our section. The men that we have for this detail are a different group each burial. Some of the men even with a regular detail are a little nervous on this type of duty, therefore, the possibilities of an inexperienced detail shooting high and the bullet ricocheting into the 4th Air Depot [Garbutt] area is very great. It is also dangerous shooting into the bay. For the Memorial Day service we secured blank ammunition from the parachute troops…
It was also mentioned that the maximum number of US personnel permitted to be interred on site was 1000 and that there were currently 300 graves (July 1943).
Plans were made in 1945 for 454 deceased US personnel at the Townsville Cemetery to be transferred to APO 923 (Brisbane area).
This was possibly the US section of the Ipswich Cemetery which contained many US war graves.
These were eventually exhumed and returned to the United States with the majority relocated to Arlington National Cemetery.
The flagpole erected to carry the American flag was removed post war and still exists within the Jezzine Barracks precinct.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 2. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 3 Chaplains' Office. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
International News Photo (Cemetery, Townsville, Australia, 11 March 1942) (Ray Holyoak collection).
1942 US burial at Townsville Cemetery at Belgian Gardens.
Associated Press Wire Photograph FES 21300 Pool
(Ray Holyoak collection).
" 99,"Blackall Airfield",,"Airfield","Leek Street (off Landsborough Highway)",Blackall,4472,Central-West,-24.4289989471436,145.425689697266,"Like many inland pastoral centres Blackall had a civil landing area (DCA LG # 458 )south-east of the town.
When Blackall was deemed needed as a stopover point on the Inland Ferry Route to Darwin construction was initiated on a new site a few kilometres west of the town. The work was undertaken as at many such sites throughout Queensland, by the Allied Works Council using CCC (Civil Construction Corps)labour.
Logically this infrastructure investment carried forward to become the current day Blackall Airport.
",,"NAA Resouces/ NAA Series BP374/1 MAP - Blackall Aerdrome
Roger and Jenny Marks, 'Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On'.
" 100,"Bohle River Airfield","Black River","Airfield","Shaw Road",Bohle River,4818,Townsville,-19.2831363677979,146.699096679688,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference.
" 101,"Booby Island RAN War Signal Station","Booby Island Light House","Radar/signal station","Booby Island Light House",Booby Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.6045713424683,141.910842895508,"Booby Island is a barren and rocky island of 6.5 hectares in area. Booby Island Lightstation is located on Booby Island. The island is part of the Prince of Wales Group off the tip of Cape York, 34 kilometres west of Thursday Island. The lightstation complex comprises the whole island (6.07 hectares). During the Second World War, the Royal Australian Navy utilised the site as a War Signal Station, tomonitir ship movements in the area.
","Constructed in 1890, the 23rd lighthouse built by the Queensland government, it is still in use as part of the coastal navigation system and is a significant as a well-known landmark. Booby Island is associated with Captain James Cook and William Bligh. Booby Island was so named, due to the presence of the bird population, by Cook in 1770 and again by Bligh in 1789 during his boat journey following the mutiny on the Bounty.
The RAN war signal stations were manned by RAN personnel, and other sites at Archer Point, Goods Island, Wednesday Island, and Magnetic Island, ensured that the coast line was on alert against possible Japanese invasion.
","Department of Environment and Heritage Protection Queensland Heritage Register site 16466
" 102,"United States Army Officers' accommodation/billet","'Broomham' Residence","Military accommodation","152 Groth Road",Boondall,4034,Brisbane City,-27.3531589508057,153.056579589844,"The small cottage at 152 Groth Street was originally located next-door at the corner of Groth and Beams Roads. During the latter part of World War Two, it was leased by the US Army to provide officers' billets.
","The house at 152 Groth Road had been built on the adjacent block (now 154 Groth Road) and it was built on high stumps. During the early 1930s it was the home of the Broomham Family. The US Army leased the vacant small workers cottage at the corner of Groth and Beams Roads, Boondall sometime between 1942 and 1944 to provide officers' accommodation. The surrounding district was mainly farmland with only a few isolated houses usually located along the main roads.
While enlisted men and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in the US Army were housed in barracks, officers were sometimes allowed to seek private billets outside of an army camp. High-ranking officers were usually allotted a residence as a private billet, which they only shared with a cook and a maid. Junior officers had to share a house as a billet and this would have been the case with the rental cottage on Groth Road.
It is uncertain as to which units these officers belonged to but it is probable that they came from the US Army Services of Supply (USASOS). The USASOS had the majority of American units based permanently in Brisbane as the Queensland capital had become a major supply base for General Douglas MacArthur's South-West Pacific Area (SWPA) Command. The US Army officers living in the Boondall cottage were most likely associated with nearby military sites, such as the US Army Ordnance Depot on Bilsen Road, Geebung or the two US Army warehouses in St. Achs Street, Nudgee. Given the sparsety of housing in the area, this cottage may have been the only rental property available to the US Army.
Post-war, the workers cottage was shifted next door onto the block at 152 Groth Road, to make way for the construction of a brick home at 154 Groth Road.
","Barbara Bow, Welcome to Boondall, (Brisbane: Sandgate & Diistrict Historical Society and Museum inc., 1997) p54.
" 107,"Bowen Aerodrome and Explosive Stores","Bowen Airport","Airfield","Bowen Connection Road",Bowen,4805,Fitzroy-Mackay,-20.0178985595703,148.215454101562,"By 1939, when work began on Bowen aerodrome, the town already had a long association with amphibious aircraft of the RAAF, extending back to about 1926. Initial construction of the aerodrome was undertaken by the local Bowen and Wangaratta Councils with government advances. A single gravel runway had been completed by mid-1940 when the Department of Civil Aviation set about development of the airfield as a RAAF Advanced Operational Base. However, the site was soon considered inadequate for this purpose. Although it fell short of requirements for an operational base the aerodrome was taken over by defence authorities and extended, with a second runway being provided. The Main Roads Commission carrying out the subsequent work.
","With the outbreak of the Pacific war Bowen, like other airfields on the north Queensland coast, provided a brief rest and refuelling stop for aircraft transiting northward to New Guinea. During 1943 Bowen aerodrome was used by amphibious aircraft of RAAF No.9 Fleet Co-operation Squadron, for the servicing and repair of naval spotter aircraft and for the delivery of mail and messages to ships of the RAN.
Bowen was selected as the aerodrome for carrying out chemical warfare trials for the 1st Australian Field Experimental Station based at Gunyarra railway siding near Proserpine. These tests were conducted on an irregular basis from 1944 and involved mustard gas bombing trials over Mission Beach, Hinchinbrook Island and the Tully rainforest. Two 'igloo-shaped' reinforced concrete explosive stores, located south of the aerodrome near the Bruce Highway, may have been constructed during this period for the storage of chemical weapons including mustard gas and phosgene bombs. The stores are similar to others built at the main RAAF chemical weapons stockpile at Talmoi siding in western Queensland.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 108,"Bowen Chemical Research Unit, Bowen Aerodrome","RAAF Special Duties Flight Detachment, No.1 Aircraft Performance Unit","Scientific facility","Bowen Airport, Bowen Connection Road",Bowen,4805,Fitzroy-Mackay,-20.0210132598877,148.215515136719,"The Bowen Chemical Research Unit grew from the Royal Australian Air Force's Special Duties Flight Detachment, No.1 Aircraft Performance Unit, which had been formed at RAAF Laverton, Victoria. The RAAF unit was part of a larger collection of facilities at Innisfail and the Australian Field Experimental Station (AFES) at Proserpine and specialised in the delivery of chemical and special warfare for research units in the region.
","The RAAF unit moved to Bowen in early 1944 and shared the airstrip with the RAAF 9 Squadron. When the 9 Squadron moved out, the Chemical Research Unit took over the airfield and formed as a separate unit on the 15th August 1944. It was eventually disbanded in December 1945.
Following the departure of the 9 Squadron RAAF, the Chemical Research Unit took command of all the facilities on the Bowen Airstrip and in December 1944 it constituated 12 officers and 112 airmen. The unit was equipped with Vultee Vengence A27 and Beaufort A9 aircraft. It was divided into four sections: a headquarters; a flying and technical flight; a meteorological flight; and a medical research section. The headquarters and flying and technical flight were located at Bowen, but the unit aircraft mainly operated out of Cairns.
The main task of the Chemical Research Unit was low-level spraying and low/high level bombing support to the units at Innisfail and Proserpine. Munitions were stored at the Bowen Aerodrome as canisters and bombs. The aircraft would load at Bowen and then drop bombs or spray at North Brook Island, Mission Beach or Mourilyan Harbour and then fly to Cairns. The route was reversed every few days. In the case of inclement weather, the unit would fly out to sea and jettison the ammunition to avoid risk of accident on return.
Ammunition stored at the airstrip consisted of 65 lbs bombs, 44 gallon and 540 lbs drums, mustard gas and other chemicals.
","Plunkett, Geoff. & Australian Military History Publications. 2007 Chemical warfare in Australia / Geoff Plunkett Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, N.S.W.
" 109,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 55 Radar Station",,"Radar/signal station","Cape Edgecumbe",Bowen,4805,Fitzroy-Mackay,-19.983959197998,148.261978149414,"Evidence of RAAF 55 Radar Station can be found north of Bowen on the windswept headland of Cape Edgecumbe, overlooking Horseshoe and Murrays Bay. This installation was erected here in March 1943 as RAAF 42 Radar Station and was redesignated as 55 Radar Station several weeks later on 1 April 1943. Since May 1942 Bowen had been an important Catalina flying boat maintenance base and the radar unit was needed not only for air defence, but to assist in the navigation of Allied aircraft, particularly those lost or suffering mechanical problems.","
The tower was an Australian-made transportable Air Warning (AW) radar tower, of bolted steel construction with parts prefabricated for air transport and easy erection and dismantling. The radar was a British Mk V COL set. The transmitter/receiver was designed by the Royal Air Force for coastal defence use. COL was the overseas version of the British CHL (Chain Home Low Flying). CHL stations were for the detection of low flying aircraft and formed part of the British 'Chain Home' network.
RAAF 55 Radar Station was reduced to a care and maintenance unit from January to October 1945 and the unit was disbanded in April 1946. The only remaining evidence of the radar tower are the steel tie-down bolts on the rock surface. A light anti-aircraft gun pit nearby probably contained a World War I Lewis or Vickers machine gun.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 111,"Bowen Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Flying Boat Base","Port Denison Sailing Club","Airfield","Quay Street",Bowen,4805,Fitzroy-Mackay,-20.0182914733887,148.246017456055,"The association of RAAF amphibious aircraft with Bowen extends back to the late 1920s when 101 Flight operated Supermarine Seagull III bi-planes from the seaplane tender HMAS Albatross, to obtain aerial photography over parts of the Great Barrier Reef. From the early years of World War II, RAAF No.9 Fleet Cooperation Squadron operated Seagull V (Walrus) amphibious aircraft from Bowen.
Consolidated Catalina flying boats of RAAF Nos.11 and 20 Squadrons were initially based at Port Moresby, flying long range patrols often involving night bombing of Japanese island strongholds. As Port Moresby came under attack causing the destruction of several Catalinas, the squadrons moved to the comparative safety of Bowen and continued to mount operations against the Japanese.
A temporary timber slipway was built at Bowen in mid-1942 and this was replaced by a permanent concrete maintenance hardstand and slipway. The construction proved difficult, but the concrete slipway and expansive apron, remain intact as evidence of the important wartime role played by Bowen as a major flying boat repair depot.
","A Japanese attempt to capture Port Moresby and gain a foothold in the Solomon Islands was thwarted in early May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. RAAF Catalinas flew many hours of reconnaissance missions over the Coral Sea searching for the Port Moresby invasion fleet. As the battle began
an urgent request was made by the RAAF for a flying boat slipway at Bowen to maintain the Catalinas of Nos. 11 and 20 Squadrons, based there. The first slipway was built at the harbour end of Brisbane Street, north of the town jetty. This section of Brisbane Street is still of concrete construction. The slipway was prefabricated with heavy timbers bolted together in sections. The majority of the structure was underwater and suffered badly from marine borers.
In August 1942 RAAF No.22 Operational Base Unit was established at Bowen to undertake administration and maintenance of the base. The RAAF took over the local picture theatre as a maintenance workshop and most of the squadron officers and ground crews were accommodated in various hotels, houses and shops in the main streets of Bowen. The Denison Hotel served as squadron headquarters and officer's accommodation. Adjacent shops were used as an airmens' mess, station headquarters, and station store and guard room. Private houses along Dalrymple and George Streets became airmens' barracks, electrical shops, carpenters' shops, an instrument makers' shop, a sergeants' mess, transport sections and a photographic section. Elsewhere in the town houses were converted into a hospital and dental clinic, a parachute store and general equipment stores. Many of the wartime requisitioned buildings in the town survive as private shops and dwellings.
In November 1942 Nos. 11 and 20 Catalina squadrons moved their base from Bowen to Cairns. RAAF No.43 Catalina Squadron was formed at Bowen in May 1943. The squadron moved to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria during August to conduct night minelaying operations at Japanese-held ports in the Netherlands East Indies.
RAAF No.1 Flying Boat Maintenance Unit was formed at Bowen in October 1943. Following the decision to upgrade the development of Bowen as a flying boat repair depot, the AWC placed an order for a concrete slipway. The MRC was again responsible for supervising construction of the slipway and additional buildings erected through the Department of Public Works. From the new slipway and concrete maintenance hardstand, additional roadwork was undertaken along Thomas Street and Sinclair Street to provide access within the town, for up to four aircraft hideouts with maintenance hardstands and tie-downs.
Requisitions for additional buildings and services including two cantilever maintenance hangars at the repair depot were received by the AWC in April 1944. The cantilever hangars were designed to cover and shade the nose and wings of the flying boats during maintenance. No.1 Flying Boat Maintenance Unit was disbanded in March 1947. Following the war one of the hangars was dismantled and re-erected at the Rose Bay flying boat base at Sydney. Part of another wartime building is now incorporated in the clubroom of the Port Denison Sailing Club.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes (1942–1945) BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Australian War Memorial, War diaries and photographic collection, Canberra
National Archives of Austral, Department of the Interior (later the Department of Housing and Construction), Drawing Series BP378/1 (1942–1958), Brisbane.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
" 116,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Squadron Headquarters","Grand View Hotel","Headquarters","Dalrymple Street (cnr Herbert Street)",Bowen,4805,Fitzroy-Mackay,-20.0154323577881,148.248291015625,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 120,"4th Base Supply Depot (BSD) Storehouse No.7","Underground concrete oil tanks","Supply facility","Campbell Street",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.447925567627,153.033813476562,"Prior to World War Two, Australia's main naval base was at Sydney. Brisbane was designated a naval station but with no permanent warship allotment. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) had a small depot on the Brisbane River, at the Parliament House end of Alice Street, the City. This had a small wharf with all other berths along the Brisbane River given to commercial shipping. By April 1942, the Pacific War had changed Brisbane into a US submarine base and a busy port along the New Guinea convoy route. New berthing facilities were needed to accommodate the Allied warships arriving as convoy escorts or on other duties.
","This was a major construction project undertaken by the Allied Works Council (AWC). Contractors drawn from the Sydney Water Board undertook the construction. They implanted 10 Naval Berths along the Brisbane River supported by a two-way refuelling facility comprising six separate oil storage depots. The six depots were planned to have a total capacity of 85,000 tons of fuel oil.
The oil depots were built in three widely spaced groups for protection of Brisbane's naval fuel stocks in case of air attack. Each group comprised two separate oil depots. Each oil depot was to consist of three steel-plated, reinforced concrete and cylindrical oil tanks, with each tank meant to hold 5,000 tons of fuel oil. A single pipeline that led to one of three naval oiling berths on the Brisbane River was connected to the three oil tanks in each depot.
The six RAN oil depots were built in suburbs located on both sides of the Brisbane River. The depots were positioned far enough from the river that they were not easily seen and could not be bombarded or easily assaulted by enemy raiders who had entered the Brisbane River. The depots were built off Campbell Street, Bowen Hills where the oil storage tanks were built underground; on a hill off Colmsle Road, Colmslie, at 701 Eagle Farm Road (now Kingsford Smith Drive), Whinstanes (now part of the suburb of Eagle Farm); 141Anton Street, Hemmant, at 506 Lytton Road, Cannon Hill (now part of the suburb of Morningside) and at Newstead. The Whinstanes depot was the last to be completed as it was still under construction in August 1943.
The 10 RAN berths, designated 'A' to 'J', consisted of four timber dolphins (marker buoys) imbedded into the floor of the river. The dolphins were designed especially for heavy duty. Although of varying lengths, the 98-feet berth laid on the Quarries Reach of the river, near Gibson Island, was the largest so as to accommodate large Allied heavy and light cruisers. Each berth featured a central wharf. A timber viaduct strong enough to get a truck onto the wharf connected the wharves to the riverbank. Road construction from the existing local road network to each berth was also undertaken. Berths 'D', 'E' and 'F' were the oiling berths and each was connected to one group of two naval oil depots. These three berths' wharves were reticulated for oiling purposes. Each had an onshore hose-rack building, fire hydrants and water cocks for safety purposes. Water supply for the berths was a concern. In August 1943, the Allied Works Council (AWC), overseeing the project, discussed augmenting Brisbane's water supply to meet the increased demand.
The sites chosen for the berths had to be of sufficient depth. Most had experienced no previous dredging. The dredging of these sites became a major undertaking. Involving the removal of 1, 250,000 yards of thick, heavy mud, Brisbane's existing dredging machinery proved inadequate for the task and plant was brought from across Australia to complete the task. A 500-ton dumb barge was re-equipped with twin screws and used with the removal of fill. A second dumb barge was added to the operation. The aggregation of river dredges and attendant vessels was the largest assembly of its type in Australia during the war.
A limited supply of concrete plus the labour shortage that bedevilled the Australian Government during 1942–1945, led to this project being reduced in scale. As the Bowen Hills and Colmslie depots were the first to be completed, they had three oil storage tanks. Only two oil tanks were completed subsequently at the Cannon Hill, Hemmant, Newstead and Whinstanes depots. Each tank's oil storage capacity was halved to 2,500 tons. Five oiling berths had been proposed but only three built. In October 1944, the AWC reported that 10 destroyer berths had been completed, with another five cruiser berths proposed.
After the war, the Commonwealth sold some depots to private industry. The Bowen Hills depot went to Shell Oil. The Furnace Oil Company bought the Cannon Hill depot. The Colmslie and Newstead depots were sold to Vacum Oil. The Bulimba depot became a joint Shell and Vacum Oil facility. As housing replaced industry in these suburbs, the oil storage tanks were demolished. A single oil storage tank survives at both the Hemmant and Whinstanes depots, while the footprint of the three Colmslie depot oil tanks can be seen from the air.
","US Naval Base, Navy 134 Brisbane operated the main torpedo supply depot for US submarines in Australia. The establishment of a torpedo Repair Unit was requested by Commander US Seventh Fleet, to enable the local servicing of torpedos.
","The Benedict Stone Factory was owned by the Catholic Church in Brisbane, and had been used to manufacture cast stone. The building, approximately 160′ x 45′, was timber framed and lined with galvanised iron. It was obtained through the Australian Army Hiring Service for the US Navy, which took possession from 22 September 1942, and converted into a Torpedo Repair and Conditioning Shop.
The navy added a 75′ extension to the building, new crane-rails, a compressor and generator shed, toilet facilities, and a second floor over the workshop. Electric power and lighting were also installed. The torpedo shop could hold seventy-two torpedos on two racks. Reinforced concrete retaining walls were constructed around more than half the perimeter of the property to prevent the movement of the earth upon which the buildings were located. An additional two-story building 31′ x 60′ was built on the site to house barracks, mess hall and galley for personnel working there.
The US Navy ceased operations on the site from 6 April 1945, after which it was occupied by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Wing.
","United States Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, (1946).
" 122,"Bowen Park","Private Pill Shelter","Civil defence facility","Bowen Bridge Road",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4486923217773,153.029815673828,,, 123,"Camp Luna Park","Cloudland Entertainment Venue","Military camp","Boyd Street",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.447681427002,153.040344238281,"In late 1942 the amusement area known as Luna Park in Bowen Hills was hired by the US Army as a camp for members of its Signal Corps and guard detachments. Various detachments were quartered there during the war, making particular use of the large Cloudland ballroom as barracks. Mr. D.H. McInnes remained the wartime trustee of the amusement park.
","In mid-1942 16 officers and men of the US 837th Signal Service Detachment arrived in Melbourne where the unit was augmented and integrated with Australian personnel. Following the movement of Macarthur's headquarters, the detachment arrived in Brisbane in September 1942. The 837th was deactivated in May 1943, becoming the Special Intelligence Service (SIS), a combined command under US and Australian officers commanded by Colonel Harold Doud. Later that year, command fell to Colonel A. Sinkov. While the headquarters and some accommodation for the SIS was in Henry St, Ascot, the expanding unit saw a number of personnel quartered at Luna Park. The US troops were unimpressed, describing their quarters as ""a magnificent, jerry-built, unsuccessful Coney Island.""
Other units known to have been quartered at Camp Luna Park included the 832d Signal Photographic Detachment, and GHQ guard detachment. After the US forces left 'Cloudland' was occupied 1st Australian Chief Engineers (1st CE) Camp, officers for that unit being billeted in the nearby residence 'Montpelier'.
","Special Intelligence Service in the Far East 1942–1946: an historical and pictorial record, SIS Record Association, 1946.
Roger Marks, Brisbane—WW2 v Now: Vol 2, Cloudland & Cintra, Brisbane, 2005
NA digital camp layout image 3279358 in Series BP378, Item I-L (46–66)
" 124,"Cintra","US 832nd Signal Photographic Detachment","Headquarters","55 Boyd Street",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4468059539795,153.04035949707,"The original 'Cintra', a two-storeyed Georgian influenced stone house (now called Cintra House, 23 Boyd Street), was built in 1863–64, and was extended to the south by later residents. The southern extension later became a separate residence at 55 Boyd Street, the Cintra Nursing Home, while the 1860s residence became Our Lady of Victories Convent in 1927. During WWII the US Army occupied the adjacent 'Luna Park', and 'Newstead House' as well as the residence at 55 Boyd Street (today's 'Cintra').
","'Cintra' became Headquarters of Photo Unit 1, a 12-man detachment of the US Army's 832nd Signal Service Battalion, which moved to Brisbane from Sydney in late 1942. The 832nd was part of the US Army Signal Corps that had been made responsible early in the war for the production of films as part of the Army Pictorial Service. These films were most often used for training purposes, however a considerable amount of footage found its way into publicly displayed newsreels on the war effort. The Unit were also involved in providing the images utilised in General Douglas MacArthur's public relations campaign.
A photographic laboratory and offices were established in 'Cintra', the front veranda being enclosed to give more space for the unit. The members of Photo Unit 1 were billeted at nearby Newstead House. They undertook a range of work while based at 'Cintra', and with its own Brisbane-based film-crew and a Mitchell camera, complete with a roof-mounted shooting platform on an Army xxx sedan, the unit also took motion pictures for the Army Pictorial Service. The detachment also specialised in still photography, and had the capability for photographic duplication, and by July 1943 was operating a 'radio photo set' that was capable of transmitting images by radio.
Photo Unit 1 requisitioned Brisbane's oldest house (built 1842) 'Newstead House' on 15 August 1942. The grand home at 199 Breakfast Creek Road is surrounded by Newstead Park and overlooks the Brisbane River. The Battalion used 'Newstead House' as a billet, with its soldiers sleeping on US Army cots throughout the house. Among those billeted there was the unit mascot 'Blackie' the Labrador dog. Having been a museum and tourist attraction, the Americans were not permitted to alter or damage 'Newstead House'. The troops slept but not cooked there, instead eating at the mess at 'Cintra'. An army truck collected them daily for 'chow' call. But the troops sometimes 'borrowed' the museum's antique furniture to relax on the verandahs. The Park was used for recreation including volleyball games. The Breakfast Creek Road tramline took troops on leave to the City.
Additional detachments of the 832nd rotated through the site until January 1945.
","BCC Heritage Unit files
Marks, R ""Brisbane - WW2 v Now"", Volume 2, 2005
http://www.gordon.army.mil/ocos/ac/Edition,%20Fall/Fall%2001/APSWW2.htm
" 126,"Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Exhibition (Ekka) Grounds","The Ekka","Military camp","574 Gregory Terrace",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4500923156738,153.032608032227,"Used as a showground since 1876, the Exhibition Grounds (locally known as the Ekka) have a long association with the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA). Because of it's wide open area close to the centre of the city, the exhibition grounds have been used as military camping grounds during a number of conflicts. In that time the RNA's Exhibition have only been cancelled twice: once after WWI during the 1919 influenza epidemic, and again in 1942 when the grounds were occupied by military personnel.
The Ekka had been used for military tournaments during the 1890s, and when heavy rain in late December 1899 flooded the Pinkenba mobilisation camp for Queensland troops bound for South Africa, they were evacuated to the Exhibition Grounds. From January to late March 1900 the grounds were as a campsite for assembling contingents. During WWI [1914–18] a recruiting and training camp, complete with rifle range, was established at the Exhibition Grounds, though the annual Exhibition occurred with minor interruption. Returning servicemen from the war brought with them the influenza virus which was devastating Europe, and the grounds were used to erect isolation wards for the nearby Brisbane General Hospital.
","During the Second World War, the Exhibition Grounds were again occupied from late 1939 to 1944 by military authorities as a venue for training, accommodation and embarkation of troops. Troops at the exhibition grounds initially slept in pig and cattle pens; the bars beneath the John MacDonald Stand became wet canteens; and troop trains departed from the railway platforms normally used by show patrons. In 1940 and again in 1941, the military vacated the grounds temporarily for the August Exhibition. Following the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941, American troops were stationed at the showgrounds and the Exhibition of 1942 was cancelled, but a limited Ekka was held in 1943 and 1944.
As late as May 1944 the Ernest Baynes Stands housed some of the facilities of 4th Australian Camp Hospital, including wards, kitchens, and quarters for nursing staff and women of the Volunteer Aid Detachment, and a Regimental Aid Post. Other units known to have been based at the site included 31 Australian FOD located in buildings adjacent to the corner of Gregory Tce and Costin Street. The 4 Australian Base Supply Depot occupied structures located between Gregory Tce, Alexandria Street and Water Streets. At some stage barracks associated with the 6 AWAS was also located in Costin Street. A Leave and Transit Depot (LTD) was located at the Grounds and recruits signed up here for the AIF and were despatched to various camps to begin training. A large number of tents and prefabricated huts were allocated to the LTD, including special areas set aside for the RAAF. The LTD was moved to Moorooka in March 1945. The US military had stores on O'Connell Street, and a US RTO was located at the railway station.
Following the war the RNA purchased a number of buildings from the military, for use on the site. The RNA Council Stand, erected in 1923, bears a brass plaque dedicated to military personnel stationed at the site during both world wars.
","6th AWAS Barracks (Costin St), 31st Aust BOD and 7th BOD stores, 4th Australian Camp Hospital, Brisbane Exhibition Leave & Transit Depot (l.T.D.),
BCCHU files
Sinclair B and Rough B, ""Meeandah Mobilisation Camp, 1899"", QLHF, Brisbane, 2001
DERM Citation
NAA Brisbane Exhibition Ground - Site Plan [1/E/18]
" 127,"Mayne Railway Yard","Mayne Junction Rail Transport Office (RTO) & USN Store Warehouses B-1 & R-1","Civil defence facility","Abbotsford Road (across from junction with Allison St)",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4391326904297,153.040008544922,,,"USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section 1946 report
" 128,"Old Queensland Museum","Private shelter","Civil defence facility","480 Gregory Terrace",Bowen Hills,4053,Brisbane City,-27.4516735076904,153.029525756836,,, 129,"Camp Perry Park (United States Navy)","Perry Park","Supply facility","Abbotsford Road",Bowen Hills,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4434986114502,153.039825439453,"The United States Navy initially established its Naval Supply Depot at New Farm Wharf near to the location of its Submarine Repair Unit. As the Base expanded it became necessary to move the Naval Supply Depot from New Farm Wharf. Some facilities were moved to Newstead Wharf, and others to Perry Park.
","Perry Park was Brisbane City Council controlled public park approximately three miles from the Brisbane's centre, and was considered 'an ideal location for the supply depot.' The park was obtained from the Brisbane City Council through the Australian Army Hiring Service, and a portion was transferred from US Army to US Navy.
A large Administration building, large warehouses with loading docks(which included a medical supply depot), quarters for enlisted personnel, and a specially constructed building for the US Navy's Registered Publications Issuing Office were built in the Park, No 1 Store was built by AWC labour by December 1942, No 2 Store by contractor Carrick in January 1943. Local firm Baxter & Hargreaves had completed stores numbered 3 and 4 by September 1943, and No 5 Store was built towards the end of the year. A number of smaller buildings were also built in the park during the war.
The US Navy occupied the site from 7 November 1942 until 23 November 1945. Perry Park was transferred back to Australian Army Hiring Service and subsequently occupied by the Royal Australian Navy and Netherlands East Indies Government.
","US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, USA Naval Archives.
NAA Series BP262/2 9127 PART 3 Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report on activities of AWC, barcode 438605
" 132,"Breddan Airfield","RAAF Landing Ground and 13th Aircraft Repair Depot","Airfield","Gregory Developmental Road",Breddan,4820,North-West,-19.9438533782959,146.242202758789,"Breddan airfield, located about 13km north of Charters Towers on the Gregory Developmental Road, was constructed during April 1942. Initially occupied by two squadrons of the US 38th Bombardment Group, the airfield later became a major RAAF aircraft repair and salvage depot. The bitumen east-west Runway 60 degrees extends east of the Gregory Developmental Road, while the unfinished north-south Runway 20 degrees remains evident, running parallel to the road. Taxiways extend north and west from Runway 60 to workshop sites, marked by concrete slabs, of the Airframe Repair Section (ARS), located west of the Gregory Developmental Road near the west end of Runway 60; the General Engineering Section (GES), located between Runway 60 and Runway 20; and the Engine Repair Section (ERS), located north of the GES. Two other ERS workshop floor surfaces are located west of the Gregory Developmental Road. The duty pilot's tower footings are located near the junction of the two runways. About 500m north of Runway 60 towards its eastern end is a reinforced concrete building (10.9m by 8m). The Torpedo Maintenance Unit (TMU) stores southwest of the east end of Runway 60 include ten reinforced concrete igloos. The site of No.1 Camp extends north from the east end of Runway 60, and includes remnants of an open air picture theatre. Number 2 camp was south of the west end of Runway 60, while a WAAAF camp was south of the centre of Runway 60. Camp 3 (or the TMU camp) was southeast of the east end of Runway 60, towards the TMU storage igloos, and contains a small concrete generator igloo.The site of the Motor Transport Section is located south of Runway 60, at the entrance to the airfield. A concrete power house (16.2m by 6m) and hospital foundations are located east of the Motor Transport Section.
","As early as July 1941 the Royal Australian Air Force had ordered a survey of the Charters Towers district to identify sites for airfields. An initial survey was undertaken during September resulting in the identification of suitable airfield sites at Corinda (Charters Towers), Sandy Creek (Breddan) and several locations near Sellheim.
The RAAF ordered commencement of preliminary work on an aerodrome at Charters Towers during January 1942. The work was completed during March in readiness for the arrival of the United States Army Air Force 3rd Bombardment Group (Light). A need for dispersal strips for Charters Towers led to the use of the Breddan airfield site north of the town, and a second dispersal strip was planned at Southern Cross, a gold mining area to the west of the town.
Under MRC supervision clearing and construction of an airfield at Breddan, on the northern inland road connecting Charters Towers with the Atherton Tableland, began on 10 April 1942. Completion of a gravel east-west runway was the priority, with clearing of a second north-south runway to follow.
On 26 May, after discussions with the RAAF North Eastern Area Command, the USAAF decided that a heavy bombardment role proposed for Charters Towers airfield would be transferred to Breddan, with torpedo workshops established between Charters Towers and Breddan.
By June 1942 a major construction program had commenced at Breddan with the erection of approximately 40 buildings. The buildings included an Aircraft Repair Section workshop, a Motor Transport Workshop near the southern entrance and camp facilities (No.1 Camp). The Allied Works Council (AWC) was responsible for contracting the building program. By late July Breddan was occupied by the RAAF No.12 Repair and Salvage Unit (RSU) and ground crew of the USAAF 38th Bombardment Group (Medium).
On 22 August 1942 the 71st and 405th squadrons of the US 38 BG(M) arrived at Breddan. The main east-west Runway 60 was bitumen sealed by 22 August when most of the B-25 bombers arrived. The north-south second runway, running parallel with a straight section of the northern inland road, was not completed. It later served as an aircraft taxiway for the northern repair and maintenance workshops.
By early October 1942 the 71st and 405th squadrons of the US 38 BG(M) had been posted to Townsville and Breddan was chosen for development as a major aircraft repair and salvage depot under RAAF control.
RAAF No.1 Torpedo Maintenance Unit (TMU) was established at Breddan on 18 November 1942 and an order was placed with the AWC for construction of facilities for the unit including reinforced concrete igloo shelters for the storage of torpedos and torpedo war heads. Ten reinforced concrete storage buildings for No.1 TMU were completed by June 1943 when provision was made for their camouflage. These buildings still survive: seven are torpedo maintenance stores (16m by 6.8m), spaced apart over about a kilometre forming a rough oval. These are designed with two entrances at one end and a semi-circular formwork concrete roof reaching about 4 metres in height. Three torpedo warhead stores are spaced apart in gullies east of the maintenance igloos. The warhead stores (7m by 6.5m) are designed with a single entrance at the centre of the buildings with a reinforced concrete portico above.
No.10 RSU also moved to Breddan in November 1942, and the arrival of an advance party of No.13 Aircraft Repair Depot (ARD) in early 1943 marked the beginning of a significant building program. On 20 January 1943 the AWC was asked to proceed with construction of 11 buildings as part of the Breddan ARD Scheme. Buildings ordered comprised: salvage hangar, propeller testing building, armament hut, electroplating shop, battery hut, motor transport store and office, and four headquarters buildings. The workshops included a number of prefabricated steel frame Bellman hangars.
AWC minutes for 18 February 1943 include an approval to proceed with the fabrication of four 'American Type Hangars' 95 by 45 feet (28.9 by 13.7 metres) galvanised iron covered steel workshop buildings which had been reconstructed in Melbourne. Throughout this period units of No.12 RSU continued operating from Breddan.
During 1943 the AWC were asked to organise an intensive program of building construction at Breddan. The following works were ordered during the first half of the year: a hospital sick bay near the No.2 Camp, with a treatment room and medical officer's hut; a barracks store and officers' mess for No.1 TMU; motor transport engine repair and body chassis workshops; aircraft dismantling hangars; gun firing platform and test butts.
Work on No.1 Camp to hold 350 personnel was completed during May by which period work was also nearing completion on No.2 Camp to hold 400 men. The building construction work was undertaken by Civil Construction Corps labour. During June orders were lodged by the Department of Air for construction of a post office, canteen, ethylene glycol reclamation hut, Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) camp, dental clinic, squadron air depot, cool room and duty pilot's tower. Orders were also placed for the sealing of taxiways.
Workshops and barracks were sufficiently established by August 1943 to allow the main contingent of No.13 ARD to make the move from Tocumwal (NSW) to Breddan. In December 1943 No.12 RSU departed from Breddan for Kiriwina in New Guinea.
At its largest in late 1943 a total of 1200 personnel were accommodated on the base. No.6 Central Recovery Depot (CRD), RAAF, was established at Breddan in June 1944. The RAAF continued to operate from Breddan after World War II and the last unit, No.13 ARD, departed in November 1947. The base was closed by 1948.
Units based at Breddan Aerodrome
38th Bombardment Group (Headquarters) (7 August-30 September 1942)
71st Bombardment Squadron, B-25 Mitchell - between (12 August-1 October 1942)
405th Bombardment Squadron, B-25 Mitchell - between 7 August-30 September 1942)
No. 1 Torpedo Maintenance Unit RAAF
No. 6 Central Receiving Depot RAAF
No. 10 Repair and Salvage Unit RAAF
No. 12 Repair and Salvage Unit RAAF
No. 13 Aircraft Repair Depot RAAF
Breddan WWII Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Salvage Depot, Queensland Heritage Register 602745.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J marks, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, 371. RAAF Unit History sheets (including No 10 RSU Charters Towers and New Guinea 1942–1945)
National Archives of Australia, L&S806. 13 Repair Depot site plan 1943
National Archives of Australia AT45/46/32, Breddan RAAF landing ground sheet 1, 1945; and NAA AT45/46/33, Breddan RAAF landing ground sheet 2. 1945
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
Fort Bribie, constructed between 1940 and 1942, consisted of two 6-inch guns and their support infrastructure, and was designed to defend the North West Channel into Moreton Bay. The northern searchlight emplacement is about 24.5 km by 4WD from the car park at the north end of North Street, Woorim. The fort is also linked to the Ocean Beach camping ground by a walkway.
Beach erosion is gradually exposing more elements of the fort over time. The main surviving concrete elements include the northern searchlight, a two storey structure now standing on the beach. The northern (Number 2) gun emplacement is about 640m south of the northern searchlight, while an observation structure is located about 425m south of the northern searchlight. The observation structure consists of two walls supporting a platform above with a partial wall. About 30m to the south is the buried northern Mine Control Hut, and then the larger southern Mine Control Hut. Recently, concrete and steel remains of another structure were revealed by beach erosion about 60m south of the southern mine hut.
About 160m to the south of the mine huts is the northern gun emplacement, a two storey structure with a gun platform open to the east and five rooms below. The concrete and timber overhead cover for the gun has collapsed. There is over 100m distance between the gun emplacements. The southern (Number 1) gun emplacement retains its overhead cover. About 60m south of the Number 1 gun is the Signals Operations Room (SOR), which was once buried in a sand dune, but is now exposed on the beach.
In the area to the west and south of the SOR are a number of concrete slabs and concrete stumps for various camp buildings. Other concrete structures survive around the camp area, including several round wells, urinals, pump house, septic tank, and septic pipeline mountings. Little remains of the Command Post (CP) at the south end of the men's section of the camp.
The most southern element is another searchlight, located close to the beach about 620m south of the Number 1 gun emplacement.
","Prior to the emplacement of two 6-inch guns at Cowan Cowan on the West side of Moreton Island in 1937, the coastal defence of the Moreton Bay region was based at the mouth of the Brisbane River at Fort Lytton, constructed in the 1880s.
The above defences were supplemented after the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, when two 6-inch Mk XI guns (8th Heavy Battery) were positioned at the north end of Bribie Island. The guns were installed by March 1940, but their temporary steel cruciform mounts were unstable and sand dunes blocked their field of fire.
In July 1940 there was only a timber control tower, the magazines had no floors and there were no searchlight emplacements, but in February 1941 plans were being developed to upgrade Fort Bribie, with additional camp huts, two gun emplacements, a Battery Observation Post (BOP), Command Post (CP), Observation Post (OP) and two DEL (Defence Electric Lights, also known as CASL, or Coastal Artillery Searchlights). In March 1941 Colonel JS Whitelaw, Commander Coast Defences, Eastern Command, recommended building a BOP about 200 yards north of the northern gun; a CP about 200 yards south of the southern gun, and a plotting room halfway between the northern gun and the BOP. Fort Bribie's role was to provide close defence of the North West Channel into Moreton Bay.
The entry of Japan into the war on 7 December 1941 no doubt spurred efforts to upgrade Fort Bribie, and also to increase the infantry defence of the island. An inspection of Fort Bribie in February 1942 noted that a good hutted camp existed at the fort, complete with showers, latrines and a very fine kitchen and refrigerator. However, the power supply and a lack of water were problems. A canteen and Post Office were being constructed, and the 'technical' (BOP etc) buildings were all in a partially finished state.
Other units on the island at the time of this inspection included a Garrison Battalion, an AIF Composite Company, and a Militia Battalion. Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) personnel also helped with construction work on the island. The AIF Composite Company had a number of machine gun positions north and south of Fort Bribie, plus two mortar positions and two timber pillboxes south of Fort Bribie, by 31 December 1941. Mosquitoes, sandflies and fleas proved to be a major irritant for all personnel stationed on Bribie. In addition to the infantry, the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) arrived in 1943, and were involved in most aspects at Fort Bribie except the manning of the guns. Their huts were located south of the Officer's Mess and the CP.
Construction of the new two storey gun emplacements, two storey searchlight emplacements, BOP, CP and Plotting Room at Fort Bribie was completed by April 1942. Later that year two American 155mm guns were stationed at Skirmish Point at the south end of Bribie Island, and in 1943 a similar battery was positioned at Rous, on the east side of Moreton Island.
Within Fort Bribie are the two Mine Control Huts used by Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Station 2 during 1942 and 1943. These controlled ""guard"" indicator loops and mine loops set in the North West Channel. An Indicator loop relies on the production of an induced current in a stationary loop of wire when a magnet moves overhead, and when a submarine was detected by the guard loop, the operator would wait until there was also a galvanometer 'swing' on the mine loop and then the mines would be detonated from the Mine Control Huts, by sending a current down the mine loop. The Mine Control Huts have no windows, so observation of the ocean surface (to confirm that a submerged object had been detected) was most likely conducted from the structure located just north of the mine huts.
A 1945 map of Fort Bribie places the CP to the south of the camp (the southern searchlight is off the map), and a Signals Operations Room (SOR) is recorded east of the northernmost section of the camp, south of the southern (Number 1) gun. Reserve magazines are shown west of each gun emplacement. To the north of the northern (Number 2) gun the two Mine Control Huts formerly used by RAN Station 2 are marked as ""Magazines"", and the structure just to the northeast of these buildings is recorded as a BPR (Battery Plotting Room). Further to the north is a BOP, and beyond that the northern searchlight. An underground hospital, reported to have been built south of the officers' mess and sleeping quarters, is not marked on this map.
The structure marked as the BPR on the 1945 map has also been referred to by various modern sources as the BOP. In 2009 parts of another structure were discovered just south of the Mine Control Huts, and this has been called the BPR. If the structure just north of the Mine Control huts is the BPR, its distance from the northern gun emplacement is much further than is indicated by the 1945 map. However, it does not match an August 1941 requirement that the BOP be constructed as a steel frame and fibrolite structure with bulletproof plating for the rangefinding cells. For the purposes of this webpage, the concrete structure just north of the Mine Control Huts will be referred to as an observation structure.
","Bribie Island Second World War Fortifications, Queensland Heritage Register 601143
RAN Station 9, Pinkenba (Myrtletown), Queensland Heritage Register 601448
Fort Cowan Cowan (Cowan Cowan Battery). Queensland Heritage Register 602559
Donald, Ron, 1995. Fort Bribie. The story of wartime Fort Bribie and Toorbul Point. Bribie Island RSL.
Groves, John. 2006. North Bribie Island during World War II. John Groves, Jimboomba.
Groves, John and Janice. 2007. Digging deeper into North Bribie Island during World War II. John and Janice Groves, Caloundra.
National Archives of Australia, Folder B Folio 39. Fort Bribie Camp Layout - Site Plan [1/B/4]. 1945.
National Archives of Australia, Folder B Folio 40. Bribie (Fort) Camp Layout [plan number 1/B/4], 1945.
National Archives of Australia, 23/402/153. Bribie Island Fortress, 1939–44.
National Archives of Australia, 224/602/24. Bribie Island, Queensland - fixed coast defences, 1941–45.
National Archives of Australia, CD81. Bribie Island fortifications DEL and engine rooms, 1941–43.
Aerial 2004. DERM Ecomaps, QAP6078159.
Walding, R. Fort Bribie and Fort Bribie History
Walding, R. Royal Australian Navy Defences—Fort Bribie. The RAN 2 Controlled Mining Station
Walding, R. Indicator Loops and Coastal Army Fortifications at Moreton Island
Australian War Memorial Photographic Images 044509 and 044511.
Sunshine Coast Libraries photographic image P89827 Fort Bribie coastal artillery personnel, c.1943.
Sunshine Coast Libraries photographic image P89826 AIF mortar post, Bribie Island Dec 1942.
Sunshine Coast Libraries photographic image P89300 BOP Fort Bribie 1946.
Distance measurements by Marianne Taylor, DERM.
" 136,"Sandgate RAAF Station","No.3 Embarkation Depot and RAE searchlight position (now 'Eventide' Aged Care Facility)","Training facility","24 Fourth Avenue",Brighton,4017,Brisbane City,-27.2889194488525,153.062591552734,"Only two 'Sidney Williams huts' remain of the Sandgate RAAF Station's structures training base, which were built prior to the Pacific War in 1941. Constructed to house RAAF and WAAAF trainees, the barracks were pre fabricated and designed for ease of construction. Although they are not placed in their original position circa 1941, they are still within the original perimeter of the base.
","Only two 'Sidney Williams huts' remain of the Sandgate RAAF Station's structures training base, which were built prior to the Pacific War in 1941. Constructed to house RAAF and WAAAF trainees, the barracks were pre fabricated and designed for ease of construction. Although they are not placed in their original position circa 1941, they are still within the original perimeter of the base.
A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) advance party had arrived by rail at Sandgate on 9 December 1940. To their dismay, the airmen discovered that no buildings had been constructed on the Twenty-Fourth Avenue site due to the recent intense wet season in Brisbane. So the advance party moved back to the new RAAF base at Amberley, west of Ipswich. Thus the RAAF Station Headquarters, consisting of No.3 Initial Training School and No.3 Embarkation Depot were formed on 16 December 1940 at Amberley. No.3 Initial Training School's first commander was Flight Lieutenant V.L. Dowling. No.3 Embarkation Depot conducted navigation, signalling and armaments classes.
The units were temporarily based at Amberley while a new base was constructed at Brighton. Designated as the Sandgate RAAF Station, it was to operate as an air training base. The first structures to be constructed were the Station Orderly Room, stores buildings plus barracks for the transport section.
The official date given for the full occupation of the Sandgate RAAF Station is given as 18 April 1941, though No.3 Embarkation Depot had moved there on 10 April. Detachments from No.3 Initial Training School and No.3 Embarkation Depot moved onto the site from Amberley and the Sandgate RAAF Station was operational by July 1941. An opening ball was held at Sandgate Town Hall to mark the event. On 1 December 1941, Wing Commander H.A. Rigby was appointed commander of No.3 Initial Training School.
The design of the barrack buildings constructed at Brighton in 1941, most closely resemble the 'Sidney Williams huts'. This company previously constructed 'Comet' brand windmills and was founded in Rockhampton in 1879. It is possible prefabricated sections of the buildings may have been constructed there or at their Dulwich Hill factory in Sydney. However, the Sandgate huts were produced prior to American involvement in the war. Therefore they do not strictly fit the standard US prefabrication design and being drawn from a British or Australian wartime building plan, are therefore considerably rarer. Only two 'Sidney Williams huts' remain at the former RAAF Sandgate station site.
Out of the initial trainee class of 1941, twenty graduated as RAAF aircrew. Of this number only three survived World War Two. Squadron Leader J.A. Adam took over command of No.3 Initial Training School on 30 March 1942.
By April 1942, the breakdown of staff at the Brighton base consisted as follows:
Station Headquarters
RAAF 17 Officers of whom 4 were from the Women's' Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF)
RAAF Airmen 162 + 1 male nurse
WAAAF (other ranks) personnel 22
No.3 Initial Training School
RAAF Officers 23
Nurses 1, Airmen 57, WAAAF Airmen 4
No.3 Embarkation Depot
Officers 2, Airmen 5
Sandgate RAAF Station accepted recruits and provided basic training such as marching, bayonet and rifle drill plus aircraft identification. A RAAF rifle range and an observation post were placed on a nearby farm. An individual's RAAF service life began at Brighton and then progressed to advance training bases such as at Kingaroy. Nearby there were another three Allied air bases, operating in the Petrie-Strathpine area. In this area fighter squadrons were active, with the US Army Air Force (USAAF) 80th Fighter Squadron flying Bell P-39 Airacobras. Also based in this locality were Vought A-24 Vultee Vengences of RAAF No.12 Squadron, Boomerang fighters of RAAF No. 83 Squadron and Spitfires of RAAF No.548 and No.549 Squadrons.
On 23 July 1942, No.3 Initial Training School transferred to Kingaroy. On 1 December, No.6 Recruit Depot transferred to Brighton from RAAF Amberley. Squadron Leader J.R. Gordon was the unit's commander, replaced by Squadron Leader J.A. Adam on 8 December. This unit had only recently been formed, on 24 August. Its role was to provide basic training including swimming lessons at Sandgate Beach, lectures on gas precautions, sanitation, hygiene and military discipline together with physical fitness including night survival exercises in the local bush. Squadron Leader C.H. MacKinnon became the commander. Squadron Leader F.V. Bassett replaced him on 30 May 1944. On 15 November 1944, the School relocated to Maryborough.
As well, the Sandgate RAAF Station trained many radar units. On 1 February 1943, the 24th Radar Station was formed at Brighton under Pilot Officer J.B. Hughes. The 135th Radar Station was formed at the Sandgate RAAF Station on 5 May 1943. Flight Lieutenant A.W. Williams led the unit. After initial training, it left for Pinkenba on 28 June 1943. On 12 August 1944, the 163rd Radar Station relocated from Richmond (NSW) to the Sandgate RAAF Station. Flying Officer F.H.W. Surman commanded the unit. It left for Melbourne on 30 December 1944 but returned to Brighton on 18 January 1945. The 166th Radar Station, under Flying Officer W.H.C. Mann, relocated from Castlereagh (NSW) to the Brighton RAAF base on 22 February 1945. Both the 163rd and 166th Radar Stations moved to Brisbane on 2 May 1945 prior to embarkation for Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies on 16 May.
On 3 March 1944, No.1 Medical Air Evacuation Transport Unit was formed at Brighton with 6 officers, 25 nurses, 1 warrant officer, 4 flight sergeants, 23 sergeants, 8 corporals and 24 other ranks. It took over control of all New Guinea medical air evacuations from the Americans on 1 October. By 1 May 1945, the unit had transferred to Lae, New Guinea.
In April 1944, No.3 Embarkation Depot was redesignated No.3 Personnel Depot. The unit established a transit camp at the Rocklea Showgrounds in July. No.3 Personnel Depot was appointed the Sandgate RAAF Station's parent unit on 6 November 1944. It held revised navigation and Morse code courses and lectures on first aid, administration and RAAF law. The unit trained airmen as airfield defence guards with bayonet and weapons training and live grenade throwing on an attached range. By 1945, WAAAF recruit training was undertaken at Brighton. At War's end in September 1945, the Sandgate RAAF Station was converted from its training role into a RAAF demobilisation centre for returning air personnel. It closed on 29 January 1947.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.5
Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.9
BCC list
" 138,"Claremont House and Cadbury-Fry-Pascall building (Private Shelters)","Claremont House & Cadbury-Fry-Pascall buildings","Civil defence facility","428 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4622688293457,153.032119750977,,, 139,"Public Cantilever Shelters (2)","North Quay (near Victoria Bridge)","Civil defence facility","North Quay",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.471923828125,153.022689819336,,,"BCC list
" 140,"Public Pill Shelters (2)","Railway Parking Plaza","Civil defence facility","154-158 Roma Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4668350219727,153.019180297852,,,"BCC list
" 141,"Public Pill Shelters (29)","CBD shops","Civil defence facility","Elizabeth Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4690551757812,153.027740478516,,,"BCC list
" 142,"Private Shelters (3)","Lower Ann Street","Civil defence facility","Ann Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4654998779297,153.027130126953,,,"A&B Journal of Qld
" 143,"Public Bus Shelters (3)","Roma Street Police Station","Civil defence facility","Roma Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4664344787598,153.018142700195,,,"BCC list
" 144,"Public Pill Shelters (3)","Roma Street Markets","Civil defence facility","Roma Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4672908782959,153.021545410156,,,"BCC list
" 145,"Public Pill Shelters (7)","Albert Street","Civil defence facility","Albert Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4703617095947,153.026000976562,,,"BCC list
" 149,"Albert Park Air Raid Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","Corner of Wickham Terrace?and Upper Albert Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4639453887939,153.0205078125,"Albert Park (South) Air Raid Shelter. This is a cantilevered public shelter that has been converted to a shade shelter for the Albert Park.
",,"BCC Heritage Unit citation & BCC list
" 151,"American Red Cross Service Club","and Brisbane Hostel, Field Director's office and Service Club","Recreation/community","132-134 Creek Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4655170440674,153.027496337891,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"SLQ photographic reference.
" 152,"MacArthur Chambers","AMP Building","Headquarters","229-233 Queen Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4684047698975,153.02734375,"The AMP building was constructed between 1931 and 1934 as the Queensland headquarters of the Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP). During WWII the building was taken over by the US military and became Headquarters of the Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific. It was occupied for much of the Pacific war by US General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). The building is now known as MacArthur Chambers in recognition of that facet of the City's history, and houses the MacArthur Museum Brisbane.General HQ South-West Pacific Area (SWPA)HQ Commander Allied ForcesHQ Allied Navy SWPAHQ Allied Air Forces SWPAHQ RAAF Command, Air DefenceHQ 14th AA CommandHQ 108 Fighter Control SectorHQ 5th US Air ForceHQ 5th Air Force Support CommandHQ USN Base Facilities & Det 4HQ 805th Signals Service Company ('Green Hornet' Sigsaly top secret telephone communications).
","After the retreat from the Philippines, General Douglas Macarthur, Commander of the United States Forces in the Far East, arrived in Australia in March 1942 and set up his headquarters in Melbourne. After re-organisation of the various theatres of war, MacArthur was made Commander-in-Chief of the South West Pacific Area (CINCSWPA) from 18 April 1942. His role was to hold Australia as a base for offensives against Japan. On 20 July 1942 General MacArthur moved his Headquarters 800 miles closer to the combat zone, re-establishing it at Brisbane.
The nine-story AMP Building in Queen Street was chosen to house the headquarters of the Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific because it was 'the largest and most modern office building, and in the center of town'. General MacArthur occupied the AMP Board Room on the eighth floor and his headquarters staff occupied the remainder of the building. Tenants were removed from the building from 21 July 1942 and were unable to return until 14 June 1945, although the AMP retained some presence on the ground floor and basement.
As headquarters for SWPA a large portion of the building was taken up by various signals units. A communications centre was established in the basement, and the 832nd Signal Battalion's Message Centre, and the US telephone exchange shared the 6th floor with the US Navy Headquarters. Additional signals facilities, including a Code Room, were also contained on the 7th floor. The Allied air force headquarters, including RAAF Command were housed on the 5th Floor. Daily briefings for Allied commanders, overseen by the USAAF Directorate of Intelligence, were held in what was described as a 'War Room' in the building. As the war progressed and fraternisation with American troops became more permanent, a war brides office was established on the 8th floor.
In November 1942 Macarthur moved an advanced base to Port Moresby where he occupied the former Government house when he visited. He did not give up his Brisbane headquarters and moved 'so rapidly between Brisbane and New Guinea that often two luncheon tables were set for him, fifteen hundred miles apart'. Macarthur retained the headquarters until November 1944 when he returned to the Philippines.
","Queensland Heritage Register citation 600147
BCC Heritage Unit files
Marks R, 'Brisbane WW2 v Now' Volume 17, 2005
Manchester, W 'American Caesar', Hutchinson, Richmond, Victoria, 1978.
" 155,"Australian Red Cross Society","and Receiving & Dispatch Depot and Australian Comforts Fund Qld Head Quarters","Civil defence facility","316 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4652080535889,153.028747558594,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"SLQ photographic reference
" 160,"Australian Red Cross Bureau for Wounded and Missing POWs","Bank Chambers","Civil defence facility","262 Queen Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4677295684814,153.027450561523,,,"POD
" 163,"Blake House","2nd Floor: Womens National Emergency League HQ - established to encourage the voluntary enrolment of females for service in any national emergency or crisis","Civil defence facility","35 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4697170257568,153.023696899414,,,"POD
" 164,"Brisbane City Hall","King George Square","Recreation/community","64 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4687232971191,153.023727416992,"By the start of the war in 1939, City Hall was Brisbane's tallest building. It saw the first war voluntary organisations meeting. During 1940–41, it was Brisbane's civil defence headquarters. It opened a childcare facility for war workers in 1942. From 1941–45, it was the venue for meetings in support of Australia's allies, war bond rallies and receptions for dignitaries visiting Brisbane. During the same period, Albert Square i.e. King George Square) was a reception point for salvage drives, the scene of military parades and as a quiet relaxation and reflection spot. To signify the end of the wartime 'black-out', City Hall was specially decked out in Christmas lights to mark the end of the war on VJ Day.
","Completed in 1930, Brisbane City Hall dominated the city skyline with its clock tower. It was the headquarters of the Greater Brisbane Council formed in 1925 by the amalgamation of the Brisbane Municipal Council with its surrounding town and shire councils. Albert Square, (later King George Square) featuring a statue of reigning British monarch King George VI, was a small public space in front of City Hall. Albert Street continued through to the intersection of Ann and Roma Streets with buildings such as the Tivoli Theatre fronting Albert Street and the Square.
In April 1939, just five months before the outbreak of war, the Brisbane City Council hosted a meeting at City Hall to organise a women's volunteer organisation to aid the coming war effort. Thereafter, City Hall often provided temporary office space for war organisations such as Women's Volunteer National Register until they found permanent accommodation. Pre-war services such as the children's Immunisation Clinic were maintained. In 1940, City Hall was the headquarters for Brisbane's civil defence, with Council staff mapping out suburban evacuation campsites and the location of water mains as part of Brisbane's Air Raid Precautions (ARP) planning.
After the Pacific War began in December 1941, Council's records were moved from City Hall to suburban depots for fear of Japanese air attack. A concrete blast wall was added to the Supper Room to provide some protection during an air raid. Behind City Hall, in Council Lane, a large colonnaded public air raid shelter was constructed for the use of Council staff and customers.
By 1942, the employment of women as civilian war workers and city-based women's war volunteer organisations saw City Hall open a Mother's Room. In 1944, the demand for child care by these war workers led to the establishment of a Child Minding Centre on the roof. This became the City Hall Kindercraft in 1945. A basement refreshment room, the Troops, Welfare Club, serving anyone service personnel or civilian, man or woman was established. This was different to many of Brisbane's refreshment rooms that often only operated for military customers and were sometimes exclusively for the use of one sex. City Hall was a popular tourist attraction for US service personnel who paid six pence to ride the 'lift' up the clock tower to see the view and to experience the chiming of the clock bells.
Throughout the war, City Hall was the venue for patriotic functions, war bonds drives and receptions for visiting dignitaries such as Prime Minister John Curtin and his wife Elsie in 1942 and US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in September 1943. It hosted a variety of events to show support for Australia's Allies. Germany invaded the USSR on 22 June 1941. The Australia-Russia Association held a British/Russian Unity Against Fascism rally in the City Hall auditorium in October. On 18 July 1945, the Dutch held an Indonesian Night at the City Hall Brisbane fundraiser for the Red Cross. Dances, balls and concerts were held in the Auditorium with its impressive 1891 Willis organ, orchestra section and stage. Among the performers in the Auditorium were violinist and conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra Eugene Ormandy and US bandleader Artie Shaw with his US Navy Big Band. From 28 February to 16 March 1945, City Hall hosted an 'Exhibition of Civil Construction in Australia"" art display featuring works by painters William Dobell, Herbert McClintock and others plus 500 photographs. The display was sponsored by the Allied Works Council and featured Australia's wartime construction programme (1939–44), particularly the works of the Civil Construction Corps (CCC).
Albert Square was a central receiving point for salvage drives. Scrap metal, aluminium cooking utensils, old tyres and paper would be deposited. Aluminium reused for aircraft manufacture was displayed in a fenced enclosure or pen in the Square. Aluminium items could be left at any post office or selected department stores where the items were retrieved by Council's garbage collectors who took the material for recycling at Council's Milton depot. Morale-boosting parades were held in the Square with the steps at the front of City Hall temporarily converted into a saluting base. In 1943, US Army servicemen wearing their dress uniforms marched in a public parade through the Square. The Australian 7th Division marched through the Square on 8 August 1944. Military equipment, such as 3.7 inch anti-aircraft guns, was displayed to generate public interest in Commonwealth War Loans.
In preparation for post-war conditions, City Hall ran an Accommodation Bureau to assist residents to cope with Brisbane's housing shortage. In 1944, the front of City Hall was adorned with a V for Victory banner. US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died unexpectedly on 12 April 1945. All the US forces based in Brisbane attended a Memorial Service in City Hall where flags were flown at half-mast. On 15 August 1945, City Hall was decorated with festive lights to celebrate VJ (Victory over Japan) Day.
","Brisbane—The War Years 1939–1945; BCC Works Dept planBruce Buchanan (Architects), The Brisbane City Hall—a Conservation Plan for Brisbane City Council, (Brisbane: Bruce Buchanan Architects Pty Ltd, 1992).Jonathan (Jack) Ford, Allies in a Bind, (Loganholme: NESWA, 1996).US Army Special Intelligence Service, S.I.S. Record 1942–1946, (?; SIS record Association, 1946).
Brisbane City Council, Brisbane Images website, John Oxley Library photographic collection.
" 168,"Queensland Patriotic & Australia Comforts Fund (Office)","Building","Civil defence facility","460 Queen Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4645805358887,153.031127929688,,,"POD
" 174,"RAAF No.3 Recruiting Centre Unit","RAAF Recruiting Centre","Training facility","35-37 Creek Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4673728942871,153.029113769531,"No.3 RAAF Recruiting Centre commenced taking enlistments for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Brisbane in September 1939. On 4 December 1939, it was formally taken onto the establishment of the RAAF and became No.3 RAAF Recruiting Centre Unit. Its headquarters was established in offices on Creek Street in Brisbane's City Centre and it remained in the building for the duration.
","No.3 RAAF Recruiting Centre was established in Brisbane during the first month of World War Two. The Centre leased office space in a building located in Creek Street in Brisbane's CBD on 29 September 1939. By 6 November, the first 36 Brisbane recruits to join the RAAF in the Second World War had enlisted through the Centre. No.3 RAAF Recruiting Centre was formally recognised as a unit of the RAAF on 4 December 1939.
Having a small establishment, the Unit initially only warranted an administrator who acted as the Unit's adjutant. This was Flying Officer C.G. Williams. Pilot Officer P.J.B. Dawkins replaced him on 19 August 1941. In December 1941, No.3 RAAF Recruiting Centre Unit finally received its first commanding officer Squadron Leader K.L. Williams.
The Unit was responsible for RAAF recruitment throughout Queensland. Mobile Recruitment Teams visited towns and cities across the state encouraging enlistments in the RAAF and then conducting an on-the-spot initial assessment of each applicant.
On 9 February 1943, Squadron Leader T.A. Humble became the Unit commander. Such was the demand for replacement aircrew that by August 1943, No.3 RAAF Recruiting Centre Unit had grown to a strength of 23 officers, 54 airmen and 50 embers of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF). Still, the Unit was under strength as its full establishment was 221 personnel.
Flight Lieutenant K. Millbrook was appointed the Unit commander on 1 March 1944. Enlistments for joining the RAAF to be trained as aircrew ended in May 1945. Thereafter only recruits who wanted to train as ground crew were accepted. The Unit disbanded on 2 November 1945.
","RAAF Historical Section (1995). Units of the Royal Australian Air Force. Volume 9: Ancillary Units. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. ISBN 0644428023.
" 175,"Repatriation Commission (Office)","Building","Civil defence facility","126-132 Charlotte Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.470365524292,153.027526855469,,,"POD
" 180,"Church House","Central RAP & private shelter","Civil defence facility","425 Ann Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4631805419922,153.030456542969,,"MUST REWRITE - Buildings associated with St John's include Webber House, Church House, The Deanery (formerly Adelaide house) and St Martin's House. These buildings provide the traditional experience of only getting the full view of the Cathedral when quite close (after having wound one's way through narrow medieval city streets) thus adding to the impact and feeling of grandeur.
Webber House and Church House were built in 1904 and 1909 respectively. These buildings were designed by Robin Dods (1868–1920) and were designed to conform to Pearson's concept of St John's Cathedral and its traditional cathedral setting. (The heart design found in many of Dods' buildings can be seen on the iron gates.
Both are gothic in overall form and design, having details mainly in the style of Art Nouveau. They have been placed to conceal a view of the cathedral from a northerly approach.
The stone used in the Webber house came from the old St John's Pro-Cathedral in William Street. Webber house was known as school house and housed St John's Primary school until 1941.
The oldest building in the precinct is the Deanery, formerly called Adelaide house, built in 1853. From the verandah of this house the first governor, Sir George Bowen, read the proclamation which made Queensland a separate colony on 10 December 1859. The house then became Queensland's first government house.
The other more eclectic building with gothic touches found in the precinct is St Martin's House, formerly St Martin's Hospital. It was built as a war memorial after the First World War and is dedicated to St Martin of Tours, as 11 November (Remembrance Day) is his feast day.
Designed by Lang Powell the design was strongly influenced by the Cathedral and adjacent buildings. This is evident through the choice of building materials, roof forms and architectural motifs. St Martin's is sited to protect St John's from noise and visual intrusion from the city and forms a quiet courtyard beside the Cathedral. St Martin's shows similarities to the ""Red Brick House"" designed by Philip Webb for William Morris.
","POD
" 181,"HMAS Moreton Wardroom and Officers' Mess","City Botanical Gardens Café","Recreation/community","147 Alice Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4775314331055,153.030654907227,"From 1943 to 1946, this building, the former City Botanical Gardens' Curator's Residence, was used by the Royal Australian Navy. The Navy enlarged the residence so that it could be used the Wardroom and Officers' Mess for HMAS Moreton. This was the name given to the shore establishment operated by the Navy in Brisbane. Members of the Women's Royal Australian Navy service were permanently stationed at the HMAS Moreton Wardroom and Officers' Mess.
","The kiosk was built in 1909 as the on-site residence of the curator of the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. Curator Ernest Walter Bick retired in 1940 and in March, the administration of the Gardens was handed to the Queensland Government's Department of Public Works for the duration of the war. Thus the Curator's Residence remained vacant during 1941–42. As a civil defence measure, Public Works built air raid shelters within the Gardens site in 1941
As the wharves and buildings of the Queensland Naval Depot were situated nearby at 1 Alice Street (opposite Queensland Parliament House), the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) decided to utilise the Curator's Residence with its kitchen and dining room facilities.
The RAN requisitioned the Curator's Residence along with several huts/sheds within the Botanical Gardens in March 1943. As well, the RAN occupied a large area around the Gardens Point section, where it constructed dozens of temporary buildings or structures. The Curator's home became a wardroom and an officers' mess for HMAS Moreton. A wardroom was used for officer's meetings while a mess provided food and beverages to sailors. HMAS Moreton was the name of the small Brisbane naval base that was located beside the Brisbane River at Merthyr Road, New Farm. Trams allowed access from New Farm to the Botanical Gardens though the wardroom and mess were probably used more often by the officers from the Queensland Naval Depot.
Seven members of the Women's Royal Australian Navy (WRAN) led by chief cook Dottie Bourne were stationed at the HMAS Moreton Wardroom. The WRANs were accommodated near the wardroom and slept in the Botanic Gardens Museum located nearby (now the City Botanic Garden's Kiosk's outdoor drink bar. The Curator's Residence was extended by the RAN to create a large dining hall and a larger kitchen to feed the large number of RAN personnel who were to eat at the HMAS Moreton Mess. Access to the Botanical Gardens was curtailed with the Gardens closed in the evenings. As the threat to Brisbane diminished, such restrictions were raised with a return to public evening access at Christmas 1943.
The RAN continued to use the Botanical Gardens' Curator's Residence throughout the war. The RAN returned the building and huts to the Brisbane City Council in 1946 just prior to the appointment of a new curator - John Rare Bailey. It remained the Curator's Residence until the 1970s and the building was subsequently converted into a kiosk.
","BCC Heritage Unit file
" 188,"Commonwealth Bank Building","3rd Floor: Qld State War Loans & War Savings Certificates Committee; 4th Floor: War Service Homes Coman.","Civil defence facility","259 Queen Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4680404663086,153.027679443359,,,"POD
" 202,"RAAF Recruiting Drive Committee","ES & A Bank Chambers (2nd Floor)","Civil defence facility","62-80 Creek Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4669170379639,153.028305053711,,,"POD
" 210,"Women's Auxiliaries Transport Service (2nd Floor)"," Gray's Building","Supply facility","240 George Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4685592651367,153.020935058594,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"SLQ photographic reference
" 211,"Corps Headquarters, Volunteer Defence Corps (Qld)","Griffith House and City Mutual Building","Headquarters","307-311 Queen Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4671249389648,153.028366088867,"For a time the VDC Northern Command HQ was located on the first floor of Griffith House (City Mutual Building) at 307–311 Queen St, Brisbane, before moving to 142 Creek Street. The Corps Headquarters for the VDC (Q) re-located to 'E' Block at Enoggera military camp by August 1943. 142 Creek Street was also the location of Army Depot, Women's Recruiting during 1944.
","The Volunteer Defence Corps was formed under the auspices of the Returned Services League in July 1940. The role of the VDC took some time to be recognised as an integral part of the Australian military forces. By August the VDC had 18 battalions forming across the state, and a Corps HQ was set up in October. Training was carried out with the assistance of instructors of the 2nd AIF and the Militia forces. From April 1941 the VDC was officially recognised by the Military Board, and its role and structure had be redefined. The age limits for the Corps were set at 18 to 60, forcing many older members, including the original Queensland Corps Commander, Brigadier-General Wilson to resign.
In December 1941 the Corps in Queensland numbered 9347 members. Early in that month full-time personnel were appointed to assist with training and administration. Recognising the rapid advance of Japanese forces posed a serious threat to the country, the Commonwealth Military Forces absorbed the VDC intact in February 1942. About 800 VDC members in Queensland were enlisted on fulltime duties at the same time, to provide guards on bridges, aerodromes, and other infrastructure, and to begin demolition preparations in case of Japanese invasion. Within a few months recruiting for the VDC had peaked at 17249 volunteers in Queensland comprising 22 battalions and the 23rd Regiment, a special northern mounted unit.
Early 1943 saw the reorganisation of 'A' Group in Brisbane into the Brisbane AA Group VDC(Q), responsible for anti-aircraft defence of the city. In April 1943 the VDC came under the command of First Australian Army (Ops and Trg) although it remained under the Queensland Lines of Communication Area for administration. The headquarters of 'A' Group, Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) was located in Customs House, 436 Queen Street, Brisbane by July 1943. At the end of the year the year the War Cabinet had decided that the VDC should concentrate on its role manning search-lights, anti-aircraft, and coastal defences, freeing regular army troops from those tasks.
","AWM 52 [36/1/5]
Burke, Arthur, 'Hosting the Allied Invasion', RHSQ Report, 1993
POD
" 222,"Lennon's Hotel","'Bataan'","Military accommodation","cnr Queen and George Streets",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.470703125,153.023590087891,"The new Lennon's Hotel on the corner of Queen and George Streets Brisbane was opened in July 1941. A hotel of the same name had operated on the site since at least the 1880s. The most modern hotel in wartime Brisbane it offered the best service and visiting celebrities frequently stayed there. From July 1942 it became the residence of the Macarthur family and many of the senior officers working at the SWPA headquarters.
","The 'Pensacola' convey of US troops diverted from the Philippines arrived in Brisbane just before Christmas 1941. The senior US officer, Brigadier General Barnes, established a temporary headquarters in Lennon's Hotel, occupying it until January when it was moved to Melbourne. It is likely this early occupation influence the decision to make it the residence of General Douglas Macarthur, CINCSWPA, and his family when his headquarters moved to Brisbane in July 1942. An advance US Army party visited Brisbane from 14–16 June 1942 to prepare for MacArthur's move there. The move north began on 15 July. MacArthur left Melbourne on 21 July and he took two days to reach Brisbane. His party comprised nine generals, 10 colonels, 10 lieutenant-colonels (inc. Philippines President Carlos P. Romulo), nine majors, 12 captains, 12 first lieutenants & three second lieutenants.
Upon arrival in Australia Macarthur began a trait of naming his places of residence (and an RAN warship) after the site of his defeat in the Philippines. The hotel was given the codename of 'Bataan' and the US military telephone exchange established in the hotel became known as the 'Bataan Exchange'. It was manned by female civilian switchboard operators who had been instructed by Macarthur to answer incoming calls with ""Hello, this is Bataan."" It has been said that Brisbane residents frequently called B-3211 just to hear the words.
Macarthur, his wife June, son Arthur and servant Ah Cheu, and many of his 300 staff moved into Lennon's on the eve of 20 July 1942. The Macarthurs had three adjoining suites on the 4th floor. One suite was MacArthur's office. One suite was his quarters. His son & nanny lived in another suite. His personal physician lived in the fourth suite. All entrances were guarded but public lounges in the hotel remained open.
After exhausting the Lennon's menu of which the General was not fond, June Macarthur and Ah Cheu began shopping locally and cooking their own food. A dining room was set up in June's suite where she would wait for him to return from his office in the AMP building. Macarthur quickly established a daily routine when he was in Brisbane. He did not leave Lennon's until 10am when he travelled to the office. He stayed there until 2pm and went home for lunch and a nap, returning to the office at 4pm. He usually returned to his suite around 8 or 9pm.
Macarthur actively cultivated a populist image, and his appearance in Brisbane streets, always accompanied by two uniformed bodyguards carrying sub-machine guns, was guaranteed to draw a crowd. Locals waited outside Lennon's just to see him pass, and to make it easier for them to identify which entrance he would use, he had a striped awning erected over the doorway. His black limousine, in which he travelled from Lennon's to SWPA headquarters, had the number plate USA-1 while his wife's was USA-2.
Once his advance base was set up in Port Moresby, Macarthur travelled between the two towns. His wife and child remained in Brisbane, and while in Moresby the General occupied the former government residence, which he also named 'Bataan'. In October 1944 he returned to the Philippines, though it was not until mid-February 1945 that June and young Arthur Macarthur finally left the Lennon's Hotel in Brisbane and sailed for Manilla.
","Floor 3: HQ US Forces in Australia (General George Barnes & HQ Troops Brisbane Area est. 23/12/41, CO: Colonel Alexander L P Johnson (until March 1942); Top Floor: MacArthur Family residence (from July 1942) & US officers of the 'Bataan Gang'.
BCC Heritage Unit files
Manchester, William (1983), American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880–1964, Laurel, 1983.
" 238,"Parbury House","Army Censor; 1st Floor: Commonwealth Rationing Commission (CRC) commodities section; 3rd Floor: CRC","Civil defence facility","129-141 Eagle Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4666023254394,153.030349731445,,,"POD
" 239,"Patriotic Fund of Queensland (Office)","Offices","Civil defence facility","73 Ann Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4690361022949,153.022842407227,,,"POD
" 243,"Police Barracks Radio Control Room","(now Hogsbreath Café)","Civil defence facility","5 Petrie Terrace",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4659385681152,153.012817382813,"Within 10 days of the outbreak of the Pacific War, Brisbane established an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Central Control in the basement of the Roma Street Police Station. In support, a Radio Control Room was established at the nearby Petrie Terrace Police Depot so communication could be maintained with mobile police units in their radio cars.
","Independent of, but linked to the Raid Precautions (ARP) Central Control was a Radio Control Building that held an ultra-short-wave radio at the Police Depot/Barracks at Petrie Terrace. It communicated with the Police Academy at Oxley. The Radio Control Room could continue operating even if the Central Control Room took a direct bomb hit.
","The Telegraph 17/12/41
BCC Heritage Collections
(Refer to Brisbane Raid Precautions (ARP) Central Control for further information)" 245,"Primary Building (Primac House)","Army Transport Command Headquarters/US Army Brisbane Central Postal Exchange (PX)","Headquarters","99 Creek Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4662704467773,153.02799987793,"
One of Brisbane's early (1909) motor showrooms, it was enlarged to six-storeys in 1925. It was sold in 1934 and became 'Primac House'. During World War Two, the US Army leased the fifth floor for use as a Postal Exchange (PX) that supplied imported US goods to US service personnel. As the main PX in Brisbane City, it became the centre point of the infamous Battle of Brisbane riots (26–27 November 1942).
","Built in 1909 as a motor showroom for the Canada Cycle & Motor Agency (Qld) Ltd, it was sold in 1934 to the Queensland Primary Producers Co-Operative Association Ltd and subsequently became 'Primac House'. In 1942, office spaces throughout its five floors were requisitioned for use by various agencies drawn from the Australian Army, the Commonwealth Government and the US Army.
'Primac House' was the Australian Army's Transport Command headquarters and its Manpower and Canteen Services. The second floor contained the offices of the Brisbane War Road Transport Pool's General Cartage Division, the Women's Land Army, the Women's Auxiliary Central Bureau plus His Majesty's Australian Navy (HMAS) victualling yard administration. The third floor had the offices of the Commonwealth's Deputy Director of Manpower for the Department of Labour and National Service. The fifth floor leased offices to the Commonwealth War Damage Commission.
On the fifth (top) floor was the main US Army Post Exchange (PX) Canteen for Brisbane. Here, American servicemen could obtain liquor, cigarettes, chocolate bars, candy, soda pop and other items supplied direct from the USA. Many of these luxury items were heavily rationed throughout Australia and so were largely unobtainable for both Australian service personnel and civilians in Brisbane. The PX was often the scene of bartering over US cigarettes between US and Australian troops.
Local resentment grew over perceived favourable treatment meted out to 'the Yanks' by taxis or shops, American brazenness with Australian women and Americans flaunting their access to luxuries. Anti-American feelings culminated in riots in Brisbane City of 26–27 November 1942. The 26 November was US Thanksgiving Day and to celebrate the American Red Cross prepared 250 turkeys for US service personnel at the 'Primac House 'PX. Only 50 yards away was the Australian Army's 'wet' (beer available) canteen.
At 6.45 pm on Thanksgiving evening, a dispute between two US military policemen (MPs) and two Australian soldiers with their US mate resulted in the MPs being chased back towards the Adelaide Street entrance of 'Primac House' by a group of angry Australian soldiers. The two MPs were rescued by MPs guarding the PX, by beating the Australians with batons. This incited more Australians to besiege the Adelaide and Creek Street doorways of 'Primac House'. By 7.15 pm, about 100 soldiers were yelling abuse at the MPs of 814th MP Company. The MPs called their headquarters at the South Brisbane Town Hall for reinforcements.
The crowd grew to 2,000 troops and civilians (one estimate is 4,000 rioters). Some men collected bricks, rocks and sticks to throw at the MPs. Other rioters tore street signs from the road and began to smash the ground-floor windows of 'Primac House'. The intention was to get upstairs to the PX that represented American privilege and arrogance to many rioters. The MPs fought back with their batons. Australian military and civil police did not attempt to aid the MPs. When the Metropolitan Fire Brigade sent a fire engine from its Wharf Street headquarters, it refused to turn a hose on the rioters and returned to base.
At 8 pm, two MPs arrived in a Dodge weapons carrier from South Brisbane. MP Norbert Grant was armed with a shotgun. As the two MPs pushed through the crowd, Private Ed Webster (2/2nd Anti-Tank Regiment) challenged Grant and grabbed the shotgun's barrel. Grant fired three times, spreading 27 pellets into the crowd. Webster later died while six soldiers and one civilian wounded. The rioters, many from the veteran 2/9th Infantry Battalion, severely beat Grant and about 10 other MPs. Another eight soldiers were taken to the Brisbane General Hospital at Herston with baton injuries.
After the wounded were evacuated, the riot quietened but the next day, groups of Australians ranged Brisbane City and assaulted Americans. On 27 November, 21 US servicemen were injured in the riots. The PX temporarily closed and the 'Primac House' ground floor windows boarded-up. More Australian military police and armed troops on picket duty were brought into the City and the assaults stopped the next day.
The US military sought a new PX site in Brisbane's main entertainment precinct street of Queen Street. A department store building was requisitioned and given a complete make-over. In July 1943, the new PX was opened in the Woolworth Building that was located in Queen Street. Not only did this give US servicemen easy access to Brisbane's main tram terminus but it had the added security of being close to the military police (MPs) stationed close by at Lennon's Hotel and the AMP Building.
","Peter Charlton When Brisbane was Base 3 (The Courier Mail or The Sunday Mail)
J.H. Moore, Oversexed Overpaid, & Over Here, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1981
Peter A. Thompson and Robert Macklin, The Battle of Brisbane, Sydney, ABC Books, 2000
" 284,"Public Special Air Raid Shelter","Anzac Square","Civil defence facility","238 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4665679931641,153.026626586914,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 287,"1st Australian Blood and Serum Preparation Unit","Old Masonic Hall","Scientific facility","134 Alice Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4729099273682,153.029174804688,"A realisation that properly stored blood was a necessary adjunct to the medical treatment of wounded at the battlefront, led to blood drives and collections points behind the lines. In Brisbane, one of the earliest blood drives was made at the Brisbane Royal National Show by the Australian Red Cross in August 1940. At the Army's instigation the Red Cross established blood plasma and serum preparation facilities and a blood transfusion service across the country.
","As the war progressed and the Army Medical Services began engaging specialists to develop better ways of preparing and storing blood, the tasks previously undertaken by the Red Cross became the responsibility of military Blood and Serum Preparation Units attached to the
Australian Army Medical Corps.
Blood serum was recognised for its importance in successfully treating burns victims.
From early 1942 the 1st Australian Blood and Serum Preparation Unit operated from the basement of the old Masonic Hall in Alice Street, a building which was shared with the University of Queensland. Blood was transported to the main collection centre for filtration and bottling. The first shipment of whole blood was sent by Hospital Ship to the Pacific battlefields in November 1942. In the ten months to June 1944 almost 2000 litres were sent from Brisbane to New Guinea, and large quantities were distributed to American forces across the Pacific.
","Allan S Walker, Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 5 - Medical - Volume Vol1 Clinical Problems of War (1962 reprint)
Mark Cortiula, Collecting blood for battle: the wartime origins of the transfusion service in New South Wales
Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society Dec, 1999
http://www.redcross.org.au/QLD/media/Special90thEdition.pdf
http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/REL34849
" 289,"Queensland National Bank (Private Shelter)","Private shelter","Civil defence facility","308 Queen Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4669895172119,153.028289794922,,,"POD
" 294,"Reid House","RAAF and RAN Heaquaters, Offices and Billets","Military accommodation","132-148 Edward Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4695358276367,153.027954101562,"'Reid House' (now demolished) was a multi-storey City building that was leased by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Royal Australian Navy to provide office accommodation for their administrative sub-units. Each unit had a different period of lease to the others, with military office established on the Ground and First Floors of 'Reid House. Units that had offices there included the RAAF Area Finance Office, the RAAF Canteen Services office, the RAAF State Welfare Section, the RAN Construction Branch the and the RAAF Wireless Transmitting Station.
","Ground Floor: RAAF Area Finance Office & RAAF Canteen Services
RAAF Canteen Services Northern Region office was established in Brisbane soon after the RAAF Canteen Services Unit was formed in Melbourne on 1 May 1943. The Northern Region office was placed on the Ground Floor of 'Reid House'. This allowed RAAF and WAAF members to walk in off the street and into the RAAF canteen where they could purchase personal items, engage in leisure activities or even visit the hairdresser. Christmas was a particularly busy time for the canteen. On 10 July 1944, Northern Region was renamed RAAF Canteen Services South Queensland Region. Alcohol was not served at the Edward Street RAAF canteen but cigarettes were available, though rationed. In February 1945, the Service's tobacco ration dropped from 105 to 60 cigarettes per week and from 3 to 2 ounces of tobacco per week. The RAAF Canteen Services South Queensland Region office had closed by March 1946.
1st Floor: RAAF State Welfare Section, Royal Australian Navy Construction Branch & RAAF Wireless Transmitting Station.
The Brisbane RAAF Wireless Transmitting Station was formed on 15 May 1942. Led by Flying Officer Hine, the Station leased office space on the First Floor of 'Reid House' in Edward Street in Brisbane's CBD. Its wireless circuit boards were connected to the Melbourne RAAF Wireless Transmitting Station, eastern Area Command and Port Moresby Command. The Station operated teleprinters linked to the RAAF Stations at Amberley, Archerfield, Sandgate, no.3 Base Supply Depot (BSD) at Spring Hill, Townsville, Eastern Area CTO, US Army's Base Section 3 in Brisbane and USS Griffen. On 30 July 1942, Flying Officer Balmer became the new commander; followed by Pilot Officer A. Evans on 3 September 1942; Flight Lieutenant R. Travers on 12 October 1943; Pilot Officer J.W. Sexton on 14 December 1943; Flight Lieutenant K.J. Martin on 14 June 1944 and Squadron Leader S.G. Edwards on 26 September 1944. In January 1945, the Station was redesignated Brisbane Telecommunications Unit. Squadron Leader A.L. Wallbridge took command on 13 December 1945, followed by the Unit's final commander Squadron Leader A. Crudgington on 17 June 1946. The Unit's last responsibility was to oversee the closure of the RAAF Zillmere Remote Receiving Station on 4 September 1946. It disbanded on 26 September 1946.
","Queensland Post Office Directories 1943 & 1944.
Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.9;
US Army Telephone Directory Oct. 1943
Within 10 days of the outbreak of the Pacific War, Brisbane established an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Central Control (Civil Defence) in the basement of the Roma Street Police Station. With reinforced concrete rooms, heavy, steel doors and an air filtration system, Central Control was designed to function even during heavy Japanese air raids. It was linked by telephone to Brisbane network of local police stations. In support, a Radio Control Room was established at the nearby Petrie Terrace Police Depot so communication could be maintained with mobile police units in their radio cars. The Central Control received and responded to all suspicious aircraft sittings reports as well as coordinating all Brisbane's emergency services during bombing.
","The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Central Control for Brisbane opened in December 1941. It was strategically located in the City at the Roma Street Police Station. The building underwent alterations to accommodate 14 ARP rooms with communication corridors. Each room was protected by steel 'blast-doors', with air provided by a mechanical air induction and cleaning unit. The air cleaning purpose was to defend the Central Control against aerial poison (e.g. Mustard) gas attack.
","The Telegraph 17 December 17/12/41
BCC Heritage Collections
" 298,"RAAF No.5 Postal Unit","1st Floor, Ryan House,","Supply facility","233-243 Charlotte Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4689979553223,153.029754638672,"No.5 RAAF Postal Unit was formed in Brisbane in May 1943 to handle all RAAF or WAAF mail originating from the Queensland capital. A small RAAF ancillary unit, it leased an office in 'Ryan House' in Charlotte Street in the City. The increasing volume of mail caused the Unit to lease further floor space in this building in October 1944. The Unit remained at 'Ryan House' until disbanded in early 1946.
","No.5 RAAF Postal Unit was formed on 20 May 1943. The Unit comprised three airmen under the command of Flight Lieutenant J.V. Marshall. No.5 RAAF Postal Unit occupied an office on the First Floor of 'Ryan House' in Charlotte Street in Brisbane's CBD. It was a sub-unit of No.5 (Maintenance) Group Headquarters.
The Unit assembled and despatched all Brisbane mail that was addressed to RAAF units and personnel based in forward areas or overseas. It dealt with public or Postmaster-General (PMG) Department's complaints of mail non-delivery and redirecting mail to any new theatres of war. Liaison was kept with the RAAF censors and the Commonwealth Government Censor (located on Second Floor of the Commercial Bank Chambers, 240 Queen Street, CBD). The No.5 RAAF Postal Unit office also sold stamps and postal notes to RAAF and WAAF personnel visiting Brisbane City.
On 9 August 1943, the Unit became part of the postal route between Sydney and Townsville that was serviced by civil flying boats that landed at the RAAF flying boat base on the Brisbane River at Hamilton. On 18 November 1943, Flight Lieutenant E.A. Harley became Unit commander.
Additional office space was leased in October 1944 due to the increasing volume of mail that was being handled. Approximately 10,940 registered mail items were received at 'Ryan House' in this month. Flight Lieutenant J.F. Deegan became Unit commander on 6 September 1944. Flight Lieutenant C.D. Foster replaced him on 13 November 1944.
The arrival of British Royal navy support units in Brisbane in January 1945 saw No.5 RAAF Postal Unit take responsibility for the British mail until the Royal navy organised its own postal service. The Unit disbanded on 18 February 1946.
","Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.9
" 307,"McLeod's Bookshop lane - murder scene","Statham House service lane","Incident","109 Elizabeth Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4695682525635,153.027481079102,"In July 1944, a US Army court martial sentenced Private Abelardo Fernandez to death for the murder of Brisbane woman Doris May Roberts. This was the first death penalty handed down by a court in Queensland in 31 years. As the death penalty had been abolished in Queensland, the state government would not permit the execution to take place in Queensland.
The US Army had to fly Fernandez to Papua for the death sentence to be carried out. Fernandez was hung on 14 November 1944 for the crime that he had committed in wartime Brisbane.
","Apart from being the Headquarters of the General Douglas MacArthur's South West Pacific Area (SWPA) Command, Brisbane was also a major rest and recuperation centre for US and Australian troops on leave.
Apart from the more innocent entertainment offered by the Red Cross, YMCA or servicemen's canteens, some troops sought carnal pleasures and prostitution grew in Brisbane. Most of the brothels could be found in the City or across the river in South Brisbane. Such was the shortage of prostitutes in Brisbane during the war that, in September 1942, a trainload of these women was brought from Sydney to reinforce Brisbane's sex workers
On the night of 19 June 1944, Private Abelardo Fernandez of the US 503rd Parachute Regiment murdered prostitute Doris May Roberts in the service laneway that ran beside McLeod's Bookshop in Elizabeth Street, the City. Fernandez was in Brisbane recovering from an injury sustained in the Allied parachute assault on the Markam Valley, New Guinea on 5 September 1943. On leave from the US Army hospital at Holland Park, Fernandez and three buddies started a 'pub crawl' at Holland Park's Mountain View Hotel, then down Logan Road to the Stones corner Hotel and finally into the City for a meal. At Nick's Café in Elizabeth Street, 31 year-old Fernandez had met 41 year-old Doris. The US soldiers had bought whiskey (possibly from the Army PX in Creek Street) and another woman joined the party for a short time. Upon leaving Nick's Cafe, Fernandez and Doris drunkenly fell down the cafe's stairs and slightly injured themselves.
Fernandez and Doris then walked down Elizabeth Street, with the other US soldiers straggling behind at a distance. One soldier was on crutches. Upon reaching McLeod's Bookshop, Fernandez pushed Doris into the service lane and began to molest her. She asked for money so that they could pay for a room in which to continue. Fernandez became enraged as he took Doris's request for money as a slur that made him feel cheap. He proceeded to beat her and kick her savagely. She died in the Elizabeth Street lane.
On the morning of 20 June 1944, Brisbane detectives of the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) at the Roma Street Police Headquarters questioned Fernandez. He admitted to the murder and underwent a two day court martial held at US Army Provost Headquarters at the South Brisbane Town Hall Chambers in Vulture Street. After his conviction, he was held at the Camp Layfeyette US Army Stockade (prison) where he repaired saddles for a US cavalry division while he awaited the carrying out of his sentence. As the death penalty had been abolished in Queensland in 1913, Fernandez was flown to Papua for execution. He was buried at Clark's Cemetery, Angeles City in the Philippines.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 310,"American Red Cross Field Director's Office and Services Club","Terrica House","Recreation/community","236-250 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4665622711182,153.027313232422,"Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross on 21 May 1881. The Australian Red Cross was established in 1914. During World War II, both branches worked together with the American Red Cross servicing US and Filipino personnel while the Australian Red Cross serviced other nationalities. When US General Douglas MacArthur transferred his headquarters to Brisbane (23 July 1942), the American Red Cross expanded its Brisbane facilities. 'Terrica House' at 236 Adelaide Street held its headquarters and main services club. Other floor space was leased in separate City buildings located in Charlotte and Edward Streets. In the suburbs, the American Red Cross had facilities in Fortitude Valley and in South Brisbane.
","'Terrica House' was located at the corner of Adelaide and Creek Streets, just one block from the Queen Street entertainment precinct and was leased by the American Red Cross. It housed the American Red Cross Field Director's Office plus the American Red Cross Services Club. It opened its doors on US Independence Day (4 July) 1942. The Director was Mary K. Browne, a former US golf champion. With only 49 other male and female American Red Cross workers sent abroad to run 30 Red Cross Centres in the SWPA, Browne called for Australian women to volunteer to staff the Red Cross centres.
Brisbane's first American Red Cross Services Club was officially was opened at 3.30 PM on Thanksgiving Day (26 November) 1942 by USN Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender and US Army Colonel Francis S. Wilson. But on Opening Night, guests and American Red Cross workers watched, from the windows of 'Terrica House', as the violent 'Battle of Brisbane' erupted across the street outside the American PX located in 'Primac House' (99 Creek Street). Despite 'Terrica House' being located diagonally across from the American PX plus with the opening ceremony offering American luxuries such as 250 Thanksgiving turkeys, the rioters made no attempt to storm the American Red Cross facility. This reflected the high regard that both Australian servicemen and civilians had for the worldwide Red Cross. As well, US alcohol and cigarettes, the inaccessibility of which was an irritant for the rioters, were not for sale at 'Terrica House'.
'Terrica House' developed into the largest American Red Cross facility in the South West Pacific Area. It provided daily church services, a button sewing and mending repair service for uniforms plus a foreign exchange service run by a branch of the Bank of New South Wales (now Westpac). A reading room stocked with books and contemporary US magazines was available. Copies of the Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) map Guide to Brisbane and Suburbs or the US government's publication Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia 1942 were available. Two dances a week were held at 'Terrica House', By December 1942, a Sunday Night Floor Show had been added to the entertainment on offer as a response to the Queensland law that enforced the closure of Brisbane's civilian-run venues every Sunday afternoon. The American Red Cross eventually pressured the state government to allow local movie theatres to remain open on a Sunday. The American Cross also established Brisbane's first 24-hour restaurant in 'Terrica House'. A major attraction was the Red Cross Services Club noticeboard that US servicemen or women on leave would scan to read the notices posted by Brisbane families offering home-stays, picnics or other outings.
The American Red Cross expanded across Brisbane. The former industrial 'Smellie's Building' at 2 Edward Street was leased as the American Red Cross's 'Riverview Leave Area' centre from 1943. Located at the corner of Edward and Alice Streets, it was close to the Edward Street ferry jetty. In 1944, this Centre hosted a 'Miss Riverview' beauty pageant for young women. Margaret Crothers from Dirranbandi in western Queensland was crowned 'Miss Riverview'. The American National Red Cross leased the Carter's Buildings at 142 Charlotte Street in the City in 1944. As its administration duties increased, the Field Director's Office moved from 'Terrica House' to the 'Fortitude Building' at 54–56 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley. With its popular Jazz Club, the best-known American Red Cross facility, amongst Brisbane residents, was the 'Dr. Carver Services Club' in the 'Laidlaw's Building' at 100 Grey Street, South Brisbane.
The American Red Cross introduced the celebration of Halloween to Brisbane children. It hosted annual Halloween and Christmas children's parties. For Christmas 1942, the American Red Cross had the state government brownout (lights-out) regulations temporarily amended to allow a large Christmas tree with lights to be erected in the City Botanical Gardens in Alice Street. There, a 64-piece US Marines band played Christmas carols for the public. At Easter 1943, the Brisbane City Council constructed a large wooden cross in Albert Park for the American Red Cross's dawn religious service.
American women Red Cross workers donned a military uniform that was similar in style to that worn by members of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Australian women volunteers wore the American Red Cross outfit of a blue dress marked with a red cross. Mary Browne valued her many Australian volunteers. In late 1943, she stated:
","Too much praise cannot be given to the Australian women who volunteered their services…Without their help it would have been impossible to have taken care of the boys…They are an essential part of the club's operations.
David Jones & Peter Nunan, U.S. Subs Down Under - Brisbane, 1942–1945, (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2005).
Special Services Division, Services of Supply, Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia 1942, (Washington D.C.: US War Department and Navy Department, 1942).
Roger Marks, Book 17. Brisbane WWII vs Now.
" 320,"Victoria Barracks","HQ Aust Army Northern Command/Aust Army Hirings Branch/Qld Lines of Communications Area - PABX/CIB (RAAF command)","Headquarters","83 Petrie Terrace",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4646854400635,153.014755249023,"Victoria Barracks was built in 1864 and served as the Queensland headquarters for the Queensland colonial forces and then after Federation (1901) as the Queensland state headquarters for the Australian Military Forces (AMF). Over the next five decades, the barracks site received additional buildings. The major expansion occurred during World War I (1914–18) when 15 buildings were either constructed to or received additions. Blackall Street (now defunct) separated Victoria Barracks from the neighbouring Queensland Police Barracks.
On 3 September 1939, at the outbreak of World War Two, signals were despatched by telephone, radio, telegram and even across cinema screens to mobilise the small permanent forces based in Queensland plus the local AMF (militia) units. The inner-city, Petrie Terrace site had been effectively been built-out so there was no room for the type buildings (e.g. motor garages and workshops) required for the new war effort. Victoria Barracks retained its importance as a command headquarters but was responsible for the less-glamorous tasks associated with army administration or 'red-tape'.
","Queensland was designated as 1st Military District. The District commander lived in a two-storey residence (the former hospital superintendent's residence built 1869) within the Victoria Barracks. The original 1866 commander's residence had become three-storied administrative offices. Among the units occupying these offices was the Australian Army Hiring Service. It requisitioned private property throughout Queensland for military use, arranging lease agreements on behalf of the Commonwealth. The arrival of US troops in 1942 placed a heavy workload on the Army Hiring Service.
During 1940, two small buildings were added to the Barracks complex. These were a general canteen and a Sergeant's Mess. In August 1941, new officers' quarters at Victoria Barracks were completed. A Department of Defence ordnance stores warehouse was proposed for a site at the corner of Blackall and Countess Streets but this did not proceed.
In 1942, Victoria Barracks became the headquarters for the Queensland Lines of Communications Area. PABX machines were installed that linked Victoria Barracks to all Australian Army units based in Queensland. Teletype machines connected the headquarters to all Australian Army state HQs as well as the Allied Central Intelligence Bureau (CIB), the RAAF commands in Queensland and the Australian military representatives in London and Washington. The RAAF installed an intelligence unit at Victoria Barracks. The unit was staffed by members of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF). While largely dealing with office work, Victoria Barracks was still an army establishment and it continued to follow the daily routine of army life. Each morning, the daily parade and roll call was announced by the swirl of bagpipes from a military piper.
","National Archives of Australia
BCC Heritage
Scott, Eve, A Woman At War, (Greenslopes, Brisbane: McCann Publications, 1985).
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland August 1941 p.17.
The US Army Transportation Service was allocated the former Apollo Candle Works site at Bulimba for the establishment of a supply depot which included warehouses and assembly of small boats and barges. Later known as the US Engineer Boat Yard at Bulimba Point, it received prefabricated barges from the USA for local assembly.
","Around the time of the arrival of the first American forces in Brisbane, the Australian military forces established a mobile anti-aircraft battery on the site adjacent to the Apollo Ferry terminal. Three sheds belonging to Vaccum Oil were used to house the crews of two 40mm Bofors guns.
In 1942 initial survey work at the former Apollo Candle Works site was undertaken by the Department of Interior's Works and Services Branch Queensland, for the establishment of a US Army Transportation Service depot. A single requisition from the USASOS provided for the work to be undertaken by the Allied Works Council at two sites, known during construction as Camps A and B. Camp A included barracks and the barge assembly works, and comprised a 100′ x 200′ workshop, mooring buoys and floating pontoon erected by US troops, and forty seven barracks 20′ x 54′ (some supplied prefabricated from Sydney); two messes 40′ x 100′, kitchen 30′ x 45′, supply 20′ x 63′, forty-seven barracks 20′ x 54′, four 10-head bath houses, and four 10-hole latrines. Float dock construction site, a 20′ x 60′ jetty, an outfitting and repair wharf, a barge launching marine railway, greasing ramp, concrete wash, fencing, gates, roads and site reconstruction, drainage, water and electrical supply, hot water and sewerage were also included in that project. One repair shed 20′ x 60′, and two warehouses 100′ x 400′ were contracted to A & S Taylor (completion 8 weeks). Two 100′ x 200′ workshops—one with pilings—and a 20′ x 100′ administration building, and were allocated to MR Hornibrook Pty Ltd with a completion time of 8 weeks. The US Army provided unskilled labour who worked under the supervision of foremen and leading hands provided by the Allied Works Council. MR Hornibrook Pty Ltd offered some of its staff for the supervisory role.
The construction of Camp B, which was located on Lytton Rd, was initially contracted to PR Ayre and J Young. It appears US Army labour may also have been used on this camp site to build a headquarters building, infirmary, various supply huts, nine kitchens, messes and recreation rooms, 99 barracks buildings with bathhouses and latrines, and eight sets of Officers quarters.
Once operational the Barge Assembly Yard received prefabricated 300-ton steel barges, and 200-ton wooden barges shipped in from the USA, and commenced their assembly. Floating cranes, were also constructed at Bulimba to facilitate the barge assembly. The completed barges were launched at Bulimba and fitted out for their particular task, which included refrigeration barges and oil barges. US Army engineers and a civilian workforce constructed the barges. Despite the desire of the Australian Government the US employed 'Asiatic labour' be not permanently based on the Australian mainland, approximately 750 Chinese labourers (including some former POWs) worked directly for the US Army on the barge assembly lines. The Chinese workers camp had an entrance from Hood Street, with barracks accommodation along and on the lower side of the present Baldwin Street
The boat yard also outfitted specialist small ships with radio communication equipment during the war years. The staff, facilities and slips of local boatbuilding firm Watt and Wright, were employed at many of these tasks by the US Army.
By early 1944 the US Army advised the Australian authorities' of its intent to curtail some of its operations at Bulimba. Earlier proposals to construct floating dry docks and floating workshops may not have been carried to fruition. Later that year the US military moved out of the Apollo Rd facility, and the site was taken over by the Australian army for a variety of purposes.
The former 'Barge Assembly Depot' was formally acquired by the Commonwealth of Australia on 15 March 1945, and remained part of the Australian military site infrastructure for the remainder of the 20th century.
","NAA digital plan; US Army Telephone Directory May 1944
Allied Works Council - Queensland - 1943 - Minutes of Meetings, BP1/1 Volume 21, NAA item barcode 5223300
A989 1944/735/260/1/1 PWR [Post War Reconstruction] - Oil installations - War-time installations in Australia, post-war use, Bulimba project, NAA item barcode 185377
Roger Marks, ""Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Vol 7 Brisbane River - upstream from Bretts"", Brisbane, 2005
Burchill, Dennis, Wartime Memories of Bulimba, April 2004.
Additional sites: Camp Bulimba: Camp 'A': US Army Small Ships Section Apollo Barge Assembly Depot & Chinese Workers Camp (Hood St), Camp B: US Army Services of Supply (USASOS) Supply Division;1944–45: Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (AEME) Area small craft workshops & water store & jetty; !st Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC).
" 331,"Brisbane River Minewatching Posts","RAN Minewatching Posts","Fortifications","39 bunkers along Brisbane River",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4713668823242,153.022262573242,"After the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, Brisbane developed into a major Allied supply port. Facing the threat of Japanese aircraft trying to block the Brisbane River by laying mines at night, the RAN created a local minewatching unit. The unit comprised women volunteers who under took nighttime sentry duty. By September 1942, the unit occupied 39 concrete bunkers built along both banks of the river. Initial training was for 100 minewatchers but this number later rose to over 180 personnel.
More locations of the mine wathers posts will be mapped as they are discovered.
","By March 1942, Australia feared a Japanese invasion. The authorities expected Japanese aircraft to lay mines at night along the eastern reaches of the Brisbane River to interdict the shipping supply lines emanating from the port of Brisbane.
In response, an emergency minewatching unit was established in Brisbane, led by Commander V.W. Bowden. Due to the shortage of manpower, the unit recruited and trained women in the role of minewatchers. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) approached a Queensland paramilitary organisation, the Women's National Emergency League (WNEL) to seek recruits. The RAN also sought women through the Queensland Volunteer Net Camouflage Makers (QVNCM) organisation. Only volunteers were sought for the new minewatching unit.
Women undertook training at night after they had completed their regular daytime employment. Training was conducted by RAN telegraphists at the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) building at 278 Adelaide Street in the City. The training included Morse code proficiency in telegraph and torch; semaphore flag signals, use of the bearing plate and emergency first aid. By 24 August 1942, the RAN had employed a civilian Chief of Minewatchers and 100 women had been trained. Their uniform comprised the standard-issue khaki jacket and skirt, a triangular red, navy blue and gold Minewatcher badge, a WNEL badge, a cloth brassard worn on the left arm plus a Civil Defence steel helmet. The WNEL badge was pinned to the right epaulette. The Minewatchers unit badge was worn on the left lapel. The enamel Minewatchers badges were manufactured locally by Handfords. All uniforms and equipment were issued by the WNEL.
Minewatching posts were constructed along both banks of the Brisbane River commencing on the northside near the Victoria Bridge in the City and ending at Fort Lytton near the river's mouth on the southside. Each post comprised a concrete bunker (2.44 m x 3.05 m) that faced the river. A closeable, heavy wooden shutter protected the bunker's vision slit. Each bunker contained a RAN bearing plate, a telephone, a watch secured by a lanyard, a torch, a pencil, writing material, a stretcher bed and a small methylated spirits stove for cooking. A total of 39 such minewatching posts, built in a diagonal pattern along each side of the river, were completed by 20 September 1942. One bunker has been identified as located beside the Bulimba lighthouse. Another was at Hawthorne. All bunkers had service telephone lines though some bunkers were connected directly to the Radio Security Organisation Observation Centre located in the Brisbane GPO at 269 Queen Street.
Two members of the Minewatchers unit maintained a watch at each bunker every night. They set the bearing plate and synchronised watches upon arrival. At the end of their shift in the morning, the minewatchers dismantled the bearing plate, placed it on the stretcher and upon leaving, locked the bunker door and delivered the key to a prearranged spot. Twice per month, usually on moonlight nights, training exercises were conducted. Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) planes dropped dummy mines at night into the Brisbane River. The Minewatchers would take a bearing on the mine's location, communicated the precise details to the GPO and then co-coordinated the mine retrieval.
By war's end, the Brisbane Minewatchers unit had risen to a strength of more than 180 women. No bunkers remain. The last bunker, located on Porter's Hill, Colmslie, was demolished c1997.
","Brisbane City Council Heritage
" 338,"Bundaberg Areodrome and Bellman Hangar","Hinkler Airport","Airfield","Bundaberg Ring Road",Bundaberg,4670,Wide Bay-Burnett,-24.9022903442383,152.325057983398,"Bundaberg was different to many other WWII airfield locations in that it was one of several EFTS centres. Before the Japanese came into the war the RAAF commenced what became a major Australian contribution to the United Kingdom's war effort by training pilots and air crew literally by the thousands. This scheme was known as the Empire Air Training Scheme—EATS
","Bundaberg was one of the centres in Queensland chosen. It also figured in a further development of the scheme in that No.8 SFTS (Service Flying Training School) was also located there.
The rudiments of bomb aimer training were skills embraced by activities at Bundaberg and to that end a practice bombing range was located south of the airfield adjacent the road leading to Childers and beyond.
This airfield figured strongly in the operation of coastal surveillance aircraft and convoy protection duties. The RAAFs 71 Squadron was one so deployed, be it equipped only with 1930s twin engine Avro Anson fabric covered aircraft.
Such was the importance of this training facility that the airfield came in for the construction of a number of aircraft hideout dispersals. Because of the proximity to obvious suburban area these dispersals adhered to the somewhat regular block street arrangements. The nature of the hideout structures also represented a step in the evolution of their design. In contrast to that introduced by Emil Brizay (create hyperlink to other mentions) these hideouts were able to call on significant standing timber (trees) and utilised stretched steel wire ropes and associated netting, ie netting trimmed obviously with hessian scrim.
As with Rockhampton the main runway at Bundaberg was 'mined' so as to quickly enable explosive disruption of the surface (demolition of a kind) should the enemy advance take place.
At this point in time there may be no record of where such tunnelling under the pavement did take place at Bundaberg, but certainly during the main runway works up-grading at Rockhampton in the 1990s, such 'soft spots' were discovered and traced to such preparation for demolition works at that airfield.
Late in the Second World War, Bundaberg was utilised by elements of the Netherlands East Indies Air Force flying B-25 Mitchell bombers.
In his QAWW2 recollections of boyhood years at Bundaberg, Roger Marks remembers a couple of significant aircraft visits to the town. One was the visit by an Avro Lancaster bomber out from England on a War Bond raising tour and another was a perhaps unscheduled landing of an RAAF 4 engine Sunderland Flying Boat on the town reach. Perhaps the photographs of both these events do survive?
Interestingly, the main 140 deg runway at Bundaberg was not bitumen sealed during WWII - that came after with handover to DCA and the return to a peacetime role as Hinkler Airport.
","Roger and Jenny Marks, 'Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On'
National Archives of Australia reference
" 340,"USAAF B-24 Consolidated Liberator 41-23762 Wreckage","""Little Eva""","Aircraft wreck","Near Moonlight Creek, Escott Station",Burketown,4830,North-West,-17.570393262691,139.601898193359,"An amazing survival story began unfolding in the north Queensland Gulf country after a USAAF B-24 Liberator bomber named 'Little Eva' became lost while returning from a strike mission against Japanese forces on the north coast of New Guinea in December 1942. After being caught in a severe thunderstorm the aircraft lost compass bearings and went off course. It eventually ran out of fuel over the coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and crashed near Moonlight Creek west of Burketown. Of the crew of ten, six survived after bailing out. Two survivors were rescued two weeks later by a party from Escott station, starting a search for the other survivors which lasted almost five months before one airman was found alive on Seven Emu station in the Northern Territory. The other airmen perished in the remote Gulf country. Today the wreckage of the 'Little Eva' lies scattered over several hundred metres of scrub with the wings and tail section still recognisable.
","'Little Eva', serial number 41-23762, was among six B-24 D7's of the 90th Bombardment Group, 321st Squadron, which departed from Iron Range air base on Cape York Peninsula, on the afternoon of 1 December 1942. Their mission was to attack a Japanese task force north of Buna, New Guinea, which included four destroyers. The aircraft, flown by Lieutenant Norman Crossan, carried a crew of ten. The task force was sighted, but when 'Little Eva's' bombs would not release after three runs over the target the aircraft left the formation and headed for Lae which had been chosen as a secondary target. After successfully releasing the bombs over Lae airfield Lt Crossan began the return trip in darkness with severe storms and poor visibility which made it necessary to cross the New Guinea ranges on instruments. Unbeknown to Crossan a compass malfunction led him to believe they were flying south for Iron Range, when instead they were actually flying south-west towards Burketown on the Gulf.
Five hours later with fuel tanks almost empty and on only two engines, he ordered the crew to bail out. Anticipating that the aircraft would burn on impact and create a visible location, he told them to assemble at the crash site on landing. Most of the crew including Crossan went out through the open bomb bay. However, four were trapped in the rear of the aircraft after a prematurely opened parachute snagged on a hatch and all died on impact. Only Crossan and another crew member, Sgt Loy Wilson, returned to the wreckage. The following day they began walking east towards what they thought was the Pacific Ocean and Cairns. After about ten days of following the coast and struggling through mud flats and tidal estuaries with no food and very little fresh water they encountered several stockmen from Escott station who raised the alarm for search parties to be sent.
Searchers on horseback from the North Australia Observer Unit (or Nackeroos as they were known) found four sets of footprints and followed them west for over 130 kilometres through rivers and streams swollen by heavy rains, but lost them after Settlement Creek near the Northern Territory border. Believing the men had been lost to the harsh environment they decided to give up the search little knowing of the struggle to stay alive that was unfolding.
The other four survivors-Lt Arthur Speltz, Lt Dale Grimes, Lt John Dyer and Sgt Grady Gaston the ball turret gunner-had met up the morning after the crash and decided to try and find the coast. They began walking west towards the Northern Territory. On Christmas Eve they came across an abandoned paperbark hut on Seven Emu station. Speltz decided to remain here as his feet were in bad condition, while the others continued west. Several days later Grimes was swept out to sea and drowned while attempting to cross the Robinson River. Dyer and Gaston returned to the hut where they had left Speltz. Weak and starving, Dyer and Speltz died from malnutrition during February 1943. Gaston continued to survive on fish and berries and on 21 April was found by Aboriginal stockmen looking for stray cattle-almost five months after the crash of 'Little Eva'.
","During World War II the Staff School at Cabarlah was used by the First Australian Army's Military Tactics School, Administration (NCO) School, Gas School and Transport School. The former Staff School is located on the New England Highway, on the left hand side about 3km past Highfields (heading north from Toowoomba), between Barracks Road and Meringandan Road.
","The First Army was formed under Lieutenant General J.D. Lavarack in April 1942, with its headquarters in Toowoomba, and it initially included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th Infantry Divisions (Militia), 1st Motor Division (Militia) and the 7th Division 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF).
By the end of April 1943 the First Army included the 4th Division (Militia), the 3rd Armoured Division (formerly 1st Motor Division) and the Torres Strait Force. A 1943 plan of the Staff School shows it was arranged around three streets in a rough pitchfork pattern, west of the Toowoomba-Crow's Nest Road. Quarters for Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) personnel were located off the northernmost street.
Today the site functions as Borneo Barracks, home to the 7th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare), and the Defence Force School of Signals, Electronic Warfare Wing. The World War II buildings have been replaced, but the old street layout remains intact.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, Folder C Folio 4. Cabarlah Staff School - Site Plan [1/C/6], 1943.
National Archives of Australia, Folder C Folio 3. Cabarlah Training Camp - Site Plan [1/C/6] 1943
Defence Jobs. Electronic Warfare Operator Specialist
Royal Australian Corps of Signals
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection
State Library of Victoria Photographic Collection
" 391,"ANZAC House and Cairns War Memorial","Cairns RSL Club","Recreation/community","115 The Esplanade",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9175586700439,145.775115966797,"The brass nameplate of the World War II corvette, HMAS Cairns, now takes pride of place in the bar of the Cairns RSL Club. The club has had a long association with care and welfare of north Queensland's ex-service men and women. Today the club building occupies a prime site on the city's busy Esplanade overlooking Trinity Bay and the Cairns War Memorial. The memorial is linked to the front entrance of the RSL Club by a paved court.
","Tower Villa, a private house on the Esplanade, was purchased in 1916 by the Cairns Welcome Home Committee as a rest home for troops returning from 'The Great War'. The Cairns sub-branch of the Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (RSL) was formed locally two years later. The original house was moved to the rear of the block in 1937, and the current building erected. As Anzac House the RSL Club was popular with Australian servicemen as a source of beer rations during World War II. After the war it continued to operate as a licensed club until 1963 when fire destroyed all but the front façade of the building. The premises was completely rebuilt behind the original façade and reopened two years later. Since then the Cairns RSL Club has been rebuilt and refurbished on several occasions but the 1937 façade has remained largely intact.
In keeping with an Australia-wide movement, the Cairns War Memorial which now stands on the Esplanade facing the RSL Club, was erected as an expression of nationalism to commemorate those who served in World War I. Typically it depicts a digger, but the memorial is unusual in that the statue surmounts a clock tower. Its design, while ensuring that the memorial was of substantial proportions and a focus of public attention, also met a long-felt need for a public clock in Cairns. The memorial was unveiled on the corner of Abbot and Shield Street on Anzac Day in 1926. The marble honour rolls record 142 names of local men and women who served in World War I. In 1972 the memorial was relocated to the Esplanade in front of the RSL Hall. The clock faces are now painted replicas, permanently showing 4.28 a.m.-the time at which the Anzac landing at Gallipoli began on 25 April 1915.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Personal communication: Cairns RSL Club.
" 392,"Allied Works Council (AWC) Machinery Workshop","Cairns Regional Council Store and Office","Workshop","Magazine Road",Stratford,4870,Cairns,-16.8744239807129,145.732681274414,"The main Allied Works Council (AWC) heavy machinery repair workshop for far north Queensland was located at Stratford, beside the old Barron River bridge. The workshop was completed about October 1943 by the AWC and Main Roads Commission (MRC). Facilities included spare parts and material stores, also a blacksmith and welding shop. Bulldozers, road graders, tractors and other heavy equipment used on AWC projects were repaired and maintained on-site. The workers' camp was located nearby, on the present-day site of the Stratford Bowling Club.
","The Curtin government established the AWC on 26 February 1942. Former Queensland premier Edward Theodore became its national director. The AWC's role was to coordinate large scale defence construction projects throughout Australia. The Queensland director of public works, John Kemp, was placed in charge of the AWC in Queensland. Under Kemp's direction, major defence projects were undertaken with the resources of the state's Main Roads Commission and US engineer regiments.
The Civil Construction Corps (CCC) was established by the Curtin government on 14 April 1942 to provide a labour force of civilian tradesmen, plant operators and labourers to carry out construction work for AWC contractors. Men who were not enlisted in the armed forces and not in protected industries, were conscripted into the CCC, which by November 1943 totalled a labour force of more than 60,000 Australia-wide. Local government authorities and harbour boards were also called on to undertake defence works and provide services such as drainage and road maintenance works.
The huge construction program demanded the use of all existing organisations capable of carrying out works. Private contractors, both large and small, undertook work for the AWC. Acute labour shortages in north Queensland placed great dependence on manpower and supplies from the south. It was particularly hard to get sufficient men, plant and materials to remote locations like Cape York Peninsula and the Torres Strait when urgent requisitions were received.
The first AWC labour camp in Cairns was at Woree. As the demand for work grew, permanent camps for both AWC and CCC workers were located in Spence Street, Sheridan Street, Aumuller Street and the suburbs of North Cairns, Grafton and Stratford. Demand for labour on the Atherton Tableland from early 1943, Took most workers from Cairns. Once the Tableland army camps were established many men returned to work on the US transhipment port project and the Kuranda Range road.
After the war the MRC acquired the AWC workshops at Stratford. The wartime workshop and office later served as the Mulgrave Shire Council sewage workshop and is now owned by the Cairns Regional Council.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Main Roads Commission, History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
A two-storeyed reinforced concrete building, the former Empire Hotel was erected in 1926 to replace an earlier hotel of the same name. Located across the road from the wharves, the area developed during the late 1800s as the business and administrative district of Cairns, comprising mainly warehouses, shipping agents, offices and hotels. The latter catered for local wharf workers as well as travellers arriving by the coastal steamers. Little of the district's early buildings have survived redevelopment and today only the Empire Hotel (re-named the Barrier Reef Hotel) and the former Jack and Newell warehouse remain to perpetuate the association of this part of Cairns with its waterfront origins.
The Empire Hotel was open for business by February 1927. It was one of a number of commercial buildings erected in Cairns during the inter-war period that acknowledged the suitability of reinforced concrete construction in a tropical cyclone environment. It was a plain and modest hotel and was used for accommodation mainly by business and working people. The ground floor contained a public bar, dining room and kitchen. The first floor was taken up with bedrooms and bathrooms. During World War II the RAAF occupied the hotel as officers' accommodation from late 1942 until mid-1945. The name was changed to the Barrier Reef Hotel in May 1960.
","With the threat from the Japanese to the outlying RAAF bases at Tulagi, Vila and Noumea, and the continual bombing and strafing of the principal advanced operational base at Port Moresby, a safer forward flying boat base was needed on the Australian mainland. On 1 May 1942 the Catalina crews of Nos. 11 and 20 squadrons withdrew from Port Moresby to use the RAN amphibious aircraft base at Bowen as a safe haven. Within a week Bowen was officially established as the home of the combined squadrons and the town remained the forward RAAF Catalina base until October 1942 when No.20 Squadron moved to Cairns, followed by No.11 Squadron in November.
On their arrival in Cairns the RAAF officers of Nos. 11 and 20 squadrons were billeted at the Empire Hotel on the corner of Abbott and Wharf Street. There were also officer's rooms allotted and kept ready at Hides Hotel and the Central Hotel in Lake Street, while the sergeants were housed in the Oceanic Hotel in Wharf Street. Other ranks were accommodated in a guesthouse and two adjoining houses on the Esplanade. These arrangements terminated when the newly completed camp for the combined squadrons was ready for occupation on the Esplanade in February 1943.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
CHIMS, Barrier Reef Hotel, Queensland Heritage Register place 601608, Brisbane.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
The airfield became a centre of activity for refuelling military aircraft during World War II and continued to be used as a base by civilian operators including Airlines of Australia and Australian National Airlines. Little evidence remains of the airfield's wartime use although the footprints of the early runways have been incorporated into its recent development as a major international and domestic airport.
Cairns airfield goes back to 1928 when a local pilot, Tom McDonald, started operating his Gypsy Moth aircraft from a salt pan near the present airport. McDonald surfaced the strip with coal-ash, but he could only take of and land between high tides. By 1936 Cairns City Council had established an aerodrome near McDonald's original strip and work on upgrading the runways was carried out by the Main Roads Commission during the last months of 1940 ahead of the wet season.
","Cairns Aerodrome was taken over by the RAAF in 1941 and the main runway was extended. By mid-1941 the RAAF had erected a hut and the installation of more substantial works, including bomb storage sheds, was underway. Early in 1942 after Japan's entry into World War II, further attempts were made to improve the runways for all weather use by larger military aircraft. This proved difficult however, as the runways had been laid down on mangrove mud.
The commanding officer of the US 46 Engineer Regiment, Colonel AG Matthews, arrived in Cairns in mid-April 1942 on an inspection of airfields in north Queensland. In its planned role as an Advanced Operational Air Base (AOB), a large number of aircraft dispersal areas were required. However, at Cairns the space was not available for extension of taxiways and construction of aircraft hideouts. This led to the momentous decision by Colonel Matthews, to develop Mareeba airfield as the main AOB for far north Queensland.
By May 1942 Cairns Aerodrome had become a major refuelling point on the coastal air route with a huge influx of military aircraft, particularly US Air Force traffic. In late May RAAF No.25 Operational Base Unit was established at Cairns and it was decided that the airfield would be retained a refuelling point only and all work was stopped on the construction of splinter-proof aircraft pens. During 1942 and 1943 the airfield was also used as a transport base for USAAF squadrons of the 374th Troop Carrier Group, hauling paratroopers for jump training over the Gordonvale district. The main runway was finally sealed during 1943.
Activity at Cairns airfield tapered off after the Japanese were pushed out of New Guinea. Soon after the Japanese surrender in August 1945, aircraft of all types began flying into Cairns from the islands, homeward bound to be scrapped. The airfield returned to civilian use after 1946 and its redevelopment as an international airport commenced during the 1980s.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and district Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
" 397,"Cairns Royal Australian Navy Base (RAN)","Naval Boom Defence Depot (RAN)","Naval/port facility","Pier Point Road",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9208965301514,145.77961730957,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","Please contact the WWII Historic Places team to contribute to the history and heritage of this location.
","National Archives Australia Map Reference
" 400,"Cairns Transshipment Port Project","Aumuller Street","Naval/port facility","Smiths Creek, Waterfront and Aumuller Street",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9414768218994,145.767776489258,"Cairns' wartime port development has all but disappeared today. Perhaps the largest US project planned for Cairns was the establishment of a major transshipment port to handle much of the war materials arriving in north Queensland from America. Initially the project allowed for almost two kilometres of wharves, 12 wharf stores, more than 40 warehouses, and drainage, sewage and camp facilities for 40,000 troops. Construction entailed dredging to provide a depth of 8.5 metres at low water and a large turning basin together with roads and railway sidings. Grand plans were incrementally reduced as the war situation in the South-West Pacific Area improved. The scheme was abandoned after just 250 metres of wharf and construction of seven warehouses and a reinforced concrete section of access road to the Smiths Creek wharves—which continues in use today as Aumuller Street.
","US military personnel began arriving in Cairns in greater numbers early in 1943. They were led by the 411th Engineer Base Shop Battalion which was responsible for major construction works around the town, including bridge building and road improvement. The US engineers provided facilities for training Australian troops in amphibious landings, including erection of a boat assembly factory at the mouth of Smiths Creek for the construction of plywood landing barges for use in the planned New Guinea and island campaigns. The first boats came off the assembly line in April 1943. Soon the factory was producing six boats a day.
Because of its railway connection, deep-water port and closer access to the Pacific frontline, Cairns was selected in late 1942 to be the main US supply base and transhipment port for north Queensland, where supplies arriving from America would stockpiled before redistribution to the fighting forces on the Pacific islands to the north. The Cairns Transshipment Port Project was envisaged as a mile-long wharf extending along the western bank of Smiths Creek, behind which camps, workshops and warehouses would be built for the many units involved in establishing and operating the base.
Preliminary work on the transshipment port commenced in May 1943 and in June the
US Army Services of Supply organisation approved construction of the project at a cost of US$10 million. At this period there was an acute labour shortage in Cairns and American engineer regiments and US Navy 'Seabee' (Construction Battalion) units were assisted through the Allied Works Council by the Main Roads Commission (MRC) and Civil Construction Corps (CCC) in providing labour for the project.
A CCC camp was established by the MRC on the corner of Aumuller and Hartley Street for the construction work. A concrete strip was laid along Aumuller Street from Spence Street to Smiths Creek by US Army Engineers in anticipation of the heavy traffic that would be using it when the transshipment port was completed. The reinforced concrete strip was laid over swampy, sandy ground by a new concrete paving machine from the US which mixed the concrete then laid and levelled it in one operation. Warehouses and camps for this large project occupied much of the area between Mulgrave Road and Smiths Creek, bounded by Lyons and Fearnley Street.
By early 1944, with the Japanese being pushed back and the strategic situation improving, construction requirements were reduced and the project was finally cancelled as US forces began leaving Cairns to set up supply bases closer to the battle zone. Completed buildings and infrastructure were handed over to the Australian military. However, full control of the transhipment port project was not gained until March 1945, and it was not until February 1946 that the last of the Americans departed from Cairns.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Paper No.15, Defence Construction in Queensland and Northern Territory, Joint Committee on War Expenditure, Canberra, 1944.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 402,"Cairns War Cemetery","Cairns Civil Cemetery","Cemetery","James Street",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9078807830811,145.753677368164,"Cairns Cemetery contains a special plot of war service graves within its boundaries. Known as the Cairns War Cemetery, the plot is dominated by a large Cross of Sacrifice which stands opposite the entrance. It contains war dead from two world wars.
","The War Cemetery contains the graves of 70 soldiers, 17 airmen and 10 sailors of the Australian forces, and one Dutch sailor. There are a total of 136 war graves throughout the entire Cairns Cemetery including eight burials from World War I, 109 Commonwealth burials of World War II, and 19 Dutch burials from World War II.
The site is maintained by the Office of Australian War Graves, as the representative of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, who are responsible for more than 1.7 million war dead from WWI and II, and some other conflicts.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Office of Australian War Graves (website)
Commonwealth War Graves Commission (website)
" 403,"Cairns Trinity Wharf Warehouses No 2 and No 3","Cairns No. 6 Wharf Sheds 2 and 3","Naval/port facility","Wharf Street",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9262065887451,145.780227661133,"The Cairns waterfront was an important military facility and major centre for the movement of materials and troops during the South West Pacific campaigns of World War II. As the closest Australian port to the New Guinea and Island frontlines, from 1943 Cairns became the main Australian port of embarkation for troops bound for hard-fought amphibious landings on the north coast of New Guinea, and subsequently on the islands of Borneo and Bougainville.
Cairns wharf warehouse sheds Nos. 2 and 3, and their early reinforced concrete wharves survive as a reminder of Cairns waterfront development in the early 1900s. The corrugated iron clad sheds with their steel truss frame roofs, remain in good condition given their age and the events and activity that surrounded them during World War II.
","Impetus for the establishment of a port on Trinity Inlet came from the newly discovered Hodgkinson goldfields. In 1884 Cairns was selected as the port and rail terminus for the Herberton tinfield and construction of a railway inland to the Atherton Tableland began. This assisted the fortunes of the port and in effect secured the fortunes of the struggling settlement. The other early port settlements of Cooktown and Port Douglas dwindled as a result of Cairns railway connection.
Cairns Harbour Board was established in 1906 to oversee improvements to the port and construction of an extensive new system of wharfage was planned. The new wharfs were to be built of reinforced concrete which had been proven as more suitable than timber in the tropical environment. Cairns became the first port in Queensland to adopt reinforced concrete wharves to any extent. The first concrete section, known as No. 3 Wharf, was completed in 1912. By 1915 the adjoining No. 2 and No. 4 wharves had been completed and equipped with sheds and the Harbour Board had taken possession of the defunct Chillagoe Company's wharf, which was completed by 1921 as No. 1 Wharf.
With Japan's entry into the war, Cairns became the strategic centre of far north Queensland. From early 1942 Australian and Dutch vessels of all sizes began arriving at the port from the Netherlands East Indies, New Guinea, New Britain and the Solomons, crammed with civilian evacuees, mainly missionaries, planters and NEI nationals.
The wharves were extended in 1942 and again in 1943 to create six continuous berths. From June 1942, Cairns became US Sub Port Base Two and early in 1943, US Base Section Five of the giant US Army Services of Supply organization (USASOS). In January 1943 the ancient depot ship HMAS Platypus steamed into Cairns and took up a permanent mooring near the shore station. The RAN and the USN concentrated their operations in Trinity Inlet which became the principal naval base for repair, refuelling, victualling and maintenance of minor naval craft such as Australian corvettes, Fairmile patrol launches, and US torpedo (PT) boats.
After the war No. 2 and 3 sheds were refurbished and by 1948 a clock tower had been added to the end of No.3 shed. In recent years No.2 shed has become the Cairns cruise ship terminal, while No.3 shed is used by the port authority for storage and offices for the Customs Service.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Cairns Wharf Complex, Queensland Heritage Register place 601790, Brisbane, 2009.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Paper No.15. Defence Construction in Queensland and Northern Territory, Joint Committee on War Expenditure, Seventh Progress Report, November 1944, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra, 1944.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 404,"Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Naval Auxiliary Patrol Head Quarters","Cairns Yacht (Aquatic) Club","Naval/port facility","4 Wharf Street",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.923656463623,145.780136108398,"Being located alongside the Navy workshops and stores, the club house played an important role during World War II. The RAN took over the downstairs area of the club house in 1941 as headquarters of the Naval Auxiliary Patrol, while the upstairs area continued to be used for dances and fund-raising events for the Australian Comforts Fund. Club members who were either too young or too old to enlist in the forces, provided valuable service with the Naval Auxiliary Patrol in assisting the operation of Cairns' harbour boom defence system and in harbour protection generally.
The club rooms remained a popular local venue for social functions in Cairns until the 1980s when high-rise hotel development began to take place alongside the building. However, the Cairns Yacht Club still retains its membership and its important function of training young competition sailors.
","The Cairns Aquatic Club was formed at a public meeting in March 1908. It was subsequently known as the Cairns Sailing Club and has been an enduring part of the local sporting scene since its inception. Today it is known as the Cairns Yacht Club.
In 1917 the aquatic club purchased a disused rice mill on this shoreline site, which it modified as a club house. However, in February 1920 a cyclone struck Cairns, destroying the building. A new and stronger building was planned in the same site and funds were obtained through organised dances and donations. The willingness of locals to support the club was due to a large number of the organisations members being returned soldiers from World War I. From 1915 the club held socials to assist wounded returned soldiers and sent hampers to serving members overseas. Departing soldiers were always farewelled by the club and returning diggers were assured of a rousing welcome home at the Cairns Aquatic Club.
The new club house was officially opened in July 1920, the rebuilding exercise having taken just four months. The top floor was used for entertainment and the downstairs area housed members' boats. By the end of the year Cairns Aquatic Club had recovered to such an extent that it sent a boat to compete in the Australian sailing championship. With its superior dance floor the Aquatic Club became the hub of social life in Cairns and was a popular venue for balls. On these occasions the downstairs boat storage area was transformed into a supper room.
","Cairns Yacht Club, Site ID: 19558, DERM, Brisbane, (no date).
Personal communication: Vera Bradley, Cairns.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 405,"Cairns 'Z' Experimental Station (Z.E.S.) Commando Training School","Fairview Farm, ""The House on the Hill""","Training facility","Munro Terrace, Mooroobool",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9349899291992,145.738464355469,"During WW2, the military commandeered ""Fairview House"" on Fairview Farm at Mooroobool in Cairns. The address was used as a training facility for used ""Z"" Special Operations Commandos, and its secretive nature led to the home becoming known as ""The House on the Hill"".
","Used between 1942 and 1944 by Z Special Unit as an Experimental Station or Z.E.S., the house saw training programs that included demolition and explosives, unarmed combat, signals, map reading, weapons and physical training aspects.
Planning for Operation Jaywick, the mission to blow up Japanese shipping in Singapore Harbour, was undertaken at the location. Fourteen British and Australian Commandos trained in the Barron River and on the beaches north of Cairns. An old Japanese fishing vessel called The Krait was used for the mission to offer some anonimity. The Japanese flag was flow en-route to the mission. The team left Cairns on 9 August 1943 and travelled the nearly 4000 kilometres to Singapore. Once at the destination, the commandos attached limpet mines to shipping in the harbour, using collapsable kayaks, with the result being the sinking of three major vessels and damage to a number of others.
There is a plaque at the right hand side of the main gate at HMAS Cairns base commemorating the Z Special force role during WW2.
""The House on the Hill"" later became a popular night club location, but later burnt down. The location is now the site of a luxury, gated residential complex.
","The former World War II civil defence communications centre and control room in Martin Munro Park in Cairns was built in early 1942 to provide a hardened headquarters for co-ordinating emergency services during air raids. It is located near the corner of Florence and Grafton Streets, at the south-east corner of the park.
The octagonal concrete building is now painted in scout colours and has eight scout badges painted on the exterior walls. Sitting on top of the concrete roof is a large fibreglass scout hat.
The front entrance to the former control room faces south-east towards Florence Street. Each of the eight walls measure approximately 3.9 metres long by 3.4 metres high and are off-form concrete 300mm thick. The five southern-most walls have had window openings created and fitted with steel louvres. There are sets of three air vents on six of the eight walls.
The interior contains one main room and two smaller rooms to the rear with a central corridor leading around the rear interior blast wall to the rear entrance. The interior walls are 150mm thick concrete. There is a 300mm square concrete post 2.5 metres inside the front entrance and there is evidence of the removal of a wall between the post and the eastern wall.
","Norman Park, now known as Munro Martin Park, was Cairns' first recreational reserve, gazetted in 1882. During World War II Norman Park became a focal point for military activity. The council at a meeting on 10 July 1941 gave permission for 'C' Company 15th Garrison Battalion to erect a hutted camp on the park.
Elements of the 17th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) also occupied the park. The VDC was raised under the banner of the Returned Services League and was taken over by the military in 1941. VDC members consisted of men between the ages of 17 and 65 who for various reasons were not suitable for regular military service. Their service consisted of assisting in the defence by guarding important military and civilian places, evacuating civilians if required and in an emergency assisting with the demolition of strategic facilities. Another volunteer unit was the Women's Emergency Corps (WEC) which was raised for the emergency transport of the civilian population if required.
At Cairns the local VDC used the council chambers as headquarters, but with Japan's entry in the war in December 1941 a more substantial building was required for a civil defence control centre. Controller P.A. Anthony stated in a letter to the council that the chambers building provided insufficient protection in the event of an air raid and requested that a control room be built in park land. He also suggested that a band rotunda could be built on top of it and the control room could later be used for storage. In February 1942 it was decided that the Public Works Department would build a reinforced concrete control room in Norman Park (Martin Munro Park from 1956) for use by the VDC, air raid wardens, police, fire brigade and the ambulance service to coordinate emergency services.
Construction of the building commenced in March 1942; it was designed as a reinforced concrete structure, octagonal in plan with two entrances, each protected by internal concrete blast walls. There were no windows. On completion the control room was fitted out with telephones and was used to coordinate air raid warden duties for the Cairns area.
Air Raid Precautions were introduced in January 1942 and the Air Raid Wardens had the responsibility to ensure compliance with the regulations within the community. Black-out curtains and slit trenches became part of every home in the Cairns area. Air raid practice drills were held on a regular basis both in the daytime and evenings, and during drills people on the streets were required to move to the nearest air raid shelter. The Cairns City Council constructed nine public air raid shelters around the city for the population. The shelters were of reinforced concrete, 300 mm thick and could hold fifty people seated.
The former civil defence control room survived the post war demolition and removal of public air raid shelters. Circa 1950 Florence Street was realigned so that it ran in its original position through Norman Park in a straight line from the Esplanade to Mulgrave Road, just south of the control room, cutting the park in two.
In the mid 1950s the control room was given a new role when it was handed over to the Scouting Association of Queensland. Some of the early renovations to the building by the Scouts involved the removal of an internal blast wall from the front entrance on the south side of the building and cutting windows into five of the eight walls and fitting steel louvers and security grills. In September 1980 the Scouting Association started a major renovation program which involved tiling the floor in the front (southern) section of the building and installing a ceiling. Windows were reconstructed and the exterior of the building was sand blasted and repainted. District and area scout badges were painted on the exterior of the building. By 1982 arrangements had been made with local firm, Rogers Fibreglass, to construct a giant scout hat that would fit over the roof of the building. It was lowered into place at a ceremony on 22 February 1982. The building became the Scouting Association's Area Headquarters and Scout Shop.
","World War II Volunteer Defence Corps, Cairns Control Room. Queensland Heritage Register 602744
National Archives of Australia. NCCR 25/1/1396A. Norman Park Camp - Cairns - contains documentation relating to staffing, the disposal of surplus installations and includes the Commonwealth Disposal Commission form for various disposals. 1946–1949.
" 413,"Hides Hotel",,"Military accommodation","87 Lake Street",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9224643707275,145.775924682617,"The name is a Cairns institution, with a Hides' Hotel being part of the social fabric of the city since 1885. The present building has served for eight decades as a substantial first-class, three-storey, masonry hotel. During World War II the building was taken over for use as short-term accommodation for newly-arrived or visiting Australian and US officers, and General Douglas MacArthur is said to have stayed overnight at the hotel while on a visit to Cairns.
","The reinforced concrete hotel was constructed in two stages for the O'Hara family, who were well-known Cairns publicans. It was erected alongside the first Hides' Cairns Hotel and for nearly four decades the two buildings functioned together as Hides' Hotel.
The present hotel is a product of a period of intensive building activity which took place in Cairns in the 1920s associated with the expansion of the town as a port servicing new soldier-settlement farming area in the hinterland and on the Atherton Tableland. Other factors included the upgrading of Cairns to city status in 1923 and its establishment as the terminus of the coastal railway to Brisbane in 1924. Reconstruction works after extensive cyclone damage to the central business area of the city in the early and mid-1920s, favoured the use of reinforced concrete as a building material.
Work commenced on the new Hides' Cairns Hotel in 1928. At the time of construction it was one of the largest buildings in Cairns. The original scheme was for full frontages to Shields and Lake Streets and by 1936 the original concept was completed with the addition of shops at ground level and bedrooms above along Shields Street. In the 1930s Hides' was pre-eminent amongst Cairns hotels, catering largely to visitors and Cairns 'society'. After being used for military accommodation during World War II the hotel was returned to the O'Hara family who retained the property until 1946, when it was acquired by Burns Philp and Company who held the title until 1976.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Hides Hotel, Queensland Heritage Register place 600382, Brisbane.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 427,"Queerah Explosives Magazine Reserve",,"Ammunition facility","Swallow Road, White Rock",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-17.0008563995361,145.749038696289,"By March 1942, with Japan's entry into World War II, all explosives from the Stratford magazine were transferred to a larger site at Queerah, south of Cairns. The magazine-keeper, however, resided at Stratford for the duration of the war, as the military were occupying the new quarters at Queerah.
Today the Queensland Government operates explosives reserves at Queerah, Brookhill near Townsville, Bajool south of Rockhampton, and Helidon near Toowoomba. Queerah Explosives Reserve contains five magazines of an original six, which are located on a now-discontinued railway spur line.
","The first magazine at Cairns was a barge anchored off the east side of Trinity Inlet in 1884. The area is still known as Magazine Creek.
A powder magazine and detonator store were constructed at Stratford, near Cairns in 1901 for the Marine Department, which was then the government authority responsible for storing the large quantity of explosives being shipped into the port of Cairns at the turn of the century for use by the government and the mining industry.
By the mid-1920s the Stratford area had become urbanised and land at a more isolated location was purchased at Queerah and a reserve was proclaimed in 1931. Government budget restrictions caused by the Depression meant that construction was not commenced until 1940. The magazines and the magazine keeper's house were completed in 1941. With Europe at war and fear of an invasion, the Queerah facility was taken over by the military.
By early 1943 the Queerah Explosives Reserve was being used to store a range of military ordnance including naval depth charges. An explosion occurred at the magazine in October 1943 when damaged ammunition was being discharged under military supervision. Several military personnel were injured and one of the magazines was destroyed.
Responsibility for the control of all explosives imported into Queensland was transferred to the Queensland Department of Health in 1964. On the mining fields explosives magazines are administered by the Mines Department.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Queensland Department of Mines and Energy, History of Queensland Explosives Reserves, DME Website, 2010.
" 429,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Catalina No 11 and 20 Squadrons Base Camp","Cairns Catalina Flying Boat Camp","Military camp","141 Esplanade and Minnie Street",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9141311645508,145.771530151367,"The steady drone of a Catalina flying boat taking off from the waters of Trinity Bay became a familiar sound off Cairns from late 1942. By 1940 a hard-pressed Britain could no longer supply Australia with frontline patrol aircraft and the government turned to the United States. The first order for a total of 18 PBY-5 Consolidated Catalina flying boats was delivered to the RAAF early in 1941. By the end of the war 168 Catalina aircraft had been delivered to Australia and they equipped four squadrons, various air-sea rescue flights, clandestine operations and communications units, and also an operational training unit.
RAAF Catalina No.11 and 20 Squadron base camp on the Cairns Esplanade, was ready for occupation in February 1943. It comprised rows of three-ply gable-roof huts to house about 350 men. The camp extended along the Esplanade from Kerwin to Minnie Street, where the orderly room, medical, dental, radio and operations rooms were situated. The site is now occupied by beach-front apartments and the courts of the Cairns Tennis Club. Nearby stands a 1976 memorial to the 320 RAAF Catalina crew members who died during World War II.
","Within days of the declaration of World War II in September 1939, RAAF No. 11 Squadron was formed at Richmond, New South Wales, with Empire flying boats and Seagull amphibians. RAAF No. 20 Catalina Squadron was formed at Port Moresby in mid-August 1941 and two weeks later took over six Catalinas from No. 11 Squadron, leaving them with four Empire flying boats. Advanced operational bases were established at Tulagi, Vila and Noumea, and both squadrons used these bases while patrolling for German submarines and merchant raiders.
From December 1941, with the Japanese entry into the war, the large Empire flying boats were heavily involved in evacuating civilians and military personnel from northern New Guinea and the Pacific islands with many of the flights arriving in Cairns. They were also in heavy demand to deliver stores and equipment to vital positions, so much so that in February 1942 No. 33 Transport Squadron was formed using the few Empire flying boats transferred from No.11 Squadron and No.11 was equipped with Catalinas.
With Japanese bombing of Port Moresby a safer base had to be found on the mainland and in May 1942 Bowen was selected as a Catalina base and remained the home of No.11 and 20 Squadrons until November when both established their base camp at Cairns. The Cairns-based Catalinas commenced their nightly operations known as the 'Milk Run' early in November 1942. These were nightly patrols to blockade Japanese shipping movements from the north into the Buna, Salamaua, Lae and Finschaffen districts. For nine months the Catalinas left base in time to reach the approaches to the patrol area about dusk, usually landing at Port Moresby or Milne Bay in the morning to refuel for the flight back to Cairns. In the first four months of operations from Cairns, No.11 and 20 Squadrons between them, flew a total of 20,152 hours and dropped a total of 480 tons of bombs.
In July 1944 No.11 Squadron moved from Cairns to Rathmines, the major RAAF Catalina base on Lake Macquarie near Newcastle, separating the two squadrons after serving together for almost four years. In September No.20 Squadron moved from Cairns to Darwin, ending Cairns association with the Catalinas. Flying boat duties in Cairns were taken up by RAAF No.41 Squadron with Martin Mariner aircraft.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
" 430,"RAAF Flying Boat Maintenance Base",,"Workshop","Admiralty Island -Trinity Inlet",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.9456844329834,145.781341552734,"Japanese bombing of Port Moresby in February 1942 meant that a safer anchorage was required for RAAF No.11 and 20 Squadron Catalina flying boats operating from there. The port of Bowen served as a base for about six months until both squadrons moved north to establish their main maintenance and refuelling base at Cairns. In 1944 a permanent flying boat slipway of reinforced concrete was constructed on the seaward side of Admiralty Island facing the incoming tide. This enabled damaged aircraft coming in from the Coral Sea to run straight onto the slipway on landing.
Today most of these installations have rusted away or been consumed by mangroves, but surviving evidence includes several barges, an area of prefabricated steel wharf, and a concrete slipway.
","Cairns-based Catalinas commenced their nightly operations known as the 'Milk Run' early in November 1942. These were nightly patrols to blockade Japanese shipping movements from the north into the Buna, Salamaua, Lae and Finschaffen districts. For nine months the Catalinas left base in time to reach the approaches to the patrol area about dusk, usually landing at Port Moresby or Milne Bay in the morning to refuel for the flight back to Cairns. In the first four months of operations from Cairns, No.11 and 20 Squadrons between them, flew a total of 20,152 hours and dropped a total of 480 tons of bombs.
Maintenance and refuelling facilities were developed on the mangrove shoreline of Admiralty Island, close to the main flying boat anchorages on Trinity Inlet and Smiths Creek. Cairns flying boat maintenance base was equipped with various types of water craft such as crash boats, bomb barges and fuel barges. RAAF crash boats were on the ready day or night to attend to the many emergencies arising from the continuous activity that went on in Trinity Inlet and Smiths Creek. Catalinas taking off on missions were usually loaded to capacity with fuel in the wing. They also carried 6000 lbs of bombs, or two 1600 lb parachute mines, or two 2000 lb torpedos. The bomb dump was located on a cane farm at Sawmill Pocket near Edmonton.
In July 1944 No.11 Squadron moved from Cairns to Rathmines, the major RAAF Catalina base on Lake Macquarie near Newcastle, separating the two squadrons after serving together for almost four years. In September No.20 Squadron moved from Cairns to Darwin, ending Cairns association with the Catalinas. Flying boat duties in Cairns were taken up by RAAF No.41 Squadron with Martin Mariner aircraft.
A post-war review of airfield requirements in January 1946 indicated the Cairns flying boat base was to continue as a RAAF responsibility. However, flying boats have long since disappeared from Trinity Inlet.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
" 431,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No.9 Filter Section, 33 Zone Filter Centre","Edge Hill Community (Progress) Hall","Radar/signal station","406 Mayers Street, Edge Hill",Cairns,4870,Cairns,-16.8996391296387,145.744522094727,"In October 1942 RAAF No.9 Fighter Section in Cairns took possession of the Edge Hill Progress Association hall in Mayers Street, as headquarters and accommodation for 50 personnel of No.33 Zone Filter Centre. The camp was later extended to include adjacent properties. At the filter centre WAAAFs were employed as predictors and range finders to control the fire of the heavy anti-aircraft gun batteries positioned around Cairns.
","Teleprinters kept information coming in which passed on to the RAAF operator on the main floor who controlled a simulated plot of all aircraft depicted on a large table map covering the whole far northern area including New Guinea and the Coral Sea. Gun Duty Officer Assistants manned the phones to alert aerodromes, anti-aircraft gun sites and ships in harbour of expected times of arrival and departure, and types of aircraft using the Cairns air-space. The unit was still operating from the Edge Hill hall in 1944.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 445,"Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Port War Signal Station 1","Port War Signal Station","Fortifications","Sea Eagle Apartments, 38 Victoria Terrace",Caloundra,4551,South-East,-26.8020153045654,153.150177001953,"RAN Station 1, a Port War Signal Station (PWSS), was constructed at Caloundra Head sometime after March 1941. The PWSS consisted of a two storey reinforced concrete signal tower and a timber signal station accommodation building, and replaced an earlier PWSS near Fort Cowan Cowan on Moreton Island. Both PWSS buildings at Caloundra were demolished after the war, although the accommodation building served as the Whitecliff private hospital for some time, from 1948.
The site of the signal tower was on the front lawn of the Sea Eagle Apartments at 38 Victoria Terrace, Wickham Point, while the accommodation building was located further west, at what is now 41 Victoria Terrace.
","Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Station 1, a Port War Signal Station (PWSS) at Caloundra Head, formed part of the naval defences of Moreton Bay during World War II. Before the war these defences included coastal batteries at Fort Lytton (established 1880–1881, on the southern side of the Brisbane River's mouth) and Fort Cowan Cowan (1937, on the west side of Moreton Island). During World War II Moreton Bay's defences were improved: Fort Bribie, at the northeast tip of Bribie Island, was established by early 1940, and upgraded its two 6"" gun emplacements in late 1941–early 1942. In late 1942 two American 155mm field guns were sited at Skirmish Point at the south end of Bribie Island and in 1943 a similar battery was built at Rous, on the east side of Moreton Island.
The major access route into the Brisbane River was the Northwest Channel, which ran from near Caloundra across the bay in a southeast direction (east of Bribie Island and towards Moreton Island) and then southwest towards the mouth of the Brisbane River, forming a Z-shaped route. This dictated the ideal positions for coastal artillery batteries, with the most effective sites for guns being the closest points to the channel bends. However, Rous battery was designed to deter ships from shelling targets within Moreton Bay from the ocean side of Moreton Island.
Moreton Bay was also protected by RAN stations numbers 1 through 10. RAN 1 was the PWSS at Wickham Point, Caloundra. RAN 2 was a Controlled Mining and Guard Loop Station which was initially located at Fort Bribie before it was moved to Tangalooma on Moreton island in 1943. RAN 3 was a Controlled Mining and Guard Loop Station at Cowan Cowan, and RAN 4 was the Indicator Loop and Harbour Defence ASDIC (anti-submarine detection sonar) Station at Woorim on Bribie Island. RAN 5 was the Combined Training Centre (Naval Wing), at Toorbul; RAN 6 was an Advanced Fairmile Base (AFMB) at Bongaree, Bribie Island; and RAN 7 was an Indicator Loop and Harbour Defence ASDIC Station at Bulwer on Moreton Island. On the Brisbane River, RAN 8 was the Boom Defence Facility, an Anti-submarine Boom across the Brisbane River between Lytton and Bulwer Island; RAN 9 was the Indicator Loop and Photo-electric Beam Station, Myrtletown; and RAN 10 was a Naval Store at Pinkenba.
The PWSS was responsible for communicating with all ships wanting to enter Moreton Bay, to ensure that friendly shipping was identified and that the defences could be alerted about suspicious vessels. All merchant ships would be met by an Examination Vessel stationed permanently at an Examination Anchorage. If a vessel could not be identified, it was directed to proceed to the Examination Anchorage, which was under the guns of the Examination Battery on shore.
Before a PWSS was constructed at Caloundra Head, one existed at Cowan Cowan, erected in the late 1930s when Fort Cowan Cowan took over the role of Examination Battery from Fort Lytton. The Cowan Cowan PWSS signal tower was a timber framed two storey building clad in asbestos cement sheeting. By March 1941 steps were being taken to move the PWSS from Cowan Cowan to Caloundra Head, although Fort Cowan Cowan would remain as the Examination Battery. It was planned to move the navy's personnel to Caloundra once the new PWSS was constructed. Personnel at Caloundra included men of the RAN, and women from the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS). Signals were relayed by radio, signal lights or semaphore flags.
The PWSS at Caloundra had two main elements: a concrete signal tower and a timber signal station accommodation building. As well as the two buildings, there were two timber masts, and one steel mast. Like the PWSS tower at Cowan Cowan, the tower at Caloundra Head was a two story structure, but being built of reinforced concrete it offered far more protection from enemy fire. The Caloundra tower was sited within the curve of Victoria Terrace at Wickham Point (the site is now the front lawn of the Sea Eagle Apartments) and was demolished some time after the war. The other main element to the PWSS was the accommodation building, of one storey on stumps, which later became the Whitecliff private hospital in 1948. The latter, which stood to the west of the signal tower, has also been demolished.
","RAN Station 9, Pinkenba (Myrtletown), Queensland Heritage Register 602448
Signal Station (former), Queensland Heritage Register 601097 [refers to Signal station at Cowan Cowan]
Groves, J; Groves, J; Wensley, A, 2009. Caloundra during WWII: how World War II changed the town of Caloundra, John and Janice Groves and Anne Wensley, Caloundra.
National Archives of Australia 23/402/153. Bribie Island Fortress 1939–1944.
National Archives of Australia LS1944. Caloundra - Position of Tower at Port War Signal Station, 1948.
Dunn, P. ""RAN Station 1- Port War Signal Station initially at Cowan Cowan, Moreton Is. then ""Buena Vista"", Moffat Head, Caloundra then Wickham Point, Caloundra"".
Timeline of the Caloundra District
Sunshine Coast Libraries Photographic Collection.
" 449,"Camooweal Airfield",,"Airfield","Barkly Highway",Camooweal,4828,North-West,-19.9150581359863,138.12467956543,"Known to any motorist who has driven the Barkly Highway west to Northern Territory, Camooweal has long had a civil landing ground, (DCA LG #124 ca 1941).
","Camooweal Airfield was much used during the war as an available stop on the Inland Ferry Route from the southern states to Darwin.
While Roger Marks has not found any photos of Camooweal Airfield in searching WW2 images in the USA (NARA) he did locate a couple of low level aerial obliques of work on the Barkly Highway in 1943. The captions to these photos indicated that earth moving equipment active on the road job was periodically set to work rough grading adequate 'strips' to allow the periodic transit of communication aircraft transporting officers involved in the hugely important highway work.
","Roger and Jenny Marks, 'Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On'
" 456,"United States Navy Fleet Hospital No. 109","Lavarack Park","Medical facility","29 Aubrey Street",Camp Hill,4152,Brisbane City,-27.4899921417236,153.084564208984,"In April 1942, the United States Navy (USN) arrived at New Farm to establish a submarine depot. The USN ran its Base 134 completely independent of the US Army's establishment in Brisbane - Base Section 3. Sick and injured sailors were initially dealt with at a USN dispensary at New Farm. But as casualty numbers rose, the Commander of the US 7th Fleet authorised the construction of a naval hospital at Camp Hill in 1943. It was built on a large area of vacant land centred on a hill. Fleet Hospital No.109 operated until early 1945 when, with US forces pushing towards Japan, the hospital was dismantled and shipped to a Forward Area in the Philippines. As well, during 1944–45, the USN maintained a Prophylactic Station close to the many brothels of South Brisbane.
","The United States Navy (USN) operated just one hospital, designated Mobile Hospital No.9 in Brisbane. It was built at Camp Hill on high ground, as the USN medical staff thought that its elevation and breezes would aid patient recovery. Camp Hill was close to the Brisbane River and the USN Air Station Colmslie that received constant flights of Catalina flying boats. The USN hospital commenced its services on 13 July 1943. It dealt with all US naval personnel, the sick or wounded evacuated from the battle zones or sailors based in Brisbane.
Most buildings were US-designed prefabricated structures brought as cargo to Brisbane. These were steel-framed and covered in wood and fibrolite. The Seabee Naval Construction battalions that were based at Eagle Farm built the first hospital buildings. Australians undertook the subsequent construction under the direction of the Allied Works Council. For example, in 1943, Alfred Snashall Anthon Pty Ltd supplied and installed water pumps around the site. Any Australian work was billed to the Reciprocal Lend Lease (RLL) program. In 1943, Camp Hill was a largely undeveloped, outer suburb and so the Americans had to lay their own water and sewerage pipes for the hospital complex. Mobile generators brought in by the military powered the hospital. Its main entrance was off Old Cleveland Road, with the hospital site close to the Camp Hill Hotel. The Camp Hill tramline provided transport into the City's varied recreation facilities.
A 2,600-bed hospital complex was placed within a large site that comprised 171 individual buildings of differing styles and sizes and its own internal road network. The complex included mental wards (for treating combat fatigue) and a navy brig (i.e. jail). A total of 859 personnel were allotted to Fleet Hospital No.109. They comprised 58 male officers (doctors and specialists), 52 nurses (all holding officer rank), and 2 US Marine Corps officers commanding 16 marines plus 9 members of the American Red Cross Society. The latter were under the direction of the American Red Cross Field Director's Office that was located at 'Terrica House' at 236–250 Adelaide Street in the City. Captain H.A, Bruckshaw was the commander of Fleet Hospital No.109 in May 1944. In June 1944, the complex was redesignated US Fleet Hospital No.109. At its peak period across much of 1944, the hospital admitted 8,411 patients, about half of who recovered and returned to active duty and half evacuated to the USA.
Due to the proximity of a number of popular brothels in South Brisbane, the USN medical staff established a Prophylactic Station in the area on 3 October 1944. The Prophylactic Station issued condoms to the sailors to prevent the spread of Venereal Disease (VD) or other sexually transmitted medical conditions. Although the Station's exact location has not been verified, it was thought to be located in the Birt Chill Room in Stanley Street, South Brisbane. This was the premises used by the Rear Echelon headquarters of the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) Medical Section as a warehouse in 1945. The other possible location was USN Receiving Barracks located at Davies Park, West End.
USN Fleet Hospital No.109 closed on 28 February 1945. Many of its prefabricated buildings were dismantled and shipped to the Philippines. The Prophylactic Station closed on 16 June 1945. Post-war the hospital site was developed into a housing estate centred on a public space, now Lavarack Park (named after a World War II Australian general). The hospital's sealed roads became Arrol, Arrowsmith, Ascham, Aubrey, Errey and Morven Streets.
For further information visit http://members.optusnet.com.au/~davidmorgan2/
","The Australian Army established a signals switchboard room ""bunker"" on the lower slopes of White's Hill in Camp Hill, south-east fo the city. In defence they also established an observation post on the pinnacle of the hill to oversee the facility. Within WWII Fortress Brisbane, the signals units passed anti-aircraft and defence signals through the switchboard room.
","Little remain of the sites, but they are significant WWII historic places. The project is seeking information on or images of the White's Hill sites during the war. Contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au to contribute.
","Although Australia had been at war with Germany since 1939, the impact of war increased dramatically after the Japanese entered it in 1941. The Japanese forces swept south through Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies and had reached New Guinea by January, 1942. Northern Australia became a major staging point. General Headquarters South West Pacific Area, under the command of US General Douglas MacArthur, was also moved to Brisbane in July 1942. An unprecedented military build-up followed. The concentration of US troops alone was heaviest in south-east Queensland, reaching a peak of 75 500 in December 1943. Camps, airfields, construction and recreational facilities specifically for the US Army were erected in Brisbane during the war.
","The US Army's 391st Engineers Company was activated in California in January 1941. It was redesignated the 391st Engineer Depot Company in March 1943. The 391st operated a heavy earthmoving equipment and machinery storage operation, and a lumber yard on this site during World war II. A siding led from the mail railway line to a loading platform on the site. The US base was bounded by Creek Rd, Wynnum Rd, Barracks Rd and the Cleveland railway line, and contained more than 40 structures. any such structures. A number of igloo buildings of 300 feet x 104 feet were on site.
At the end of the war, No 3 RAAF Stores Depot took over the isolated Warehouse 5 of the US Army facility at Cannon Hill. The RAAF required immediate storage facilities to allow the return to owners of private buildings they had occupied during wartime.
Later in 1946 the entire site was developed as a RAAF central depot and for domestic accommodation. In 1948 No 3 Stores Depot was disbanded, but the site continued to be used by the RAAF. Ultimately the land surrounding the remaining igloo was acquired and subdivided for the Queensland Housing Commission. The CSIRO appear to have obtained possession of the igloo for laboratory purposes in 1949.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation.
BCC 1946 aerial photos.Roger Marks, Brisbane WW2 v Now, Volume 11 ""Cannon Hill - Eng'r Depot"". (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
" 462,"22nd Australian Army Camp Hospital",,"Military camp","Camp Cable",Canungra,4275,South-East,-28.0282115936279,153.183181762695,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 468,"Cape River Meat Works","2/1 Field Butchery Company Meat works","Factory site/industry","Flinders Highway",Cape River,4816,North-West,-20.4783153533936,145.474014282227,"Construction of the Cape River Meatworks, initially referred to as the Pentland Meat Store, at Cape River, was underway by November 1942 and the plant was operational by July 1943. As the war moved further north to the Pacific islands, production at the meat works declined and by mid-1945 the army had no further use for the facility which was left under a caretaker.
","Arrival of Australian and American forces in north Queensland during 1942 placed a huge strain on the food resources of the region. Townsville and Charters Towers were particularly hard hit with the military drawing on food supplies, water, electricity, firewood and ice. Local residents were required to obtain ration coupons for daily essentials including meat and other foods. Meat was strictly controlled and even hospital patients were required to surrender two meat coupons a week.
By mid-1942 the Charters Towers district housed expanding troop contingents at Sellheim army camp and Charters Towers, Macrossan and Breddan airfields. Since 1941 the Australian Army had been using Brownson's slaughter yards at Charters Towers to process meat for troops in the Townsville district and New Guinea under the control of the 2/1 Australian Field Butchery Company. Export beef was frozen for sea shipment and transported to the port of Townsville, or chilled and flown to Port Moresby from Breddan.
With the Charters Towers slaughter yard processing increasing quantities of beef the army began searching for a suitable location for a second meatworks in the district. Two sites were considered that offered good water supply, rail and road access and were a safe distance from the coast. The first was on the Flinders River near Hughenden and the second on the Cape River about 10 kilometres east of Pentland. The latter was chosen because of the quality and quantity of the water. Proximity and availability of cattle from the district meant that stock could be walked to the meat works, reducing transport coasts. Also, with an army convalescent hospital operating at Pentland, patients were available to assist with light duties.
Throughout the post-war period Cape River meatworks continued expanding with new plant and equipment under private ownership. This later construction erased most evidence of the wartime meat processing plant. After the decline and closure of the plant in 1989, the later installations were partly demolished and abandoned in 1996. Evidence still remains of the wartime army camp site overlooking the Cape River, including numerous kitchen, mess and sleeping hut slabs and concrete footings.
Cape River meatworks was a project of the Department of Supply and Transport and the Queensland Meat Industry Board (QMIB). By mid-November 1942 the contract for construction of the Cape River meatworks had been awarded by the QMIB to the builders, Hutchison and Sons with the approval of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The QIMB asked the AWC to requisition power generating plant and machinery belonging to the Toowoomba Bacon Cooperative Company, and the Toowoomba butter factory. Initially Hutchison Builders were banned from using Civil Construction Corps men on the job as the AWC was not the constructing authority and the project was transferred to the AWC to overcome this issue. Army construction detachments included troops of the 3rd Military District Maintenance Section, Royal Australian Engineers and the 2/1 Field Butchery Company. The QMIB continued to handle the engineering design for the work.
The meatworks was in full operation by August 1943 and the kill averaged about 70 head of cattle a day, more than half of which were frozen for long distance delivery. The freezer rooms were the first buildings erected and these were constructed of locally made cement bricks. The Babcock and Wilcox boiler which provided steam for the works came from a sawmill at Warwick and consumed up to seven tons of hand-cut cordwood a day. A brick flue connected the boiler to a high steel chimney.
Cattle arrived at Cape River by rail after being purchased by civilian buyers under the direction of the Department of Commerce and Agriculture. The department also supplied meat inspectors who graded the meat and monitored conditions. Local cattle were delivered by hoof. The Cape River road crossing caused problems during the wet season and it was not unusual for trucks to be bogged for days. A road bridge was not built until 1964.
By late 1945 the army had no further use for the meatworks and it lay idle for several years until purchased by a Queensland grazier, John Kelly, for the slaughter of cattle and horses. Subsequent owners included Tancred Brothers of Sydney who substantially rebuilt the meatworks between 1962 and the 1980s. The meatworks closed in September 1989 at the end of the last killing season.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Robyn Muller, Cape River Meatworks: From go to woe, 1942–1989, 1999.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 469,"Cape York Telegraph Station","Cape York Post Office","Radar/signal station","Punsand Bay",Cape York,4870,North and Cape York,-10.7210121154785,142.470138549805,"During August 1942 the post office was visited by a detachment of the 2/7 Cavalry Regiment, known as Cobb Force. The unit, made up of about 80 armed personnel equipped with heavy military trucks, had set out from the south to determine whether the Cape York telegraph track could be traversed by vehicle, and also to investigate for any signs of Japanese activity on the Cape.
","Paterson Telegraph Office—?the final station in the link from Cooktown to Thursday Island—?was originally located at Paterson Hill, near Peak Point. The undersea cable connecting the station with Thursday Island was laid in November 1886 and opened in 1887. Due to continuing problems with the cable link, Paterson Telegraph Office was moved in 1894 to the present site on Punsand Bay, where it became the Cape York Post and Telegraph Office. At the same time, a new cable route to Thursday Island by way of Horn Island was selected. The post office remained staffed during World War II.
In 1943 a four-channel telegraph system was installed as a wartime emergency and a new submarine cable was laid. Failure of the undersea cable to Thursday Island in 1953 prompted the closure of Cape York Post Office and the wartime telephone carrier station, nearby. A radio telephone connection between Thursday Island and the mainland was installed in 1956, its terminal at the new settlement of Bamaga. The Cape York Post Office finally closed in September 1960 when the staff moved to Bamaga. Most of the high-set corrugated iron building has been salvaged for other uses and only concrete and timber piers and remnants of iron water tanks remain.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Website: specialoperationsaustralia.com, 2/7 Australian Cavalry Regiment.
" 470,"Cape York Telephone Carrier Station",,"Radar/signal station","Cable Bay",Cape York,4870,North and Cape York,-10.7231531143188,142.448867797852,"Cape York Telephone Carrier Station was erected in late 1942 to a standard government design, comprising a light steel frame, ripple-iron walls and fibrocement roof. Communication improvements included the laying of a new undersea cable from Peak Point, Cable Bay, to Thursday Island and upgrading of the telephone and telegraphic capacity of the existing line from Townsville to Cape York.
","Plans to upgrade telecommunications on Cape York began in 1941, several months before the outbreak of war with Japan. Provision of a three-channel carrier system and voice frequency repeaters was proposed, with terminals at Cape York and Townsville. Work was undertaken by US and Australian Army Signals Engineers and Postmaster General's Department staff between August and November 1942. New lines were linked through the cable station to New Guinea. The Cape York Telephone Carrier Station closed in 1953 after failure of the Thursday Island cable, which was subsequently replaced by a radio telephone link. The metal frame of the building still stands.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 472,"Gailes Airstrip","Wacol, A-9 Airstrip/RAAF Emergency Landing Ground","Airfield","Coolbart Street",Carole Park,4300,Brisbane City,-27.6106739044189,152.939117431641,"An airstrip was cleared at Gailes for the Americans in 1942. Although several hideouts for aircraft were constructed, the airfield was a poor site and was soon abandoned. It was later categorised as a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) and Crash Strip by the RAAF.
The northwest end of the graded section of the airstrip was located just north of Tile Street, east of its intersection with Boundary Road, while the southeast end was located between Doreen Crescent and Sinclair Drive, north of Southampton Road. Trees were also felled to clear approach areas beyond each end of the graded strip. No visible remnants of the airstrip exist.
Two large concrete slabs in bushland southwest of the intersection of Clendon Street and Waterford Road may have been related to the Darra Ordnance Ammunition Depot, which was located east of the airstrip.
","The arrival of US forces in Queensland from late December 1941 led to an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft. Existing RAAF airfields were used, and new fields were also constructed.
The single airstrip at Gailes (also referred to as Wacol or A-9) was built in 1942, and the contractor MR Hornibrook was employed by the Americans to carry out construction of a hangar and associated camouflage work at the site around May 1942. It is likely that the ""hangar"" was an arched timber truss hideout, as ""several unserviceable hideouts"" were referred to on notes accompanying a RAAF Landing Ground map of Gailes (A-9) dated 10 May 1943 and updated in November 1943. On this map Gailes was initially labelled as an RLG (Relief Landing Ground) for Amberley and Archerfield, but it was relabelled as a Crash Strip by November 1943.
A RAAF inspection of Gailes in August 1943 reported a cleared and graded strip which was unserviceable due to the regrowth of plant suckers to 8′ (2.4m) high, log barricades and a ""mine crater"". The surface of the strip, aligned to 145 degrees (running SSE) and 5200′ long by 250′ wide (1584m by 76m), undulated; access was by a poor bush track from the Ipswich-Brisbane Road to the west, and there were no buildings (hideouts do not seem to have been classed as buildings in this report).
The plant suckers were removed in September 1943. However, in May 1944 it was noted that a large hole 25′ in diameter by 10′ deep (7.6m by 3m) existed in the centre of strip, about 500′ from the SE end.
A US report in April 1944 claimed that the (airstrip) project was abandoned after preliminary work, was declared open land, and that building had since been done on and around the strip, which was overgrown with scrub and unusable.
Post war the suburb of Carole Park was built over the site of the Gailes A-9 airstrip, and no trace of it remains.
","Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, 482. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Gailes (Wacol), Queensland. 1943–44.
National Archives of Australia, 32/22/1072. Beaufort A9-670 - Court of Inquiry re accident at Gailes Bombing Range on 10.4.1945
Dunn, P. Gailes Emergency Landing Ground (A9) Brisbane, Qld used during WW2
Brisbane City Council 1946 aerials.
" 473,"Holy Spirit Convent and Rest Centre","Raff family farmhouse","Recreation/community","736 Beams Road",Carseldine,4034,Brisbane City,-27.3480491638184,153.010635375977,"In 1945, a farmhouse in rural Carseldine was utilised by the Catholic Church as a rest and recuperation retreat for the 38 Holy Spirit nuns who had survived two years of imprisonment in New Guinea by the Japanese forces. The Carseldine site was the first property established for this missionary Order and it was the beginning of their charitable work in Brisbane. In 1946, the nuns established the Holy Spirit Hospital in Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill and a second hospital was later established at Chermside.
","The Holy Spirit Convent was based around a farmhouse built at rural Carseldine for James Raff in 1918. On 8 August 1945, the Corporation of the Trustees of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane obtained Raff's farm. The Archdiocese transferred the farm to the Catholic Order of the Mission Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Ghost. (commonly known as the Sisters of the Holy Spirit) as a rest and recuperation site for the Holy Spirit nuns who had survived Japanese internment.
Founded in 1889 in Steyl, Holland by Germans Hendrina Stenmanns, Helena Stollenwek and priest Arnold Janssen, the Order conducted missionary work, sending four nuns from Germany to German New Guinea in 1899. After World War One, New Guinea became a League of Nations mandated territory ceded to Australia and all German nationals were deported. During this period, Australian, American and other European nuns joined the order to continue the New Guinea missions.
With the advent of the Pacific War in December 1941, the Australian government evacuated most expatriate women and children. Given the option to leave, the nuns preferred to stay at their missions. The invading Japanese captured them. Missionaries from New Guinea's East Sepik region were the first among 62 prisoners to be executed on the Japanese destroyer Akikaze on 17 March 1943 while en route from Kavieng to Rabaul. Among the victims were 18 Holy Spirit Sisters. On 6 February 1944, US aircraft strafed the Japanese ship Yorishime Maru carrying prisoners between Madang and Wewak. Another 37 Holy Spirit nuns died in this attack. The Japanese later transferred the surviving nuns along with other captured missionaries to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea, where the enemy constructed a major logistical base in 1944.
On 222 April 1944, US forces aided by a small Dutch detachment invaded Hollandia. The Allies liberated 125 missionaries who placed under the care of Major David Schermer of the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA). The Netherlands Indies Forces Intelligence Service interviewed the missionaries and hey provided valuable intelligence on the attitudes of the natives in their former parishes. The nuns and other missionaries were transported to the Dutch hospital ship Maetsuycker for medical treatment before being evacuated to Australia. Of the 92 Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters stationed in New Guinea, 54 died during the war.
Following their evacuation, some of the Holy Spirit Sisters recuperated at the quiet rural retreat of James Raff's former farm at Carseldine. This prompted the Catholic Church to purchase the property as a convent site for the nuns just 26 days prior to the Japanese Surrender in Tokyo Bay on 3 September 1945.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation.
" 474,"Camp Strathpine","Petrie, Joyner, Cashmere, Warner","Training facility","Various access areas",Strathpine,4500,South-East,-27.2906150817871,152.938110351562,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).The six main areas of the camp included Area 1 (HQ and support units) located in Joyner, bounded by One Mile Creek, Samsonvale Road, Forgan Road and Protheroe Road. Area 2 (support, mechanised and armoured units) was located in Cashmere and Warner, bounded by Samsonvale Road, Kremzow Road, the Old North Road and One Mile Creek. Area 3 (1st Cavalry Brigade) was located in Warner to the north and south of Kremzow road, bounded by Brisbane Road and Four Mile Creek on the west, and a tributary of Four Mile Creek on the east. Area 4 (2nd Cavalry Brigade) was located mostly between Kremzow Road and Warner Road West, between Area 3 and Wilson Road (no longer extant) to the east. Area 5 was the divisional artillery area, in Petrie. This was bounded by the North Coast Railway, Dayboro Road, Sidling Creek, and Lyons Road. Area 6 (pumping station and Civilian Constructional Corps camp) was located west of Young's Crossing Road, on the south bank of the North Pine River. A large concrete tank remains there today.Most of the camp area has been developed for housing, but a few remnants still existed in 2009, most on private land. These include tent line mounds and a couple of concrete slabs in Area 1, east of Forgan Road, to north of Samsonvale Road; some concrete slabs in Area 2, located west of Ira Buckby Road and east of Kurrajong Drive; a deep trench latrine and concrete slabs in Area 3, south of Kremzow Road; a bread oven in Starling Street Park, Warner; and concrete slabs and a culvert in the northeast part of Area 4, either side of Kremzow Road.
","Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the US 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek. However, the actual camp sites for units consisted of six main areas. Area 1 was located in Joyner, west of One Mile Creek, north of Samsonvale Road (then called Swift Drive), east of Forgan Road (then called Pershing Drive) and south of Protheroe Road (then called Scenic Drive). Units in this area included the 8th Engineer Squadron, 1st Medical Squadron, 27th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company, and the 1st Signals Troop. The HQ was roughly where Ribblesdale Court is now located.
Area 2 was located in Cashmere and Warner south of Samsonvale Road and north of Kremzow Road (then called Forrest Road), between the Old North Road on the east and One Mile Creek on the west. This camp area was based around three wartime roads which no longer exist: Howze Road, Stuart Road and Pleasanton Road. The units camped here were most likely the Military Police Platoon; the 302nd Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanised); the 603rd Light (later Medium) Tank Company; and the 16th Quartermaster Squadron. The 302nd and the 603rd were created in December 1943 out of the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron. The 302nd included a unique radio unit with Lakota and Dakota Indians (The Code Talkers"") who used the Sioux language to thwart Japanese attempts to listen in on US radio communications.
Area 3 was located in Warner, to the north and south of Kremzow Road, bounded by Brisbane Road (then called Castner Road) and Four Mile Creek on the west, and a tributary of Four Mile Creek on the east. The area was based around the no-longer extant Sheridan Road, which ran northeast-southwest. This was the campsite of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, made up of the 5th and 12th Calvary Regiments.
Area 4 was located mostly south of Kremzow Road, and north of Warner Road West (then Hueco Road), between Area 3 to the west and Wilson Road (no longer extant) to the east. The area was based around the no-longer extant Armstrong Road, Wainwright Circle and Custer Road, and was the campsite of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and its 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments.
Area 5 was the artillery area in Petrie. This was bounded by the North Coast Railway to the east, Dayboro Road to the south, Sidling Creek to the west, and around the area of Lyons Road in the north. It was based around Frenchs Road (then called Juarez Street), Bellview Road (then called Plaza Del Toros), Torrens Road (then called Mayo Street), and the no longer extant Comancho Street, Quione Street and Pancho Villa Street. The Field Artillery (FA) Battalions camped here included the 61st, 82nd, 99th, and after October 1943, the 271st. Eventually, each battalion received 105mm guns. The artillery units had a firing range at Flinders, Clear Mountain (to the west of Camp Strathpine), and the ""Grasshopper"" spotter aircraft of the division's artillery used, among other places, the Strathpine A1 and A3 airstrips (at Lawnton and Brendale respectively).
Area 6, located west of Young's Crossing Road (then called El Paso Ave), on the south bank of the North Pine River, included a pumping station and buildings for the Civilian Constructional Corps (CCC) workers who had helped build the camp.
In addition to the camp sites, training facilities included two grenade ranges in Cashmere: one east of Four Mile Creek adjacent to Area 3 (west of Lilley Road) and one north of Winn Road. There were also two mortar ranges in Cashmere: one near One Mile Creek, south of Ira Buckby Road West; and another astride Winn Road.
The 1st Cavalry departed for Oro Bay in New Guinea between late December 1943 and late February 1944, to prepare for landing in the Admiralty Island Group as part of Operation Cartwheel—a campaign of 10 separate operations conducted during the second half of 1943 and early 1944 as part of General MacArthur's plan to neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul. Troops from both MacArthur's South West Pacific Area and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas command participated in this twin-axis advance.
After the departure of the 1st Cavalry, Camp Strathpine was used by Australian forces, including the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). Before heading to New Guinea in late 1942 the 7th Division had been based in Woodford, with its 18th brigade in Kilcoy, 21st Brigade in Woombye, and 25th Brigade at Caboolture; during early 1943 the division trained on the Atherton Tableland before returning to New Guinea, and in 1944 the division trained at Strathpine. Other Australian units which spent time at Strathpine included the 26, 31/51, and 55/53 Infantry Battalions of the 11th Brigade (Militia); the 36th Infantry Battalion (Militia); the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion; the 2/2 and 2/3 Anti-Aircraft Regiments and the 17th Advanced Ordnance Depot.
Since the end of World War II most of the campsites of Camp Strathpine have been developed for housing, and some fringes of the larger camp area have been submerged by Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah. Over the years a number of artefacts have been recovered from Area 3 prior to development, and these have included items such as: live and expended ammunition (9mm, .303, .45, .50, 37mm); cutlery, US First Aid packets, bottles and jars, buttons, Australian coins and home made dog tags, Australian hat badges and shoulder bars, metal belt loops from webbing, fob watch parts, anti-gas ointment tubes, a rifle cleaning brush, rifle oil bottles, a piece of US uniform and a 1st Cavalry Division shoulder patch. Some finds have been donated to the Pine Rivers Museum at Old Petrie Town.
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp - Strathpine, 1943–45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 476,"Cecil Plains Airfield","Tipton","Airfield","Cook Road",Cecil Plains,4407,Darling Downs,-27.461462020874,151.209518432617,"Cecil Plains airfield was built in early 1942 for use by US heavy bombers, in case the Japanese invaded southeast Queensland. It was maintained by the RAAF but was not used until late 1944, by RAAF squadrons flying B-24 Liberator bombers. The airfield is located about 7km north of the town of Cecil Plains, to the west of the Dalby-Cecil Plains Road. Cook Road and Miss Jurgs Road skirt the airfield to its northeast and northwest sides.
The two intersecting sealed runways (45 degree and 135 degree) are still obvious from the air, as are the sealed taxiway that connected the south ends of the two runways, and the two sealed taxiways that curved from the ends of the 45 degree runway northwards to the NW end of the 135 degree runway.
","The arrival of US forces in Queensland from late December 1941 led to an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft. Existing RAAF airfields were used, and new fields were also constructed. Cecil Plains was one of four airfields built for US heavy bombers (Cecil Plains, Leyburn, Jondaryan and Condamine). These inland airfields could be used to launch bombing missions if the Japanese ever landed near Brisbane.
In late March 1942 the RAAF requested that the Department of the Interior construct an airfield at Cecil Plains, just west of the Condamine River. However, the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) was still awaiting instructions regarding Cecil Plains and the other three bomber airfields in early April. By 4 May 1942 one strip had been levelled and cleared at each airfield at Jondaryan, Condamine and Leyburn, with work in progress at Cecil Plains. By 15 May a northwest-southeast (135 degree) strip had been cleared and was available for use at Cecil Plains, while formation gravelling of the northeast-southwest (45 degree) strip was in progress.
The basic approach was to clear one strip; clear and then gravel the runway of the second strip; and then gravel the runway of the first strip. This way, one strip would always be available for dry-weather operation of aircraft during construction. Taxiways would also be gravelled, and both taxiways and runways would later be sealed when tar and bitumen was available. The 135 degree runway at Cecil Plains was 7000′ long by 150′ wide (2.14km by 45.7m), while the 45 degree runway was 5000′ long by 150′ wide (1.52km by 45.7m). Main taxiways were gravelled to 50′ (15.2m) wide, while the taxiways to hideouts, provided at 16 dispersal points, would be 35′ (10.6m) wide.
By 1 July 1942 most of the 135 degree runway had been gravelled (it was useable by 18 July), and taxiways had been cleared. Hideout locations had been selected, with 6 on the western taxiway loop, and 10 on the eastern loop. The hideouts at Cecil Plains were of the slung type, with steel cables supporting camouflage netting. During late 1942 voluntary labour in Dalby was pre-garnishing the netting with steel wool, and this material was also used for dummy trees. After being requested in December 1942 two more hideouts were added to the western loop, but none of the hideouts appear to have been used.
The camp site for the airfield was located east of the runways, near some gravel pits, and construction of an access road to the site from the Dalby Road was still required in July 1942. By early October 1942 work had started on a mess building, and by late December the camp was mostly complete (if not painted) and a weir was being constructed across the Condamine River.
In August 1942 preparations were made to seal the two runways, but a plan of the airfield dated 1 June 1943 notes ""sealing in progress"". This map showed the location of the 18 hideouts branching off from the taxiways which linked the southwest and northeast ends of the 45 degree runway with the northwest end of the 135 degree runway. A 180 degree taxiway also ran between the southern ends of the two runways.
At this time Cecil Plains was classified as a US Heavy Bomber all weather airfield. However, as the Japanese never invaded Queensland, the airfield was never used by the US and it was unoccupied until late 1944. In July 1943 it was listed as one of 17 unoccupied airfields in Queensland, with buildings and services for 450 men. By 5 December 1944 some hideouts had collapsed in parts, and two 12,000 gallon underground petrol tanks had been installed.
RAAF 12 Squadron was located at Cecil Plains from 19 December 1944 to the end of April 1945. The squadron had previously flown Vultee Vengeance dive bombers, but it received B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in February 1945 while at Cecil Plains. In March 1945 the wheel of a parked B-24 broke through a pipe culvert at the northeast end of the 45 degree runway (used mainly for parking aircraft), and the southeast end of the 135 degree runway also needed repairs by this time. It was stated that the airfield was not built to B-24 standard, but that it could be used provided that aircraft were grounded for a couple of days after 2 inches of rain. The hideouts were overgrown by this time, and the taxiways, although little used, were in good order.
Soon after 12 Squadron had departed, RAAF 102 Squadron was formed at Cecil Plains at the end of May 1945 and their B-24s arrived in July, along with an Avro Anson and a Tiger Moth. The squadron never saw active duty, although 9 of its aircraft flew over Brisbane on 16 August 1945 to celebrate the end of the war. The squadron then acted in a transport role until it disbanded in March 1946. 102 Squadron was therefore still at Cecil Plains in October 1945, when it was reported that the 45 degree runway was in excellent order, and the repaired 135 degree runway was in good order. The airfield was acquired but not maintained by the RAAF after the war, and is now unused.
","Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks. Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia 42/501/106. RAAF Cecil Plains Queensland Aerodrome Works 1941–1945
Dunn, P. 12 Squadron RAAF in Australia during WW2
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 480,"Charleville Airfield, Qantas Hangar and Norden Bomb Site Store","Charleville Aerodrome","Airfield","Mitchell Highway",Charleville,4470,South-West,-26.4128398895264,146.258422851562,"Charleville airport has close historic ties with the birth of commercial aviation in Australia. In 1920, two World War I pilots, Hudson Fysh and Pat McGuinness, registered the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS) with the objective of establishing an aerial passenger and mail service between the railhead townships of outback Queensland and the Northern Territory. Early in 1922 Qantas successfully tendered for a new government mail contract between Charleville and Cloncurry and over the following months landing grounds were established at points along the route. During this period Qantas contracted the erection of aircraft hangars at Charleville, Longreach and Cloncurry. Today the remains of wartime occupation include the surviving wartime maintenance hangar—Hangar 104—which was retained by the RAAF when the US forces departed, and a small concrete shed, built in 1942 as a security store for bombsights fitted to US heavy bombers staging through Charleville. The instruments were removed from the aircraft on landing and taken to this building, where a round-the-clock guard was mounted. It now provides evidence of the determination of the USAAF to protect the secrecy of its new Norden bombsight.
","The work of enlarging the existing civil aerodrome at Charleville was requested by the Department of Civil Aviation in November 1941. The work was undertaken by the Main Roads Commission. Early in 1942, after the Japanese invasion of the Pacific, Charleville aerodrome became the terminal for the Pacific ferry route over which heavy bomber aircraft were flown from the US to the South-West Pacific Area. The remote airfield provided a safe haven for storage of valuable aircraft, the dry climate helping to minimise corrosion. Reception, storage and maintenance of US aircraft was the intended wartime role for Charleville aerodrome. The first B-17 bombers began arriving during April 1942. Construction of new runways, dispersal taxiways and four large hangars was completed by July, when the US 45th Air Base Group took control. A fifth hangar was completed by January 1943. However, by then US maintenance operations at Charleville were scaling down. In August 1943 four hangars were dismantled and removed to Eagle Farm aerodrome, Brisbane, for use by the US Air Service Command. The historic Qantas hangar-which was also used by the Americans-survived the war and was later used by Trans-Australia Airlines. The site is now used by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
From mid 1942, Glenroy woolscour, on the railway east of Charleville aerodrome, was used as a storage facility for the new US air base. A large fibro-sheeted warehouse and three prefabricated workshops were erected at the site and three 25,000 gallon fuel tanks were installed. These structures were removed by the US forces on their departure in 1944.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and district Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
The Charters Towers airfield was constructed in early 1942 to provide dispersal facilities for the main Townsville air base at Garbutt. During 1942 the US 3rd Bombardment Group was based at Charters Towers, and from 1943 the airfield served as a US aircraft replacement and training centre. It is located on the northern outskirts of Charters Towers, about 1km north of the suburb of Richmond Hill, and is currently operated by the Charters Towers Regional Council.
Surviving World War II infrastructure includes the two main runways; a bore sight range, located west of Weir Road near the north end of the north-south runway; and a compass swinging platform, midway along the north side of the SW-NE runway. There are also traces of wartime taxiways and dispersal bays around the airfield.
The bore sight range includes a raised concrete platform approximately 15 metres square. An adjustable metal plate, which can be raised or lowered, is set at the front of the raised hardstand to carry the nose wheel of aircraft fitted with tricycle undercarriages. A cleared range extends east about 360 metres to the original earth butt.
The compass swinging platform, about 850m south-east of the bore sight range's hardstand, comprises a circular concrete slab 120 feet 6 inches (36.7 metres) in diameter with a compass rose inscribed on the surface.
","In late 1942 Townsville was the principle port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign and Cleveland Bay between Magnetic Island and Townsville was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army Airforce (USAAF).
There was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) station at Garbutt, and a number of air bases used by Australian and US aircraft were established between Townsville and Charters Towers, and west to Cloncurry. Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
Charters Towers was the closest inland centre that could provide strategic support and aircraft dispersal facilities for Garbutt, which was considered vulnerable to Japanese attack. The RAAF ordered commencement of preliminary work on the Charters Towers town aerodrome during January 1942, with the grading of three temporary landing strips for use while the main aerodrome was under construction (two landing grounds were cleared on football fields and one near the cemetery).
By early February 1942 the airfield project had been accorded priority by the RAAF with a request that the northeast-southwest runway be graded first followed by the north-south runway. Construction of the airfield began in earnest on Monday 16 February 1942. The first gravel strip was completed in 17 days, and grading of the second runway was completed soon after.
To speed base construction and foil Japanese aerial reconnaissance, all houses in the vicinity of the airfield were taken over so that personnel could be housed as inconspicuously as possible. A number of the houses are shown on wartime maps, to the west of the north-south runway, which was built along the old alignment of Waterworks Road. The current Weir Road follows the western perimeter road and part of a taxiway of the World War II airfield.
The airfield became operational during March 1942 with arrival of the first of four bombardment squadrons of the US Army Air Force 3rd Bombardment Group (Light), equipped with A-24 Dauntless dive bombers which had been intended for the Philippines. The group, which became part of the 5th Airforce, was later equipped with A-20 Havoc (or Boston) medium bombers. These aircraft were followed by the arrival of B-25 Mitchell bombers that had been intended for use by the Dutch in the Netherlands East Indies, but were taken over by the Americans.
In July 1942 the northeast-southwest runway was sealed and the north-south runway was metalled. The Main Roads Commission used local mine tailings for the runways prompting a US press report that they were 'paved with gold'. Following the transfer of 3 BG(M) to New Guinea in November 1942, Charters Towers airfield served through most of 1943 as a US Fighter and Bomber Command Replacement Training Centre.
During mid-February 1943 the Department of Public Works received a requisition from the US Army for construction of a gun firing range, or bore sight range, platform at Charters Towers airfield to test the accuracy of aircraft fixed armament. The concrete gun firing platform was designed with an adjustable metal plate set in front of the concrete block to take the nose wheel of aircraft with tricycle undercarriages, such as the P-39 Airacobra, A-20 Havoc, B-25 Mitchell, and B-26 Marauder. A steel gantry frame with a sling was positioned on the platform to lift the tail of fighter aircraft with tail wheels such as the P-40 Kittyhawk. The bore sight range extended about 360 metres to an earth mound, or butt, in front of which a target was set. The bore sight range is the only known example of its type in Queensland with an adjustable nose wheel platform.
A November 1943 map of the airfield shows taxiways to the north and west of the runways' crossover point; and taxiways, 13 hangers or hideouts, two kitchens, a headquarters and two operations buildings to the southeast of the runways' crossover point. Other facilities included kitchen, mess, ablution, latrine, recreation and workshop buildings west of Acacia Vale Road to the north of Archer Road (with some buildings south of Archer Road, and east of Acacia Vale Road, just south of Gladstone Creek Road); a bomb dump either side of Sheepstation Creek, between Dalrymple Road and View Street; a detention area on the west bank of Columbia Creek, north of the old Police Paddock Reserve; a chemical stores dump on the south side of the road heading west from Acacia Vale Road, just south of Archer Road; and a stores area between Conrad Street and Mossman Creek. A November 1944 map shows that six hangers had been removed, sealed parking areas had been built around the airfield, and metalled or sealed dispersal bays had been added next to the taxiways.
The compass swinging platform also existed by November 1944. Aircraft were pushed onto the platform and aligned with each of the 16 main cardinal points of the compass, starting with north. Variations in aircraft compass bearings were noted and compass magnets were adjusted.
The RAAF resumed responsibility for the maintenance of the airfield in May 1944. It was classified as a 'reserve airdrome' in June 1944, and most of the US facilities at the airfield were turned over to the RAAF in December 1944.
","Charters Towers Airfield Bore Sight Range and Compass Swinging Platform, Queensland Heritage Register 602739.
National Archives of Australia, ST987. Charters Towers Aerodrome 1943
National Archives of Australia, ST987A. Charters Towers Aerodrome, 1944
Dunn, P. Charters Towers Airfield, Qld, during WW2
" 493,"Charters Towers War Cemetery","Charters Towers Cemetery","Cemetery","Gregory Development Road",Charters Towers,4820,North-West,-20.0442409515381,146.245559692383,"Situated within the Charters Towers Cemetery on Dalrymple Road, the war cemetery contains the graves of 16 soldiers and 17 airmen of the Australian Forces. Four soldiers are alsoburied in the civil cemetery. Their death were the result of wounds and accidents.
","During WW2 the area around Charters Towers accommodated a number of Army and RAAF units. Army troops were trained at Sellheim, including the 11th Infantry Brigade. After the Japanese entered the war in 1941, Sellheim became a Reinforcement Depot and troops from the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra, in south-east Queensland were staged through to the Atherton Tablelands and New Guinea. It was also the site for a Supply Depot and Ammunitions Company and Army Workshop. The 116 Australian General Hospital was in Charters Towers, with a Convalescent Depot at Sellheim.
At Macrossan, a United States Air Force School trained RAAF crews on Liberator bombers. The RAAF operated a base at Bedden from 1943–1947 after the US 38th Bombardment Group moved north.
","Australian War Graves Photographic Archive
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Department of Veteran's Affairs
" 494,"116 Australian General Hospital","Mt Carmel College, Charters Towers","Medical facility","6-8 Hackett Terrace",Charters Towers,4820,North-West,-20.0615425109863,146.272323608398,"116 AGH, was established in January 1942 at the Charters Towers racecourse. Nursing sisters and patients were later relocated to the requisitioned Mount Carmel College, which adjoined Charters Towers airfield.
","By 17 March 1942, 116 AGH had moved into Mount Carmel College, in Hackett Street, Charters Towers. It was acquired by the Hirings Section, No. 1 Lines of Communication (No. 1 L of C). Initially only the Christian Brother's residence was utilised, but eventually the whole school was obtained.
The Headmaster, Brother John Vivian Mahony, the other brothers and 30 boarders lived in cramped surroundings at ""The Retreat"", a residence opposite St. Mary's playground. The Army helped them to move beds, lockers, desks, tables and all their necessary items. The 30 boarders and 40 day students somehow managed to hold classes.
In early 1943, the primary boys took up residence at the Park Hotel, with the classroom set up in the bar. Mount Carmel was returned to the school in 1944.
","During the Second World War, Charters Towers became a significant military hub, supporting the transfer of men and materials from the south of the state, to training areas in the north and eventually to the war in New Guinea and the Pacific. As a result, there was a credible threat to the town and as such a concrete air raid shelter was built to the rear of the club, to be utilised by club members in the event of such a raid.
","The Charters Towers Civic Club, also known as the Londoners' Club, is a heritage listed property and significant within the region. The Civic Club, built in 1900 was used as premises for an elite men's club established in 1877. It reflected the interests and leisure activities of the many influential men involved in mining, commerce and the professions, who were its members and patrons. The establishment of such a club in Charters Towers, at the time the richest of the North Queensland mining fields, demonstrated the importance of this city at the turn of the century.
The Civic Club, as it was known from 1907 onwards, enjoyed an era of prosperity until 1920, when there was only one mine operating in Charters Towers. The decline of the industry invariably lead to a decline in population, so much that by the end of the First World War, the number had halved.
The club continued as a source of recreation in the city following, and remained a male preserve until 1980, when membership base was expanded and women were invited to join.
","Queensland Heritage Register Place No.600398
" 507,"United States 84th Station Hospital","St Gabriels School","Medical facility","St Gabriels School, 29 Gordon Street",Charters Towers,4820,North-West,-20.0631542205811,146.262161254883,"St. Gabriel's School was located between Prior Street and Gordon Street, Charters Towers, Queensland. It was commandeered by the US military for use as the 84th US Station Hospital in 1942. The school and its girl's classes moved to the Royal Hotel at Richmond, west of Charters Tower on the 7 May 1942 and along with the boys school of All Soul's, the schools continued with large numbers of boarders coming to enjoy a 'Souls' or 'Gabes' education.
The school gynasium and grandstand area were utilised. A house from nearby Gordon Street was moved to the school site for use as the hospital. A large Red Cross was painted on the corrigated iron roofing to idenifiy the medical facility.
The American Military Hospital left the school in June 1944 and the students quickly returned. After the war, the school utilised one of the army huts as a meal room. It is now used as a prep room.
By the 1970s many co-educational classes were being conducted and by 1990 the two schools had merged on the All Souls' campus, forming All Soul's St Gabriels.
","This is a significant WWII place in Queensland. If you can contribute to the website with information about and/or images of the location, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","'Glenroma' was a large, Federation home with river frontage built at Chelmer. In March 1941, the Australian Red Cross bought the property. It underwent building alterations while a dormitory was added to the site to enable the Red Cross to operate 'Glenroma' as a medical facility. Specifically it became a convalescent home for Australian servicemen who had been released from the various military hospitals dotted around Brisbane.
","In March 1941, as Australian casualties began to return from the Middle East battles, the Australian Red Cross (Qld Chapter) searched for a suitable site in Brisbane for a convalescent home. The Red Cross purchased the grand old home 'Glenroma' from Mr. Harding Frew.
'Glenroma' was located in Laurel Avenue at Chelmer, close to Chelmer Railway Station. The Red Cross reserved accommodation in the house for returned soldiers, sailors or airmen. Initially only soldiers serving overseas in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) would have access to 'Glenroma' but after the outbreak of the Pacific War and the subsequent sending of Australian Military Forces (AMF or the militia) to Papua, New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville, the house would have admitted convalescing militiamen.
Apart from the existing 15-room house, a dormitory building accommodating 50 men was built on the site. The house had to be altered to provide extra bed space. It was situated on 3.25 acres of land that sloped down to the banks of the Brisbane River. 'Glenroma' was surrounded on three sides by wide, open verandahs and had shady gardens in both the front and back yards, In a 1941 journal article, such features were believed to create ""an atmosphere of warm sympathy and friendship consistent with the humane service it will provide"" to its recovering military patients.
'Glenroma' was administered by the Queensland Chapter and overseen by the advisory committee of the Red Cross. As the Home held medical patients, it was staffed by trained medical assistants and local women drawn from the Red Cross's Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs).
","Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland March 1941, p.17.
" 515,"Chermside Army Camp","7th Brigade Park","Military camp","Ellison, Geebung (now Newman), Hamilton?and Murphy Roads",Chermside,4032,Brisbane City,-27.3785343170166,153.042343139648,"During World War Two, the Australian Army fielded dual forces. There was the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) that comprised volunteers who could serve anywhere overseas. The Australian Military Forces (AMF) were the voluntary part-time militia that was the mainstay of the Interwar army. Constitutionally, the militia could only serve within Australian territory (including Papua & New Guinea). On 1 January 1940, conscription for all unmarried men aged 21 years or older into the AMF began. As a result, new militia training camps such as Chermside Army Camp were required. Chermside Camp operated from October 1940 to April 1946. It was the largest AMF camp built in Brisbane during the war.
","On 7 August, the Commonwealth used its National Security Regulations to requisition Alanzo Sparkes' paddock at Chermside for a militiary camp. The plan was to erect a tented camp to accommodate 3,500 militia troops. Huts would be built later when funds were available. The first structure to be established was a Military Post Office (MILPO) that opened on 5 October. The first 200 recruits were expected on 7 October 1940.
The site was chosen, as it was handy to Geebung Railway Station only 9 miles from Brisbane. It had good road access as Gympie, Hamilton, Murphys and Geebung (later Newman) Roads were sealed. By February 1941, new town water pipes were laid along Hamilton Road. The paddock was fenced with wooden posts and barbed wire. The site held three rented cottages in Banfield Street. The old cottages were of no use to the Army. They had no bathrooms, baths, sinks, washing tubs, gas electric light or town water and were dilapidated. The Army allowed the Frankham, Strange and Dawson families to remain in the cottages. The only civilians permitted to live on site. By February 1941, the army had spent £35,000 to build facilities. This amounted to £10 for each soldier then based at the site. The main gate was at Ellison Rd (across from Danette St). On Sunday afternoon, the Changing of the Guard ceremony was conducted at the Main Gate. On 12 June 1941, the Commonwealth gazetted the acquisition of Sparkes' Paddock comprising 401 acres and 31.8 perches of land bounded by Ellison, Murphy, Gympie, Hamilton and Geebung Roads. It became Chermside Army Camp.
The area north of Downfall Creek became known as the upper camp. It was tent city, mainly using A-frame tents with a few huts for toilet and shower blocks. Later two permanent mess huts were built and electricity connected to the site. To aid self-sufficiency, a large vegetable garden, irrigated by sewerage and treated water, was established beside Downfall Creek. The irrigation water came from the army's sullage plant that was built beside the creek. Soldiers also traded packaged Army foodstuffs for fresh food. At first, the Camp's ammunition magazine was a tin shed located beside Downfall Creek. Later, three ammunition storage sheds and a salvage and recovery shed were built.
The first unit to enter the Camp was 7th Brigade, initially commanded by Brigadier John Hill. 7th Brigade was an all-Queensland militia force. It comprised 9th, 15th, 25th, 47th and 61st Battalions plus support units: 7th Brigade Headquarters 11th Field Engineers, 7th Field Ambulance, 106th Casualty Clearing Station and a transport section. The units did not arrive simultaneously as they had to await the completion of facilities or equipment issues to new recruits. During 1941 and into 1942, 7th Brigade undertook training. The battalions conducted day and night route marches in the district or further a field. A bagpiper or kettledrummer could accompany the marchers to help keep step. A common route was along Ellison Road, up Murphy Road, along Zillmere Road and then down Geebung Road to the Camp. Bilsen and Robinson Roads and Railway Parade were also used. Bottlenecks occurred when soldiers had to pass through the local railway gates. Soldiers would often march with full kit including knapsacks, allowing them to camp overnight in the field. They fed from hotboxes trucked out from the Camp or from the rations they carried. Gradually modern equipment arrived. Bren-guns replaced Lewis machine guns. Trucks and universal (Bren-gun) carriers replaced horses and civilian cars. Downfall Creek's banks were used as a testing course for the carriers.
Troops entrained at Geebung Station to go to Enoggera Army Camp's weapons ranges to live fire their rifles, machine guns and mortars. Small arms firing also occurred at the Virginia Brick and Pipe Works' clay pits. On military exercises, troops fired blanks. The local dirt roads' steep sides were utilized as impromptu trenches and farm fences as barricades. Sometimes soldiers would appear from camouflage and frighten civilians. In April 1942, 7th Brigade command changed to Brigadier John Craven, later to Brigadier Francis North. By May 1942, 7th Brigade left Chermside Camp for Nambour and then Townsville. On 11 July 1942, the Brigade's vanguard arrived at Milne Bay, Papua, where from 25 August to 7 September, 7th Brigade led by Brigadier John Field, helped inflict the first land defeat suffered by the Japanese in World War Two.
With 7th Brigade's departure, Chermside Camp changed to a training centre for specialist rear-echelon units and a staging camp for troops heading north. A camp inspection of 13 June 1942 listed a Motor Transport School, the 1st Australian Cookery School, an area signals unit and a bomb disposal and chemical warfare unit. Thereafter it held a variety of units under the overall authority of the 1st Australian Base Sub-area, including the Eastern Command's Land Headquarters, the 113th Transport Company, the 17th Personnel Staging Camp, the 2/1st Australian General Hospital and later the 2nd Camp Hospital. Northgate general practitioner Dr Gillies was Medical Officer in charge of the hospital. Kitty Dean was a matron there.
During 1943, Chermside Camp expanded across to Marchant Park. A US P-47 Thunderbolt fighter crashed in the lower camp area. The plane carried a trainee pilot and an instructor. The pilot got into difficulties, tried to land on Hamilton Road but the road's heavy military traffic forced a diversion towards open ground inside the Camp. The aircraft hit the end of the officers' latrines and crashed, killing both men.
Reveille was at 6 am, breakfast at 7 am, Sick Parade at 8 am held outside of the Headquarters Orderly Room. Administration Parade was also held at 8 am. Lunch started at midday, followed by a second Administration Parade at 1.30 pm. Troops wanting leave attended Leave Parade at 4 pm. Lights went out at 10.30 pm. Parking vehicles parked next to tents or huts was not permitted due to the fire risk. A car park was set aside for all vehicles. The Camp Fire Officer was Captain B. Platt. He and his deputy Sergeant W. McGarry organized fire alarms and liaised with the nearest fire unit at Nundah Fire Station. The Camp boasted an open-air, amphitheatre cinema, an Officers' Mess (bar), a Sergeants' Mess and a wet canteen that served beer to the other ranks. A Salvation Army Red Shield hut provided tea and coffee, newspapers and letter-writing material. The local community was asked to donate games, magazines or other items to this hut. To combat VD, there was a Blue Light Tent where condoms were issued to the troops going on leave. To get to the City, the Camp ran a bus service from the Murphy Road gate to the tram terminus near Lutwyche Cemetery. For many homesick soldiers, the best outing was when they gained an invitation to visit one of the district's families' homes.
Many of the militia conscripts were married men. Some wives followed their interstate servicemen up to Queensland and boarded at homes nearby. Entry into the Camp for non-military personnel was by invitation only. The evening movies screened at the Camp theatre appeared to be the exception. Local families would bring along blankets and sit on the grass to watch the films shown to the troops. The cinema was popular with the locals as it was close and petrol rationing prevented many people from going further a field for entertainment. Civilian cars would park in the Camp. Some families would park so close to the amphitheatre that they could watch the films from their cars. But too many cars came into the Camp that restrictions were eventually placed on civilians attending the theatre.
By March 1945, Chermside Camp accommodated 5000 troops. It had spread below Downfall Creek and across Hamilton Road to Pfingst Road. This area was known as the lower camp. It was connected to the upper camp by a narrow bridge over Downfall Creek. The lower camp's main gate was on Hamilton Road, at what is now Corrie Street. The upper camp, consisting of A, B, C and D Blocks, was used for troop accommodation and training. It included tennis courts, a boxing ring, a cricket pitch, two sergeants' messes, two vegetable gardens, horse yards, a medical laboratory, a dental hut, two barber's huts, four butcher's sheds, a Salvation Army recreation hut, a Church of England recreation hut, plus the theatre and the hospital both of which were in 'B Block'.
The lower camp comprised 'E' and 'F' Blocks housing accommodation and messes for vehicle maintenance units. 'Block F' held petrol bowsers and vehicle workshops including two igloos. Across Hamilton Road from the lower camp was the 20th Works Company in 'G Block' plus the 67th Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) in 'H Block'. As the women's sleeping quarters were located in 'H Block', it was a restricted area. At war's end in August 1945, Chermside Army Camp converted to a demobilization centre. Known as the 17th Australian Personnel Staging Camp, it was commanded by Captain H.E. Hopkins. From August to December 1945, Chermside Army Camp housed large contingents of returning Australian soldiers awaiting demobilisation. The Chermside Army Camp formally closed on 30 April 1946.
","Jonathan Ford, Marching to the Trains - the Chermside Army Camp Remembered, (Brisbane: Ford, 2005).
" 516,"Chermside Army Camp Area 'J'","Marchant Park","Military camp","1009-1105 Gympie Road",Chermside,4032,Brisbane City,-27.3755378723145,153.030517578125,"Dedicated as a war memorial park in 1924, Marchant Park developed into a major cricketing venue by the 1930s. As such, the Army were initially not permitted to use the park, when the adjacent Chermside Army Camp opened in 1940. But the rapid expansion of the Chermside Army Camp in 1941–42 meant that the Army were allowed restricted access to merchant Park by 1943. No Army structures were allowed to be built in the park and it was largely used for driver training and for vehicle testing and storage.
","In 1899, soft drinks entrepreneur and philanthropist George Marchant bought 97 acres of land at Chermside. The block became known as Marchant's Paddock. As Marchant's Paddock had been used for some military training, it was selected as campsite for the training of Australian Light Horse units during World War One. By 1916, the area encompassing Marchant's Paddock and adjacent Sparkes' Paddock was designated ""Military Training Camp Chermside"" or the Chermside Camp.
In 1917, Marchant offered to donate Marchant's Paddock to the Kedron Shire Council for use as a public park. Marchant's offer was given on the proviso that Kedron Shire resume the four acres of land owned by German migrant and blacksmith August Vellnagel. This was meant to secure the entire area bounded by Gympie, Murphy and Ellison Roads into a single public space. On 20 March 1917, the Kedron Shire Council decided to resume Vellnagel's land and offer compensation. Vellnagel refused the offer. The issue dragged on until 1921, when Vellnagel moved his family and business across Gympie Road from the park. The Shire Council began fundraising for a Kedron Shire War Memorial to be placed at the entrance to the new park. On 3 May 1924, the former commander of the First AIF's 1st Division, General Sir William Glasgow officially unveiled the Kedron Shire War Memorial Gates at Marchant Park. Two marble tablets on the sandstone gateposts listed names of the 273 men who joined-up to fight in the Great War, while a third tablet identified the 53 men who died during the war. The names of the five men, who had left for the Boer War were entered onto a fourth tablet.
Kedron Shire ceased after the election of the first Greater Brisbane City Council (BCC) in 1925. The new mayor William Jolly was a parkland supporter. In 1928, when town water was connected to the park, the Warehouse Cricketers' Association (WCA) leased the park and built two dressing sheds and pitches. Six pitches were completed, making Marchant Park a major amateur cricket facility around Brisbane. As a war memorial park, it also used by the Returned Soldiers and Sailors League of Australia (forerunner of the RSL).
When Chermside Army Camp opened in the adjacent Sparkes Paddock in October 1940, no military activity was permitted at Marchant Park. But this changed as Chermside Army Camp grew in size, particularly after 7th Brigade departed in May 1942. During 1943, Chermside Army Camp expanded beyond its original boundary of Sparkes' Paddock and across into Marchant Park. Marchant Park was public land and so the Army could not purchase it outright. Thus army huts or other permanent structures were not permitted to be constructed on any section of the parkland. The Army used the George Hastie Cricket Pavilion, erected in the memory of a WCA founding-member and long-serving club secretary, as it was the only permanent building on the site. The WCA cricket pitches were left untouched but they not maintained by the Army. Troops based at the Camp did use the pitches for recreational games though.
Marchant Park was used as an open vehicle park, for driver training and assessment and for the off-road testing of Army vehicles maintained by the Motor Transport School based at the Chermside Army Camp. In particular, this School trained women truck drivers many of whom belonged to the 67th Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) who resided in secured barracks in the Camp's 'H' Block, located on the southern side of Hamilton Road. Administered by the Chermside Army Camp, Marchant Park was designated the Camp's 'J Block' by 1945. Immediately at the end of the war in September 1945, Marchant Park returned to public use.
","Jonathan Ford, Marching to the Trains - the Chermside Army Camp Remembered, (Brisbane: Ford, 2005).
" 524,"US Army 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company (CLC)","10th Chemical Maintenance Company Billet accommodation","Scientific facility","90 Bonney Avenue",Clayfield,4011,Brisbane City,-27.4231796264648,153.047164916992,"In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Rd was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, ""these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.""
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Ave as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Ave, 59 Bonney Ave, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Ave and Victoria Rd. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory St, Clayfield.
","Marks Book 13
" 526,"Cloncurry Airfield and QANTAS hangar","Cloncurry Airport","Airfield","Sir Hudson Fysh Drive",Cloncurry,4824,North-West,-20.6666355133057,140.508285522461,"At the request of the Department of Civil Aviation, surveys were conducted by the Main Roads Commission early in 1941 with a view to extending the Cloncurry aerodrome to meet RAAF requirements. Contracts for the strengthening and extending of existing gravel runways and taxiways to accommodate heavy bomber and freight aircraft, and for hospitals, workshops and camps, were let to private contractors by the Allied Works Council on instructions from the Department of Interior. On 5 May 1941 a truck convoy of machinery and plant belonging to the north Queensland road construction firm, T & K Constructions, arrived in Cloncurry from Cairns by way of Townsville to commence work on the airfield. All the heavy machinery was railed to Cloncurry.
","In 1919 Hudson Fysh and Pat McGuinness recognised the potential for an aerial mail service that would link the Queensland and Northern Territory railhead towns of Charleville, Longreach, Winton, Cloncurry and Birdum, and established Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS) to meet this need. After securing the first outback airmail contract, in February 1922 Qantas contracted the Sydney engineers Stewart and Lloyd, to supply and erect steel-framed hangars at Cloncurry, Longreach and Charleville. The Cloncurry hangar became a symbol of the town's importance as an early copper mining centre, although mineral fortunes were declining by the time it was erected. During the inter-war years Cloncurry became a key landing ground and refueling point on the Sydney to Darwin air route. The former Qantas hangar is still used by local commercial aviation operators. Little evidence of the wartime development of the airfield remains, apart from the base and tie down points of a high frequency direction finding mast. Only two of the four early strips remain. Some of the wartime bitumen seal can still be seen on the runway aprons.
Four weeks after Japan's attack on the US base at Pearl Harbour and the commencement of war in the Pacific, the RAAF took control of Cloncurry aerodrome. T & K Constructions were again contracted to immediately begin work on extending the facilities at the airfield to accommodate heavy bomber squadrons. The work included the upgrading and extension of runways and water supplies and the construction of temporary hutted camps. The first train load of bombs arrived at Cloncurry from Townsville on 13 February 1942.
Tangible evidence of American aid in the defence of north Queensland and Port Moresby came on 19 February 1942 with the arrival in Townsville of twelve B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the USAAF 22nd Bombardment Squadron and 88th Reconnaissance Squadron. On the day of their arrival the Japanese carried out two heavy air raids on Darwin township and RAAF base. Two days later nine of the newly-arrived B-17s and five DC-3 transport aircraft were dispersed away from Townsville to the safety of Cloncurry.
Arrivals of USAAF aircraft in north Queensland increased during March 1942 with three squadrons of B-17s from the 19th Bombardment Group landing in Townsville and Cloncurry. By mid April 1942 all four runway extensions at Cloncurry had been gravelled and the temporary US camp at the airfield housed 3000 personnel. The USAAF 93rd Bombardment Squadron began arriving in Cloncurry during the first weeks of April 1942. The entire eight hotels in the town were occupied by the Americans, while the local dance hall and shire hall were transformed into makeshift hospitals and the RSL hall was converted into an operating theatre.
Although the outback aerodromes at Cloncurry and Longreach were effective dispersal fields for the US heavy bomber squadrons arriving in north Queensland, the aircraft were being worn out by the additional flying hours required for staging back and forth between missions. By May 1942 the USAAF had decided to establish its major far north Queensland base at Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland. Three weeks after the Battle of the Coral Sea, all works at Cloncurry aerodrome were stopped. The only work left unfinished was the sealing of the gravel runways and this was given low priority. Mareeba would become the main operational airfield in far north Queensland. Between May and July the aircraft of the 19th Bombardment Group began moving from the outback bases at Cloncurry and Longreach to their new quarters at Mareeba airfield.
Cloncurry ceased to be an active operational base and only basic services were maintained including meteorological observations by US forecasters, aircraft refuelling services and RAAF signals operations including the operation of high frequency direction finding equipment. RAAF 29 Operational Base Unit was established at Cloncurry in June 1942. However by September, plans for the establishment of a large RAAF station at Cloncurry had been formally cancelled.
At war's end the aerodrome reverted to civilian use and continues to operate as Cloncurry Airfield.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Known as Shell Hill, RAAF 23 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), Cloncurry, derived its name from the Shell Oil Company, which managed the depot. The wartime underground storage tanks survive, although the reinforced concrete pump house and a nearby underground air raid shelter were recently demolished during expansion of facilities by the current operator of the depot, the British Petroleum Company.
","As the threat of war with Japan increased during 1941, Cloncurry suddenly became strategically important as an outback railway centre and a key aerodrome on the inland air route between Brisbane and Darwin. The existing civilian aerodrome was extended and developed to RAAF requirements as a refuelling base and a staging field for heavy bomber movements and fighter aircraft in transit.
The Queensland Main Roads Commission assisted in the development of a low hill close to the railway on the southern edge of Cloncurry, as a bulk fuel storage depot for the RAAF and four large steel storage tanks were built. The hill was excavated for construction of the tanks. Reinforced concrete bases were poured and the steel plated tanks were assembled by contractors to oil company specifications. Upon completion of the bottom row of plates the base and steelwork were water tested. The rest of the plates were then assembled, welded and tested. After the steel sides were in place, protective concrete sidewalls were poured to protect against bomb damage. Concrete roofs were installed, supported on internal steel cased concrete columns, and finally the sides of the tanks were covered with earth and rock. Aviation fuel was railed from Townsville for storage in the underground tanks, and from there it was pumped into 44-gallon drums for transfer to the aerodrome.
During 1942 and 1943 a series of Inland Aircraft Fuel Depots were built for the RAAF in Queensland and other states, for bulk storage of fuel in tanks, plus the storage of drums of tetraethyl-lead spirit to boost the octane level of the fuel. The depots were located alongside the railway networks so fuel could be delivered by train and trucked to nearby airfields. In Queensland the depots were built on inland railway lines as the North Coast railway was considered too vulnerable to Japanese air and sea attack. Six such depots were built in Queensland-7 IAFD at Toowoomba, 8 IAFD at Gayndah, 9 AIFD at Charters Towers, 21 IAFD at Yarraman, 22 IAFD at Roma and 23 IAFD at Cloncurry.
Construction of the tanks at Cloncurry was underway by the latter half of 1942, although the progress was hampered by the lack of available workers in the town. The work was jointly undertaken by the Main Roads Commission and a private contractor working for the Shell Company. Construction was completed about April 1943, when the directorate of the Allied Works Council received a request for additions to the guard house at RAAF IAFD, Cloncurry. The tanks were heavily camouflaged during the war. Downgrading of the operation of the Cloncurry IAFD installations commenced in February 1944 as the frontline moved north to the Pacific islands.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Brisbane.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
" 529,"US 33rd Surgical Hospital and 17th Station Hospital","Cloncurry Shire Hall","Medical facility","43 Scarr Street",Cloncurry,4824,North-West,-20.705472946167,140.506072998047,"Three squadrons of the USAAF 19th Bombardment Group (Heavy), equipped with B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, commenced operating from Cloncurry in far western Queensland in early April 1942. Group air crew, ground crew and support units occupied all eight hotels in the town. As the American presence grew, Cloncurry shire hall was taken over by the US 33 Surgical Hospital in anticipation of combat casualties. It was occupied briefly by US Air Force Medical Corps units during 1942.
The shire hall was a comparatively new building on the outbreak of the Pacific war, having been built in 1939 as the shire office and community library for the Cloncurry Shire Council. It replaced an original hall built in 1887. The council later reoccupied the building which continued to serve as the Cloncurry Shire Hall until 1966 when a new civic centre and library was built nearby. The former hall then became the supper room and continues to be used by the council.
","US Air Force Medical Corps teams of 33 Surgical Hospital were based at Townsville during early 1942. Detachments of 33 Surgical Hospital were sent to Cloncurry and Mount Isa in mid-1942. At Cloncurry the surgical hospital unit initially took over a wing of the town's district hospital, awaiting renovation of the shire hall. Mess hall and clinic wings were added to the shire hall during June. Another building was erected nearby as an operating theatre. This building later served as the Cloncurry RSL hall.
Personnel of the US 17 Station Hospital also left Townsville for Cloncurry during June 1942. When 33 Surgical Hospital departed from Cloncurry and Mount Isa in July with the transfer of the 19th Bombardment Group to Mareeba, their premises in both towns were taken over by 17 Station Hospital.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
" 533,"Coen RAAF Advanced Operational Base (AOB)","Coen Airport","Airfield","Peninsula Development Road",Coen,4871,North and Cape York,-13.7665271759033,143.126495361328,"The RAAF began aerials surveys over north Queensland during 1938 as part of a plan to establish a network of advanced operational air bases (AOB) in the likelihood of war with Japan. In June 1939 the search started for an AOB site on Cape York Peninsula and a suitable location was selected near the old Coen goldfields about 20 kilometres north of the town and telegraph station.
The old landing ground at Coen was at the southern end of the settlement near the early cemetery. It was here that a USAAF B-17 bomber of 19 Bombardment Group made an emergency landing with practically no fuel left on 1 June 1942. This was Dean Hoevet's ship which some weeks later was lost with all crew off Cairns.
","Queensland Main Roads Commission teams commenced construction of the runways during the dry season of 1941and US bombers began staging through Coen in July 1942. The airfield ceased to be used as an operational base from October 1942, but was used for the transport of stores and ordnance until February 1945. After World War II the Department of Civil Aviation took over the airfield, which is still in use as Coen Airport. Several huts from the wartime days remain, and one has been upgraded for use as the airport caretaker's residence.
By 1941 planning was underway for development of RAAF advanced operational bases (AOB) at Townsville, Cloncurry, Cooktown, Coen and Horn Island. The RAAF started searching for a far northern AOB site on Cape York Peninsula in mid-1939 and a suitable location was identified near the old Coen goldfields about 20 kilometres north of the town. Construction of an airfield at Coen became an urgent priority during early 1941. The job was undertaken under the supervision of the Queensland Main Roads Commission.
Three runways were initially laid down, but only two were developed. Other works included an operations room and signals hut, and a store shed (all of which still remain), as well as a radio mast. Earth-mound aircraft inserts and a large concrete slab, which may have been a hard stand or workshop, can still be found on the southern side of the main runway.
Because there was no suitable road to Coen, the construction plant was sent from Brisbane by sea to Port Stewart on Princess Charlotte Bay. From there it was unloaded and transported along rough bush tracks to the airfield site. Coen AOB was occupied by the RAAF on 6 July 1941. The airfield was first used by USAAF B-25 Mitchells of 3 BG and B-26 Marauder aircraft of 22 BG operating out of Charters Towers, during raids on New Guinea in April 1942.
Aerial navigation to and from Coen was by visual observation of the ground-radio aids being decades away. The main criticism of the AOB site was the difficulty of finding it in bad weather-which included smoke from bush fires to fog, rain and tropical storm conditions. Further expansion of Coen AOB was discarded in June 1942 with the move to Iron Range. Coen was closed down as an operational base in October 1942, but remained active with an operational base unit detachment to February 1945.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 534,"Coen Telephone Carrier Station","Coen Telephone Repeater Station","Radar/signal station","Coleman Close",Coen,4870,North and Cape York,-13.9400434494019,143.198715209961,"Located at the junction of the Coen River and Lankelly Creek, the wartime telephone carrier station standing next to the site of the original telegraph station of 1886, was a crucial link in military communications during World War II. The prefabricated steel frame building was erected in 1942 as part of an urgent upgrading of the Cape York telegraph line in response to the threat of Japanese invasion. It was one of four prefabricated telephone (or voice) carrier stations erected between Cape York and Mount Surprise. The work of upgrading telecommunications on Cape York Peninsula began in August 1942, a major undertaking involving the US Army Signal Corps, the Australian Army and the Postmaster-General's Department.
","In 1883 the Queensland Government, concerned about German imperialism in New Guinea, decided to annex Papua, much to the consternation of the British Government, and communication with Cape York and the Torres Strait took on a new importance. A party led by John Bradford left Cooktown in June to survey a telegraph route to Thursday Island. The first camp north of Laura, was soon to be the site of Fairview Telegraph Office. Bradford left the Cooktown-Palmerville telegraph line at this point and headed north for the abandoned Coen Goldfield. In 1885 tenders were called for construction of the line in two sections. Telegraph offices were constructed at Fairview, Musgrave, Coen, Mein, Moreton, McDonnell (Cockatoo Creek) and Paterson (Cape York). Events in early 1942 after the outbreak of war with Japan highlighted the need for improved telephone facilities linking Townsville with Thursday Island and Horn Island.
In the mid-1950s improvements in the system enabled the Coen telephone exchange to be moved to a store in the town's main street, although working equipment remained in the telegraph station and in the carrier station. By the late 1960s the Coen Telegraph Office of 1886 had become redundant and was removed to Rokeby homestead. In 1982 a broadband radio system was in service as far as Coen and the installation of an automatic exchange at Coen was made possible. Broadband was extended to Thursday Island in 1987 and the open-wire line north of Coen was abandoned. Following completion of the broadband system, the building was used to accommodate Telecom personnel working in the region, but has been unoccupied since 1990. The building is now part of the Queensland National Parks ranger station.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Coen Carrier Station, Queensland Heritage Register place ID: 601485, Brisbane.
Howard Pearce (Ed.) Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 536,"Fairmile Naval Base","HMAS Moreton, Colmslie","Workshop","Colmslie Road",Colmslie,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4505290985107,153.088790893555,"The former Acetate of Lime factory site on the Brisbane River at Colmslie was occupied by the RAAF in May 1939 as billets and storage while facilities were being constructed at Archerfield. Various branches of the Australian army occupied it from 1940 to 1943, including 6 Heavy Anti Aircraft battery, the 2nd and 14th AA batteries, 1st Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC), the 7th Division's Field Hygiene Section, Royal Australian Engineers Supply Service and the Allied Works Council. From November 1942, the RAN began to occupy the site as part of the Fairmile Naval Base.
","The Fairmile was a motor launch designed for the Royal Navy and built by the Fairmile consortium. Its construction could be compartmentalised allowing its manufacture and assembly by a variety of firms. The design of the Fairmiles, particularly the Fairmile 'B', were distributed throughout the Commonwealth to aid the war effort and variants were built in Canada, South Africa, New Zealand as well as in Australia. With a desiplacement of 75 ton the Fairmile launches were 112 feet long and 18 feet at the beam. Armament could vary however they were usually equipped with a 40mm Bofors gun, two 20mm Oerlikons, machine-guns and depth charges.
Thirty-five Fairmile B motor launches were built in Australia from September 1942, most of them in Sydney at the Green Point naval boatyard. Four of the vessels were built by Norman Wright on the river at Bulimba shipyard, the first launched in April 1942 and the last in 1943. The vessels were known only by numbers rather than names, prefixed by the letters ML.
A number of the Fairmile launches operated from the Royal Australian Navy base at Colmslie, along with smaller Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDMLs). The base had a jetty and slipway, and workshops on which maintenance and repair of the launches could be undertaken. Because of the fear of attack by Japanese submarines, the well-armed Fairmile launches provided escorts to naval convoys leaving the port.
","BCC Heritage Unit files
BCC sewerage detail plans and aerial photographs.
Dunn, P. Colmslie Fairmile Base, Colmslie, Brisbane Qld during WW2, 2002
Dept. of Environment and Resource Management. Queensland Heritage Register entry 602465, C'Wealth Acetate of Lime Factory (former).
Evans, Peter (ed.), Fairmile Association. Fairmile Ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Vol. 1. Loftus, NSW: Australian Military History Publications, 2002.
Fairmile Association. ""Brief history - Fairmile ships and Harbour Defence Motor Launches, known by their numbers, not names."". nd.
" 537,"Cairncross Naval Graving Dry Dock","Brisbane Graving Dock","Naval/port facility","Thynne Road",Colmslie,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4482707977295,153.076705932617,"Until 1944 the 430-feet South Brisbane Graving Dock was the only one in Brisbane capable of carrying out repairs on navy and merchant vessels, though its size limited the number an type of vessels that could affect repairs there. As a consequence the Brisbane Graving Dock at Cairncross was commenced in August 1942 as an additional repair facility. It was completed within 22 months, a feat that necessitated construction 24-hours a day for six days a week.
","Until 1944 the 430-feet South Brisbane Graving Dock was the only one in Brisbane capable of carrying out repairs on navy and merchant vessels, though its size limited the number an type of vessels that could affect repairs there. As a consequence the Brisbane Graving Dock at Cairncross was commenced in August 1942 as an additional repair facility. It was completed within 22 months, a feat that necessitated construction 24-hours a day for six days a week.
Citation:
The Queensland Department of Public Works oversaw the project to a design produced by engineering staff of the Stanley River Works Board. The Main Roads Commission undertook construction of the nearby wharf, the Department of Harbours and Marine organised dredging of the site and design of the caisson or gates. Construction of the dock was a priority project for the Allied Works Council, and it received its allocation of equipment and labour through the Civil Construction Corps. At the end of the war the Brisbane Graving Dock was one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, capable of receiving a vessel 800 feet long, with an 80 foot beam and a draught of 32 feet.
The construction project was labour-intensive and a large camp site known as Camp Apollo and capable of housing 1000 workers was established for the Civil Construction Corps by the corner of Thynne and Lytton Roads at Bulimba. Barracks for the CCC were built near Coutts St, and after the war were used for low-cost housing and known as the Bulimba Hostel. The dock was provided with an electrically-driven floating caisson built by Evans, Deakin and Co Ltd at Rocklea, and assembled on the dock floor. It also had two mobile and one stationery crane, with stores, blacksmith shop, boiler shop, shipwrights shop, and its own electrical substation. It also had a 200-seat cafeteria for dock staff, and a kitchen and facilities for ships crew when vessels were docked.
Water was allowed into the dock in March 1944, and Harbours & Marine vessels were the first docked in June 1944. For the remainder of the war and in the months after the cessation of hostilities, approximately 100 vessels including 16 Australian and 23 British naval ships including small aircraft carriers, merchant ships, tankers, destroyers, and submarine tenders, were serviced at the facility.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
Burchill, Dennis, Wartime Memories of Bulimba, April 2004.
Davenport, Winnifred. Harbours & Marine, Port & Harbour Development in Queensland from 1824 to 1985, Dept Harbours & Marine, Brisbane, 1986
Jones, David & Nunan, Peter, US Subs Down Under, 1942–1945, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2005.
" 539,"Colmslie Anti-Aircraft and searchlight defences","Thomas Borwick and Sons Abbatoirs","Fortifications","Roundabout, Colmslie Road",Colmslie,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4509601593018,153.093231201172,"Primarily, it was Australian units with 24 Heavy AA guns, 12 Light AA guns and 33 searchlights that defended Brisbane. The Heavy AA guns were in fixed emplacements while the Light AA guns and searchlights were mobile and could be quickly relocated with the aid of army trucks. The three Heavy AA batteries were emplaced in six Brisbane suburbs. The two Light AA Regiments had single guns spread across Brisbane. The three Searchlight Companies occupied various positions in 18 different suburbs. The US Army also manned a small number of AA positions in Brisbane.
","The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 led to a fear of air attack on Brisbane, most likely launched from Japanese aircraft carriers. The siting of the AA guns was designed to protect Brisbane's port facilities and the US New Farm submarine base and to cover the Eagle Farm and Archerfield airfields. The anti-aircraft (AA) gun shortage in Australia caused delays so that Brisbane had still not received its full allotment of 3.7 inch AA guns by May 1942. The guns had to be brought by convoy from Britain. By 28 May, the first 16 guns were despatched on trains from Melbourne. The guns were incomplete as only four came with their cruciform platforms and these were allocated to Archerfield. The scarcity of steel meant that no more platforms could be sent and on 9 June, the Army decided that the remaining guns would not be portable, but instead would be put into fixed emplacements.
There were 6 Heavy AA batteries armed with the Australian-manufactured 3.7 inch gun. Three batteries were located in Brisbane's north and three in the south. They were put into fixed emplacements at Bannister Park at Windsor Park, Windsor; east of Eagle Farm airfield at Pinkenba; in Victoria Park at Spring Hill; on the hill above the Balmoral Cemetery off Wynnum Road, Morningside; on a farm at 214 Fleming Road, Hemmant and close to Fort Lytton in South Street, Lytton. On 29 August 1942, the Army HQ at Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace ordered the cessation of work at Windsor and the guns relocated to a site off Gerler Road, Hendra. The Hendra, Pinkenba and Lytton batteries had hexagonal cinder block gun emplacements. The Eagle Farm, Balmoral and Spring Hill emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete. A Heavy AA battery of four guns was positioned at Archerfield aerodrome. All emplacements were built under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The AWC also requested that an emplacement be built atop Mt. Gravatt.
A Heavy AA battery comprised 4 guns spaced from 90 to 100 feet apart. Each battery had its own central concrete command post. This post included separate concrete pits to house a predictor and a height finder. Each of the four guns had to be within view of the predictor which itself could not be placed either 10 feet below or above any of the guns. The interior of the gun emplacements were lined with steel mesh or scabbing plates designed to contain any flying concrete splinters that were blown off during an air raid from injuring the gun crews. Some of the batteries had enough open space to fit sleeping quarters near the emplacements for the gun crews.
All AA batteries were connected by telephone cable to the Brisbane Central Command Post (14th AA Command) located with MacArthur's headquarters in the AMP Building at 229 Queen Street. This central command was also linked to Brisbane's early warning system that controlled observation posts and later radar units. The 6th, 38th and 2/5th Heavy AA batteries, the components of the 2/2nd HAA Regiment (AIF) manned the guns. From 1943, the six Heavy AA batteries experienced gun crews were replaced by gunners drawn from the Australia Women's Army Service (AWAS) and 'C' Company, 4th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).
The Light AA defences were armed with the locally made QF (quick firing) 40 mm Bofors gun. Twelve Bofors were allotted to Brisbane, belonging to the Australian 113th and the 114th Light AA Regiments. The guns were sited in individual locations. They were mobile guns hauled by Bedford light trucks (referred to as gun tractors). At various times between 1942 and 1945, Bofors guns were located at near the old cotton mill at Whinstanes; at 'Cloudland' in Bowen Hills; near the mouth of Breakfast Creek in Newstead Park; on a Myrtletown farm; at Kangaroo Point and Hendra; near the old Appollo Candleworks and at the end of Quay Street in Bulimba; near the Colmslie Oil Storage Tanks; near Thomas Borwick & Sons Colmslie meatworks and elsewhere. A Heavy AA Battery had initially been emplaced near the Colmslie Oil Tanks. In August 1942, this battery relocated to Lytton. A Bofors gun temporarily replaced it at Colmslie. The Australian Army established an AA Training School and Air Defence Centre at the 'Blackheath Home' in Oxley. The VDC and AWAS began to train on the guns by June 1943.
Newstead Park's Bofors was dug-in on the point near where the US/Australian War Memorial (built 1951) stands. Established on 22 August 1942 by 115th Battery, 113th Light AA Regiment, the emplacement was handed to 605 Troop, 114th Light AA Regiment in June 1943. The 651st Light AA Regiment replaced 605 Troop and operated the gun until war's end. The gunners used the nearby Band Rotunda as a wet weather barracks.
Dummy wooden guns were also placed around Brisbane to deceive enemy aerial reconnaissance or spies. These mock-ups were manufactured at a Brisbane City Council Tramways wood machine shop on Coronation Drive, Milton. The guns were made as realistic as possible. Metal brackets allowed windage and elevation. They were painted in approved army colour schemes.
By December 1943, 14th AA Command was known as Brisbane AA Group. It oversaw the supply and operations of 6th Heavy AA Battery, 39th Heavy AA Battery, 56th SL (searchlight) Battery, 68th SL Battery, 651st Light AA Battery and the Brisbane AA Operations Room. Brisbane AA Group was linked to the Brisbane Fortress HQ at St Laurence's College, South Brisbane, the 8th Fighter Section and the HQ of 'A' Group (Brisbane) of the VDC.
The US Army aided Brisbane's AA defences. Among the first arrivals on the Pensacola Convoy on 22 December 1941 were the 102nd and 197th Coastal Artillery Regiments that included AA weapons in its equipment. In April 1942, the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment mounted four .30 calibre heavy machine guns with two searchlights as an AA position at Newstead Park. In July 1943, the US Brisbane Coast Artillery and Brisbane AA Group were placed under a single commander Brigadier E.M. Neyland. Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Thomson followed him in December 1944. The US Army had an AA gun sandbagged emplacement on Ovals No.1 and 2 of Windsor Park (presumably on the previous site of the Australian 3.7 inch guns). The US military had requested Brisbane City Council permission to demolish the park's grandstand to improve the guns' field of fire. A sandbag emplacement was located beside the Brisbane River at the end of Quay Street, Bulimba. Members of the 40th AA Brigade from the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment manned .50 calibre heavy machine guns. Australians drawn from the 114th Light AA Regiment later replaced these Americans. US AA guns were placed in Fleetway Street, Morningside to protect Camp Carina.
The US Navy operated an Anti-Aircraft Training Centre camp at Wellington Point, about 20 miles from Brisbane. The site chosen for the camp was in a public park on the peninsular jutting into Waterloo Bay, considered ideal for AA training.
","Australian War Memorial file, AWM 54, Item: 709/20/50, Brisbane AA Group, Standing Operational Orders, 19 December 1943.
Australian War Memorial file, AWM 60, Item: 9/476/42, Brisbane AA guns allotment and emplacement correspondence, 18 May-10 September 1942.
D.W. Spethman & R.G. Miller, Fortress Brisbane - a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Islands, (Brisbane: Spethman & Miller, 1998).
Brisbane City Council newsletter Between Ourselves, Volume 1, No.16, June 1980.
Marks, Roger R., Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Book 1 ""Newstead House"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
BCC Archives file BCA1344 Windsor Memorial Park, Windsor lease of 1942
" 540,"United States Naval Air Station","Royal Navy Pacific Fleet Flying Boat Base","Airfield","Colmslie Recreation Reserve, Lytton Road",Colmslie,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4503650665283,153.083053588867,"After the establishment of SWPA HQ in Brisbane in July 1942 the US Navy Air Transport Service established a flying boat—seaplanes as they were known to the Americans—service to Brisbane.
","A 16 hectare site at Colmslie was occupied by the US Navy in September 1942, and the Marine Board approved all works below the high tide limit in October. The Queensland Main Roads constructed a stone slipway, approximately 250 feet long, 40 feet wide and extending to 8 feet below the water level, for the seaplanes. Hard stand areas and service roads were also built. The slipway construction was completed by December 1942. The slipway enabled ordinary flying boats to be serviced out of the water, and for the amphibian variants to taxi onto the hard stands. A workshop, administration building, store and refuelling system were established on-site. Barracks for US Navy personnel were also erected on the high ground behind the base.
Initially the USN seaplane service brought in passengers and mail, the aircraft consisting of Martin PBM-3 Mariners and also Consolidated Coronado seaplanes. When the US Seventh Fleet was formed in Brisbane in March 1943 a squadron of Catalina seaplanes, VP-101, was brought to Brisbane, followed by another squadron VP-11. These two squadrons formed the US Navy's Patrol Wing, established in Brisbane in September 1943.
By December 1944 the US Navy no longer required flying boats in Brisbane. From 27 March 1945, the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet operated its one squadron of flying boats from the site before moving on to Hong Kong after the war ended in September. The base was decommissioned and handed back in 1945.
","USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report - General, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, (1946).
" 541,"USN Radio Brisbane","USN Air Station Transmitter","Radar/signal station","Lytton Road",Colmslie,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4507389068603,153.082580566406,"The US Navy Transmitting Station, known as 'Radio Brisbane' was constructed by direction of the Commander, US Navy Seventh Fleet. Its purpose was to allow rapid communications initially for Commander Task Force 72, then for Commander Task Group 71.9, as well as CSB-53, SubDiv-53, Submarine Repair Unit Brisbane, Torpedo Overhaul Unit Brisbane, and as a relaying station for CSS-16, CSD-162, USS Orion, and CTG-71.5
","It was erected within the same wooded area located above the US Navy seaplane base at Colmslie. Occupation of the site commenced from 9 September 1942. The station operated from a prefabricated building of over 1200 sq feet. The transmitter had a range of approximately 1300 miles, and was used in conjunction with another transmitter located at Bulimba. The 16 officers and 61 enlisted men who operated the Radio Brisbane used the same quarters and facilities erected for the seaplane base.
The property was finally vacated by the USN on 27 March 1945, and occupied by the Royal Navy.
","United States Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks Section 1946 Report Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane.
" 542,"Columboola Ammunition Dump (United States Army)","(used for the storage of Chemical Weapons)","Civil defence facility","Private Property",Columboola,4415,Darling Downs,-26.6954879760742,150.334197998047,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"SLQ photographic reference
" 543,"Condamine Airfield","Miles Airport","Airfield","Leichhardt Highway",Condamine,4416,Darling Downs,-26.8055686950684,150.165618896484,"Condamine Airfieldtypically featured two hard surfaced runways and a connecting leg of the local road in providing the traditional three runway opportunities allowing for prevailing winds. The longer strip of the two bearing 42 deg magnetic is the only one serviceable today.
","Condamine Airfield was one of several airfields around the Darling Downs area which figured in folklore at least, as part of the Brisbane Line.
It appears these fields entered the strategists plan as heavy bomber fields to be utilised by American B-24 Liberator aircraft groups. The time taken to develop such airfields to a point where they could be so used was such that, fortunately, their need had largely subsided. However, with the growth of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and its own plans to procure and develop B-24 Liberator aircraft, these fields assumed their own prominence albeit quite late in the period.
Notice also that in the siting of this airfield it was a significant distance from a servicing railway (ie. 15 km south of Miles). Others on the Darling Downs did get basic hutted camp buildings though in many cases, they were left relatively unattended for months. Eventually these were relocated to other use if not significantly ravaged by termite infestation. However, it appears Condamine Aifield missed out in this respect.
After the war, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) passed the strips over to Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), who didn't really see much use for it.
Google Earth aerial image shows a single runway with sealed sections at both ends.
","Roger and Jenny Marks, 'Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On'
Google Earth
" 545,"Archer Point Royal Australian Navy (RAN) War Signal Station","Archer Point Conservation Park","Radar/signal station","Archer Point Road",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.5936285630132,145.32856464386,"Concrete slabs are all that remain of the former signal station on the southern approach to Cooktown harbour. A RoyalAustralian Navy (RAN) signal station began operating at Archer Point in January 1942, soon after the outbreak of war in the Pacific.
The signal station was located at the Point alongside the early lighthouse, built in the 1880s. The station camp containing about four Sidney Williams huts was located on the beach below, beside the lighthouse trolley tramway.
After operating for almost two years the signal station was relocated to Trinity Bay near Cairns. A jetty was built at Archer Point in the early 1970s as part of the development of the Lakeland Downs improved pasture project and was intended for use in loading sorghum for export to Japan. However, the export project was not successful.
The original lighthouse was closed and removed in 1979 and an automated marine light now occupies the headland. The circular concrete and iron base of the early lighthouse remains.
","The work of the RAN personnel manning the Archer Point War Signal Station involved signaling to and identifying all ships going north and south off the east coast of Cape York Peninsula, both inside and outside of the Great Barrier Reef. During daylight hours they used a flag pole from which signal flags were displayed. At night a peddle-powered Aldis lamp was used as there were no electricity generators. A coded message reporting all ships that passed, whether they were able to be identified or not, was sent by telephone to naval headquarters in Melbourne
A US radio direction finding (radar) unit was also stationed at Archer Point and operated independently of the RAN signal station. Other War Signal Stations operating in the region were at Thursday Island, Goods Island, Wednesday Island and Booby Island. Food supplies at Archer Point arrived weekly from Cairns on the coastal launch Merinda and were often supplemented by reef fishing and shooting wild goats for fresh meat.
Archer Point War Signal Station closed in early December 1943, when all RAN personnel and equipment were transferred to the new Port War Signal Station at False Cape coast battery near Cairns.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 548,"Cooktown Aeradio Station","Cooktown Civil Aerodrome","Airfield","MacMillan Street",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4667863845825,145.223571777344,"Known as the 'Civil 'Drome', Cooktown's first commercial aerodrome was constructed in 1937 to accommodate the DeHavilland Rapide biplanes of Australian National Airways. The airfield was built on an area of level ground at the edge of a coastal mangrove swamp. Due to the area being inundated during most high tides the facility required a long levee bank around its seaward perimeter and extensive flood mitigation measures to contend with rainwater. The areas surrounding the runway still became very soft in the wet season and pilots had to take care not to become bogged.
To assist aircraft using the airfield, Cooktown Aeradio Station was constructed at the civil 'drome by TJ Watkins for the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), also in 1937. The main station building contained two rooms, one the operating room and the other a store room. The station contained radio telegraphy and morse key equipment, and a compact cathode ray tube used mainly for locating ships. A large bank of receivers was tuned to local frequencies in use. Nearby were the transmission masts and several other buildings containing living and sleeping quarters, and a kitchen and mess.
","In January 1941 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was examining proposals for construction of an Advanced Operational Base at the Cooktown civil 'drome. Construction of bomb dumps, fuel facilities, accommodation and fresh water supplies at Cooktown, were requested by RAAF 24 Squadron based in Townsville, but little happened until just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In late November 1941 work began on upgrading the civil 'drome for completion by the end of December after a bulldozer was shipped from the Bloomfield River timber mill and two tractors were freighted from Coen. Cooktown aerodrome was officially handed over to the RAAF on 5 January 1942. The airstrip was built by the road construction firm, T & K Constructions under tender for the Department of the Interior.
In May 1942 about 300 troops of the US 104 Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) arrived and set up a range of light and heavy anti-aircraft gun positions around the civil 'drome and on hills overlooking the airfield. They were joined by other American units including 3 US Army Camp Hospital.
During mid-1942 the inferior civil 'drome continued to be used for staging and refueling while work was completed on the new Cooktown Mission Strip which was used predominately by the USAAF for refueling. The civil 'drome with its aeradio station was selected as the location for the RAAF operational base unit (OBU) at Cooktown and in April 1942, RAAF No.27 OBU was established at the 'drome. However by October 1942, operating conditions for both military and civil aircraft using the airstrip had deteriorated badly and it was decided to relocate the OBU to the new mission strip, leaving the old 'drome to civilian aircraft use.
Cooktown Aeradio Station, maintained since the war by DCA, continued to operate until the civil 'drome was closed down after the 1949 cyclone and all operations were moved to the wartime mission strip which is now Cooktown Airport. The aeradio station at the site of the civil 'drome, is now used as a private dwelling.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 549,"Cooktown Coastal Radio Station","AWA Coastal Radio Service Station","Radar/signal station","Hope Street, Grassy Hill",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4612216949463,145.25749206543,"The men who manned the coastal radio stations on remote outposts of north Queensland and the Torres Strait during World War II were employees of Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited (AWA). They worked under difficult conditions. Repairs for old and obsolete radio equipment which constantly failed in the humid environment were a major concern. Without access to spare parts the operators would improvise with scrap material and be back on air relaying messages to and from the war zone to bases in the south.
Cooktown Coastal Radio—call sign VIC—occupied a ridge below the Grassy Hill lighthouse overlooking the Coral Sea, and was constructed around two large brick and reinforced concrete buildings. Each contained three rooms with one building providing space for the radio office and the other containing a battery charging room. Nearby a solid timber mast for radio transmission, towered about 60 metres, secured to the ground with steel guy wires.
","Establishment of a Coastal Radio Service in Australia was first proposed in a report on Australian naval defence in March 1911. Two long range stations were eventually built at Sydney and Perth and a chain of less powerful maritime radio stations were constructed around the coastline of Australia. The Navigation Act of 1912 required ships able to carry more than 50 passengers to be equipped with wireless communications and one or more qualified operators.
By August 1914 at the start of World War I a network of 19 coastal radio stations had been established around Australia, most between 1912 and 1913. Five stations were located in Queensland, at Brisbane, Thursday Island, Rockhampton, Cooktown and Townsville. The Cooktown Coastal Radio Station was commissioned in June 1913. Further stations were quickly established by AWA in the Pacific islands. The Navy Department took over control of the Coastal Radio Service from the Post-Master General (PMG) in 1915. With the end of World War I the PMG resumed control of the stations from the navy in 1920.
In March 1922 the Commonwealth government granted AWA an exclusive right to construct and operate stations in Australia for a commercial wireless telegraph service linking Australia with Britain and Canada. Control of the existing Coastal Radio Service, then numbering 27 stations, was also transferred to AWA.
On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 the operators of the Coastal Radio Service came under the control of the Australian Navy (RAN), while AWA retained its ownership and management role over the network. Staff continued to be employed by AWA, but military guards were placed at all radio stations. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, staff at the Darwin, Thursday Island and Port Moresby stations were given RAN rank. Normal commercial communications with ships were stopped for the duration of the war, with ships maintaining radio silence except in emergencies.
The northern coastal radio stations assisted the RAN's coast watching service, receiving and relaying information about Japanese activities to and from coast watchers operating behind the lines. These stations had a dedicated receiver constantly tuned to a particular frequency. The coast watchers used teleradios which operated on the same frequency. Receivers at northern coastal radio stations were left on loudspeaker 24 hours a day to ensure all messages were heard. All intelligence information was channelled to Naval Intelligence Division, Navy Office, Melbourne.
Towards the end of the war radio communications had improved to the extent that some coastal radio stations could be closed. Cooktown Radio Station was closed in 1945 and subsequently the timber tower was destroyed by fire. The buildings fell into ruin until recently restored by a new private owner of the property.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Dunn,P. Coastal Radio Service in Australia during WWII, Australia @ War, 2003
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 550,"Cooktown Mission Strip and Eight Mile Mission Site","Cooktown Airport","Airfield","Endeavour Valley Road, Marton",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4439659118652,145.185501098633,"Development of the Cooktown Mission Strip, as it became known, began in June 1942 with about 250 Civil Construction Corps (CCC) workers.
The new and larger Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airfield was intended to replace the older and smaller Cooktown Civil 'Drome, nearer town, which was flood-prone and had reached its operational capacity with the increasing number of aircraft staging through Cooktown and requiring refuelling.
","After Japan entered the war, concerns regarding the loyalties of Aboriginal people led to claims by white Australians that Aborigines in north Australia would assist the Japanese. Cape Bedford mission near Cooktown was run by George Schwarz, a German-born Lutheran pastor who had arrived at the mission in 1887. By the early 1940s the mission station was located at Spring Hill on the Endeavour River. Schwarz and his wife owned a farm nearby at a place known as the Eight Mile. There he produced food for the mission population assisted by the Aboriginal men.
As Schwarz was of German descent, Army Intelligence regarded the mission with suspicion. When local whites claimed the mission Aborigines were disloyal, the army moved in. At dawn on the morning of 17 May 1942 the army and local police arrived with a convoy of trucks to intern Pastor Schwarz and remove the Aboriginal people. They removed 254 Aborigines, mainly Guugu Yimidhirr people from the Eight Mile and Spring Hill, taking them to Cooktown, then onward to Cairns. The elderly were sent to Palm Island, while 200 or more were dispatched to Woorabinda near Rockhampton. Within weeks of their removal, construction of a RAAF airfield was underway at Schwarz's Eight Mile farm on the Endeavour River, west of Cooktown.
Cooktown Mission Strip was operational by September 1942 as a 7000 foot (2133 metres) gravelled runway with taxiways and dispersal bays. Camp facilities were limited to showers and latrines for two squadrons, with all accommodation being under canvas tents. By November RAAF 27 Operational Base Unit had transferred from the civil 'drome to the completed mission strip. It was joined there by American units from the civil 'drome including the US 104 Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Battery. The battery set up its main camp under the mission mango trees near the missionary's house. This also became the site of the CCC camp. Workers at the mission strip were prevented from entering Cooktown by military police after a series of brawls with US servicemen.
The mission strip became a base for RAAF squadrons engaged in anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort duties along the eastern coast of Cape York. It also became a major refuelling base and stopover for large numbers of aircraft travelling back and forward to New Guinea. A detachment of RAAF 7 Squadron, equipped with Beaufort bombers operated from the mission strip on marine patrol duties until transferred to Horn Island in November 1943. In July 1943 they were joined on escort duties by RAAF 12 Squadron, equipped with single-engine Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers.
American units at the mission strip began transferring to forward locations in New Guinea from mid-1943 and by early 1944 plans were made for RAAF 13 Squadron to take over the camp areas vacated by the Americans. The squadron, equipped with Lockheed Ventura bombers, arrived in force at Cooktown in May 1944 to undertake missions against Japanese forces in the Merauke region of Dutch New Guinea and anti-submarine patrols. A future Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, joined the squadron as a navigator during 1943. The squadron subsequently transferred to Gove in the Northern Territory.
The RAAF ceased operations in Cooktown in April 1946. Having decided to no longer maintain the mission strip, the airfield was handed over to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). It was decided to continue using the civil 'drome as Cooktown's civilian airfield because it was located closer to the town and was equipped with an established aeradio station. However, after the civil drome was inundated during the 1949 cyclone, domestic operations were transferred to the Cooktown Mission Strip. DCA maintained responsibility for the airfield until 1992 when it was transferred to Cook Shire Council.
Cooktown Mission Strip now serves as Cooktown Airport.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 551,"Cooktown Mission Strip Civil Construction Corps (CCC) Camp (1942)","Eight Mile Farm","Military camp","Cooktown Areodrome",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4465322494507,145.18000793457,"Development of the Cooktown Mission Strip, as it became known, began in June 1942 with about 250 Civil Construction Corps (CCC) workers. The new and larger RAAF airfield was intended to replace the older and smaller Cooktown Civil 'Drome, nearer town, which was flood-prone and had reached its operational capacity with the increasing number of aircraft staging through Cooktown and requiring refuelling.
","Cooktown Mission Strip was operational by September 1942 as a 7000 foot (2133 metres) gravelled runway with taxiways and dispersal bays. Camp facilities were limited to showers and latrines for two squadrons, with all accommodation being under canvas tents. By November RAAF 27 Operational Base Unit had transferred from the civil 'drome to the completed mission strip. It was joined there by American units from the civil 'drome including the US 104 Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Battery. The battery set up its main camp under the mission mango trees near the missionary's house. This also became the site of the CCC camp. Workers at the mission strip were prevented from entering Cooktown by military police after a series of brawls with US servicemen.
","Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 557,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 44/56 Radar Station","Radar Station military camp","Radar/signal station","Hope Street, Grassy Hill",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4607496261597,145.255126953125,"During World War II radar was a most secret technology. It had been developed in Britain prior to the war and the details were shared with Australia and other commonwealth countries. Delays in acquiring British radar equipment, due to the demands of the Battle of Britain, spurred an innovative period of radar development by Australian scientists at the Radiophysics Laboratory (RPL) of the University of Sydney during 1941.
It was fortunate that as the war with Japan approached, there were in Sydney two very important manufacturers with the expertise to produce specialised radar equipment, namely HMV (His Master's Voice), also known as the Gramophone Company, and the New South Wales Government Railway Workshop. These two organisations were capable of providing the Australian air warning (AW) equipment, particularly the RPL-designed transmitter/receivers and aerials. However, in September 1941 it was apparent it would take at least a year for construction of the local sets required for each of the planned 32 ground stations around the country, including Cooktown. The RAAF order for British equipment, including the latest Mk V COL, was dependent on availability and delivery times were uncertain.
On news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, scientists at RPL began building an AW radar set by modifying the electronics of an experimental coast defence radar developed by the army. The rough but effective AW set was completed in a week and provided Sydney's first air warning system. The Australian-designed AW Mk I radar was developed from this. The AW Mk I was based on the same aerial array as the army radar, but with a simpler tower. However, the army aerial was built to maximize signals received from surface targets and was not ideal for air warning where high angle coverage was needed against aircraft.
","In mid-November 1942 the personnel of RAAF 44 Radar Station arrived at Cooktown aboard a coastal vessel to install an Australian AW Mk I set. The radar unit was formed in Townsville in August 1942. The radio direction finding (RDF-or radar) station was located on top of Grassy Hill, overlooking Cooktown, and alongside the early lighthouse erected in 1886. On arrival the unit found that work on the transmitter and camp had not started due to confusion regarding building approvals by the Main Roads Commission which was the constructing authority. A disused house at the base of the hill was pressed into service as a temporary mess, store and orderly room. As usual sleeping accommodation was in tents. The unit personnel themselves completed the radar transmitter and operations building and installed most of the technical equipment. After further delays awaiting valves for the equipment, it was the end of January 1943 before the radar station was finally operational. Even then the permanent camp, constructed on a steep spur half-way up Grassy Hill, was still unfinished, only one building being completed and this was used as an orderly room and wireless telephone room.
In April 1943 the unit was redesignated RAAF 56 Radar Station. Unit personnel set about camouflaging the radar receiver tower and antenna alongside the lighthouse to resemble the lighthouse keeper's cottage. This was done by surrounding the tower and operations building with a steel frame in the shape of a house. To this was attached Hessian strips leaving gaps to represent windows and doors. The shape assisted in disguising the antenna above the roof.
New equipment was finally installed at 56 Radar Station in December 1944. The new radar was the long-awaited British Mk V COL set, equipped with an Australian-made tower and AW Mk II type aerial. The transmitter/receiver set was designed by the Royal Air Force for use in coast defence. COL was the overseas version of the CHL (Chain Home Low Flying). CHL stations were for low flying aircraft detection and formed part of the British Chain Home network. Of 32 COL-type units ordered by the RAAF in November 1941, ten went to Queensland, four to Western Australia, three to the Northern Territory, and one each to Victoria, South Australia and Papua New Guinea. A further two were apparently 'cannibalised' and used in conjunction with Australian AW components. The remaining ten were set up as GCI (Ground Controlled Interception Radar) units.
As with most other RAAF radar stations in north Queensland it is presumed the Cooktown unit ceased operations and was disbanded after Japan's surrender in August 1945. All serviceable and salvageable equipment was dismantled and removed and the only evidence of the radar station today is a plaque atop Grassy Hill on the site of the operations building and tower. Several concrete slabs hidden in scrub on the west side of the hill, identify the camp area.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 558,"US 104th Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Camp","Cooktown Mission Airstrip","Fortifications","Cooktown Mission Airfield",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4465093612671,145.178955078125,"Cooktown Mission Strip was operational by September 1942. Camp facilities were limited to showers and latrines for two squadrons, with all accommodation being under canvas tents. By November RAAF 27 Operational Base Unit had transferred from the civil 'drome to the completed mission strip. It was joined there by American units from the civil 'drome including the US 104 Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) Battery.
","The battery set up its main camp under the mission mango trees near the missionary's house. This also became the site of the CCC camp. Workers at the mission strip were prevented from entering Cooktown by military police after a series of brawls with US servicemen.
The mission strip became a base for RAAF squadrons engaged in anti-submarine patrols and convoy escort duties along the eastern coast of Cape York. It also became a major refuelling base and stopover for large numbers of aircraft travelling back and forward to New Guinea. A detachment of RAAF 7 Squadron, equipped with Beaufort bombers operated from the mission strip on marine patrol duties until transferred to Horn Island in November 1943. In July 1943 they were joined on escort duties by RAAF 12 Squadron, equipped with single-engine Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers.
American units at the mission strip began transferring to forward locations in New Guinea from mid-1943 and by early 1944 plans were made for RAAF 13 Squadron to take over the camp areas vacated by the Americans.
","Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 559,"United States 7th Fleet Radio Unit Station","James Cook Historical Museum (former St Mary's Convent)","Radar/signal station","cnr Helen Street and Furneaux Street",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4686889648438,145.250747680664,"For many years Cooktown's largest and most substantial building wasSt Mary's Convent School, which was completed in 1889 to a design by the government architect, FDG Stanley. This two-storey brick building with a large attic area in the roof, housed a boarding school for girls conducted by the Sisters of Mercy. It was the first girl's high school in far north Queensland and became noted for its music curriculum.
Wartime musical comedy star Gladys Moncrieff was a former student.
The boarding section closed in 1930, and in 1943 during the Pacific war the building was occupied by a radio unit detachment of the United States Navy.
The Sisters of Mercy did not return after the war and successive cyclones reduced the building to a partial ruin. Public protest prevented its demolition in the 1960s and after a restoration program, Queen Elizabeth II reopened the former school in 1970, as the James Cook Historical Museum.
","By early 1942, after the Americans had broken the Japanese military code, they began establishing units specifically to listen to Japanese radio transmissions. One such unit was the Fleet Radio Unit detachment of the 7th Fleet (FRUDET).
By July 1943 a 7th Fleet Radio Unit detachment stationed at Adelaide River near Darwin, had proven so valuable it was decided to establish a similar station in the North Eastern Area to cover the Solomon and Gilbert Islands intermediate frequency traffic. The Australian Naval Board had established a station at Townsville, but it was decided a small United States Navy intercept station, located further north at Cooktown or Cairns, would give better coverage. Cooktown was selected as it was a more suitable location for receiving transmissions, even though it lacked a telephone line to the south, or direct road access.
The building chosen for the radio unit was the abandoned convent that belonged to the Sisters of Mercy. However, the buildings were in a bad state of repair and it was December 1943 before most of the alterations were completed and it was ready for occupancy. The large attic was selected as the radio room, the top floor became the living quarters, and the ground floor was used to store the contents of the former convent. A building at the rear provided kitchen facilities, mess hall and wash house. It took until April 1944 before the power generating equipment was operational, the antenna system completed, phone lines and teletypes installed, and the first 16 men posted in.
Lieutenant RS Katzenberger of the 7th Fleet arrived to take command in July 1944 and inform his superiors that the Cooktown FRUDET station was finally operational. However, by that time the war situation in the Pacific had changed in favour of the Allied forces and in September it was decided to close the station down. The equipment was dismantled and dispersed between the Adelaide River FRUDET and the Melbourne station.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 562,"United States (US) Navy Enlisted Men's Rest Camp No 1","Roughton Park","Recreation/community","Roughton Park, Kirra Beach",Coolangatta,4225,South-East,-28.1672286987305,153.539245605469,"During World War II Brisbane was utilised as a base by the United States Navy (USN). To provide for the recreation needs of USN personnel (6,153 men and women in Brisbane in September 1944), rest camps for Enlisted Men were provided at Redcliffe, Toowoomba and Coolangatta, and for Officers at Surfer's Paradise.
","The Coolangatta Rest Area included five rest camps for Enlisted Men, and two hotels specifically for submariners. Camp No. 1 was located at Kirra Beach, along the foreshore north of Musgrave Street, in today's Roughton Park. Huts, ablutions and latrines, a kitchen/mess and an Officer's quarters and sick bay were located between the intersection with Winston Street and Lord Street, as well as down the east side of Lord Street.
Camp No. 2 was at Kirra Hill, while Camp No. 3 was on Marine Parade at Coolangatta Beach. Camp No. 4 was located at Greenmount, and Camp No. 5 was at Greenmount Hill. The latter camp was located in today's Pat Fagan Park, to the north of Marine Parade. Camp No. 5 included five huts divided into 10 single cabins, a mess and recreation room, ablutions and latrines.
The two hotels used for USN submariners were McDonald's Hotel Grande (corner of Griffith Street and Dixon Street Coolangatta), and the Pacifique Hotel in Tweed heads.
","National Australian Archives LS720, Coolangatta - US Navy Men's Rest Camp Site No. 1 Kirra Sea Front, Parish of Tallebudgera, County of Ward, 1943.
National Australian Archives Folder C Folio 100, Cooloongatta US Naval Rest Camp - Water Supply and Drainage - Site Plan [1/C/443] 1945
Australia @ War website ""Base Facilities, US Naval Activities Southwest Pacific Area, in Brisbane and nearby areas, Queensland, Australia during WW2"".
" 563,"United States (US) Navy Enlisted Men's Rest Camps No. 2",,"Recreation/community","Kirra Hill",Coolangatta,4225,South-East,-28.1666870117188,153.534576416016,"During World War II Brisbane was utilised as a base by the United States Navy (USN). To provide for the recreation needs of USN personnel (6,153 men and women in Brisbane in September 1944), rest camps for Enlisted Men were provided at Redcliffe, Toowoomba and Coolangatta, and for Officers at Surfer's Paradise.
The Coolangatta Rest Area included five rest camps for Enlisted Men, and two hotels specifically for submariners. Camp No. 1 was located at Kirra Beach, along the foreshore north of Musgrave Street, in today's Roughton Park. Huts, ablutions and latrines, a kitchen/mess and an Officer's quarters and sick bay were located between the intersection with Winston Street and Lord Street, as well as down the east side of Lord Street.
Camp No. 2 was at Kirra Hill, while Camp No. 3 was on Marine Parade at Coolangatta Beach. Camp No. 4 was located at Greenmount, and Camp No. 5 was at Greenmount Hill. The latter camp was located in today's Pat Fagan Park, to the north of Marine Parade. Camp No. 5 included five huts divided into 10 single cabins, a mess and recreation room, ablutions and latrines.
The two hotels used for USN submariners were McDonald's Hotel Grande (corner of Griffith Street and Dixon Street Coolangatta), and the Pacifique Hotel in Tweed heads.
",,"National Australian Archives LS720, Coolangatta- US Navy Men's Rest Camp Site No. 1 Kirra Sea Front, Parish of Tallebudgera, County of Ward, 1943.
National Australian Archives Folder C Folio 100, Cooloongatta US Naval Rest Camp - Water Supply and Drainage - Site Plan [1/C/443] 1945
OZ at War website - ""Base Facilities, US Naval Activities Southwest Pacific Area, in Brisbane and nearby areas, Queensland, Australia during WW2"".
" 564,"United States (US) Navy Enlisted Men's Rest Camps No 3",,"Military camp","Marine Parade, Coolangatta Beach",Coolangatta,4225,South-East,-28.1679782867432,153.539825439453,"During World War II Brisbane was utilised as a base by the United States Navy (USN). To provide for the recreation needs of USN personnel (6,153 men and women in Brisbane in September 1944), rest camps for Enlisted Men were provided at Redcliffe, Toowoomba and Coolangatta, and for Officers at Surfer's Paradise.
The Coolangatta Rest Area included five rest camps for Enlisted Men, and two hotels specifically for submariners. Camp No. 1 was located at Kirra Beach, along the foreshore north of Musgrave Street, in today's Roughton Park. Huts, ablutions and latrines, a kitchen/mess and an Officer's quarters and sick bay were located between the intersection with Winston Street and Lord Street, as well as down the east side of Lord Street.
Camp No. 2 was at Kirra Hill, while Camp No. 3 was on Marine Parade at Coolangatta Beach. Camp No. 4 was located at Greenmount, and Camp No. 5 was at Greenmount Hill. The latter camp was located in today's Pat Fagan Park, to the north of Marine Parade. Camp No. 5 included five huts divided into 10 single cabins, a mess and recreation room, ablutions and latrines.
The two hotels used for USN submariners were McDonald's Hotel Grande (corner of Griffith Street and Dixon Street Coolangatta), and the Pacifique Hotel in Tweed heads.
",,"National Australian Archives LS720, Coolangatta- US Navy Men's Rest Camp Site No. 1 Kirra Sea Front, Parish of Tallebudgera, County of Ward, 1943.
National Australian Archives Folder C Folio 100, Cooloongatta US Naval Rest Camp - Water Supply and Drainage - Site Plan [1/C/443] 1945
OZ at War website - ""Base Facilities, US Naval Activities Southwest Pacific Area, in Brisbane and nearby areas, Queensland, Australia during WW2"".
Peter Dunn Coolangatta Leave Area, US Navy, Camp No. 3, Marine Parade Camp, Queensland, during WW2
" 565,"United States Navy Enlisted Men's Rest Camps No 4",,"Military camp","Marine Parade, Greenmount Beach",Coolangatta,4225,South-East,-28.1668148040771,153.544158935547,"During World War II Brisbane was utilised as a base by the United States Navy (USN). To provide for the recreation needs of USN personnel (6,153 men and women in Brisbane in September 1944), rest camps for Enlisted Men were provided at Redcliffe, Toowoomba and Coolangatta, and for Officers at Surfer's Paradise.
The Coolangatta Rest Area included five rest camps for Enlisted Men, and two hotels specifically for submariners. Camp No. 1 was located at Kirra Beach, along the foreshore north of Musgrave Street, in today's Roughton Park. Huts, ablutions and latrines, a kitchen/mess and an Officer's quarters and sick bay were located between the intersection with Winston Street and Lord Street, as well as down the east side of Lord Street.
Camp No. 2 was at Kirra Hill, while Camp No. 3 was on Marine Parade at Coolangatta Beach. Camp No. 4 was located at Greenmount, and Camp No. 5 was at Greenmount Hill. The latter camp was located in today's Pat Fagan Park, to the north of Marine Parade. Camp No. 5 included five huts divided into 10 single cabins, a mess and recreation room, ablutions and latrines.
The two hotels used for USN submariners were McDonald's Hotel Grande (corner of Griffith Street and Dixon Street Coolangatta), and the Pacifique Hotel in Tweed heads.
",,"National Australian Archives LS720, Coolangatta- US Navy Men's Rest Camp Site No. 1 Kirra Sea Front, Parish of Tallebudgera, County of Ward, 1943.
National Australian Archives Folder C Folio 100, Cooloongatta US Naval Rest Camp - Water Supply and Drainage - Site Plan [1/C/443] 1945
OZ at War website - ""Base Facilities, US Naval Activities Southwest Pacific Area, in Brisbane and nearby areas, Queensland, Australia during WW2"".
Peter Dunn - Coolangatta Leave Area, US Navy, Camp No. 4 Greenmount Hill Camp, Queensland, during WW2
" 566,"Coolangatta Leave Area and Rest Area for United States Navy Submariners","McDonald's Hotel Grande","Military camp","Griffith Street",Coolangatta,4225,South-East,-28.1685886383057,153.541412353516,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"National Archives of Australian reference
" 569,"United States Navy Enlisted Men's Rest Camp No 5","Pat Fagan Park","Recreation/community","Pat Fagan Park, Marine Parade",Coolangatta,4225,South-East,-28.1653690338135,153.544464111328,"During World War II Brisbane was utilised as a base by the United States Navy (USN). To provide for the recreation needs of USN personnel (6,153 men and women in Brisbane in September 1944), rest camps for Enlisted Men were provided at Redcliffe, Toowoomba and Coolangatta, and for Officers at Surfer's Paradise.
The Coolangatta Rest Area included five rest camps for Enlisted Men, and two hotels specifically for submariners. Camp No. 1 was located at Kirra Beach, along the foreshore north of Musgrave Street, in today's Roughton Park. Huts, ablutions and latrines, a kitchen/mess and an Officer's quarters and sick bay were located between the intersection with Winston Street and Lord Street, as well as down the east side of Lord Street.
Camp No. 2 was at Kirra Hill, while Camp No. 3 was on Marine Parade at Coolangatta Beach. Camp No. 4 was located at Greenmount, and Camp No. 5 was at Greenmount Hill. The latter camp was located in today's Pat Fagan Park, to the north of Marine Parade. Camp No. 5 included five huts divided into 10 single cabins, a mess and recreation room, ablutions and latrines.
The two hotels used for USN submariners were McDonald's Hotel Grande (corner of Griffith Street and Dixon Street Coolangatta), and the Pacifique Hotel in Tweed heads.
",,"National Australian Archives LS720, Coolangatta- US Navy Men's Rest Camp Site No. 1 Kirra Sea Front, Parish of Tallebudgera, County of Ward, 1943.
National Australian Archives Folder C Folio 100, Cooloongatta US Naval Rest Camp - Water Supply and Drainage - Site Plan [1/C/443] 1945
OZ at War website - ""Base Facilities, US Naval Activities Southwest Pacific Area, in Brisbane and nearby areas, Queensland, Australia during WW2"".
" 572,"USASOS Coopers Plains Depot","US Army 1st Engineers Stores Base Depot (ESBD) and 3rd Provisional Ordnance Service Centre","Supply facility","Orange Grove?and Boundary Roads",Coopers Plains,4108,Brisbane City,-27.5696907043457,153.042678833008,"Built by October 1942, this became the major US Army ordnance depot in Brisbane. The depot stored small parts supplies, particularly for artillery and infantry weapons. It repaired US Army equipment as well as captured enemy items. This depot also modified existing equipment to better cope with New Guinea jungle conditions. Trucks and jeeps deemed unrepairable were placed in a crusher and the scrap metal recycled for the war effort. The depot was handed over to the Australian Army at the end of the war. It remained an Army depot until sold and demolished in the 1980s.
","The site had been undeveloped land in the Coopers Plains farming district. Prior to October 1942, the various blocks comprised the site were compulsorily acquired under the Commonwealth's National Security Regulations, with the property owners paid an annual rental fee. The US Army Services of Supply (USASOS) had prefabricated warehouses constructed on the site. The first two large igloos and a smaller headquarters office facing Orange Grove Road were completed by 28 October. This was the start of US Army Ordnance Supply Depot Coopers Plains.
By 26 February 1943, the Americans had added a further two igloos to the Depot. One warehouse completed the trio of igloos facing Orange Grove Road. A fourth, smaller igloo was built behind the location of the new Orange Grove Road igloo. One igloo was a small parts store. Another was the reconditioning plant. Another was a carpenter's shop that made boxes for the shipment of repaired small arms. The Depot expanded further. Three large igloos facing Boundary Rd were completed by 31 July 1944. The Americans lived on site in Bell tents while a temporary mess hall provided 'chow'.
The 3rd Provisional Service Centre headquarters, the 21st Ordnance Company (in 1942), the 48th ordnance Company (in 1943) and the 99th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company (in 1944) occupied the Depot. Their main task was to repair artillery, rifles, machine guns and vehicles as well as spare parts distribution. M1 rifles were converted to carbines and Browning .50 calibre machine guns, 155mm, 105mm, and 37mm guns restored on site. An open-area truck pool stored vehicles awaiting repair. Unrepairable vehicles were crushed and converted to scrap in a press machine. There was machinery for tyre reconditioning. The Depot undertook the important task of modifying weapons to suit the New Guinea jungle conditions. Twin wheels and even B-25 bomber wheels were fitted to 105mm guns to improve traction over mud or sand. Protective gun shields were manufactured for fitting onto M3 half-tracks that mounted 40mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns. Captured Japanese vehicles and weapons (e.g. a Scout car 95, a twin 25mm AA gun and mount) were also restored at the Depot for future Allied evaluation.
American drainage of the site led to water pouring across Coopers Camp Road and the flooding together with constant usage by US Army trucks led to scouring and deterioration of this road. On 2 July 1945, the Brisbane City Council demanded that the Commonwealth cover the cost of the local road repairs. The Americans frequented the local dances held at the Coopers Plains Hall (built 1924) that was situated in Rookwood Street.
On 21 May 1943, the Commonwealth sought to buy rather to continue to lease the site. Price negotiations with the owners lasted two years and the site was finally gazetted as Commonwealth property on 3 May 1945. Each property owner was paid £285 for each block of land acquired. After the war, it became an Australian army depot. The Depot was sold and demolished in the 1980s.
","Coopers Plains Local History Group, A Closer Look at Coopers Plains, (Brisbane: Coopers Plains Local History Group, February 1993).
Roger R. Marks Brisbane WW2 V Now - Book 15 ""Coopers Plains Ordnance Depot"".
National Archives
Sunnybank Historical Committee, Local Areas of Folk History - Coopers Plains-Sunnybank-Runcorn-Kuraby-Eight Mile Plains, (Brisbane: Sunnybank Historical Committee, 199?)
" 574,"101st Aust Convalescent Hospital/Depot (part of 10th Aust Camp Hospital)","Loreto Convent","Medical facility","427 Cavendish Road",Coorparoo,4151,Brisbane City,-27.5095081329346,153.063842773437,"As the war progressed the requirement for hospitals to care for wounded necessitated the use of facilities converted for the purpose.
","The Catholic girls boarding school, Loreto College, was opened in January 1928, and a new school building was erected in 1931. In 1942 the Australian Army commandeered Loreto Convent as the 101st Australian Convalescent Hospital and the Loreto sisters, with their students, were temporarily evacuated to Glen Innes until the end of the war. The 101st was associated with the 10th Australian Camp Hospital located nearby.
", 578,"10th Australian Camp Hospital","'Erica' (residence of Edith Marion Lahey); St Xavier's Hospital and Special School; Currently Community Centre, The Village Retirement Facility","Medical facility","39 Beresford Terrace",Coorparoo,4151,Brisbane City,-27.5070266723633,153.064529418945,"The large and impressive home 'Erica', was utilised by the Australian Army as the 10th Australian Camp Hospital during the war. Linked to the 101st Australian Convalescent Depot at Loreto Convent nearby, the home had been owned by thetimber merchant family ofIsaiah and Edith Lahey.
","Bought from Thomas Mulhall King, who held the positions of Collector of Customs in Queensland from 1882; Chief Inspector of Distilleries; Member of the Immigration Board, and eventually Auditor General. The Lahey family made some alterations to the property, includuing down-sizing the land area.
During the war, the property was requisitioned by the army and utilised throughout.
In 1947, Mrs Lahey sold Erica to the Catholic Church, who established the Xavier Home for Crippled Children. It seems likely that the labyrinth of ramps, shown on the northern side of the house in Council drawings, were constructed at this time. The Church has owned and developed the site until the present, accommodating hospital, aged care and residential facilities. During this period, Erica has been altered, particularly cosmetically with the addition of a brick veneer. Most recently, it has been the home of the Sisters of the Franciscan Missionary of Mary.
The house is currently being restored and will become the community centre for The Village at Coorparoo, a retirement facility.
Further contributions would be appreciated: heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","Moreton
Island developed into the major component of the World War Two coastal defences of Brisbane. In 1939, the island had just the Cowan Battery, one of only two forts protecting Brisbane. During the war, the island was the Examination Battery and War Signal Station for the port of Brisbane. It was reinforced with a second battery of coastal guns, an army battalion and an armed RAN auxiliary warship. The island also utilised the services of the CCC, the VDC and three separate RAN Station units that controlled a variety of Moreton Bay defences, including minefields, submarine indicator loops and Asdic Detectors.
","Moreton
Island shields the northern entrance to Moreton Bay. Three major shipping channels that lead to the mouth of the Brisbane River and onto the port of Brisbane run past the island - North West Channel, North East Channel and South Passage.
In 1938, a battery of two 6-inch Mk II coastal guns mounted on PV1A carriages and supported by two 90 cm searchlights were emplaced on the Moreton Bay side of the island. The Cowan Battery was constructed with reinforced concrete. The ammunition magazines were built to the rear of each gun platform. Side blast walls and a concrete roof were added later. Concreted battery observation and command posts, gun stores, engine house and searchlight emplacements were built. The barracks, orderly rooms, latrines, ablution huts, casualty dressing station, operating ward and post office were of timber and corrugated iron.
At the outbreak of war in 1939, the 2/2nd Garrison Battalion sent troops to defend Cowan Battery. The island's commandant was the battalion's commander Lieutenant Colonel Lamb. Lamb had no operational control of the battery. Major Rodney Morrell (Royal Australian Artillery) was the battery commander. Cowan Battery was declared the Examination Battery for the port of Brisbane On 2 September 1939, the tug HMAS Otter (271 tons) was requisitioned and sent to Cowan Battery as the examination vessel. The old (1882) Otter was paid off on 20 December 1940 and replaced with other requisitioned Brisbane vessels. The Port War Signal Station was initially established at the Cowan Battery but it was moved to Caloundra in 1942.
By January 1942, an (World War One era) 18-pounder field gun plus a 2-pounder anti-tank gun were put at Honeymoon Bay and weapons pits dug by the 2/2nd Garrison Battalion. These were Moreton Island's beach defences to meet any Japanese amphibious assault. On 4 March 1942, due to a mix-up of naval code signals, Fort Cowan fired a warning shot at the auxiliary minesweeper HMAS Tamar (456 tons). The shell was meant pass across the bow but it hit Tamar. Two sailors were killed while a third died at Greenslopes 112th Army General Hospital. After repairs, Tamar was converted to an auxiliary boom defence vessel.
A submarine indicator loop (cable) was laid between Comboyuro on Moreton Island and Woorim on Bribie Island by mid-November 1942. To control the indicator loop off Moreton Island, RAN Station No.7 was based at Comboyuro. In late 1942, three harbour defence Asdic Detectors were placed to the south of the indicator loops. The Asdics gave an underwater supersonic bearing for a range of one mile on approaching vessels and was more accurate than the indicator loops. RAN Station No.2 at Tangalooma on Moreton Island controlled the Asdics as well as acting as the mine de-gaussing station for the port of Brisbane.
During 1942, minefields were laid in the main Moreton Bay shipping lane at three locations - off Cowan Cowan Point and in Pearl and the North West Channels. The minefields were laid on the seabed, in rows of four and were wired to a BOP of a main control station. RAN Station No.3 was established near Fort Cowan to control the Moreton Bay minefields. While the RAN manned the underground control bunker and maintained the minefields, it was the responsibility of the Cowan Battery commander to fire any mines.
Japanese submarine activity off Brisbane was first reported on 24 March 1942, when a RAAF No.23 Squadron Wirraway from Archerfield dropped two bombs on a submarine off Stradbroke Island. The passenger ship Canberra reported the sighting of Japanese submarine I-29 off Moreton Island on 4 June 1942. On 8 March 1943, the corvette HMAS Wagga (2,000 tons) depth-charged a submarine off Southport. The decision was made to emplace another battery on the Pacific Ocean side of Moreton Island to cover the South Passage. Construction commenced around February 1943 at Toompani Beach. The Civil Construction Corps (CCC) bulldozed the 'Tangalooma Track' across the island to the Beach and established a temporary onsite work camp. The gun and searchlight emplacements, magazines, underground plotting room, battery observation post (BOP) and water tank of the Rous Battery were nearly completed when the 'O' Heavy Battery unit under Major R.K. Fullford arrived in March.
'O' Battery built a camp behind the hilltop BOP. It comprised tents and a corrugated iron kitchen hut. The gunners also laid telephone lines and made their tents more comfortable through the use of local bush timber. Lieutenant Ward, the duty officer for the gun-less Rous Battery saw a glow on the eastern horizon on 14 May 1943 that came from the sinking of the hospital ship Centuar by the submarine I-177. Two 155 mm M1918A1 guns with two 150 cm Sperry searchlights with electric/petrol generators finally reached the island in June and were emplaced by July. Rous Battery had mainly US equipment of a plotting table, two Azimuth instruments (observation & tracking) plus a British Mk V depression range finder. The 2/2nd Garrison Battalion again provided beach defences, while camouflage and several light machine guns comprised the anti-aircraft measures. In August 1943, 'O' Battery was withdrawn and replaced by 'G' Heavy Battery. That same year, Volunteer Defence Corps members began to replace the RAA gunners manning Cowan Battery.
In late 1942, construction of a submarine barrier blocking Rous Channel between Reeder's Point on Moreton Island and Amity Point on Stradbroke Island began. The barrier comprised 3-foot squares of steel wire mesh hung between groups of timber dolphins. The tidal race in the Rous Channel severely hampered work and the barrier was not finished until 1945.
At the end of the war, Rous Battery, the minefields, indicator loops and submarine barrier were removed. Cowan Battery was disarmed in 1955.
","National Archives of Australia - Series, J3024, AWM52, MP729/6, Mp150/1
Dunn, P. Cowan Battery, at Cowan Cowan, Moreton Island Australia @ War website.
" 580,"Inland Defence Road Bridges",,"Civil defence facility","Defence Road (between Cracow?and Camboon)",Cracow,4719,Fitzroy-Mackay,-25.2986183166504,150.431076049805,"The Inland Defence Road between Ipswich and Charters Towers, via Blackbutt, Nanango, Gayndah, Eidsvold, Banana and Clermont, was built by civilian labour during 1942–1943. Some of the work was also done by Queensland Italian and Albanian internees who had been rounded up as ""enemy aliens"".
The internees worked on a section of the Inland Defence Road between Eidsvold and Banana. This 68km section branches off from the Eidsvold-Theodore Road, about 15km east of Cracow, and heads north and then northwest before joining the Leichardt Highway northeast of Theodore.
Twelve bridges (four still in use) were constructed on this section. The bridges are timber or composite girder bridges, most with stone abutments (loose or set in cement), some with piers of stone set in cement. There is also a 50m causeway (concrete and stone set in cement) and culvert 4.5 km north of the Eidsvold-Theodore Road.
The bridge at Grants Gully, (10.4km north of the Eidsvold-Theodore Road), has cemented stone abutments and a cemented stone central pier with concrete capping. The timber components are recent, and the bridge is still used.
The Cracow Creek Bridge, (11.5km north), is approximately 30m long with two piers of stone set in cement with concrete capping. There are cemented stone abutments at both ends. On the western side the timber decking has been reduced in width. The bridge is no longer used. However, a bridge over Delusion Creek, (28km north), with cemented stone abutments, three piers of cemented stone and one pier of timber, is still in use.
","At least five of twelve bridges on a section of the Inland Defence Road between Eidsvold and Banana were built by Italian and Albanian internees in 1942–1943, as part of the effort to provide an inland road link to North Queensland during World War II.
The Inland Defence Road was proposed prior to World War II and was built or upgraded (sections pre-dated the war) during 1942 and early 1943. It ran north from Ipswich via Esk, Blackbutt, Nanango, Goomeri, Gayndah, Eidsvold, Banana, Duaringa and Clermont, and was designed as an alternative route for military supplies if the coastal route was cut by enemy action. The New South Wales Department of Main Roads was responsible for the Duaringa to Charters Towers section, while the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) was responsible for the Ipswich to Duaringa section.
During the 1930s road construction had provided relief for the unemployed. However, by 1942 the enlistment of men in the armed services created a shortage of labour. A solution was the employment of ""enemy aliens"" (residents of Australia who were not citizens and whose country of origin was at war with Australia). In early 1942 a round-up of enemy aliens occurred on the North Queensland coast, which was considered to be in danger of Japanese attack. Interned Italians and Albanians were then put to work on the Inland Defence Road. On a heavy rock section at Camboon 120 non-refugee enemy aliens were employed, initially under a military guard which was soon taken away.
The Ipswich to Duaringa section of the Inland Defence Road required many new bridges to accommodate heavy military traffic. Complete bridge gangs were brought from north and southern Queensland, with 155 men employed on bridge work at the peak of construction. The internees also worked on the bridges, as the work by the ""aliens"" on five bridges near Camboon was recognised by the Main Road Commission as 'remarkable for the fine workmanship shown in masonry piers and abutments'.
Work on five A class composite bridges was approved in April 1942 by the Commissioner for Main Roads, to be carried out by day labour under the Army Defence Road Scheme. In April 1942 nine men were required for work on Boam Creek bridge, which by September had excavations taken out for abutments and cylinders in place for founding concrete piers, one of which was completed. By September 1942 Cracow Creek bridge had piers completed and one span of girders in place. Horse Gully (Horse Creek) bridge was trafficable on 17 January 1943.
In late 1943 most Italian internees were released to return to their farms to assist food production or to continue working in the Civil Alien Corps (for male refugee aliens or enemy aliens), formally established by the Allied Works Council in early 1943.
","36pt;text-indent:-36pt
Defence Road Bridges, Reported Place 30169, DERM
Camboon Defence Road and stone culvert (Banana Road), Reported Place 25059, DERM
Queensland Main Roads Commission, 1949. The history of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C., United States Department of the Army.
Defence Road and Associated Infrastructure
Google Earth
Google Maps
(The five bridges on the Defence Road between Theodore and Camboon are timber girder bridges, four with stone pitched or rubble abutments. The girders are round logs. The bridges have five girders between the kerbs. All conform to the Queensland standards.)
" 583,"Camp Darra","Darra USAAF and RAN Ordnance Ammunition Depot","Ammunition facility","Freeman?and Government Roads",Darra,4076,Brisbane City,-27.5903263092041,152.962631225586,"The USAFIA Ordnance had established its Base 3 in Brisbane by March 1942. Like the other Ordnance bases across Australia, Base 3 was a service command and communication zone, and 'received, assembled, and forwarded all U.S. troops and supplies, and operated ports and military installations.'
","When the US 41st Division arrived in Melbourne in early April 1942, the 55th Ordnance Ammunition Company was sent on to Brisbane. In line with the ordnance supply plan it established an ammunition depot in the western district of Base 3, choosing Darra as a suitable location. The 55th at Darra operated with around 50 civilian mounted guards and a similar number of civilian labourers. Although the main function of this depot was to store ammunition for both the US Army and the Army Air Force, it also was the storage area for general ordnance supplies until August 1942.
As the New Guinea campaign was enlarged, Brisbane was designated the main base of supply. A new ordnance Service Centre was established at Coopers Plains for general supplies and Darra depot was enlarged to deal specifically with ammunition.
Around 1943 the 636th Ammunition Ordnance Company was also based at the Darra depot, though some of the company had moved forward to Milne Bay by July 1943. For a short time the 577th Ammunition Ordnance Company, which arrived in Brisbane in June 1943, was also camped at Darra before it was shipped north, returning later in the year to Camp Oxley and work at the Darra depot.
Bulk supplies of chemical weapons brought into Australian by US Army forces were stored at Darra, as well as at Kane Ammunition Depot in Geelong, Victoria. By the end of 1943 the darra storage yards had been enlarged and is recorded as holding 'nearly 435 tons of bulk agents, nearly 90,000 artillery rounds, a small supply of toxic smoke candles, and empty bombs, spray tanks, and land mines.' Some of those agents included mustard gas and lewisite (both skin irritants), tear gas, a nose irritant known as DM, and a stockpile of howitzer shells containing a blister gas. The site experienced at least one recorded gas leak and decontamination.
The US Army vacated Darra in November 1945. About 8000 tons of the chemical weapons and an unknown quantity of ordinary ammunition from US stores at Darra was dumped off Cape Moreton, beyond the 100 fathom line. Some chemical weapons were also buried on site. It was not until 1956 that Darra was cleared of buried chemical weapons, including mustard and tear gas, lewisite, and other experimental compounds. About seven tons of soil was reportedly removed from the former depot.
The Royal Australian Navy used part of the site for storage of munitions after the US forces left.
","Dunn, P. 'The Small Arms Renovation Plant at Ellen Grove' Australia @ War
Geoff Plunkett, 'Chemical warfare in Australia'. Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007.
Lida Mayo, The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead And Battlefront United States Army In World War II, Center Of Military History United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1991 first Printed 1968
B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
Vicki Mynott, World War Two Stories From Brisbane's South West: Richlands, Darra, Wacol, Goodna and Oxley, Richlands, Inala and Suburbs History Group Inc, 2006.
" 585,"Camp Wallaroo and Ordnance Dumps","Duaringa State Forest","Military camp","Duaringa State Forest",Duaringa,4712,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.6318397521973,149.539184570313,"Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division arrived in Rockhampton in July 1942 and was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton, and the 24th Infantry Division arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943 and was accommodated in Camp Caves. Both divisions were part of the US I (1st) Corps under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, his headquarters having arrived in Rockhampton in August 1942.
An ordnance dump was located inland from Rockhampton, north of the Central Railway line, to the east of Duaringa near Wallaroo. The land for the camp site and motor pool (Area 'A', located north of the Capricorn Highway, to the east of Wabbler Road) and the northern ordnance dump (Area 'B', located about 5 km northwest of Area 'A') was acquired in July 1942, while the land for the southern ordnance dump (Area 'C', located north of the Capricorn Highway, about 4km west of Wabbler Road) was acquired in December 1942. The last unit in occupation was the 636 Ordnance Company, an African-American unit, and all areas were vacated 1 January 1944.
Buildings in the camp area included a mess kitchen, bathhouse, recreation building, administration building, two water tanks and 4 latrines. Construction was carried out by the Public Works Department, RL Schofield and troop labour. A 108′ (33m) high timber fire watch tower was constructed by the Public Works Department just northwest of Area 'B'.
",,"Duaringa State Forest WWII camp-post and wire near 1943 tower"", Reported Place 23997, DERM.
""Duaringa State Forest WWII camp-radio/lookout tower footings with names and date 1943,"" Reported Place 23998, DERM.
""Duaringa State Forest WWII camp-track past 1943 tower footings"", Reported Place 23999, DERM.
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V – South-West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI – The New Guinea Offensives.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, various items, control symbols MAP 51, MAP 52, and MAP 133.
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
Dunn, P. African-American soldiers in Australia during WW2
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
Google Earth
Google Maps
Names in footings: 'J.W. McKinlay April 1943 Comet'; 'N. Hornsby[?] Mackay'; 'A. Thomas'; 'R. Kead service Mackay'; 'G.D. Saith'; 'R. Keanne, Sarina 9/4/43', 'Sid Easton, Brisbane April 1943'; 'L. Lowall[?]; 'W.T. Brown MW.3UR[?]; 'G.D. Smith, Mackay'.
" 586,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 27 Radar Station","Dunk Island, Family Islands National Park","Radar/signal station","Mount Kootaloo",Dunk Island,4852,North and Cape York,-17.9315929412842,146.149230957031,"RAAF 27 Radar Station was formed in Townsville in October 1942 and the unit moved to the Barrier Reef resort on Dunk Island in November. Today the spindle, cog wheels and turntable for the antenna turning mechanism of an Australian AW Mk I assembly is all that remains of RAAF No. 27 Radar Station, erected in 1942 on Mount Kootaloo at Dunk Island.
","Radar was a most secret technology during World War II. It had been developed in Britain prior to the war and the details were shared with Australia and other commonwealth countries. Delays in acquiring British radar equipment, due to the demands of the Battle of Britain, spurred an innovative period of radar development by Australian scientists at the Radiophysics Laboratory (RPL) of the University of Sydney during 1941.
As the war with Japan approached, there were in Sydney two very important manufacturers with the expertise to produce specialised radar equipment, namely HMV (His Master's Voice) and the New South Wales Government Railway Workshop. These two organisations were capable of producing air warning (AW) equipment, particularly the RPL-designed transmitter/receivers and aerials.
On news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, scientists at RPL began building an AW radar set by modifying the electronics of an experimental coast defence radar developed by the army. The rough but effective AW set was completed in a week and provided Sydney's first air warning system. The Australian-designed AW Mk I radar was developed from this.
The men camped at Brammo Bay in sleeping quarters which were previously part of the island's first resort, built on the site of the original beachfront bungalow of the writer, naturalist and recluse, Edmund Banfield-Dunk Island's most famous resident.
Site preparations continued at Dunk Island before the radar unit could carry out its assigned tasks, with Cardwell Shire Council being called upon to construct a power station. Once operational the unit employed two substantial diesel generators, both of which would have been capable of supplying most of the power needs for the nearby town of Tully. The station equipment and facilities were very effectively camouflaged and were difficult to locate from the air.
The radar station became operational on 9 November 1942, but it could not commence full operations until radio communications were established with RAAF 9 Mobile Fighter Sector at Cairns. This was overcome by Christmas Day 1942 when the station commenced operating around the clock, seven days a week. By this time the unit strength stood at one officer and 26 airmen. To reach the mountain-top radar station from their camp on the beach, the men had to walk up a steep and narrow winding track. Personnel were unable to use the path at night, therefore the midnight to 8am shift had to reach the radar before dark and sleep in a tent alongside until their shift commenced, when their beds were taken over by the shift coming off duty.
A short grass airfield had been privately cleared at Brammo Bay by 1939, and the strip was licensed by the Department of Civil Aviation by March 1941. However, during the war it was normally only used for emergencies or urgent operational requests. Australian and US warships operating in the Coral Sea used the sheltered waters of the Family Group of islands to replenish supplies from the mainland and from other vessels including fleet oilers.
As the war moved further north 27 Radar Station's activities became more routine and on 12 September 1945 the unit officially ceased operations. By mid-October the majority of the equipment had been moved off the mountain although the more difficult pieces were left behind and remain there today. By the end of October the unit had departed from Dunk Island and was finally disbanded in December 1945.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
PG Smith, Wing Commander, RAAF, Radar Station Dunk Island 1942–1945, Copy of letter in possession of Queensland National Parks office, Cardwell.
" 591,"Camp Seabee","USN Advanced Base Construction Depot","Military camp","104 Lavarack Avenue",Eagle Farm,4009,Brisbane City,-27.4303913116455,153.100524902344,"Most of the early construction of buildings, etc. required by the United States Navy in Brisbane during WWII was prefabricated by US Naval Construction Battalions. The officer and enlisted personnel of the average construction battalion approximated eleven hundred men, and it was therefore necessary to construct a camp of sufficient size to accommodate all the men of the battalion and any additional men sent to Brisbane to the Construction Battalion Receiving and Staging Camp. The Advance Construction Depot was established by direction of Commander Seventh Fleet.
","The 55th Naval Construction Battalion (NCB) was the first battalion to arrive in Brisbane and it was temporarily quartered by the US Army until the completion of Camp Seabee. Camp Seabee was occupied by the US Navy from 23 March, 1943 to 7 August 1945.
The 55th NCB was followed by the 84th NCB, then by the 564th Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit, and later by the 77th NCB. The 77th NCB was used to complete some of the larger activities. The Advanced Base Construction Depot adjoined Camp Seabee and was operated by construction battalion personnel from 23 March 1943 to 16 October 1945.
The property was returned to Australian Army Hirings Service after the US Navy vacated the property. Camp Seabee was immediately occupied by the Royal Navy, and the Advanced Base Construction Depot was occupied by the Australian Military Forces.
","USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section 1946 report; The 55th Seabees 1942–45
The 55 Seabees 1942–1945., US Naval Construction Battalion 55, c1945.
'Mobster' Newsletter of US Fleet Hospital Number 109, Issues Vol 1 No - April 15 1944; Vol 1 No 12, August 15, 1944; Vol 1 No 14 September 15 1944; downloaded from HyperWar: Building the Navy's Bases in World War II
" 593,"Eagle Farm Airfield","USAAF Camp Eagle Farm/RAAF Relief Landing Ground","Airfield","Lamington Avenue",Eagle Farm,4009,Brisbane City,-27.4195289611816,153.097549438477,"Even before the entry of the United States into the war, the water-logged Eagle Farm airfield was being considered for use as a 'Relief Landing Ground' for RAAF pilots training at Archerfield Aerodrome. After Pearl Harbour, and the diversion to Australia of the US convoys destined for the Philippines, Eagle Farm was earmarked as a major US aircraft assembly field from which crated aircraft would be assembled and flown elsewhere.
","The US 5th Air Force took control of the site, and the 81st Air Depot Group consisting of Headquarters and the 81st Supply Squadron was established in Brisbane in May 1942.
The boggy nature of the ground led to considerable fill being trucked during early 1942 to allow construction of the much needed runways. Hangar construction and hardstands for aircraft were also built. Some work was undertaken by the Department of the Interior, then after the formation of the Allied Works Council the labour was undertaken by the Civil Construction Corps. Most of the timber arch hangar construction was undertaken by civilian contractors, most notably MR Hornibrook
A squadron of P39 Air Cobras flew into Eagle Farm in late March 1942, by which time US and Australian anti-aircraft batteries—most likely the 94 CA (AA)—and searchlight units were being distributed in areas surrounding the airfield. The Australian 56 AA Battalion Searchlight Unit were placed east of Schnieder Rd.
Work at Eagle Farm Repair Section of the 81st was initially undertaken by the 38 Bomb Squadron—moved from Amberley—until the 81st Repair Squadron arrived from Tocumwal in August 1942. One of the more important tasks undertaken by the 81 RP was by its ordnance section who were responsible for improving the bomb-rack, and designing and installing nose and side gun installations on the B-25Cs. These B25s were used successfully during the battle of the Bismark sea. The repair squadron worked on A-24, P-40, P39, B-26 and A-20As as well as the B25s. A small number of troop-carrying gliders were also erected at Eagle Farm. 81Repair Squadron grew to almost 900 personnel by 1944.
Headquarters Squadron of the 81ADG included many sections such as medical, transportation, photographic, chemical, operations and flights, finance, ordnance, statistical and historian department. By 1943 aircraft were being assembled for use in the New Guinea campaign, and pilots were test-flying a range of aircraft being assembled there including P38s, P39s, P40s and P47s. Allison test stands for aircraft engines were erected on the site in 1942. The first P-38 assembled on the field was flown in August 1942.
An air traffic control tower was not erected until early 1943 and runway lights were operational by March of that year. Captured enemy aircraft were also shipped to Eagle Farm, where in Hangar No 7 the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit began the long process of identifying and ultimately rebuilding and flying Japanese aircraft.
In April 1944 the 81st ADG was moved forward to New Guinea and Eagle Farm airfield as occupied by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The RAAF had a Services Canteen and a warehouse for storing radar equipment located along Links Avenue.
While much of the wartime construction undertaken for the USAAF has disappeared as Eagle Farm developed post-war into Brisbane's domestic and international airport, three significant World War II structures remain. These are Aircraft Hangar No.1 at 104 Lamington Avenue, the Allison Testing Stands used for USAAF engines at 116 Lamington Avenue and the Aircraft Hangar No. 7 at 104 Lavarack Avenue.
","Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2, R & J Marks, Brisbane, 1994
Margaret Pullar, Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland, NTQ Report, Brisbane, 1997
81st ADG, 'There will always be an 81st', Smith & Paterson Pty Ltd, Brisbane, 1943
BCC Minutes July 1944 to June 1945
" 595,"Ford Motor Factory","No.3 BSD (RAAF)","Workshop","31 Schneider Road",Eagle Farm,4009,Brisbane City,-27.4294834136963,153.089477539062,"The Ford Motor Company of Australia, a subsidiary company of Ford Canada, established a motor vehicle assembly plant at Eagle Farm in 1926. The site had ready access to road, railway, and shipping facilities on the river. The factory played an important manufacturing role during WWII constructing a range of products and parts for the military forces of both Australia and the United States.
","The Ford Motor Company played a significant role in the industrial contribution made by Brisbane factories during the World War II. The Brisbane Assembling Works, as its name implies, was built for the assembly of car bodies and imported engines (sent from Britain and Canada).
The factory was utilised for the production of various vehicle parts for Ford vehicles used by the US and Australian military forces. In addition its valuable production capabilities could be turned to other tasks such. The factory layout, with no internal wall partions, gave a continuous large open space for the manufacture and assembly of equipment and vehicles. The factory's location also allowed manufactured items to be easily transported to the various military assembly works. In particular the Ford factory manufactured long range fuel tanks for United States aircraft.
In January 1942, part of the Ford Factory site was taken over by Number (No.) 3 Stores Depot (RAAF) for the purpose of construction additional stores (warehouses) and offices for this unit.
The Australian Army operated landing craft in New Guinea, and because of a pressing need for craft, designed its own variants. Initial versions of the Australian Landing Craft Vehicle (ALCV) were built on the Brisbane river by Army and Ford Motor Company personnel. These were quite small craft with the load capacity of no more than 5 tons. Steel used in the production of the Australian Army landing craft was initially fabricated at the Ford factory and assembled at Pinkenba. However, by the end of 1942 a larger version, the ALCVII, was being assembled. The landing craft were powered by Ford V8 Mercury petrol engines. An even larger Australian Landing Craft Mechanized (ALCM), with a 15 ton capacity was developed and manufactured by Ford. The manufacture of a more useful 40 ton landing craft, the four-engined ALCV III also began in 1943.
","http://www.defence.gov.au/Army/AHU/docs/The_Foundations_of_Victory_Mallett.pdf
McNicoll, Ronald Making and Breaking: The Royal Australian Engineers 1902 to 1919. Royal Australian Engineers, 1979.
Mellor, D.P. Volume V - The Role of Science and Industry. Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Four (Civil). Canberra: Australian War Memorial,1958.
" 596,"Eagle Farm Railway Loop","No.3 Base Ordnance Depot Loop","Supply facility","Soutter Street",Eagle Farm,4009,Brisbane City,-27.425121307373,153.120666503906,"The Eagle Farm Rail Loop was built for military purposes in 1943 as a limited extension to the Pinkenba line. It provided a rail supply connection to the Allied supply bases that had been established at Meeandah and Pinkenba.
","Before World War Two, the Meeandah Station was the passenger terminus for the Pinkenba line. Beyond Meeandah the rail line handled only commercial traffic that ran to the Pinkenba wharves. In 1943, a rail loop situated further east of Meeandah Station was built at Eagle Farm by the Queensland Government's Railways Department for the RAAF. The new track crossed Eagle Farm Road (now Kingsford Smith Drive) necessitating the construction of a level crossing.
The rail loop was built to service the new military supply bases that had been established close to the Pinkenba wharves. In particular, the loop was provided with an extension that led to a dead end that became the siding for the Australian Army's No.3 Base Ordnance Depot. The loop was also by the US Army Service of Supply that had established a large supply base designated the US Army Meeandah General Depot.
To ensure that there were no delays in loading and unloading of military supplies, a stop signal was provided so that supply trains could shunt during daylight from Whinstanes Station to the rail loop, without the need for rail staff to be placed on an engine.
","NA file
" 605,"East Brisbane Public Cantilever Shelter (Rotary Park)","Rotary Park","Civil defence facility","66 Fisher Street, Rotary Park",East Brisbane,4169,Brisbane City,-27.4898586273193,153.042922973633,,,"BCC list
" 610,"RAN Fuel Installation","Tanks Art Centre","Supply facility","Collins Avenue",Edge Hill,4870,Cairns,-16.8984909057617,145.753707885742,"The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) fuel installation at Edge Hill was constructed in 1943 in response to the increased military presence in Cairns associated with the Pacific war effort. The installation once comprised five large fuel storage tanks (Tanks 1-2 in steel, 3-5 in concrete) earth and concrete bunds around the tanks, two pump houses, two foam tanks, a fire station (garage) and an underground pipeline from the tanks to Cairns wharves. Tank 1 and the fire station have since been demolished.
The former fuel installation is located 5 kilometres north of the original port of Cairns, built into the southern side of Mt Islay. Tank 2, a pump house, a concrete bund and remnants of the walls of Tank 1 are located north of Collins Avenue near the eastern entrance to the Flecker Botanical Gardens. A foam tank, of pressed metal with a flat galvanised iron roof, is located opposite on the south side of Collins Avenue. Tanks 3, 4 and 5 are located north of Collins Avenue approximately 500 metres to the west and have been adaptively re-used as the Tanks Arts Centre. Nearby are a 1.5m high concrete bund, a foam tank and a pump house.
","Due to shipping congestion at Townsville (US Base Section Two) facilities were required to support an increased naval presence in Cairns. Two RAN staff visited Cairns in late 1942 and approved a fuel installation site at Edge Hill that could be camouflaged from the air and would be difficult for enemy aircraft to attack. It was also sufficiently distant from the wharf precinct to be of little danger to the port if it was hit.
The site chosen was on the southern slopes of the Mt Whitfield Range (Mt Islay). Part of the site was located within a quarry reserve, part within a recreation reserve (R.267 - now known as Flecker Botanical Gardens) and part on a disused railway reserve. Three large concrete 1,250,000 gallon (5682613 litre) tanks and two large steel fuel tanks of the same capacity were built and commissioned for use by the RAN and the USN in 1943. Up to eight tanks were planned but only five were constructed, by the Allied Works Council.
The first two tanks were built on the former railway reserve on the north side of Collins Avenue. Tank 2 was built on the former railway alignment, while Tank 1 was constructed on the site of the former Edge Hill Railway Station. Because these tanks were intended to hold diesel oil and distillate oil they were constructed in plate steel. Adjacent to tanks 1 and 2 a small pump house was constructed and an underground fuel pipeline was laid from the pump house along the former Cairns-Herberton railway embankment and under the streets of North Cairns to Trinity Wharf. South of Collins Avenue, opposite Tanks 1 and 2 and on the former railway alignment, a fire station (garage) and foam tank were constructed.
Tanks 3-5 were sited further west, on the former quarry. Existing mature trees and the topography could be capitalised on to camouflage these three tanks, whereas Tanks 1 and 2 relied on heavy steel cables and netting material as camouflage.
Because tanks 3-5 were intended for the storage of Naval furnace oil they were constructed in reinforced concrete. This was hand-poured by a team of contractors from Melbourne, with some workers inscribing their names in the concrete bunds surrounding the tanks. A second pump house was constructed adjacent to tanks 3-5, and an underground fuel pipeline was laid from this pump house south east across the adjacent recreation reserve to join the pipeline from tanks 1 and 2 along the disused railway embankment. The former fuel pipeline still runs under north Cairns.
In March 1944 the Commonwealth government requisitioned part of the quarry reserve above tanks 3-5 to establish an observation and communications post for the protection of the fuel storage tanks below. After the war the Commonwealth removed the structures associated with the observation post, but decided to retain the fuel storage tanks.
The tanks continued to be used for fuel storage by the Australian Navy and private fuel companies. Tank 1 was leased to Caltex from 1957 and the Australian Meat and Grazing Company leased tank 2 from November 1958, to store molasses.
Tank 4 became inoperable in 1976 when it began leaking crude oil. Caltex continued use of at least one of the tanks until 1983 and the Australian Navy used the remainder until 1987. In 1991 Cairns City Council purchased all 5 tanks, but not the pipeline, from the Commonwealth, and the land was transferred to the Council. In 1995 tanks 3-5 were refurbished as the Tanks Arts Centre, hosting art exhibitions, performing artists, children's workshops and markets. The fire station south of Collins Avenue was demolished in 2006, and most of Tank 1 was demolished circa 2007.
","WWII RAN Fuel Installation. Queensland Heritage Register 602605.
National Archives of Australia, ST151. Cairns - Naval oil tanks. 1943
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Joint Committee on War Expenditure, Seventh Progress Report, Defence Construction in Queensland and Northern Territory, 27 November 1944. Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra 1944.
Google Maps
" 615,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Landing Ground, Carpentaria Downs","Carpentaria Downs Station","Airfield","Gregory Developmental Road, Carpentaria Downs Station",Einasleigh,4816,North and Cape York,-18.8147945404053,144.391098022461,"An inspection of the Einasleigh district by engineers of the Main Roads Commission (MRC) and the Department of Interior was carried out in early May 1942 to determine possible sites for strategic airstrips on the Forsayth railway west of Cairns. Work commenced on the clearing of strips on Prestwood and Carpentaria Downs cattle stations. However, while Carpentaria Downs was developed more than Prestwood, both were incorporated into post-war road construction.
","The original intention was that Carpentaria Downs should serve as a US 'Operational Base-Bombardment Field-Parent'. By early July 1942 the main strip and several dispersal bays had been gravelled and were ready for use. Operational and camp buildings were erected on a nearby ridge. However, by December US Forces in Australia had abandoned plans for the use of the base and all work had stopped.
After the war the Department of Civil Aviation decided that the southern-most (42°) runway should be used as an emergency landing ground for aircraft flying between Townsville and Normanton and Etheridge Shire Council upgraded the strip in the 1960s to cater for mining exploration activity. However, it received little use and is now overgrown. The main northern-most (110°) runway and a connecting taxiway have since been utilised as part of the Gregory Developmental Road.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
" 618,"Enoggera Army Camp and Barracks","Gallipoli Barracks/Enoggera Military Area","Military camp","300 Samford Road",Enoggera,4051,Greater Brisbane,-27.4273662567139,152.978622436523,"Enoggera Army Camp was Brisbane's largest established permanent military camp prior to World War Two. As such, it role in the early stages of the war was to train and equip state militia units; and then Queensland volunteers for the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) that was being raised for overseas service. Throughout the war, it operated as a training camp run by Queensland's Northern Command, with a variety of specialist Army courses run by units based at Enoggera. It also had a unique Captured Equipment Depot that stored and assessed Japanese military hardware.
","At Federation in 1901, the Commonwealth took responsibility for Queensland's defences. In 1908, the Commonwealth bought 1,235 acres of land at Enoggera, then an outer and largely undeveloped part of Brisbane. That year, a rifle range was established. This was followed by the School of Musketry instruction building, a small-arms store plus two cordite [artillery] magazines (1910–11), a laboratory (1912), four small-arms ammunition magazines plus an Australian Light Horse Remount Depot (1913), a fifth small-arms ammunition magazine (1914–15), an Officers' Quarters (1915), a hospital complex including a gymnasium (1916) and a Royal Australian Field Ambulance (RAFA) administration building (1917). The majority of buildings were built of brick to denote their permanency. A concrete sixth small-arms ammunition magazine was added in 1926. The building complex with its pathways was known as Enoggera Army Camp while the open space training fields were known as the Enoggera Military Area. The railway reached Rifle Range (Gaythorne) in 1916 and a spur line was extended into the camp.
After the start of World War II, Enoggera Army Barracks housed militia units immediately called into service. It also provided training facilities for the Australian Military Forces (AMF or militia) and the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) units based at the nearby Grovely Camp. On 4 October 1940, The Telegraph reported that the 61st Battalion had marched from the Kelvin Grove Military Reserve to join the 25th, 31st and 42nd Battalions plus the Australian Army Service Corps (AASC), Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC), Field Ambulance and Brigade Signals units at Enoggera. Fresh horses were delivered to the Remount Depot for the 11th Light Horse regiment, the Field Brigade and, later, the 2/14th Light Horse regiment. A military post office was established for the official censor to examine all mail leaving the camp. Local children were paid to run errands for soldiers in camp. Children collected spent cartridges from the rifle range to sell for scrap.
The Enoggera Military Area was utilised as a training camp and later, as a staging camp for troops being transferred between units or being despatched to differing war fronts. The initial training courses covered topics that proved irrelevant in World War II, such as dealing with enemy gas attacks. In 1939, Lieutenant-Colonel R.H. Sainsbury ran a militia signals course. During late 1940, the 2/24th Brigade of the ill-fated AIF 8th Division occupied the Military Area. They lived in tents and practiced on the rifle range. Formed in July and led by Brigadier E.C.P. Plant, 2/24th Brigade comprised the 2/28th Battalion, the 2/32nd Battalion and the2/43rd Battalion. The brigade was not sent to Singapore with the 8th Division but instead was sent to Egypt in December to be part of the 9th Division AIF. Before its departure, the Governor General Lord Gowrie inspected the brigade at Enoggera Camp.
In 1941, extra Commonwealth funding was approved to expand the facilities, particularly vehicle storage, at Enoggera. The Camp hosted the Queensland Lines of Communication Area Junior Leaders School. Enoggera ran courses for non-combat, support units. In June-July 1941, a quartermaster course for NCOs was held there. A Central Cookery School operated during 1941. Soon after the outbreak of the Pacific War on 8 December 1941, all schools within a two-mile radius of the camp were temporarily closed as an air raid precaution.
By 1942, Queensland had been designated as an operational command (Northern Command) that had its headquarters at Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace. The School of Musketry became the Northern Command Training School. This instruction building was used to conduct lessons in military tactics to officers, Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and other ranks. After 1942, the 1st Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) School for NCOs was placed at Enoggera. The 6th & 7th AWAS units were billeted nearby in the requisitioned Enoggera Anglican Boys Home. The AWAS supplied drivers for supply trucks and ambulances. The women were in charge of British-made Austin ambulances. These had been brought back after heavy use in the Western Desert campaigns and the AWAS provided mechanics to overall these vehicles. The 6th AWAS unit had previously been accommodated at Costin Street, Bowen Hills and at the University of Queensland's Emmanual (womens') College at 465 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill.
The demise of horsed units as a result of mechanisation saw the Australian Light Horse Remount Depot converted into standard barracks and stores buildings. As well, a number of prefabricated' Sydney Hill' design corrugated-iron huts were quickly constructed at the barracks and put into a variety of uses. These were meant as temporary buildings and all but one were demolished post-war. By 1943, the hospital complex was designated No.3 Camp Hospital. It included an infectious disease ward. In 1945, it was renamed the 2nd Field Hospital.
Army engineers based at Enoggera built an explosives dump in the Military Area in 1943. In 1945, 7th Base Ordnance Depot (BOD) operated from the Camp. In 1944, a salvage depot (Salvage Area) had been established where damaged Army vehicles and equipment were assessed for repair or their scrap metal value. In 1945, this depot expanded as it took responsibility for housing Japanese equipment recovered from New Guinea. This was called the Captured Equipment Depot.
By war's end, Enoggera Military Camp had developed into the largest Australian Army establishment in Brisbane. The entire Military Area had been divided into nine sub-areas designated Camps A-H. The main gate was off Samford Road, with a second entrance established at Gray's Road.
","During 1942 officers of the Royal Australian Artillery Corps (RAA) inspected locations for additional coast defences in Torres Strait to support the existing Goods Island and Thursday Island (Milman Hill) batteries. Emplacement sites were selected for Turtle Battery on Hammond Island and Endeavour Battery on Entrance Island.
The original reconnaissance of Entrance Island was carried out in September 1942. Initially it had been proposed to install a battery of 155mm guns at Red Island Point on Cape York to cover the anchorage and close off Endeavour Strait. However, a decision was made to emplace a battery of 60-pounder guns on Entrance Island, which would give better coverage of the Endeavour Strait. The guns arrived on Thursday Island on 19 November 1942 and were installed on mobile mounts on the south-east coast of Entrance Island in February 1943. They became operational as Endeavour Battery in April 1943. A number of concrete building slabs and gun platforms remain visible along the south-east coast of the island.
","Construction of gun emplacements on Entrance Island began in January 1943. Initially there were to be three Breech Loading 60-pounder (127mm) heavy field guns of World War I vintage, designed about 1903. Endeavour Battery personnel, selected from Goods and Milman coast batteries, moved to Entrance Island in February 1943 and the Endeavour Battery became operational in April. During the following month the Torres Strait Fixed Defences-Heavy Artillery was renamed Coast Artillery Torres Strait. A Bofors 40mm Light Anti-Aircraft gun was emplaced at each of the Torres Strait batteries, including Endeavour, in September 1943.
An Army Appreciation of the situation at Entrance Island in November 1943, noted that the only troops on the Island were the gunners of Endeavour Battery, RAA, who had the role of covering the Endeavour Strait which would be the approach route for any Japanese attack from the west. Preparations had been made for close defence of the gun positions, but with little potential for long defence against land attack. In January 1944 a decision was taken to upgrade the guns of Endeavour Battery by replacing the three BL 60-Pdr field guns with two BL 60-Pdr Mk II guns on rubber tyre carriages. (Other sources refer to the replacements as 6-inch Mk VII naval guns). The new guns were installed in February and proof fired in April 1944.
The coast defences of Torres Strait were reviewed by the Australian Defence Committee in September 1944 and as a result it was recommended that only the 6-inch guns of Goods Battery be retained on a permanently manned basis. In October 1944 Endeavour Battery, Milman Battery on Thursday Island, King Section on Horn Island and Turtle Battery on Hammond Island were placed under care and maintenance before being withdrawn. The men of the disbanded batteries were sent to Brisbane before being reposted to other units for active duty in New Guinea and the islands.
","Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Reg A Ball, Torres Strait Force 1942 to 1945: The defence of Cape York, Torres Strait and Merauke in Dutch New Guinea, Sydney, 1996.
Graham McKenzie Smith, Australia's Forgotten Army, vol 2, ACT, 1995.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Vanessa Seekee, Horn Island 1939–1945: A record of the defence of Horn Island during World War Two, Horn Island 2002.
" 622,"Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary","RAN Vessel Mirimar II (examination and patrol vessel) berth","Recreation/community","708 Jesmond Road",Fig Tree Pocket,4069,Brisbane City,-27.5335426330566,152.968719482422,"Opened in 1927, 'Lone Pine' was a popular tourist attraction for US service personnel on leave in Brisbane. Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, visited 'Lone Pine' while touring US bases in September 1943. The Royal Australian Navy used the sanctuary's tourist boat Mirimar as an auxiliary patrol vessel.
","The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was opened in 1927. It was established in the Moggill District, on a largely undeveloped bushland peninsular formed by a U-bend in the Brisbane River. The dirt road leading to 'Lone Pine' was hilly and sometimes impassable in wet weather, thereby making car or bus trips to the koala sanctuary less desirable than arrival by boat. From 1934, 'Lone Pine' ran a tourist ferry Mirimar II from the Brisbane City wharves to a sanctuary's jetty that was constructed along the Sherwood Reach of the River. A koala 'riding' the back of a German Shepard dog greeted tourists.
By the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, it had developed into Brisbane's most popular privately owned tourist attraction and was recognised as a leader in koala research and conservation. The Mirimar II (82 tons) was requisitioned by the RAN twice during the war. From 4 September to 17 November 1939, she mounted two Vickers .303 heavy machine guns and she was used as an auxiliary examination vessel. She was returned to Lone Pine. On 26 May 1941, she was requisitioned again into the RAN on 19 August 1941. She was commissioned as a patrol vessel with four depth charge chutes added. The Commonwealth finally purchased Mirimar II from Lone Pine on 15 December 1942.
The arrival of US forces in Brisbane around Christmas 1941 boosted visitor numbers to 'Lone Pine'. With military vehicles such as jeeps and White scout cars that were designed for off-road use, American servicemen found the road to the koala sanctuary not to be a problem. With its koalas and other exotic Australian wildlife plus other attractions such as its kiosk and the Ye Olde Wishing Well, the sanctuary was a popular destination for American Servicemen and servicewomen on leave. 'Lone Pine' received world media coverage when US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited it during her visit to US troops in Brisbane on 13 September 1943.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 623,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 28 Radar Station, Fitzroy Island",,"Radar/signal station","Fitzroy Island National Park",Fitzroy Island,4871,Cairns,-16.9265804290771,145.998947143555,"Fitzroy Island in the Barrier Reef off the coast from Cairns is a popular national park and tourist destination. An Australian radar station was built on the seaward side of the island's highest point in late 1942 to monitor aircraft approaching Trinity Bay and the important harbour and port of Cairns. Today all that remains on the site are the concrete footings of the radar tower, engine mounts for a generator, and a concrete floor slab and water tank base.
","RAAF 28 Radar Station was formed at Cairns in October 1942. The unit was transferred to Fitzroy Island in December 1942 to install radio direction finding equipment, based around an Australian-built AW (air warning) Mk II radar set. The Fitzroy Island radar station was supported by RAAF 25 Operational Base Unit and 33 Zone Filter Centre at Cairns, and operated in conjunction with RAAF 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters at Townsville (3 Fighter Sector was renamed 103 Fighter Control Unit in March 1944). Construction of the radar station facilities at Fitzroy Island was undertaken by the Cairns Harbour Board.
Construction of the camp proceeded and by early 1943 RAAF 28 Radar Station was operating around the clock, except for short stoppages for overhauls, calibration and the repair of usually minor technical breakdowns. The station reported being jammed on 18 May 1943 while trying to send a message after a contact was obtained with what was thought to be a Japanese submarine on the surface. At this time Fitzroy Island was the rendezvous point for vessels from Cairns joining the twice-weekly convoys from Townsville to Port Moresby.
In June 1943 an Australian Navy (RAN) war signal station was erected on the island, and a coastal gun emplacement was constructed for the added defence of the un-mined Grafton Passage through the Barrier Reef to the port of Cairns. A lighthouse was also built on the island, using oscillating directional optical apparatus to permit night navigation of the Grafton Passage.
Operation of 28 Radar Station continued to assist navigation for Allied air traffic between Townsville and Port Moresby, particularly those aircraft lost or suffering mechanical problems. As the war front moved further north the various military facilities on Fitzroy Island were gradually closed down. In January 1945 the RAN war signal station ceased operation and the task of maintaining the lighthouse was taken over from the RAN by the RAAF personnel of 28 Radar Station. The radar station finally closed in October 1945 and the unit was subsequently disbanded.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 625,"Centenary Place Air Raid Shelter (two)","Centenary Park","Civil defence facility","85 Wickham St",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4610385894775,153.032119750977,"two air raid shelters
","The park also featured two air raid shelters, one each on the Ann and Wickham Street frontages. Similar shelters [602473] were constructed at many inner city sites in the early 1940s as part of Queensland's wartime defences. In 1961, the Council prepared plans to convert the Wickham Street air raid shelter into a toilet block. These were evidently demolished by the time the Council planned the construction of a new toilet block in 1973. This entailed the demolition of the remaining air raid shelter on Ann Street. (CHIMS)
","BCC list
" 630,"Igloo buildings (three)","moved to the site post 1945","Supply facility","60 James Street (corner?Arthur Street)",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4573574066162,153.041305541992,,, 632,"Public Air Raid Shelters (four)",,"Civil defence facility","10 East Street (three along East Street and one on the corner of East and Wickham Streets, opposite the Fortitude Valley Baths)",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4549369812012,153.037460327148,,, 639,"War Bonds Issuing Office (United States Navy)","Bell Brothers Building","Supply facility","57 Brunswick Street",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4541625976562,153.029296875,"The Bell Brothers furniture showroom was a well-known Brisbane commercial building that was leased by the US Navy from 1943 to 1945. It provided office space for three USN sub-units, the 7th Fleet's Photographic Developing Laboratory, the War Bonds Issuing Office and the Central Control Office of New Pay Procedures.
","The Bell Brothers Building was constructed in 1923 and was severely damaged in 1931 fire and rebuilt in 1932. By 1939, Bell Brothers had made a success of making its solid, hand-crafted furniture that won awards at the annual Royal Exhibition Show. The US Navy leased the modern Bell Bros Furniture showroom & factory Building through the Australian Army Hirings Service (at Victoria Barracks) on 17 June 1943. This is a three-storey brick building. Each floor has an area of 2,100 square feet. The ground floor that has a prime commercial at the prominent Brunswick and Water Streets corner has two large show (display) windows on the Water Street side. The windows could also be seen by the tram, motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic passing along Brunswick Street.
The USN conducted four activities from this building. The US Seventh Fleet's Photographic Developing Laboratory occupied the second floor of Bell Brothers until November 1944. On the ground floor, with its major display windows, was the USN War Bonds Issuing Office. War bonds were a government scheme where bonds were sold to the public or service personnel on the understanding that the money would be repaid with interest at the end of the war. War bonds were used to raise revenue to fund the war effort. The War Bonds Issuing Office occupied approximately 800 square feet of floor space. This USN organisations shared the ground floor with the Cap Boat Leave Office and USN Central Control Office of New Pay Procedures. They occupied the remainder of the ground floor, approximately 500 square feet.
In January 1945, in a review of its remaining Brisbane facilities, the USN recommended that the War Bonds Issuing Office, the Cap Boat Leave Office and the Central Control Office of New Pay Procedures be transferred to the Audio Visual Training Library Building at the USN Training Centre in Lammington Avenue, Newstead. The Bell Brothers Building would then be returned to Australian Army Hirings Service. The USN ended its lease in March 1945.
","USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section 1946; BCC Heritage Unit citation.
" 645,"Igloo","moved to the site post 1945 (now architect's studio)","Supply facility","23 Warry Street",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4560680389404,153.030868530273,,, 652,"Prince Consort Hotel Private Shelter","Private shelter","Civil defence facility","238 Wickham Street",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4575080871582,153.033447265625,,, 675,"Water Street Army Depot","Valley Drill Hall","Training facility","342 Water Street",Fortitude Valley,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4538650512695,153.030532836914,"The Water Street Army Depot was opened by the Commonwealth Government in 1925, utilising an 1880s Queensland colonial defence forces drill hall that was shifted from Boundary Street, Spring Hill. During World War II, the Water Street Army Depot acquired more buildings for its principal role as a recruit processing centre for the Australian Military Forces (militia), the 6th Division A.I.F., the Volunteer Defence Corps and the Civil Construction Corps. The Depot closed in 1988. It is one of only four, infantry drill halls remaining of the 12 such halls built throughout Brisbane.
","The old drill hall (built 1884) at Boundary Street, Spring Hill was relocated to a new army depot site in Water Street, Fortitude Valley in 1925. From 1925–39, the depot expanded and it was the base for an infantry battalion of the Australian Military Forces (AMF or militia).
After the outbreak of World War II, the drill hall was one of
just three AMF depots in Brisbane selected by the Federal Government to accept and process the volunteers enlisting as part of Queensland's contribution to the new 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF). At the same time, the Depot continued to accept new recruits wishing to join the militia. While militia soldiers could, constitutionally serve only within Australian territory, the AIF was specifically raised for overseas service. This had been the case in World War I, when five AIF divisions were raised. When the 2nd AIF was announced, it followed that its first component was designated the Sixth Division. Prime Minister Menzies announced the raising of the 2nd AIF on 15 September 1939. Queensland was to provide recruits for one complete and one part battalion that would be part of the new division's 18th Brigade. Volunteers undergoing suitability assessment had the choice of joining the 2/9th Battalion or two companies of the 2/12th Battalion.
Fitness requirements for acceptance into the 2nd AIF were high and the medical examinations of prospective volunteers were conducted at the Water Street Depot. AIF recruitment caused a dramatic drop in militia numbers as many men transferred from the Australian Military Forces (AMF) to the AIF. In June 1940, after the Fall of France, compulsory home service (militia) training was introduced for unmarried men and widowers without children between 18 to 35 years of age under Class 1 of the Defence Act. Recruits had to undertake six months compulsory training. Many men went to the Water Street Depot with their call-up papers where they were processed for service with the A.M.F. Initially, men were assessed for whether they qualified for exemption from the call-up as they worked in an identified 'Essential Industry' or were immediately required for rural seasonal work. Those men remaining underwent medical examinations. Conscription into the militia raised its numbers nationally to 173,000 by the end of August 1940.
On 15 July 1941, a home-guard force entitled the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) began to be raised across local districts. At least one company of No.1 Battalion, Post Office Volunteer Corps, later incorporated into the VDC, trained at the Water Street Depot during World War Two.
From early 1942, foreign residents and skilled civilian tradesmen living in Brisbane were encouraged to assist the war effort by joining labour organisations, particularly the Civil Construction Corps (CCC). Again, the Water Street Depot was one of the principal Brisbane sites providing medical examinations and enlistments for these war workers. Permanent public servants serving the Allied Works Council (AWC) and allocated the task of overseeing the CCC manpower requirements were sent to the Depot. To cope with the ever-increasing demands for recruitment, more than 20 additional structures, mainly offices, were erected on the site during World War II (1939–45). After the war the majority were removed though four of the larger huts across southern frontage were retained.
","The Fraser Commando School (FCS), Fraser Island, functioned as an important part of Australia's Special Operations programme during World War II. Between October 1943 and August 1945 it trained over 900 personnel of the Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD), the cover name for Special Operations Australia (SOA), the Australian version of the United Kingdom's Special Operations Executive (SOE). Skills taught, among others, included unarmed combat and physical training; jungle craft, folboats (canoes), demolitions and weapons training.
The site is located on the west side of Fraser Island about 1.6km south of Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village. There is an old boiler on the beach near the FCS site, which is spread between the remnants of McKenzie's jetty and Beerilbee Creek in the south, to a hill just north of an area cleared for leading lights in the 1880s. The main camp site, most of which is located north of Beerilbee Creek, on the hill to the east of an access road, consists of a rectangle orientated southwest-northeast, with the building sites facing the northwest. Remnants include some concrete slabs, ceramic pipes, cuttings forming platforms for buildings or tents, building stumps, box drains, and possible latrine pits or foxholes around the periphery of the camp. Four corrugated iron water tanks on the brow of hill, and some telegraph poles, still existed in 1994. Visitors should take care not to further erode the building cuttings, or remove artefacts.
","In April 1942 General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief of the Australian Military Forces (AMF or the Australian Army) and C in C of the Allied Land Forces, instructed Lieutenant Colonel GE Mott (former head of SOE in Java) to set up Special Operations in Australia, under the cover name of the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD). The ISD later came under the control of General MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ) for the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), rather than Blamey's Land Headquarters (LHQ), which controlled those Australian Army forces not allocated to MacArthur.
The ISD was established by June 1942, and training facilities were required for operations. As security and climactic conditions were not suitable at the Guerrilla Warfare School at Foster, Victoria, a new school was established at Z Experimental Station (ZES) in Cairns. Most personnel were recruited (volunteers) from the AMF and in June 1942 a holding unit for army personnel within the ISD was created for administration purposes: 'Z' Special Unit. This unit held a unique position within the Australian Army; it was paid and controlled by the ISD, had no war establishment, and had 'cart blanche' authority to draw from Ordnance.
On 6 July 1942 the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) was established, to report on the enemy in the SWPA outside Australia, and also to weaken the enemy by sabotage and aiding local resistance groups. The ISD became Section 'A' of the AIB, while Secret Intelligence Australia (SIA) was Section 'B'; the Combined Field Intelligence (coast watching) Section was Section 'C'; and the Military Propaganda Section was Section 'D'. However, friction between the ISD and the AIB over funding, role and control eventually led to ISD being liquidated and Mott being relieved of duty in February 1943. In April 1943 a new organisation was created, Special Operations Australia. To avoid confusion between the names of the SOA and the SOE, from May 1943 the cover name Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) was used.
The SRD was basically autonomous from the AIB, and as 'Z' Special Unit remained with the SRD, a similar holding unit, 'M' Special Unit, had to be created for the AIB. The strength of 'Z' Special Unit (for Australian Army SRD personnel only, with personnel from the other services and the United Kingdom being detached to the SRD from other war establishments) was governed by a ceiling by ranks, rather than a set war establishment. In May 1944 this ceiling was 91 officers and 447 ORs; and by July 1945 it was 205 Officers and 996 ORs. This ceiling allowed specialists to be assigned to the unit as necessary, without the paperwork of changing a war establishment.
SRD training involved a Basic Course for all students, specialised training when required, and pre-operational training for formed parties prior to insertion. During the war the SRD had training establishments at ZES in Cairns; Fraser Commando School (FCS) on Fraser Island; the School of Eastern Interpreters in Melbourne (originally at FCS); Careening Bay Camp (Special Boast School), Perth; Camps 6 and 8 Mt Martha (near Melbourne); Advanced Training Camp, Morotai; and Advanced Training Camp, Darwin. Use was also made of Army Training Schools, including the Parachute Training Unit, Richmond NSW; the School of Military Engineering, Liverpool NSW; and the Signals Training Centre, Bonegilla.
FCS opened as the main SRD school for basic training in October 1943. The original impetus for the school was to train operatives for Operation Falcon, an ambitious plan formulated in August 1943 to carry out simultaneous attacks on 13 Japanese bases from Timor to New Ireland. The number of missions in Operation Falcon was gradually reduced due to a lack of submarine transport (helicopters were also supposed to be used, but were not available) and only one unsuccessful operation (Hawk—involving an air drop of men and supplies into the water) occurred in March 1944. One of the two transport aircraft had to turn back, while the other was lost with 6 SRD personnel. Although Falcon was a failure, the SRD personnel trained on Fraser Island were used on other SRD operations in the South West Pacific Area.
The most well known of the SRD's operations (although not using Fraser Island alumni) was Operation Jaywick, which struck at Japanese shipping in Singapore harbour in late September 1943. A former Japanese fishing supply vessel, renamed the Krait, set out from Western Australia in early September and set up a canoe base at Panjang Island, from where 6 SRD operatives in three canoes (folboats) set out and attached limpet mines to 6 Japanese freighters and 1 tanker, sinking between 37,000–39,000 tons of shipping. The men rendezvoused with the Krait in early October, and returned safely to Western Australia. However, another attempted attack on Singapore Harbour a year later, codenamed Operation Rimau, failed with the loss of the whole SRD party of 23 men (10 being captured and executed by the Japanese).
For the purposes of training men in boat skills and jungle craft for such missions, Fraser Island was considered ideal. It was also secluded, with no inhabitants other than a small forestry establishment. In addition, there were concerns in early 1943 that enemy agents might be landing on Fraser Island, and FCS would also solve that issue. In September 1943 a reconnaissance of Fraser Island was made by Major HA Campbell (a planner for Operation Jaywick), Major Harvey and Captain Jinkins, and construction on Fraser Island began prior to GHQ approval of Falcon on 6 October 1943. The first intake of students was 30 men from the army. The site chosen for FCS was at North White Cliffs, on the west side of the island. A natural anchorage known as Tyroom Roads lies off its cliffs. This area was used for a Quarantine station in the 1870s and an Aboriginal reserve in the 1890s. During the 1920s McKenzie's jetty, sawmill complex, tramline, village and the North White Cliffs School were operational to the south of the FCS site.
All building materials and stores were transported by the army barges of 52 Port Craft Company, with a staging establishment at Urangan, where the pier was used for FCS supply boats. Initially, FCS was only a tented camp, but permanent buildings were erected by a Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) Works Company from March 1944. These included messes and kitchens, post office, canteen, recreation hut, library, administration building, lecture huts, magazines, Q Store, latrines, bathhouse, showers, officer's accommodation huts, generator and pump rooms, petrol stores, sawmill, an open air cinema, gymnasium, radio shack, workshops, boatshed, and a hospital. Almost all buildings were corrugated iron huts, painted dark green. The parade ground and horse lines were on an area cleared for two navigational leading lights (operational at the site between the 1880s and 1984). A rifle range was located to the northeast of this cleared area.
FCS was eventually able to cater for 100 students. In March 1944 an addition was made to the camp for Filipino students undergoing special training with SRD (prior to insertion as radio operators in the Philippines), plus a small additional camp site was established at Lake Mackenzie for further training of personnel under the Special Raiding Section. The latter camp lasted until December 1944.
By July 1944 the FCS curriculum included a Basic Course ""B"", of 12 weeks, including 1 weeks leave in Brisbane and 1 week's practical exercise. Skills taught included unarmed combat and physical training; jungle craft, signals, Malay, sailing and navigation, folboats, demolitions, canoe surfing, map reading and compass use, weapons training, aircraft and ship recognition, swimming, rubber boats, horse transport (riding and pack saddles), reconnaissance procedure, identification of Japanese ranks, medical and security. A major exercise in the last week of the Basic Course involved a folboat raid on Maryborough, and attempting undetected dummy attacks on ships, railway sheds and the Maryborough aerodrome.
There was also a Basic Course ""R"" for further training of soldiers from the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra, selected for the Special Raiding Section. Special Courses ""S"" included: beach landing; a Naval Auxiliary Patrol (NAP) personnel basic course (for small craft crews—involving seamanship, weapons use and boarding); medical orderlies' course; signals; a conversion course (trained parachutists were taught water landings); and advanced demolition. Additional courses included meteorology, minor tactics, and receiving supply drops. Other short courses were run in Queensland from FCS, including a cavern living course (for limestone caves), taught from late 1944 to early 1945, and two courses in jungle foods were held in Cairns during 1945.
In February 1944 the School of Eastern Interpreters (an espionage unit) started at a separate wing at FCS, but this was then moved to Melbourne for urban training. In April 1945 training at FCS commenced in receiving stores from the air, and exercises were conducted with the Liberator aircraft of RAAF 200 Special Duties Flight, Leyburn. Some trainees were also parachuted into Lake McKenzie. By June 1945 FCS was the only training establishment still operating from Australia.
Major HA Campbell commanded at FCS until January 1944, when he was replaced by Lieutenant Donald Davidson (part of the Jaywick raiding party, later killed during Operation Rimau), of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), who brought with him the first naval personnel. Major L McGuinn took over in March 1944, followed by Major SR Leach in April 1945. Instructors were initially drawn from the Australian Army (chiefly the Jungle Warfare School), although some British instructors were involved from 1944. In all, a total of 25–30 instructors were recruited and trained, and by the time training ceased at FCS in August 1945 a total of 909 students, including 250 officers, had passed through. One training fatality, Sergeant Albert James Potts, occurred in July 1944.
By 31 August 1945 the strength of the SRD was 1701, with 785 staff in establishments (training, stores, cypher etc) in Australia; 260 staff in establishments outside Australia; 323 operatives in training, and 333 operatives in the field. Of these, 1251 were Australian service personnel. SRD casualties during the war included 111 who died during or immediately after their missions (including Australians, British, New Zealanders, Malay, Timorese, Portuguese and ""other natives"") plus 8 POWs.
After FCS closed in September 1945 its buildings were auctioned off and removed, and any live munitions were detonated at the rifle range. During the 1960s, the parade ground area and part of the FCS site south of the parade ground was used by timber contractors, who built some structures on existing concrete slabs and left various cast-off items in the area. The Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village opened to the north of the FCS site in 1992.
","Fraser Island Commando School Site, Reported Place 24989, DERM.
Townrow, K; Cao, L; Langford, J, January 1994. North White Cliffs, Fraser Island; an Historic Archaeological Survey. Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, Maryborough.
Gill, GH, 1968. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. ""Volume II – Royal Australian Navy 1942–1945.""
National Archives of Australia M1/A. [SRD (Services Reconnaissance Department) Plans and Ops Branch -] Planning (General), I. 1945
National Archives of Australia, o2/A. Services Reconnaissance Department. History - Correspondence I. 1945
National Archives of Australia, o7/B. [The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations - Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 1 - Organisation - copy no 4 [for Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Headquarters (HQ), Australian Military Forces (AMF), Melbourne - abridged version of copy no 1] 1946
National Archives of Australia, o8/A. [The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations - Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 2 - Operations - copy no 1 [for Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Headquarters (HQ), Australian Military Forces (AMF), Melbourne] 1946
National Archives of Australia, Q1/B. [The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations - Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 4 - Training Syllabi - Part 1 - FCS [Fraser Commando School] Syllabus; FCS Lectures - copy no 1 [for Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Headquarters (HQ), Australian Military Forces (AMF), Melbourne][4cm] 1944–1946.
Queensland State Archives. Item 130792. Batch Files- ""E"" Series- Government Buildings. Urangan Jetty, Storage Shed, 1943–1945.
Dunn, P. 'Z' Special Unit in Australia during WW2
Dunn, P. Fraser Commando School Fraser Island, Qld during WW2.
Dunn, P. 'Z' Special Unit Supply Bunkers at MacKenzies, Fraser island, Qld during WW2.
Z Force heroes reunite at old training ground
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 679,"RAAF 25 Radar Station","Sandy Cape Radar Station","Radar/signal station","Sandy Cape (near Lighthouse)",Fraser Island,4581,Wide Bay-Burnett,-24.7256145477295,153.201782226562,"RAAF 25 Radar Station was located at Sandy Cape on Fraser Island, near the Sandy Cape Lightstation. The radar station was approved by the Air Board in July 1942, and was established in 1943. Construction was undertaken by Department of Works' day labour, under Civil Constructional Corps (CCC) conditions.
The complex was situated within the Lighthouse Reserve, and in July 1942 the schedule of buildings included a control building; 2 powerhouses; a combined sleeping hut/first aid post; a combined mess, recreation and kitchen building; a general store; latrines; combined ablution and laundry; administrative building; airmen's sleeping hut; 2 machine gun emplacements; clothes lines; and a shed near the landing point. Total expenses, after additional costs, were £11,641.
Reported remnants of the RAAF 25, located in a gully northwest of the lighthouse, include at least two wells, and two 'bunkers' made out of sand-filled hessian bags.
","In April 1942 General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief of the Australian Military Forces (AMF or the Australian Army) and C in C of the Allied Land Forces, instructed Lieutenant Colonel GE Mott (former head of SOE in Java) to set up Special Operations in Australia, under the cover name of the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD). The ISD later came under the control of General MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ) for the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), rather than Blamey's Land Headquarters (LHQ), which controlled those Australian Army forces not allocated to MacArthur.
The ISD was established by June 1942, and training facilities were required for operations. As security and climactic conditions were not suitable at the Guerrilla Warfare School at Foster, Victoria, a new school was established at Z Experimental Station (ZES) in Cairns. Most personnel were recruited (volunteers) from the AMF and in June 1942 a holding unit for army personnel within the ISD was created for administration purposes: 'Z' Special Unit. This unit held a unique position within the Australian Army; it was paid and controlled by the ISD, had no war establishment, and had 'cart blanche' authority to draw from Ordnance.
On 6 July 1942 the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) was established, to report on the enemy in the SWPA outside Australia, and also to weaken the enemy by sabotage and aiding local resistance groups. The ISD became Section 'A' of the AIB, while Secret Intelligence Australia (SIA) was Section 'B'; the Combined Field Intelligence (coast watching) Section was Section 'C'; and the Military Propaganda Section was Section 'D'. However, friction between the ISD and the AIB over funding, role and control eventually led to ISD being liquidated and Mott being relieved of duty in February 1943. In April 1943 a new organisation was created, Special Operations Australia. To avoid confusion between the names of the SOA and the SOE, from May 1943 the cover name Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) was used.
The SRD was basically autonomous from the AIB, and as 'Z' Special Unit remained with the SRD, a similar holding unit, 'M' Special Unit, had to be created for the AIB. The strength of 'Z' Special Unit (for Australian Army SRD personnel only, with personnel from the other services and the United Kingdom being detached to the SRD from other war establishments) was governed by a ceiling by ranks, rather than a set war establishment. In May 1944 this ceiling was 91 officers and 447 ORs; and by July 1945 it was 205 Officers and 996 ORs. This ceiling allowed specialists to be assigned to the unit as necessary, without the paperwork of changing a war establishment.
SRD training involved a Basic Course for all students, specialised training when required, and pre-operational training for formed parties prior to insertion. During the war the SRD had training establishments at ZES in Cairns; Fraser Commando School (FCS) on Fraser Island; the School of Eastern Interpreters in Melbourne (originally at FCS); Careening Bay Camp (Special Boast School), Perth; Camps 6 and 8 Mt Martha (near Melbourne); Advanced Training Camp, Morotai; and Advanced Training Camp, Darwin. Use was also made of Army Training Schools, including the Parachute Training Unit, Richmond NSW; the School of Military Engineering, Liverpool NSW; and the Signals Training Centre, Bonegilla.
FCS opened as the main SRD school for basic training in October 1943. The original impetus for the school was to train operatives for Operation Falcon, an ambitious plan formulated in August 1943 to carry out simultaneous attacks on 13 Japanese bases from Timor to New Ireland. The number of missions in Operation Falcon was gradually reduced due to a lack of submarine transport (helicopters were also supposed to be used, but were not available) and only one unsuccessful operation (Hawk—involving an air drop of men and supplies into the water) occurred in March 1944. One of the two transport aircraft had to turn back, while the other was lost with 6 SRD personnel. Although Falcon was a failure, the SRD personnel trained on Fraser Island were used on other SRD operations in the South West Pacific Area.
The most well known of the SRD's operations (although not using Fraser Island alumni) was Operation Jaywick, which struck at Japanese shipping in Singapore harbour in late September 1943. A former Japanese fishing supply vessel, renamed the Krait, set out from Western Australia in early September and set up a canoe base at Panjang Island, from where 6 SRD operatives in three canoes (folboats) set out and attached limpet mines to 6 Japanese freighters and 1 tanker, sinking between 37,000–39,000 tons of shipping. The men rendezvoused with the Krait in early October, and returned safely to Western Australia. However, another attempted attack on Singapore Harbour a year later, codenamed Operation Rimau, failed with the loss of the whole SRD party of 23 men (10 being captured and executed by the Japanese).
For the purposes of training men in boat skills and jungle craft for such missions, Fraser Island was considered ideal. It was also secluded, with no inhabitants other than a small forestry establishment. In addition, there were concerns in early 1943 that enemy agents might be landing on Fraser Island, and FCS would also solve that issue. In September 1943 a reconnaissance of Fraser Island was made by Major HA Campbell (a planner for Operation Jaywick), Major Harvey and Captain Jinkins, and construction on Fraser Island began prior to GHQ approval of Falcon on 6 October 1943. The first intake of students was 30 men from the army. The site chosen for FCS was at North White Cliffs, on the west side of the island. A natural anchorage known as Tyroom Roads lies off its cliffs. This area was used for a Quarantine station in the 1870s and an Aboriginal reserve in the 1890s. During the 1920s McKenzie's jetty, sawmill complex, tramline, village and the North White Cliffs School were operational to the south of the FCS site.
All building materials and stores were transported by the army barges of 52 Port Craft Company, with a staging establishment at Urangan, where the pier was used for FCS supply boats. Initially, FCS was only a tented camp, but permanent buildings were erected by a Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) Works Company from March 1944. These included messes and kitchens, post office, canteen, recreation hut, library, administration building, lecture huts, magazines, Q Store, latrines, bathhouse, showers, officer's accommodation huts, generator and pump rooms, petrol stores, sawmill, an open air cinema, gymnasium, radio shack, workshops, boatshed, and a hospital. Almost all buildings were corrugated iron huts, painted dark green. The parade ground and horse lines were on an area cleared for two navigational leading lights (operational at the site between the 1880s and 1984). A rifle range was located to the northeast of this cleared area.
FCS was eventually able to cater for 100 students. In March 1944 an addition was made to the camp for Filipino students undergoing special training with SRD (prior to insertion as radio operators in the Philippines), plus a small additional camp site was established at Lake Mackenzie for further training of personnel under the Special Raiding Section. The latter camp lasted until December 1944.
By July 1944 the FCS curriculum included a Basic Course ""B"", of 12 weeks, including 1 weeks leave in Brisbane and 1 week's practical exercise. Skills taught included unarmed combat and physical training; jungle craft, signals, Malay, sailing and navigation, folboats, demolitions, canoe surfing, map reading and compass use, weapons training, aircraft and ship recognition, swimming, rubber boats, horse transport (riding and pack saddles), reconnaissance procedure, identification of Japanese ranks, medical and security. A major exercise in the last week of the Basic Course involved a folboat raid on Maryborough, and attempting undetected dummy attacks on ships, railway sheds and the Maryborough aerodrome.
There was also a Basic Course ""R"" for further training of soldiers from the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra, selected for the Special Raiding Section. Special Courses ""S"" included: beach landing; a Naval Auxiliary Patrol (NAP) personnel basic course (for small craft crews—involving seamanship, weapons use and boarding); medical orderlies' course; signals; a conversion course (trained parachutists were taught water landings); and advanced demolition. Additional courses included meteorology, minor tactics, and receiving supply drops. Other short courses were run in Queensland from FCS, including a cavern living course (for limestone caves), taught from late 1944 to early 1945, and two courses in jungle foods were held in Cairns during 1945.
In February 1944 the School of Eastern Interpreters (an espionage unit) started at a separate wing at FCS, but this was then moved to Melbourne for urban training. In April 1945 training at FCS commenced in receiving stores from the air, and exercises were conducted with the Liberator aircraft of RAAF 200 Special Duties Flight, Leyburn. Some trainees were also parachuted into Lake McKenzie. By June 1945 FCS was the only training establishment still operating from Australia.
Major HA Campbell commanded at FCS until January 1944, when he was replaced by Lieutenant Donald Davidson (part of the Jaywick raiding party, later killed during Operation Rimau), of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), who brought with him the first naval personnel. Major L McGuinn took over in March 1944, followed by Major SR Leach in April 1945. Instructors were initially drawn from the Australian Army (chiefly the Jungle Warfare School), although some British instructors were involved from 1944. In all, a total of 25–30 instructors were recruited and trained, and by the time training ceased at FCS in August 1945 a total of 909 students, including 250 officers, had passed through. One training fatality, Sergeant Albert James Potts, occurred in July 1944.
By 31 August 1945 the strength of the SRD was 1701, with 785 staff in establishments (training, stores, cypher etc) in Australia; 260 staff in establishments outside Australia; 323 operatives in training, and 333 operatives in the field. Of these, 1251 were Australian service personnel. SRD casualties during the war included 111 who died during or immediately after their missions (including Australians, British, New Zealanders, Malay, Timorese, Portuguese and ""other natives"") plus 8 POWs.
After FCS closed in September 1945 its buildings were auctioned off and removed, and any live munitions were detonated at the rifle range. During the 1960s, the parade ground area and part of the FCS site south of the parade ground was used by timber contractors, who built some structures on existing concrete slabs and left various cast-off items in the area. The Kingfisher Bay Resort and Village opened to the north of the FCS site in 1992.
","Fraser
Island Commando School
Site, Reported Place 24989, DERM.
Townrow, K; Cao, L; Langford, J, January 1994. North White Cliffs, Fraser Island; an Historic Archaeological Survey. Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage, Maryborough.
Gill, GH, 1968. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 - Navy. ""Volume II -Royal Australian Navy 1942–1945.""
National Archives of Australia M1/A. [SRD (Services Reconnaissance Department) Plans and Ops Branch -] Planning (General), I. 1945
National Archives of Australia, o2/A. Services Reconnaissance Department. History - Correspondence I. 1945
National Archives of Australia, o7/B. [The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations - Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 1 - Organisation - copy no 4 [for Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Headquarters (HQ), Australian Military Forces (AMF), Melbourne - abridged version of copy no 1] 1946
National Archives of Australia, o8/A. [The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations - Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 2 - Operations - copy no 1 [for Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Headquarters (HQ), Australian Military Forces (AMF), Melbourne] 1946
National Archives of Australia, Q1/B. [The Official History of the Operations and Administration of] Special Operations - Australia [(SOA), also known as the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) and Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD)] Volume 4 - Training Syllabi - Part 1 - FCS [Fraser Commando School] Syllabus; FCS Lectures - copy no 1 [for Director, Military Intelligence (DMI), Headquarters (HQ), Australian Military Forces (AMF), Melbourne][4cm] 1944–1946.
Queensland State Archives. Item 130792. Batch Files- ""E"" Series- Government Buildings. Urangan Jetty, Storage Shed, 1943–1945.
Dunn, P. 'Z' Special Unit in Australia during WW2
Dunn, P. Fraser Commando School Fraser Island, Qld during WW2.
Dunn, P. 'Z' Special Unit Supply Bunkers at MacKenzies, Fraser island, Qld during WW2.
Z Force heroes reunite at old training ground
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 687,"Aircraft Hangar","Jerry & the Tile Makers warehouse","Workshop","79 Clarke Street",Garbutt,4814,Townsville,-19.2606925964355,146.775817871094,"The hangar has a steel frame with sliding doors. It may have been fully imported as a disassembled kit from the United States early in the Pacific War. The design differs greatly from the majority of Garbutt Field's 'Igloo' style repair hangars with timber frames.
","This large hangar at Clarke Street Garbutt was removed post 1945 from its original location on the Northern side of Duckworth Street between Bayswater Road and the Cairns - Brisbane rail line. Due to its size, it was used primarily for the repair and servicing of fighter aircraft, such as the US Bell P-39 Aero Cobras parked outside. As Garbutt aerodrome was less than one kilometre away, aircraft landing at the main runway then taxied down Duckworth Street to this repair facility.
The P-39 was found to be best suited as a ground attack aircraft, however two US P-39's successfully intercepted and damaged the Japanese Kawanishi ""Emily"" flying boat that attacked Townsville on 29 July 1942.
","The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 689,"Army Airways Communication Service (US)","US Bomber Operations Room (or US Air Signals Igloo), Garbutt to AACS Bohle River","Radar/signal station","Enterprise Street",Garbutt,4814,Townsville,-19.2559814453125,146.711791992188,"On 21 July 1941, a block of approx forty-two acres of dairy farm land near the Bohle River was compulsory acquired under National Security Regulations. This was for the purpose of constructing a remote receiving station for the RAAF.
It was fenced off and substantial buildings were erected. The receiving station was a communication facility between ground control and aircraft.
","The former owner, Robert E Swindley later claimed he had not been paid proper compensation as the block was his livelihood and he had intended to sell the ironbark on the property for fence posts.
At the commencement of the Pacific War the receiving station it became a joint operation with US Forces and was renamed the Army Airways Communication Service, Bohle River.
Part of the original landholding is still operated by the RAAF as a receiving station and is off limits to the public.
","Townsville Queensland Remote receiving Station hiring of site 1942–1949, A705/1, 171/19/225 ACT.
" 690,"Detention Centre Cell","US Military Stockade","Internment/POW facility","Blakely's Crossing stockade (Duckworth Street)",Garbutt,4810,Townsville,-19.2650051116943,146.760375976562,"The detention cell was constructed c 1942 and is located beside Duckworth Street near the Townsville - Cairns rail line. This facility was a prison for enlisted offenders. This reinforced concrete structure with steel ventilation grilles is now the only intact building remaining on its original site in the former US 4th Air Depot site.
","As it was primarily an American facility, few records are readily available about its role. However the memoir Nor Iron Bars A Cage, by former Superintendant of Townsville Stewart Creek Gaol John Stephenson does provide some detail.
The Garbutt stockade held military prisoners that were awaiting execution, court martial or were considered to be violent. Other offenders were held there before being transferred to Fort Leavenworth in the US where the Disciplinary Barracks were located. In 1942, Colonel Patterson, the US Provost Marshal was given approval to use the Stewart Creek civilian jail near Townsville as an auxiliary to the Garbutt stockade.
John Stephenson stated that these military prisoners were usually well behaved at the Stewart Creek jail as they were no longer subject to the harsh military discipline that was enforced on them while at the Garbutt stockade.
In a c1943 aerial image taken by US 5th Air Force photographer Arch Fraley, the building is faintly visible with a long barrack type building between the cell and Duckworth Street.
Rodney Cardell's memoir Wings Around Us details his experiences during 1942–1945 on the family farm located near Duckworth Street and Dalrymple Road. Cardell recalls seeing;
a small stockade just to the southern side of the railway line
Between October 1942 and November 1943, the US 410th Military Police (Bravo) Company were based in Townsville and may have been involved with guarding this stockade.
Another stockade, managed by the US 800th MP Battalion was located between the Sports Reserve and Queens Gardens in North Ward. This stockade was for less serious offences.
","Cardell, Rodney G. Wings Around Us, Amphion Press, Brisbane, 1991.
Stephenson, John R. Nor Iron Bars A Cage, Boolarong Publications, Ascot, 1982.
Base Two Restricted Telephone Book, July 1943. Author's collection.
C1942 Dispatch rider's map of Townsville with military locations marked. Author's collection.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
410th MP Company history - armystudyguide.com
" 693,"Garbutt Airfield","Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville","Airfield","Ingham Road",Garbutt,4814,Townsville,-19.2437648773193,146.769332885742,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 696,"No. 2 US Air Command Operations and Signals Building","US Air Signals Igloo, Garbutt (Nadic House)","Radar/signal station","3 Ramsay Street, Nadic House",Garbutt,4814,Townsville,-19.2653179168701,146.780044555664,"The No. 2 US Air Command Operations and Signals Building, constructed of reinforced concrete with a buttressed external blast wall, was constructed in early 1942. It functioned as a strategic communications centre for the US Army's No.2 Air Command in north eastern Australia and New Guinea, continued to be occupied by US Army signals units throughout the war and was also used for aircraft bomb sight repair. The building was derelict after the war until being adapted as an office during the 1960s. It is located north of Ingham Road and east of Ramsay Street, and is roughly half way between Castle Hill and Garbutt Airport.
The original building has a central corridor running roughly east-west lengthways, with rooms opening off the corridor. The eastern end contains a large sunken room accessed by several steps. The building retains its original layout with only minor alterations, including the removal of the original mechanical ventilation system. A rectangular projecting room at the western end of the building originally contained the bomb site repair facilities. An added upper floor covers most of the original building, and a later extension has been added to the west. Several sections of the buttressed external blast wall have been removed to allow greater access.
","In late 1942 Townsville was the principle port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign and Cleveland Bay between Magnetic Island and Townsville was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army Airforce (USAAF).
There was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) station at Garbutt, and a number of air bases used by Australian and US aircraft were established between Townsville and Charters Towers, and west to Cloncurry. Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
The first US personnel to arrive in Townsville were a small group of US Army officers on 5 January 1942. Their mission was to arrange for the construction of airfields and the establishment of a supply base - US Base Section Two - to be the north Queensland component of United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), which in mid 1942 became the United States Army Services of Supply (USASOS) organisation. Headquarters for this group was in the Australian Mercantile Land & Finance Building on the corner of Denham and Walker Street, Townsville. By 16 January, Townsville had been chosen as the location for a US air base and for the assembly of crated aircraft and vehicles, as it had a good port and military ordnance could be delivered directly by ship.
Prior to the Japanese conquest of the Philippines and General MacArthur's departure for Australia, Townsville had begun to receive units of American air support. On 19 February, the first nine US heavy bombers of the 19th Bombardment Group landed at Townsville; these were dispersed away from the coast to Cloncurry on 21 February. The first heavy bombardment mission out of Australia left Garbutt aerodrome on 22 February to attack Japanese installations at Rabaul. With the fall of Singapore on 15 February and the Japanese bombing of Darwin four days later, the possibility of heavy air-raids on Townsville became likely and recommendations were made to locate military control centres in bomb-proof reinforced concrete buildings.
During the early months of 1942 work began on a reinforced concrete US operations and signals centre at Garbutt. Designed by the Department of Interior, Works and Service Branch and constructed by the Townsville Harbour Board as Project No.2, Job 25, the building was built like a fortress with thick reinforced roof and walls and a surrounding buttressed blast wall in case of air attack. The structure, which measured 60 by 120 feet (18.28 by 36.57 metres) was originally cloaked in camouflage netting to foil Japanese aerial reconnaissance. The building became the nerve centre for the United States Army Operations and was listed simply as 'Igloo 125' in a 1944 US military phonebook. It had the nickname 'The Igloo' as it was one of the very few air-conditioned buildings in north Queensland during the war. It functioned as an overall communications centre for Base Two, spanning an area from the north-eastern coast of Australia to the Gulf of Carpentaria and up to Port Moresby.
In December 1944 the US 911th Signal Office for Base Two Northern Region moved into the Igloo. The unit was also responsible for the repair of all Signal Corps equipment used by the USAAF, including radar. Their job was to provide ground and air communications. Almost all of the 911th Signal Company's communication was by code, because of the distances involved. They also had teletype connections to nearby units, such as Base Two in Townsville and RAAF Signals at Garbutt Air Base. The company handled all radio traffic between Fifth Air Force Headquarters in Brisbane and their advanced echelon, which was in Port Moresby at that time.
An aircraft bomb sight repair section also operated in the building. Once a bomb sight had been in use for a while, the parts would mesh with one another and not work properly if a new factory-made part was installed, so the units were taken apart one at a time, cleaned up and reassembled. The work was so sensitive that the air conditioning was a necessity for the repair work.
Post-war, the building was vacated and left derelict, and the semi-underground operations room at the eastern end filled with water. The building was transferred to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in 1962, and the land was re-subdivided before sale in 1965 to Nadic Pty Ltd. The building was then converted into an office building, with an added upper floor, called Nadic House.
","United States Army Operations and Signals Centre, Reported Place 29320, DERM
Holyoak, R. 1998. The North Queensland Line: The defence of Townsville in 1942. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of
significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Title Information, DERM
Google Earth
Google Maps
" 701,"Gaythorne Internment and Prisoner of War Camp","Enoggera (Gallipoli) Army Barracks","Internment/POW facility","Bliss and Newman Streets",Gaythorne,4051,Brisbane City,-27.42258644104,152.978515625,"The Gaythorne concentration camp was established during WWI, initially to hold the crews of German merchant vessels arrested at the outbreak of war. The camp was adjacent to the existing military camp at Enoggera. It was closed in 1915 but was re-established at the same location in 1940 by the Australian military authorities.
","Enlarged by 1942 to accommodate 1800 internees, the Gaythorne camp was comprised of five compounds. While many of the camp's original occupants were civilian nationals of Germany or Austria, others included Indonesian, Finnish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese and Albanian citizens.
From early 1943 Chinese internees at southern camps were being transferred to Brisbane to work on dockyard construction. There were still 87 Chinese at Gaythorne in August 1944, though the following month their release was ordered. Their release was comparatively slow and there were still a number being released from Gaythorne in February 1945 to work as labourers at the US Army base at Bulimba. The last Chinese internees appear to have been transferred to the Liverpool PW&I camp in May 1946. A large number of Albanian internees were sent to Gaythorne in 1942, while Portuguese nationals detained there were moved to Liverpool camp in NSW in September 1943.
Military prisoners were also detained at Gaythorne. Japanese servicemen were held in large numbers from 1942. A number were interrogated at the ATIS compound at Indooroopilly. From mid-1943 to March 1944 there was a gradual transfer of Japanese prisoners of war to Cowra in NSW, the site of the infamous Japanese POW breakout in August of that year. From 1943 Italian prisoners of war at Cowra were transferred in batches to the Gaythorne camp, some remaining there until at least 1946.
The PW&I camp was maintained by 2 Australian Prisoner of War Guard Company of the 1st Australian Garrison Battalion. The 112 AGH treated prisoners during 1942, however by late war the Warwick-based 67 Australian Camp Hospital maintained a hospital in the camp. The camp appears to have been dismantled in 1946.
","NAA Series A10857, IV/120B, Gaythorne Prisoners of War and Internment Camp, barcode 7761642.
NAA BP129/1, NCCR 255/2/617, Chinese Prisoners of War [POWs] recaptured in New Guinea - barcode 335367
NAA Series BP242/1, Q30728, List of Albanians transferred from Cowra to Gaythorne for release 1 December 1942] barcode 3385297
NAA Series BP242/1, Q39917, Nominal Roll - Transferred Internees [Italian Prisoner of War 1.11.44, Japenese POW tranferred from Gaythorne to Cowra, and Italians POW from Cowra to Gaythorne]. barcode 336208.
" 703,"Civil Construction Corps camp","Chermside Army Camp 'I Block', 'Florence Park'","Military camp","263-273 Ellison Road",Geebung,4034,Brisbane City,-27.3745307922363,153.039855957031,"In April 1942, the Federal Government established the Civil Construction Corps (CCC) to build defence works. CCC work gangs comprised volunteer and conscripted labour. The Geebung CCC Camp was built adjacent to the Chermside Army Camp in 1942. This CCC Camp supplied the workforce for the Australian defence projects that were built throughout Brisbane's northern suburbs from 1942 to 1945.
","The Australian Government created the Civil Construction Corps (CCC) on 14 April 1942. It came under the direction of the Department of the Interior. The CCC was used to undertake the construction of defence works as directed by the Commonwealth's Allied Works Council (AWC). Workers were to be paid award wages and their trade union membership retained. Men over the age of 45 could volunteer to join the CCC but conscription was also used to bring the work gangs up to strength. In Queensland, the compulsory call-up for the CCC began in July 1942. The CCC headquarters was in the Commonwealth Bank Buildings at 71–79 Adelaide Street in the City. There was an Allied Works Council office in the same building, though the AWC Headquarters was in the National Mutual Building at 293 Queen Street.
In late 1942, a camp for the CCC was built across from Chermside Army Camp on a site near where Piccadilly Street met Ellison Road. This was the main CCC Camp for Brisbane's north side and it was responsible for building all AWC-approved defence sites across the northern suburbs. A CCC camp was also established at Rocklea for AWC projects in Brisbane's southern suburbs. The Rocklea CCC Camp was located at Lillian Avenue and Regis and Bidda Streets in what is now Salisbury. For AWC projects in Brisbane's eastern suburbs, a CCC camp was established at Bulimba. The Bulimba CCC Camp was located at the corner of Taylor Street and Thynne Road.
Mr. Moffatt, who was second in charge of the Queensland Public Works Department, was made a CCC foreman and placed in initial charge of the Geebung CCC Camp. The local residents unofficially referred to the Camp as 'Florence Park'. The CCC Camp comprised 24 temporary huts used as sleeping quarters together with an administration building, a kitchen servicing two messes, a canteen serving beer, a first aid hut, an open garage, lavatories and bath houses. At the back of the CCC Camp was an area designated for vehicle maintenance that held a few sheds, a vehicle ramp, a battery charger hut, a paint shop and a greasing ramp. By 1944, two sickbays, a laundry and a separate foreman's quarters had been added to the CCC Camp.
Many volunteer workers had already been undertaking contract tasks for the Allied Works Council when the CCC was created. These men believed that their commitments finished once their contracted project had been completed. While CCC members, many of whom were married, could expect to work in their home states, there was always the possibility that they could be sent anywhere in Australia. For example, Mr. Moffatt was sent to Darwin. He spent 18 months supervising the building of all weather road between Darwin and Alice Springs and across to Camooweal. In July 1943, CCC workers from the Chermside Army Camp went on strike after they learnt that they were to be transferred to a project in northern Australia. The government's reaction was to suspend the strikers from the CCC and threaten them with prosecution for breaking their contracts. The dispute was resolved when the Queensland senator and Government Leader in the Senate J.S. Collings met with the striking workers' union leaders on 22 July. The men agreed to return to the CCC if all charges were dropped against them.
Administratively, the CCC Camp became part of the Chermside Army Camp and by 1945 it was designated as the Chermside Camp's 'I Block'. Among the projects undertaken by the Geebung CCC Camp workers were the excavation of the Nudge AWC Quarry at the St Vincent's Orphanage site, on Queens Road. The quarry operated from 1942 to 1943. The workers also built the Zillmere Remote Receiving Station on Beams Road. This project lasted from September 1942 until June 1943 under the direction of Mr. G. Major from Hendra.
","Marching to the Trains, NA digital file
Jonathan Ford, Marching to the Trains - the Chermside Army Camp Remembered, (Brisbane: Ford, 2005).
" 704,"Chermside Army Camp observation post","Geebung State School site","Civil defence facility","250 Newman Road (formerly Geebung Road)",Geebung,4034,Brisbane City,-27.37477684021,153.04557800293,"This was an observation platform built by the Army in the tallest tree on a Geebung hill in 1942. It provided views of Moreton Bay and it was one of a series of Army observation posts established across Brisbane's northern suburbs. While the Geebung observation post continued to be manned until the end of the war, it was an emergency stopgap measure put in place until it could be super ceded by more modern facilities such as a radar station.
","Chermside Army Camp opened in October 1940, for the training of units of the Australian Military Forces (the militia or 'Chocko soldiers' as the troops returning from the Middle East nicknamed them). Its initial layout was in Alonzo Sparkes' paddock off Ellison Road.
The Chermside Army Camp's authorities were keen to maintain community goodwill within the Geebung/Zillmere/Chermside farming districts. So troops training around the districts were ordered to:
…take precautions against damage to crops and gates etc on land used for training purposes. Where possible existing gates will be used and closed after use. Damage to private property will be reported immediately to HQ orderly Room. TREES. Under no circumstances are green trees to be cut down or mutilated in any way.[i]
But this order did not apply to one particular tree in Geebung. At the top of the hill off Geebung (now Newman) Road was Grenning's paddock. It was named after the pioneer family that had first bought and cleared that block of land in the nineteenth century. By 1941, Grenning's paddock was owned by a Brisbane Industrial School (now part of QUT Gardens Point campus) teacher named Morgan. Grenning's paddock later became the site of the Geebung State Primary School.
The tallest wattle tree on the hill in this paddock had its top branches trimmed by the Army in order to build a large observation platform in 1942. A tall, wooden ladder was built leading up to this enclosed platform that was described by local residents as resembling a tree house. This platform gave Army observers a view out to distant Moreton Bay. The observation post was also used for aircraft identification, fire-watching (an important role in districts given over to crops or bushland) and as a signal post. It was one of a number of similar observation posts located across Brisbane's northern suburbs, including a navigation tower built on a hilltop in West Chermside (now 18 Florentine St) and the requestioned bell tower of the new (built 1941) Pius XII Catholic Seminary off Nudgee Road, Banyo. The observation posts were connected by an army telephone line to the Headquarters of Brisbane Fortress Command located at St. Laurence College on Stephens Road, South Brisbane.
Soldiers from Chermside Camp would stand continuous guard during daylight hours only and watch for sightings of enemy planes or ships. The bored soldiers allowed the local boys (but not the girls it seems) from the districts to climb up to the platform and use the Army's binoculars to scan the surrounding farmland. As it was a reasonable distance from the Camp's tent lines, some soldier/musicians were also sent up to Grenning's Paddock, to undertake their bugle practice.
Local residents have recalled that there was another Army observation post, located in an old house on top of a hill on Ellison Road, Geebung. The local children called it 'the Haunted House"". The observation posts were connected to the Chermside Army Camp via telephone lines that the Army signalmen laid along the ground.
At the end of the Second World War in September 1945, observation posts were quickly abandoned or destroyed. The Army observation post in the tree in Grenning's Paddock was abandoned and its wooden ladder was pulled down and burnt to prevent children from climbing up to the platform in the tree. The tree itself was bulldozed as part of the site preparation for the construction of the Geebung School that opened in 1948.
[i] AWM file, Series AWM54, Item 709/10/16, [Orders Standing (including enemy) - Camp:] Standing Orders Chermside Camp Area, Australian Military Forces Camp Standing Orders by Captain H.E. Hopkins, Commanding 17 Australian Personnel Staging Camp Chermside, January 1946, p 3.
","Jonathan Ford, Marching to the Trains - the Chermside Army Camp Remembered, (Brisbane: Ford, 2005).
" 706,"US Army Ordnance Depot","Royal Navy (RN) Depot","Ammunition facility","Robinson Road East and Bilsen Road",Geebung,4034,Brisbane City,-27.3682308197021,153.056396484375,"Built in 1943, the Geebung Stores Depot was part of the US forces' infrastructure program to develop Brisbane as General MacArthur's supply base for an offensive against the Japanese. Depots were built near wharves or railway lines. The Geebung Depot's location confirmed a policy of confining US sites to the eastern side of the North Coast rail line.
","In 1943, the Federal Government used its National Security Regulations to requisition land from Edith Sweet, William Horn and Mr. A. Kussman of the College View Estate Syndicate. The site, bounded by Sandgate, Zillmere, Bilsen and Robinson Roads, was developed as an US ammunition and fuel depot. A military labour unit drawn from Philippines refugees may have built the depot. Geebung local Vince Quinlan recalled seeing these construction workers:
I had never seen any foreign troops until we had a bunch of Filipinos march down here. They were not troops. They were brought out as labourers.[i]
The Depot comprised 21 fibro and timber ammunition magazines with a gate where Bilsen Road met Robinson Road and another where Bilsen Road met Zillmere Road. The fibro sheds were of two types, either 90 feet x 20 feet or 108 feet x 20 feet in size. These magazines were each covered in large amounts of camouflage netting while the scattered needle tea tree scrub was not cleared off the land.
The US Army took possession of the site designated the Geebung Stores Depot on 11 October 1943. Although used to house ammunition, it was officially designated a stores depot while the nearby Northgate vehicle storage and repair facility was designated an ordnance depot. It is though that was US Army policy to misname some depots as a wartime security measure. Soldiers, mostly black Americans, mounted guard at sentry gates on Sandgate Road and on Zillmere Road.
After a small grassfire endangered the Depot, the US Army encouraged local farmers to graze cattle on the site to create firebreaks around the magazines. Foat's dairy sent cows there. Alice Peckman (Foat) became a familiar face to the guards. She rode her horse through the sentry gate and round up the herd. One day her father went down to collect the cows but the guards refused him entry for they did not recognize him so she had to get the cows. Alice found the Americans well behaved:
Oh yes usually but we didn't take too much notice of them. Some of them would be there in trucks loading, or unloading trucks and they'd give you a whistle… but you'd just carry on and mind your own business.[ii]
Kev Kopittke's family was also permitted to place their dairy cows in the Depot. He went to the Depot to collect his cows and he would have to search amongst the long grass and other cows wandering the site. He would herd his cows down Bilsen Road to the gate where the guards would let him exit. Allowing cows into the Depot not only kept the long grass under control but it also added to the depot's camouflage so that from the air, the site appeared to be grazing paddocks. This aim was achieved given Geoff Taylor's description of the Depot:
It didn't look much at all. It looked like just an open area. Every now and again there was something like a little shed built.[iii]
With US Army trucks constantly visiting the site to load/unload ammunition, they soon wore a network of tracks throughout the site. This would have impacted on efforts to disguise the Depot from aerial surveillance.
The appearance of black Americans intrigued the Geebung community. It was the first time, outside of Hollywood films that locals had seen black Americans. Geoff Taylor first saw one of these soldiers connecting telephone lines to a pole outside a local shop. Geoff said:
…the first time I saw a man walk up a pole, was a black American. And he had big spikes on his feet and he just walked straight up the pole. I've never forgotten it all my life. I couldn't believe it but he was a black American![iv]
Edwin Gerns thought that some locals were frightened of the soldiers as many were large, well-built individuals. Due to racist policies of both US and Australian authorities, black American soldiers were not allowed to freely cross the Brisbane River from their camp in South Brisbane. The Depot personnel seen by local residents were trucked straight to Geebung and returned to South Brisbane at the end of their sentry duty.
By war's end the depot had spread across both sides of Bilsen Road causing that road section to be closed to public access. The US Army vacated the depot on 21 March 1945. With Brisbane designated as a forward supply base for the new British Pacific Fleet, the Royal Navy took control of the Depot on 22 March and remained until 20 August 1948.
[i] Vince Quinlan interview with Dr Jack Ford, 27 November 1997.
[ii] Alice Peckman interview with Dr Jack Ford, 5 December 1997.
[iii] Geoff Taylor interview with Dr Jack Ford, 1 December 1997.
[iv] Geoff Taylor interview with Dr Jack Ford, 1 December 1997.
","Jonathan Ford, Marching to the Trains - the Chermside Army Camp Remembered, (Brisbane: Ford, 2005).
" 708,"Giru Airfield",,"Airfield","Woodstock Road (off Bruce highway)",Giru,4809,North and Cape York,-19.6017665863037,146.842315673828,"The US 91st Engineers, a 'Colored' labour Battalion with little military training arrived in Woodstock without equipment in April 1942 to assist the US 46th Engineers, a white unit, in building three landing strips.
On 23 April the US 91st Engineers were moved to Giru to construct an airfield. Armed with only hand tools, the unit cleared an area for three landing strips and operated 24 hours a day. Machettes were used to clear the long grass and home made wheel barrows were made with empty beer cases. A farm tractor and a horse drawn mowing machine were rented from nearby farmers. Seven well worn dozers and a few cargo trucks were sourced from Melbourne in May, with them finally arriving in July.
",,"Lee, Ulysses. US Army in World War II Special Studies: The Employment of Negro Troops. Office of the Chief of Military History United States Army, Washington DC, 1966
" 714,"Goods Battery, Signal Station and Quoin Point Campsite","Goodes Battery, Goodes Island","Fortifications","Tucker Point and Quoin Point",Goodes Island (Palilug Island),4875,North and Cape York,-10.565128326416,142.147918701172,"The two 6-inch guns of Goods Battery, located on Tucker Point at the west end of Goods Island (Palilug) in the Torres Strait, were operational between 1941 and 1946, covering the channels to the north of the island, the western and eastern approaches to Thursday Island, and the RAAF Advanced Operational Base (AOB) on Horn Island to the southeast.
Surviving reinforced concrete elements of the battery include two 6-inch gun emplacements set in a line, with a two-room magazine at the rear of each. The eastern gun emplacement is positioned at a higher level, and overlooking both gun emplacements from the east is a three level Battery Observation Post (BOP) and fire director station.
A semi-underground operations room is excavated into the hillside just southeast of the BOP. Two rooms are located within an encircling outer blast wall. About 70 metres southeast of the BOP is the engineers' workshop, a concrete building partly excavated into the hillside which contains three workrooms. About 20 metres southeast of the workshop is a 75,000 gallon (340,957 litres) five-metre deep water reservoir.
Four searchlight stations, with accompanying generator rooms, are located to the north and south of the gun emplacements, and a two level signal station is located alongside the Goods Island lighthouse (1886), to the east of the gun battery. A small power house is located to the north of the signal station.
The battery's camp site is located a kilometre south-east, near Quoin Point, and comprises about 20 concrete floor slabs which originally contained four rows of steel frame prefabricated Sidney Williams huts. In addition to dismantled hut frames, evidence remains of a kitchen stove, corrugated iron water tanks, garden rockeries and plantings, and the stone rubble wall of a fish trap.
","During the 19th century colonial defence planners had recognised that the Torres Strait was strategically and commercially important, and Thursday Island was fortified in the early 1890s with a battery of three 6-inch breech loading (BL) guns on Green Hill, and a Quick Firing (QF) 4.7-inch gun was installed on Milman Hill in 1897. These defences were soon obsolete, and as Australia's northern defence focus had shifted to Darwin, the Thursday Island defences were dismantled in 1932. However, the 6-inch guns were left in place at Green Hill Fort, where they remain today. Later, the Green Hill Fort was used as a signals and wireless station, and ammunition store, during the war in the South West Pacific.
With the relocation of the Thursday Island garrison a local guard was formed in 1934 for the protection of the island's AWA maritime wireless station. Plans were made for stationing a coast-watching party on Goods Island in the event of international hostilities. Goods Island is also known by its Indigenous name of Palilug and is part of the traditional estate of the Kaurareg people. A telephone line from Thursday Island was extended to Tucker Point on the south-west tip of Goods Island, from where a small detachment would be able to watch the Prince of Wales Channel to the north and Normanby Sound to the south.
Despite the earlier abandonment of the fortifications of Thursday Island, the outbreak of World War II and concerns about Japan's intentions led to additional coastal artillery defences in the Torres Strait. A QF 4.7-inch Mk XII gun was re-installed on Milman Hill in December 1940, and two 6-inch guns were installed at Tucker Point on Goods Island between December 1940 and July 1941. The latter position allowed coverage of the Prince of Wales and Dayman channels and part of the Simpson Channel, coverage of the western and eastern approaches to Thursday Island, and coverage of the RAAF Advanced Operational Base (AOB) on Horn Island, where two runways were constructed during 1941.
Construction of the Goods Battery gun emplacements commenced under the supervision of the Department of the Interior. An advance party of personnel from the Royal Australian Engineers, Royal Australian Artillery and Australian Army Service Corps sailed from Brisbane for Thursday Island on 19 November 1940, arriving on Goods Island in early December.
Goods Battery was equipped with two 6-inch Breech Loading Mark XI guns (serial numbers 2287 ex HMAS Melbourne and 2289 ex HMAS Sydney) with a range of 25,000 yards (or almost 23km), plus two naval pedestal mountings with two naval gun shields. The range and bearing of a target was determined in the Battery Observation Post (BOP) using a depression range finder with the relevant information relayed to the gunners. Approximately four shells a minute could be fired, and shells and cordite charges were stored separately in adjacent magazines. The first gun arrived at Goods Island in early January 1941 and the second was unloaded several weeks later. Additional troops arrived during February 1941.
During 1941 construction work continued on the gun emplacements and coastal artillery searchlight stations and engine rooms. A reinforced concrete observation post (possibly intended as a signal station) was constructed alongside the Goods Island lighthouse at the highest point on the island.
The two guns of Goods Battery had been assembled and proof-fired by July 1941 and early in August the Royal Australian Artillery gunners began conducting regular practice shoots at targets on Prince of Wales Island. The battery's searchlight stations were also operational and were sometimes used to guide lost aircraft to Horn Island Airfield.
Following Japan's entry into the war on 7 December 1941, a US light anti-aircraft unit arrived on Thursday Island in April 1942 and later moved to Goods Island where four light anti-aircraft gun positions were constructed during May. By June work was underway on a permanent barracks at Quoin Point where about 20 steel-frame prefabricated Sidney Williams huts were erected to serve as officers' and men's accommodation, kitchens, messes and ablution blocks. The camp was completed and wired during July. Over the same period repairs were carried out to existing stone fish traps at Quoin Point to provide fresh seafood.
In early September 1942 a senior Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) officer was sent to Thursday Island to inspect sites for additional coast defence of Torres Strait. Turtle Head on the north coast of Hammond Island was identified as a site for two 155-mm guns to close the Prince of Wales Channel from the east and cover the east coast of Horn Island. Coastal batteries were also installed on Horn Island, at King Point (two 18 pounders, MK IV), and on Entrance Island (three 60 pounders, later replaced with two 6-inch Mk VII guns).
'A' company of 14 Garrison Battalion was briefly located on Goods Island in October 1942, before being moved back to Horn Island where they could be better employed. Thereafter the defence of Goods Island was left in the hands of a small garrison with nine machine guns and five mortars, dug-in behind barb wire in prepared positions on the ridge above the 6-inch guns, as well as an infantry platoon with a mobile role. By November 1942 the members of the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion were posted for duties at Goods battery. Torres Strait Infantry personnel were issued with hats, shorts, socks and singlets and employed in labouring roles as well as patrols of the island.
Additional works in the construction of the battery fortifications continued with the completion of the three-level concrete battery observation post (BOP) in December 1942 and the fitting of steel rear partition shields to the guns. Water was scarce at the battery site, where it was stored in corrugated iron tanks, and to provide an assured supply, a 75,000 gallon (340,957 litres) in-ground concrete reservoir was constructed by 17 Australian Field Company early in 1943.
A Bofors 40-mm gun and crew was provided to Goods Battery in September 1943 for close aerial protection from Japanese aircraft. In November 1943 concrete blast walls were completed at the battery operations room, and the fire director station was moved to the top level of the BOP. For several periods during 1943 companies of 5 Australian Machine Gun Battalion and the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion were stationed on Goods Island at prepared positions between the battery and the lighthouse.
The coast defences of Torres Strait were reviewed by the Defence Committee in September 1944 as the war moved away from Australia. As a result of the review it was recommended that only the 6-inch guns of Goods Battery be retained on a permanently manned basis. As a result in October 1944 Milman Battery on Thursday Island, 'Q' (Turtle) Battery on Hammond Island, King Point Section on Horn Island, and Endeavour Battery on Entrance Island were placed under care and maintenance before being withdrawn.
As the Pacific war moved further northward, defence activities in the Torres Strait were gradually scaled down. Goods Battery remained nominally active until July 1945, but in practise it was often not possible to man the guns due to shortages of men. In September 1945 Goods Battery was inspected by headquarters staff of the Torres Strait Coast Artillery, Thursday Island. It appears that the battery continued to operate under a care and maintenance program until August 1946 when armament and fire control instruments on Goods Island were dismantled in preparation for closing down. The guns of Goods Battery remained until 1987 when they were removed as a tri-service exercise to be restored by the Royal Australian Navy. The navy presented one gun (serial no. 2289) to the Australian War Memorial in November 1988.
","Goods Battery and Camp, Reported Place 29629, DERM
Green Hill Fort Complex, Queensland Heritage Register reported place 601096.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Horner, D. 1995. The Gunners: A history of Australian artillery. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards NSW.
Kidd, R and Neal, R. 1998. The 'Letter' Batteries: the history of the 'letter' batteries in World War II. RE Neal, Castlecrag NSW.
Davies, D. ""Horn Island Artillery 1942–1998"", p.6, Radar Returns, Volume 8 No 3, 2003.
Seekee, Vanessa, 2006.11.01. ""Artillery in Torres Strait 1891–1945: the silent forgotten sentinels of the north"", Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 4(1), pp 107–123. Brisbane.
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" 718,"63rd United States Station Hospital","Gordonvale Hotel, Doctor's surgery, shop and Commercial Hotel","Medical facility","Norman Street",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.0924110412598,145.786026000977,"Before the Pacific war Gordonvale had been a small quiet country town south of Cairns surrounded by sugar cane farms. Most of the men worked at the Mulgrave Central Mill and community life revolved around the mill, the railway and the pubs.
By the end of 1942, the townspeople had experienced troops coming and going, but nothing prepared them for the unexpected arrival of about 3,500 United States (US) Army paratroopers in December of that year, more than doubling the local population. It has been said that their troopship had been bound for another base to the north of Australia, but the strategic situation in the region as Japanese forces continued to hold out, caused a last-minute decision by the US Army to disembark the troops at Cairns.
On 28 November 1942, a week before the paratroopers reached Gordonvale, a detachment of the US Army 2 Station Hospital from Mareeba arrived and set up a 150 bed hospital, taking over the Gordonvale and Commercial Hotels in the town's business centre. The first patients were admitted on the same day.
The Gordonvale Hotel on the corner of Norman and Cannon Streets was originally named the Nelson Hotel. It had been built before 1900 although the exact date is unknown. Alongside was the Nelson Theatre, a pharmacy and shops including a newsagency, and the Commercial Hotel. The previous buildings on the hotel site, including a boarding house, had been destroyed by fire about 1925 and the Commercial Hotel was constructed soon after by Charlie Butler a prominent businessman in the district.
","The United States (US) 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, including the 501st Parachute Battalion and 'A' Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion, disembarked in Cairns on 2 December 1942 after a long voyage across the Pacific during which they were reduced to two meals a day due to difficulties in accessing rations onboard ship. At Cairns the troops and their gear were loaded onto trucks and taken to an undeveloped camp area south-west of Gordonvale on the Gillies Highway. Their camp extended on both sides of the road near Alley Creek in the Riverstone area. The site was at first without messing facilities and local residents stepped in to provide food for the troops.
With the arrival of over 3000 troops it became imperative to quickly establish a larger station hospital in the town by taking over the most suitable buildings. Following snap decisions by a US Army doctor, the bar of the Gordonvale Hotel became the operating theatre, a storeroom was used as the morgue and a surgical ward was established in the upstairs bedrooms. A ramp was built from the surgical ward across the roof of the chemist shop to the medical ward in the Commercial Hotel. The chemist shop became the hospital pharmacy and a room at the rear was used for the storage of coffins. A connecting doorway between the surgical ward and the adjacent Nelson Theatre allowed non-walking patients to attend the picture shows. The ground floor of the Commercial Hotel was used as a casualty ward and for outpatients, and the first floor became a medical ward. The Gordonvale Hotel was used for surgical cases and the Commercial Hotel was used for medical cases. The new station hospital held about 250 beds.
In July 1943 the detachment of US 2 Station Hospital at Gordonvale were recalled to their main base hospital at Mareeba State School prior to their unit being deployed closer to the New Guinea frontline. They were relieved at Gordonvale by personnel of US 63 Station Hospital.
In August 1943 the US 503 Parachute Infantry Regiment left Gordonvale for Cairns to embark for Port Moresby. On 5 September, in one of the largest infantry parachute jumps then undertaken, the regiment secured the Nadzab area on the north coast of New Guinea, for the construction of an airstrip so that the Australian 7th Division could be flown in to attack the Japanese stronghold of Lae from the landward side, while the 9th Division carried out an assault from the sea.
US 63 Station Hospital at Gordonvale closed in May 1944, transferring its remaining patients to the newly completed US 44th General Hospital at Black River north of Townsville and moving its equipment and personnel there. US 63 Station Hospital was subsequently transferred to New Guinea were it was absorbed into the US 4th General Hospital at Finschhafen on the Huon Peninsula.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
HC Morton, Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletins 13–15, ca.1982.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 719,"American Red Cross Services Club","Central Hotel/Parkview Tavern","Recreation/community","Gordon Street",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.0915069580078,145.787231445312,"Before the Pacific war Gordonvale had been a small quiet country town south of Cairns surrounded by sugar cane farms. Most of the men worked at the Mulgrave Central Mill and community life revolved around the mill, the railway and the pubs. By the end of 1942 the townspeople had experienced troops coming and going, but nothing prepared them for the arrival of about 3,500 US Army paratroopers of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, more than doubling the local population.
On 28 November 1942, a week before the paratroopers reached Gordonvale, a detachment of the US Army 2 Station Hospital from Mareeba arrived and set up a 150 bed hospital, taking over the Gordonvale, Commercial and Central Hotels in the town's business centre. The Central Hotel was allocated for use as an American Red Cross Service Club.
","Formerly known as Thomas's Central Hotel, the pub is thought to have been built about 1910 and named after the nearby Mulgrave Central Sugar Mill. It was commonly referred to by the troops of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, as the USO Club (United Services Organisation). The club was managed by two American women and American Filipinos were employed as cooks. Local women volunteered to help run the club, serving hamburgers, apple pie and ice cream, strong coffee, iced tea and Coke.
Local ladies helped keep up the morale of the 503rd by organising dances and sending out trucks to collect and chaperon local women as dance partners for the Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US President Franklin Roosevelt and head of the American Red Cross, visited the club in September 1943. The movie star John Wayne also paid a visit to the club. After the Parachute Infantry Regiment moved to New Guinea in August 1943, the American Services Club remained open for Australian and US servicemen stationed in the Gordonvale area until late 1945. The Hotel remains a popular venue in Gordonvale.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Clive Morton, Gordonvale, Personal Communication.
HC Morton, Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletins 13–15, ca.1982.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 720,"Gordonvale Air Raid Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","Norman Street",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.0921249389648,145.786514282227,"A surviving remnant of one of Gordonvale's wartime air raid shelters stands in Norman Park opposite the site of the US Station Hospital. This reinforced concrete shelter was erected early in 1942 soon after Japan's entry into World War II. It was probably constructed by the Mulgrave Shire Council. At least two other air raid shelters were constructed in Norman Park during this period. However, both were of timber and earth construction and have been demolished.
Like most public air raid shelters Gordonvale's concrete shelter was constructed to a standard design with seating for 50 people. Shelters were built in the shape of a rectangular box with 12-inch (300 mm) reinforced concrete walls and 6-inch (150 mm) thick roofs. Where there was the possibility of debris falling on the shelter, the thickness of the roof was increased to 300mm. Between Mackay and Cairns, 57 public shelters were constructed during 1942, most in Townsville and Cairns. Only two now survive in the north, including this remnant at Gordonvale and a more intact example at nearby Babinda.
","With the mounting threat of war with Japan, construction of public air raid shelters was planned through the main population centres considered vulnerable to air attack. Details of air raid shelter requirements were published by the Queensland government just two weeks after Pearl Harbor. Under National Security Regulations, local councils were responsible for the provision of public air raid shelters and the enforcement of orders requiring their construction by commercial property owners.
The Queensland government undertook to build shelters on behalf of the local authorities, with the costs deferred. A special Act was passed enabling local authorities to obtain loans from the government for the purpose of air raid shelter construction and to levy special rates to meet interest repayments. After Japan's attack at Pearl Harbor a partial black out—known as 'brown out'—was enforced in all towns from Mackay north and up to 160 kilometres inland. Air raid drills became a normal part of the local community routine, especially during the first half of 1942.
Black-out restrictions were gradually relaxed after 1943 and removed altogether in late 1944. After the war almost all air raid shelters were demolished, but several including the Gordonvale shelter were converted for use as public toilets. In recent years the reinforced concrete shell of the building has been partly demolished.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Stephen Fowler, Babinda Air Raid Shelter report, DERM, Brisbane, 2007.
Clive Morton, Gordonvale, Personal Communication.
HC Morton, Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletins 13–15, ca.1982.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 721,"US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment Drop Zone","Gordonvale Parachute Training facility","Training facility","Pine Creek Road, Kamma",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.0483245849609,145.800582885742,"One of the main training jump sites in the district was Green Hill at Kamma, north of Gordonvale. General MacArthur and General Blamey inspected the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Gordonvale in June 1943 and witnessed a jump by the Regiment at Green Hill.
","Some 3500 men of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, including the 501st Parachute Battalion and 'A' Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion, arrived somewhat unexpectedly in north Queensland after a long voyage across the Pacific, disembarking in Cairns on 2 December 1942. At Cairns the troops and their gear were loaded onto trucks and taken to an undeveloped camp area on the Gillies Highway south-west of Gordonvale.
", 722,"US 503 Parachute Infantry Regiment Training and Storage Centre","Lyric Theatre/ RSL Memorial Hall","Training facility","94 Gordon Street",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.0912933349609,145.787048339844,"Built about 1934 as the Lyric Theatre, the hall was owned and operated by the well-known English family of Malanda until its sale in 1939 and was one of at least three picture theatre halls in Gordonvale during the 1930s.
With the arrival of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Gordonvale in December 1942 the Lyric Theatre was taken over by the Americans for training and equipment storage. A high training tower was erected at the rear of the hall during February 1943 from where the paratroopers could practice harness jumps and tumble falls.
","The hall was also used as a storage shed where soldiers using industrial sewing machines carried out repairs on the canvas parachute packs that remained attached to the aircraft static lines after jumps. Damaged parachutes were returned to the US for repair. After completion of training the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment left Gordonvale for Cairns in August 1943, bound for Port Moresby.
In the later war years the American Red Cross organized dances at the Lyric Theatre and film screenings resumed with two screenings a day held to cater for the large number of Allied servicemen stationed in the area.
After the war the hall continued to be used by the local community for dances and other gatherings until purchased by the Gordonvale RSL Club in 1952. By 1990 the hall was in need of extensive maintenance and a restoration program was planned to save it from demolition. The building continues to serve as the Gordonvale RSL Memorial Hall.
","Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
HC Morton, Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletins 13–15, ca.1982.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 724,"US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment Parachute packing shed","Gordonvale and District Tennis Association courts","Supply facility","No 1 tennis court, Gordon and Mill Streets",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.0920314788818,145.787506103516,"Construction of parachute packing sheds at Gordonvale for
the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment
began in February 1943. Two packing sheds were built in Norman Park on the present site of Nos. 1 and 2 tennis courts of the Gordonvale and District Tennis Association. The sheds were constructed with towers at each end where the parachutes could be hung up to dry before folding and assembly. Between the towers were 15 sets of packing tables where the parachute packers worked in pairs, one on each side of a table. The men in the packing sheds called them the 'Parabelles'. On one occasion towards the end of June 1943 as the number of exercise jumps increased, they packed 700 'assemblies' in three days.
Most of the remainder of Norman Park was taken over by a large tent encampment of US Army parachute maintenance men. Only t
he concrete slab floor of the packing shed has withstood the test of time. After the war it became the playing surface for tennis courts Nos. 1 and 2 of the Gordonvale and District Tennis Association. The No.1 court was resurfaced in 1978 but the surface of the No.2 court is still the original packing shed floor.
","Some 3500 men of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, including the 501st Parachute Battalion and 'A' Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion, arrived somewhat unexpectedly in north Queensland after a long voyage across the Pacific, disembarking in Cairns on 2 December 1942. At Cairns the troops and their gear were loaded onto trucks and taken to an undeveloped camp area on the Gillies Highway south-west of Gordonvale. Their camp extended on both sides of the road near Alley Creek in the Riverstone area.
Work on two parachute packing sheds commenced in Norman Park on 17 February 1943. Another tower was built at the back of the Lyric Theatre (now the RSL Hall) where the men could practice harness jumps and tumble falls. These facilities were built by Civil Construction Corps workers. On arrival at Gordonvale the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment did not have their own parachute packers so a call was made for local women to do the work. After a rigorous selection process involving an intensive interview and training course at the Lyric Theatre, only 17 out of the several hundred applicants were chosen as packers in March 1943.
At first the chutes were made of silk, but these were replaced with nylon chutes. Training chutes were white, while combat chutes were camouflaged khaki and green. Equipment chutes for dropping supplies and equipment were of a coarse linen material. One of the main training jump sites in the district was Green Hill at Kamma, north of Gordonvale. General MacArthur and General Blamey inspected the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Gordonvale in June 1943 and witnessed a jump by the Regiment at Green Hill.
After completion of training the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment left Gordonvale for Cairns in August 1943, bound for Port Moresby. On the morning of 5 September the paratroopers were loaded into 82 C-47 transport aircraft assembled at eight airstrips in the Port Moresby area. Five aircraft carrying Australian gunners from the 2/4 Field Regiment accompanied the air armada over the Owen Stanley Range for the parachute assault on Japanese forces around Nadzab in the Markham River valley. They secured the Nadzab area for the construction of an airstrip from where the Australian 7th Division could be flown in to attack Lae from the landward side, while the 9th Division carried out an assault from the sea. Lae and Salamaua were taken by mid-September.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author)
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
HC Morton, Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletins 13–15, ca.1982.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 725,"Greenslopes Red Cross Hall and Hostel","Australian Red Cross Centre","Recreation/community","Newdegate and Headfort Streets",Greenslopes,4120,Brisbane City,-27.5133590698242,153.048278808594,"These two timber buildings were built in early1945 as a wartime Red Cross recreation hall and an accommodation hostel. Used to provide entertainment for recuperating service personnel from the adjacent Greenslopes Military Hospital, the hall was a venue for films, dances, concerts and billiards and library services. Unpaid volunteers staffed them. After the war, the Red Cross continued to operate the hall and hostel for the benefit of ex-military patients who were the responsibility of the Commonwealth's Department of Veteran Affairs.
","The 1864 Geneva Convention led to the formation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1875. After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society was formed in Melbourne. The Queensland Division was created in 1914. The aims of the Australian Red Cross were to provide comforts for sick or wounded Australian military personnel, to fundraise and to serve in military hospitals through its Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs).
During World War II, services conducted by the Red Cross included hospital visiting, welfare work, vocational training and home help. The valuable role of its VADs was officially recognised in 1942 with the establishment of the Australian Army Military Women's Service. The VADs became paid members of the Australian Army rather than unpaid volunteers. The pioneering blood transfusion service was another wartime important Red Cross activity. The provision of comforts and other aid for POWs (Allied and enemy), war brides, refugees and service personnel overseas, including nurses continued.
The Red Cross hall and hostel at the corner of Headfort and Newdegate Streets were built on a large block of land that had been purchased by the War Services Commission in 1920. Sixteen acres of this land, bordered by Denman, Newdegate and Nicholson Streets, was transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia in 1941 and used to establish the Army's 112 General Military Hospital (later Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital). Unlike other Australian military hospitals, the Greenslopes site had not been allocated an on-site Red Cross patient recreation facility. So the Red Cross approached the War Services Commission for use of some of its remaining land in Headfort Street, but the request was rejected. After Queensland Premier Forgan Smith intervened, the Red Cross was allocated some of this Commonwealth Government land.
In December 1944, the Federal Government approved the acquisition of 76 perches at the corner of Newdegate and Headfort Streets for the purpose of building Red Cross facilities, including a hall, library, billiards room, reading rooms, handcraft store, workroom, and storeroom. Construction began soon after. In September 1945, the land titles were transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia. A plaque fixed to the exterior of the hall states: These buildings were provided from funds raised by the voluntary workers of the Red Cross Café - Café profits £70,635 1941–1945. This café was located in the City Mutual Building at 307 Queen Street.
The Red Cross Hall provided recreation services to the 112 General Military Hospital's patients. Many hundreds of personnel from all three military branches passed through the hospital for medical examination before and after active service, in addition to those treated for medical, surgical or other conditions. The hall was a venue for dances, film screenings, large concerts by well-known entertainers and other services. These included a library that was originally housed near the hospital's RAAF Ward but was later moved to the Red Cross hall as well as providing billiards tables. The adjacent hostel provided beds for relatives visiting patients from interstate or intrastate.
Volunteers staffed the Red Cross Centre. Many were women who wore the Red Cross uniform complete with hats, gloves, stockings and lace up shoes. The volunteers looked after the library, did office work or ""general ward work"" such as shopping, taking messages and writing letters for patients. They also cared for relatives visiting patients by providing morning teas for both patients and their visitors.
After the conclusion of World War II in September 1945, the Red Cross Centre continued to provide services for returning and recuperating service personnel.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 726,"112 General Military Hospital (Brisbane)","Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital","Medical facility","83 Nicholson Street",Greenslopes,4120,Brisbane City,-27.51291847229,153.046340942383,"The Greenslopes Hospital was built in 1941–42 as Brisbane's first purpose-built, permanent military hospital. It became the largest World War Two military hospital in Queensland. It played an important role in caring for the military survivors of the torpedoing of the hospital ship Centaur, including Sister Nell Savage. At war's end it conducted medical checks for personnel prior to their demobilisation and became a repatriation hospital that catered to the medical needs of Queensland's returned service personnel.
","In 1940, the Commonwealth Government decided to establish a major military hospital in Brisbane as part of its plan to construct base hospitals in each state to cope with the expected war casualties. Windsor's Rosemount Repatriation Hospital (established in World War I) was still in use. Although small military field hospitals already existed in Brisbane (e.g. Redbank, Enoggera), a larger permanent hospital was required to meet the demand for medical care of the many servicemen returning from the Middle East or Britain. Several temporary camp hospitals (e.g. Chermside Camp's 2/1st Australian General Hospital) were later established to serve troops in training.
A 19-acre Greenslopes site bordered by Newdegate, Peach, Nicholson and Peach Streets was selected for the hospital. The land had existing sewerage facilities. Tenders for excavation of the site were called in April 1941. Excavations began on 24 May 1941. The initial plan was to construct a 200-bed hospital for £250,000. Later, the plan was changed to have a permanent section for 400 patients with a temporary section for another 200 men. Pavilion ward blocks and a boiler house were constructed first, followed by an army nurse and medical staff quarters, a guardhouse and an administration block. World War I had shown the need to provide for post-war rehabilitation and repatriation so the majority of the buildings were designed as permanent structures.
According to the Architectural and Building Journal of Queensland, each bed would have its own radio point, light over the bed and bedside table. Stephenson & Turner (Melbourne & Sydney) and T.R. Hall & L.B. Phillips (Brisbane) were the architects. The engineers were Gordon, Gutteridge, Haskins & Davey (Sydney, Melbourne, & Brisbane). By July 1941, construction began and a tender accepted for £38,600 from Messrs. F. and H. Heaven to build three ward blocks. The boiler house contract went to W. Greene for £7597. With the exception of the three timber ward blocks, all other buildings were of concrete and brick. The three pavilion wards were arranged end to end at an angle behind the administration block. In February 1942, Hall & Phillips called for tenders for building three more temporary pavilion wards. Suburban Constructions' tender was accepted in April.
On the 3 February 1942, The Courier Mail reported that the first 40 patients accompanied by staff arrived at the new Greenslopes Military Hospital. The staff came from the forward elements of the Australian 112th Army General Hospital (AGH) unit then based at 'Yungaba', Kangaroo Point. Approximately 60 patients followed immediately. The newspaper described the wards as ""modern"" and ""hygienic"": In a survey of the first ward to be opened, with its cream-painted walls and beds, stained woodwork, pale green ceilings and floor coverings, the occupants agreed with one of their number that ""Home was never like this"". Tiled bathrooms with shower cabinets and a well-equipped kitchen and service hatch with a refrigerator and heated food trolleys are among the features that make for the comfort of patients"".[1] On 4 March 1942, the bodies of Able Seaman A.E. Bartch and Steward E.R. Harrison plus Warrant Officer H. Theeman who had had his legs severed were brought to Greenslopes. They were the three RAN causalities from the 'Tamar Incident'. Theeman died of his wounds at the hospital.
By April 1942, the 112th AGH was concentrated at Greenslopes. Construction continued for the hospital was planned for completion by August 1942. By the end of 1942, three permanent wards, three temporary wards, a boiler house, a temporary operating theatre, occupational therapy building, patients' mess and a public canteen had been built. In 1943, three new timber pavilions (Wards 7, 8, & 9), an artificial limb factory, nurses' quarters, wardsmen's quarters and storage buildings (including a mortuary) were added. In October 1943, the site was designated 112 (Brisbane) General Military Hospital. A combined Catholic and Protestant Chapel was built in 1944. In February 1945, three new permanent wards began construction. This gave the hospital the capacity to accommodate 600 military patients. As well, a new laundry block, some small ancillary buildings, boiler house extensions and new roads were built and the administration building was finally completed.
The Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC), the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) staffed the hospital. VADs were volunteers trained by the Red Cross in assisting with nursing and domestic duties. Several hundred VADs served at Greenslopes. In December 1942, the VADs were enrolled in the new Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS). In May 1943, the hospital was registered as a training facility for nurses. Initially the AANS staff lived in tents though they had a separate mess building. Former AANS nursing sister Vera Bradshaw recalled the new hospital:
For the first few months, conditions were fairly rough. All the staff including the sisters were housed in sheds or pavilions and I recall that our chapel was a tent. But before long, more comfortable quarters were built for the doctors and sisters and we had, if not all the comforts of home, then at least some of them.[2]
With the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, the demand for medical facilities became more urgent. In April 1942, Minister for the Army Frank Forde announced that the Australian Army had undertaken to provide medical care for US wounded for three months. In addition to army patients, the 112th AGH at Greenslopes treated personnel from the Australian Voluntary Defence Corps, RAAF and Merchant Marine. Some Netherlands East Indies merchant sailors were treated there during the Papuan Campaign. US military personnel were also cared for at Greenslopes accompanied by their own medical staff. After the sinking of the Australian hospital ship Centaur off Cape Moreton on 14 May 1943, the 64 survivors were delivered to Brisbane the next day. The 29 civilian crew and the Torres Strait pilot went to the Brisbane General Hospital at Herston, while the 39 Army personnel including the sole woman survivor nurse Lieutenant Ellen Savage went to Greenslopes miliary hospital. Extra staff were called on duty and mobile patients moved to canvas chairs in preparation for the numerous ambulances that ferried the survivors to Greenslopes. These patients included many with severe burns. On 25 October 1944, 86 Australian former POWS, survivors of the sinking of the Japanese prison ship Rakuyo Maru (on 12 September 1944) were brought from Newstead Wharf No.3 to the hospital. The POWs had arrived aboard the minelayer USS Monadnock.
By wars end, Greenslopes Military Hospital was the largest in Queensland. The immediate post-war period was a busy time for the hospital as large numbers of returning POWs required urgent medical care. Greenslopes also provided medical examinations for the thousands of returning service personnel. These checks were compulsory prior to a discharge from the military. By November 1945, it had 1,120 patients and 900 staff.
[1] ""New war hospital"", Courier Mail, 3 February 1942, p.5.
[2] Vera Bradshaw, ""The 112th Australian General Hospital - recollections half a century on"". Unknown source. Copy held by Greenslopes Red Cross Centre.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation; NA digital plan
Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit citation
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, April 1941 p. 8
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, July 1941 pp. 12.
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, September 1941 p. 13.
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, October 1941 p. 14
NA file Series BP262/2, Item 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland, October 1944.
" 730,"1 Australian Field Experimental Station","Australian Chemical Warfare Research Station","Scientific facility","Gunyarra Siding",Proserpine,4800,Fitzroy-Mackay,-20.5102996826172,148.569854736328,"In late November 1943 the Department of Munitions began planning the construction of a new chemical warfare research station at Proserpine. The station, located on a farming property at a railway siding named Gunyarra, was a self-contained camp housing some 250 to 500 military personnel and scientists. Supporting staff were drawn from most of the Allied forces. Station numbers were augmented from time to time by the attachment of volunteers from the Australian forces to participate in experiments and simulated attacks involving poison gas.
","With the shock surrender of the British base at Singapore in February 1942, Britain asked Australia to provide facilities to carry out experiments in chemical warfare to determine the effects of various poisonous gases, including mustard gas, on personnel and equipment in tropical conditions. The Australian government responded by forming the Australian Chemical Warfare and Research Section, later renamed 1 Australian Field Experimental Station. A British scientist, Frederick Gorrell, was sent to Australia to train scientists and medical officers and to supervise the trials and evaluate the effects. After initial tests which were held at Townsville in 1942, Gorrell returned to Britain to arrange for scientists from the Porton Down chemical warfare establishment to come to Australia and participate in further tests. Chemical warfare trials were carried out in north Queensland using volunteer service personnel who were known as 'GP's', or Guinea Pigs.
By early 1945 the Gunyarra Experimental Station formed a large complex of over 50 buildings including laboratories, quarters, stores and workshops. Most of the buildings have been removed, and today only one wartime building-typically of timber and fibrolite construction-remains on its original site.
Research into the effects of various poison gases, especially mustard gas, was conducted on the grounds that the Japanese were thought to have chemical weapons. Laboratories for the Australian Chemical Warfare and Research Section were established at Innisfail, in a row of requisitioned properties on Corinda Street beside the Johnstone River. Early trials were conducted at Mission Beach, at North Brook Island and in the Tully rainforest. Similar experiments were also carried out by the Australian Army 'Gas School' at Wongabel near Atherton. After exposure to gas, the burnt and blistered volunteers were hospitalised for further experiments on the best way to treat victims. A special ward was set up on the top floor of the Innisfail Hospital for the treatment of gas burns and nursing staff were required to maintain secrecy.
In late 1943 the Australian Department of Munitions began planning a new headquarters for the chemical warfare research unit at a more secure location at Gunyarra near Proserpine. The Allied Works Council (AWC) received a requisition for the construction of buildings and services at Gunyarra in December 1943. The building work was allotted to private contractors. Meanwhile field trials continued to be carried out by the Innisfail research station and about 120 bombs containing four tonnes of liquid mustard gas were dropped on North Brook Island in a major test in January 1944. US chemical warfare units began two months of experimental mustard gas bombing on North Brook Island in March 1944, using Australian volunteers.
At Gunyarra, the first building contract for 27 buildings with sewerage and water reticulation systems was nearing completion in July, when the Ministry of Munitions wrote to the AWC setting out the latest requirements with regard to the layout of buildings at the station, including extra construction required and funded by the War Cabinet.
The Chemical Warfare and Research Section was renamed 1 Australian Field Experimental Station, Royal Australian Engineers, on 15 August 1944. Its role in the development and testing of chemicals for use in warfare continued. Aircraft used by the unit for test missions in north Queensland included A-27 Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers and A-9 DAP Beaufort bombers operating from Bowen airfield.
By late 1944 Gunyarra accommodated an increasing number of military personnel, including members of the Australian Army, RAAF, WAAAF, AWAS, AAMWS, Royal Army Medical Corps, British and Australian scientists, and observers from the Australian Chemical Defence Board, US Army, South African Army and New Zealand Navy. The station was formally opened early in 1945. North Brook Island continued to be used as a chemical warfare bombing range. The island is now protected as an important nesting area for the Torresian Imperial-pigeon (Ducula spilorrhoa). The 1st Australian Field Experimental Station, was officially disbanded on 24 December 1945.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author)
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Brisbane.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Plunkett, Geoff. & Australian Military History Publications. 2007, Chemical warfare in Australia / Geoff Plunkett Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, N.S.W. :
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 732,"US Army Port Offices (Water Transport Division) and Troop Movement Office","Brett's Wharf","Naval/port facility","Kingsford Smith Drive",Hamilton,4077,Brisbane City,-27.439884185791,153.067138671875,"After the arrival of the US forces in Australia and movement of Japanese forces towards Port Morseby, the need to ship men and equipment north from Brisbane became critical.
Existing shipping facilities at Brett's Wharf, Hamilton Wharf and Newstead Wharf allowed the Allied forces to dock in Brisbane, though the facilities were expanded to meet the increased requirements. Brett's Wharf was the main shipping facility for in-bound troops and those bound for New Guinea and other northern parts. Crated and deck cargo air craft bound for assembly facilities at Eagle Farm airfield were unloaded there.
","Built by company Brett & Co., Brett's Wharf served as the unloading point for USAAF aircraft destined for assembly at Eagle Farm airfield. The wharves in the Hamilton reach of the Brisbane River represented the predominant trend in the development of the Port of Brisbane, which was the provision of port facilities by private commercial interests.
It was the main point of departure for the so-called US 'Liberty ships', and for the US Army transport fleets. It held the US Army's Port Offices and Water Transport Division and the Troop Movement Office. Brett's Wharf and Hamilton Wharf were operated jointly by the US Army's Base Section 3 Port Command. It utilised the existing docks, warehouses and 40-ton crane but provided the labour force and the equipment such as modern forklifts. The US Army Port Commander had his office at Brett's Wharf.
The USAFIA had been making use of merchant marine freighters from San Francisco but it was inadequate for the task and the Army acquired its own merchant fleet as part of the Army Transport Service, (which later became the Army Transportation Corps). Twenty-one freighters from the Dutch shipping line Koninklijke Paket-vaart Maatschappij (KPM), having fled to Australia after the fall of Java, were chartered by the ATS, and became the nucleus of what was known as the 'X Fleet'. The vessels ferried men and equipment between Australia and New Guinea throughout the war. Both fleets were armed with whatever weapons could be obtained locally or even salvaged by the Small Ships Supply-Section. The fleet grew until it included 19 Baltic Coaster or N3 types, 15 concrete ships, 20 Liberty ships, and 33 of the coastal C1 or 'Knot' type. Many of these ships also tied up at Dalgetty's wharf when in Brisbane.
Another fleet of smaller shallow draught vessels was assembled by the US Army for work amongst the reefs and isolated landing places of New Guinea. It was known as the 'S Fleet' and was made up of trawlers and schooners and other small boats that could be found and crewed. This fleet was apparently referred to as the 'catboat flotilla.' Many Australians and New Zealanders crewed the vessels as part of the Civilian Branch of the ATS Water Division, while some crew actually enlisted in the US forces.
","US Army Telephone Directories Oct. 1943 & May 1944
Grover's U.S. Army ships and Watercraft of World War II
http://patriot.net/~eastlnd2/index.htm
http://www.usmm.org/atshistory.html
Roger R. Marks, Brisbane WW2 v Now, Vol. 7, ""Brisbane River - upstream from Brett's"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
United States Army Services of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three - Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: US Army, February 1946).
" 733,"Chemical Warefare School","Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre","Scientific facility","107 Windermere Road",Hamilton,4007,Brisbane City,-27.4356861114502,153.062240600586,"In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Rd was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, 'these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.'
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Ave as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Ave, 59 Bonney Ave, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Ave and Victoria Rd. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory St, Clayfield.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966.
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
R Marks, Brisbane—WW2 v Now Vol 13, Houses of Bonney Avenue.
" 734,"Chemical Warfare School Annex","Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre","Scientific facility","60 Riverview Terrace",Hamilton,4007,Brisbane City,-27.4365253448486,153.062347412109,"In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Rd was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, 'these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.'
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Ave as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Ave, 59 Bonney Ave, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Ave and Victoria Rd. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory St, Clayfield.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007.
" 738,"Hamilton RAAF Flying Boat Base","No.5 TMO","Airfield","Eagle Farm Rd (now Kingsford Smith Dr)",Hamilton,4007,Brisbane City,-27.4452152252197,153.084915161133,"The base for flying boats established at Pinkenba by Qantas in July 1938, was moved upstream in April 1940. The Department of Civil Aviation constructed mooring and reception facilities near Hamilton Wharves, and the long stretch of river at Hamilton Reach was continuously used by flying boats throughout the war. The civil facilities were also used by RAAF flying boats until the RAAF constructed its own base to the east of the DCA site.
","RAAF Flying Boat Base Hamilton contained a jetty and huts, although additional mooring buoys were also laid at Colmslie and Gibson Island. For a time after mid-1942 convoys were provided escorts by Brisbane-based Catalina's operating from Hamilton. Crews of the Catalina flying boats were housed in leased premises known as 'Catalina House' in Langside Rd, Hamilton when they flew into Brisbane. The Base was controlled by No 5 Transport and Movements Office. No 41 Squadron RAAF in particular regularly flew into and out of Brisbane.
Although the RAAF flying boats continued to be used after the war to repatriate prisoners-of-war from the Pacific, RAAF Hamilton was surplus to requirements by early 1946 and was de-commissioned.
","Jones, David Embry (2007) Wings on the River: Flying Boats on the Brisbane River and Redland Bay. Published by Boolarong Press, ISBN 1921054271, 9781921054273
Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.6
" 742,"'Q' Australian Heavy Battery and Army Signal Station","Turtle Battery and RAAF 36 Radar Station site","Fortifications","Between Menmuir Point and Turtle Head",Hammond Island (Keriri Island),4875,North and Cape York,-10.5239763259888,142.224670410156,"Two 155mm guns were located on Hammond Island from May 1943 to January 1945, covering the eastern approaches to the Prince of Wales Channel in the Torres Strait, and an army signal station on Hammond East Hill above the battery was used by RAAF 36 Radar Station during 1942–1943. The site is located at the northeast end of Hammond Island, between Menmuir Point and Turtle Head.
The surviving reinforced concrete elements of the battery include two circular gun mounts close to the shoreline, about 80m apart. Each has a ready-ammunition store at the rear, with traverse walls on three sides. The western gun mount is set higher than the eastern, and two larger magazines are located between the mounts. There are also two searchlight installations, each consisting of a searchlight station and a generator room. One installation is about 130m northeast of the western gun mount, while the other is about 350m southeast of the eastern gun mount.
About 200m southwest of the gun mounts is a Battery Observation Post (BOP) on the hill. Nearby is a shallow gun pit for a 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, its stone rubble walls lined on the inside with corrugated concrete. On top of the hill about 400m south of the BOP is a three-room former signal station with a generator room nearby. Modern marine navigation equipment has been installed on the roof of the signal station.
","During the 19th century colonial defence planners had recognised that the Torres Strait was strategically and commercially important, and Thursday Island was fortified in the early 1890s with a battery of three 6-inch breech loading (BL) guns on Green Hill, and a Quick Firing (QF) 4.7-inch gun was installed on Milman Hill in 1897. These defences were soon obsolete, and as Australia's northern defence focus had shifted to Darwin, the Thursday Island defences were dismantled in 1932. However, the 6-inch guns were left in place at Green Hill Fort, where they remain today. Later, the Green Hill Fort was used as a signals and wireless station, and ammunition store, during the war in the South West Pacific.
Despite the earlier abandonment of the fortifications of Thursday Island, the outbreak of World War II and concerns about Japan's intentions led to additional coastal artillery defences in the Torres Strait. A QF 4.7-inch Mk XII gun was re-installed on Milman Hill in December 1940, and two 6-inch Mk XI guns were installed at Tucker Point at the west end of Goods Island between December 1940 and July 1941. The latter position allowed coverage of the Prince of Wales and Dayman channels and part of the Simpson Channel, coverage of the western and eastern approaches to Thursday Island, and coverage of the RAAF Advanced Operational Base (AOB) on Horn Island, where two runways were constructed during 1941.
The Torres Strait's coastal defences were to receive further reinforcement after Japan entered the war on 7 December 1941. After his arrival in Australia in March 1942 General Douglas Macarthur upgraded the coastal defence of selected Australian ports and naval bases, requesting the delivery of 155mm field guns, Sperry searchlights and fire control equipment from the United States. During 1942–1943 nineteen batteries using M1917A1 155mm guns (designated by alphabetic letters and hence known as 'Letter batteries') were established and allocated to coastal defence in Australia and New Guinea. All but one Letter battery ('U') had two guns each.
The 155mm guns were designed by the French in World War I and were manufactured in the United States as the M1917 or M1918. In the coastal artillery role in Australia they were set on concrete mounts, where the gun's wheels were supported on a central round concrete pillar (or 'cheese'), and the gun's trails were traversed around a steel ring set in a concrete outer circle. Although these were called ""Panama mounts"" in Australia, actual Panama mounts were of a steel cruciform type. Sites in Queensland where Letter batteries were emplaced on circular concrete mounts included Skirmish Point on Bribie island; Rous Battery on the east side of Moreton Island; Magnetic Island in Townsville; False Cape near Cairns; and Turtle Battery (or 'Q' Battery as it was also known) on Hammond Island in the Torres Strait.
In early September 1942 a senior Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) officer was sent to Thursday Island to inspect sites for additional coast defence of Torres Strait. Turtle Head on the north coast of Hammond Island was identified as a site for two 155-mm guns to close the Prince of Wales Channel from the east and cover the east coast of Horn Island. Hammond Island, one of the Prince of Wales Island Group of the Torres Strait and also known as Keriri, is part of the traditional estate of the Kaurareg people. Coastal batteries were also installed on Horn Island, at King Point (two 18 pounders Mk IV), and on Entrance Island (three 60 pounders, later replaced with two 6-inch Mk VII guns).
The coastal artillery unit which would man the position on Hammond island was 'Q' Australian Heavy Battery, formed at Glenfield Camp near Liverpool, New South Wales on 3 January 1943. During January the unit moved to Tabragalba near Beaudesert in Queensland for coast artillery training, along with 'M', 'N' and 'O' Batteries which had been formed at the same time.
'Q' Battery was sent via Townsville to Thursday Island in late March-early April 1943, from where battery personnel and equipment were moved to Turtle Head on Hammond Island on 20 April. On 15 April 1943 'Q' Battery had been renamed 'Turtle Battery' for reports and correspondence. Work on construction of gun mountings and magazines continued and on 3 May No.1 gun was drawn into position on a circular concrete mount, pointing seaward. No.2 gun was drawn into position on 12 May and both guns fired a proof shoot of three rounds each.
Thereafter the war diaries of Turtle Battery show that the RAA personnel on Hammond Island settled into a daily routine of building construction, maintenance of guns, practice shoots and camp duties. Camouflage netting was erected over the battery. A Battery Observation Post (BOP), reserve and ready magazines, gun floor shelters and barracks, were largely completed by November 1943 although additional works continued. Two Sperry coast artillery searchlight installations, each comprising a searchlight station and engine room, were completed on both flanks of the battery position.
During 1943 coastal and heavy anti-aircraft batteries in north Queensland were provided with Bofors 40-mm guns for close aerial defence against low flying Japanese aircraft. On 15 November a Bofors gun was positioned near the BOP above the guns of Turtle Battery and the crew commenced work on a Bofors gun pit. Sandbagging of the battery blast walls, gun emplacements and Bofors pit was carried out during December. Vines were planted around the installations to provide natural camouflage in addition to netting. Turtle Battery was redesignated as Q Australian Heavy Battery (Coast) on 12 January 1944.
RAAF No.36 Radar Station was also established on Hammond Island, during April 1942, the first RAAF Radar Station in North Queensland. Air Warning radar coverage of the Torres Strait was essential to monitor aircraft movements and provide early warning for Japanese attacks on north Queensland and Horn Island AOB. The Hammond Island radar was one of the earliest experimental Air Warning (AW) prototype sets manufactured in Australia. The radar equipment was installed in a three-room building on Hammond East Hill, the highest point on the island. The reinforced concrete building, which faced Thursday Island, had been constructed for the Army as a signal station and observation post. Under RAAF use as a radar station, a radar antenna and spindle was fitted above the central room, which housed a plotting table and the radar electronics including the transmitter and receiver. The radar station equipment was dismantled and moved to Horn Hill on Horn Island during August 1943 and the signal station was returned to the Army.
The coast defences of Torres Strait were reviewed by the Defence Committee in September 1944 and as a result of the review it was recommended that only the 6-inch guns of Goods Battery be retained on a permanently manned basis. As a result Milman Battery on Thursday Island, King Point Section on Horn Island, 'Q' Battery on Hammond Island and Endeavour Battery on Entrance Island were placed under care and maintenance before being withdrawn.
On 29 September 1944 the Coast Artillery (CA) No.1 Mark II radar set on Hammond Island was dismantled and removed to Thursday Island to await movement south. 'Q' Battery was said to be the first 155mm battery to be fully equipped with radar, and able to shoot at night without searchlights.
Notification that the unit was to leave Hammond Island was received on 26 December 1944, and ammunition, searchlights and guns were removed by early January 1945. The sleeping shelters were demolished on 8 January and the last personnel of 'Q' Battery departed for Thursday Island on 27 January 1945.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author)
Turtle Battery. Reported Place 29630, DERM
Green Hill Fort Complex, Queensland Heritage Register reported place 601096.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Horner, D. 1995. The Gunners: A history of Australian artillery. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards NSW.
Spethman, D.W., 1997. The garrison guns of Australia 1788–1960. D.W. Spethman, Bald Hills.
Kidd, R and Neal, R. 1998. The 'Letter' Batteries: the history of the 'letter' batteries in World War II. RE Neal, Castlecrag NSW.
Seekee, V, 2002. Horn Island: In their steps 1939–1945. Vanessa and Arthur Liberty Seekee, Horn Island.
Seekee, Vanessa, 2006.11.01. ""Artillery in Torres Strait 1891–1945: the silent forgotten sentinels of the north"", Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 4(1), pp 107–123. Brisbane.
Spethman, D.W.; Miller, R.G.; Lynas, H (ed), 2008. Fortress Brisbane: a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Bay islands. R.H. Mortensen, Inala.
Canon de 155mm GPF, Wikipedia
Panama Mount, Wikipedia
" 743,"3 Advanced Ordnance Depot and 6 Advanced Workshop (AEME)","No 1 Sub Depot Group II","Supply facility","Gore Highway and Stephen Street, Harristown",Toowoomba,4350,Darling Downs,-27.57008934021,151.927047729492,"The two large sawtooth-roofed buildings which stand on the east side of the Gore Highway, either side of Stephen Street at Harristown in Toowoomba, were built during 1942 as Mechanical Transport Ordnance Stores. This complex was referred to as 3 Advanced Ordnance Depot (3 AOD) by December 1942.
To the east of the northern store building was a workshop area for 6 Advanced Workshop, Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AEME), and building 'B' of the workshops' complex still exists north of Stephen Street, between the Gore Highway and the Southern Railway line.
A camp site for 3 AOD used to be located by west of the Gore Highway, between Stephen Street in the north, Hampton Street in the west and just south of Stark Court to the south. The camp site for 6 Advanced Workshop AEME was located to the east of the workshops area, between the Southern Railway in the north and Stephen Street in the south, and almost to Fourth Avenue in the east.
","During the War in the Pacific Toowoomba became the headquarters of the First Army, formed under Lieutenant General J.D. Lavarack in April 1942. The First Army initially included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th Infantry Divisions (Militia), 1st Motor Division (Militia) and the 7th Division 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). By the end of April 1943 the First Army included the 4th Division (Militia), the 3rd Armoured Division (formerly 1st Motor Division) and the Torres Strait Force.
During 1941 a Mechanical Transport (MT) Ordnance Store had been proposed in Harristown for Northern Command (which was later dissolved in April 1942 and replaced by HQ Queensland Lines of Communications Area). Two large sawtooth-roofed store buildings, 375′ by 150′ (114m by 46m), were constructed between April and November 1942 by contractor John Young, and by December 1942 the site was known as the 3 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (3 AOD). The HQ of 3 AOD was apparently at the Trades Hall in Russell Street. By mid 1943 there were 9 buildings in the ordnance stores area, which was bounded by ANZAC Avenue (the Gore Highway) in the west, O'Quinn Street in the north, and the Southern Railway in the south.
A railway siding north of the Southern Railway ran alongside the east side of the store buildings, with spur lines inside the buildings. A 3-ton overhead travelling crane, built by Messrs Crossle, Duff and Cameron Pty Ltd, was delivered to No 1 Store in mid 1943.
The camp site for 3 AOD, built after November 1942 (with 24 buildings by mid 1943 and about 33 buildings by the end of the war) was located west of the Gore Highway, in the area bounded by Stephen Street in the north, Hampton Street in the west and just south of Stark Court to the south. The camp buildings were occupied by squatters by 1947, which hampered efforts to dispose of the site.
To the east of the northern ordnance store were workshops for 6 Australian Advanced Workshop, Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AEME). The AEME was formed in December 1942, to maintain and repair the Army's technical equipment. The workshop area, which included an armoury and firing range, was between O'Quinn Street in the north and Stephan and Duhig Streets in the south, to Fifth Avenue in the east, and included 13 structures by mid 1943.
The Workshop's camp area (with 41 structures by mid 1943) was located to the east of the workshops area, between the Southern Railway in the north and Stephen Street in the south, and almost to Fourth Avenue in the east. Retained by the Commonwealth after the war, the camp's buildings were leased to the Queensland Housing Commission from about 1949 to 1954, after which the buildings were removed.
After the war the two large ordnance store buildings and building 'B' of the 6 Australian Advanced Workshop were retained by the Commonwealth and were leased to various commercial tenants. The two ordnance store buildings still exist east of the Gore Highway, between the railway line and O'Quinn Street. Building 'B' (225′ by 140′ (69m by 43m) when built) still exists north of Stephen Street, between the railway line and the ordnance stores.
","McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, FOLDER D TO H FOLIO 46. Toowoomba Harristown AEME and Ordnance Installations - Site Plan [1/H/10]
National Archives of Australia, LS2331. Harristown Ordnance Depot - Commonwealth Buildings Occupied by Tenants, 1950.
National Archives of Australia, QL539. Harristown - Ordnance depot. 1941–1947.
National Archives of Australia, M533. Harristown - erection of ordnance building, 1941–1945.
National Archives of Australia, QL426. Harristown - Ordnance camp site C/A 6/9/45, 1943–1955.
The Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 748,"Helidon Ammunition Store and Royal Australia Air Force No.2 Replenishment Centre","Army Reserve Ammunition Depot","Ammunition facility","Air Force Road",Helidon,4344,Darling Downs,-27.5304527282715,152.106246948242,"Set back into sloping ground, north of the Warrego Highway at Helidon, the Royal Australia Air Force (RAAF) No.2 Replenishment Centre and Helidon Ammunition Store were constructed by the Queensland Main Roads Commission during the Second World War. The site is currently in use as a Reserve Forces Ammunition facility.
","Builting in the loose formation style, the Helidon ammunition facility and replensihement centre contained bunkers that stored ordnance, supplies, records and equipment. It was serviced by road and rail, with the main rail line at Russell Siding running to the south of the site. At a cost of approximately 11,000 pounds to construct, the site remained heavily wooded for concealment and the storage areas, with their gravel floors were spaced to minismise continued damage, should an explosion occur.
The RAAF No.2 Replenishment Centre was located in the south-east corner of the main site, not far from the main road. It offered accommodation to the personnel responsible for maintaining the site.
","National Archives of Australia records - Series BP378/1, J1018.
Main Roads Commission Queensland. ""The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945"", Govt Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
" 749,"6 (390th) Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery","Hemmant Anti-Aircraft defences","Fortifications","214 Fleming Road",Hemmant,4174,Brisbane City,-27.4637660980225,153.131820678711,"Primarily, it was Australian units with 24 Heavy AA guns, 12 Light AA guns and 33 searchlights that defended Brisbane. The Heavy AA guns were in fixed emplacements while the Light AA guns and searchlights were mobile and could be quickly relocated with the aid of army trucks. The three Heavy AA batteries were emplaced in six Brisbane suburbs. The two Light AA Regiments had single guns spread across Brisbane. The three Searchlight Companies occupied various positions in 18 different suburbs. The US Army also manned a small number of AA positions in Brisbane.
","The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 led to a fear of air attack on Brisbane, most likely launched from Japanese aircraft carriers. The siting of the AA guns was designed to protect Brisbane's port facilities and the US New Farm submarine base and to cover the Eagle Farm and Archerfield airfields. The anti-aircraft (AA) gun shortage in Australia caused delays so that Brisbane had still not received its full allotment of 3.7 inch AA guns by May 1942. The guns had to be brought by convoy from Britain. By 28 May, the first 16 guns were despatched on trains from Melbourne. The guns were incomplete as only four came with their cruciform platforms and these were allocated to Archerfield. The scarcity of steel meant that no more platforms could be sent and on 9 June, the Army decided that the remaining guns would not be portable, but instead would be put into fixed emplacements.
There were 6 Heavy AA batteries armed with the Australian-manufactured 3.7 inch gun. Three batteries were located in Brisbane's north and three in the south. They were put into fixed emplacements at Bannister Park at Windsor Park, Windsor; east of Eagle Farm airfield at Pinkenba; in Victoria Park at Spring Hill; on the hill above the Balmoral Cemetery off Wynnum Road, Morningside; on a farm at 214 Fleming Road, Hemmant and close to Fort Lytton in South Street, Lytton. On 29 August 1942, the Army HQ at Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace ordered the cessation of work at Windsor and the guns relocated to a site off Gerler Road, Hendra. The Hendra, Pinkenba and Lytton batteries had hexagonal cinder block gun emplacements. The Eagle Farm, Balmoral and Spring Hill emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete. A Heavy AA battery of four guns was positioned at Archerfield aerodrome. All emplacements were built under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The AWC also requested that an emplacement be built atop Mt Gravatt.
A Heavy AA battery comprised 4 guns spaced from 90 to 100 feet apart. Each battery had its own central concrete command post. This post included separate concrete pits to house a predictor and a height finder. Each of the four guns had to be within view of the predictor which itself could not be placed either 10 feet below or above any of the guns. The interior of the gun emplacements were lined with steel mesh or scabbing plates designed to contain any flying concrete splinters that were blown off during an air raid from injuring the gun crews. Some of the batteries had enough open space to fit sleeping quarters near the emplacements for the gun crews.
All AA batteries were connected by telephone cable to the Brisbane Central Command Post (14th AA Command) located with MacArthur's headquarters in the AMP Building at 229 Queen Street. This central command was also linked to Brisbane's early warning system that controlled observation posts and later radar units. The 6th, 38th and 2/5th Heavy AA batteries, the components of the 2/2nd HAA Regiment (AIF) manned the guns. From 1943, the six Heavy AA batteries experienced gun crews were replaced by gunners drawn from the Australia Women's Army Service (AWAS) and 'C' Company, 4th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).
The Light AA defences were armed with the locally made QF (quick firing) 40 mm Bofors gun. Twelve Bofors were allotted to Brisbane, belonging to the Australian 113th and the 114th Light AA Regiments. The guns were sited in individual locations. They were mobile guns hauled by Bedford light trucks (referred to as gun tractors). At various times between 1942 and 1945, Bofors guns were located at near the old cotton mill at Whinstanes; at 'Cloudland' in Bowen Hills; near the mouth of Breakfast Creek in Newstead Park; on a Myrtletown farm; at Kangaroo Point and Henda; near the old Appollo Candleworks and at the end of Quay Street in Bulimba; near the Colmslie Oil Storage Tanks; near Thomas Borwick & Sons Colmslie meatworks and elsewhere. A Heavy AA Battery had initially been emplaced near the Colmslie Oil Tanks. In August 1942, this battery relocated to Lytton. A Bofors gun temporarily replaced it at Colmslie. The Australian Army established an AA Training School and Air Defence Centre at the 'Blackheath Home' in Oxley. The VDC and AWAS began to train on the guns by June 1943.
Newstead Park's Bofors was dug-in on the point near where the US/Australian War Memorial (built 1951) stands. Established on 22 August 1942 by 115th Battery, 113th Light AA Regiment, the emplacement was handed to 605 Troop, 114th Light AA Regiment in June 1943. The 651st Light AA Regiment replaced 605 Troop and operated the gun until war's end. The gunners used the nearby Band Rotunda as a wet weather barracks.
Dummy wooden guns were also placed around Brisbane to deceive enemy aerial reconnaissance or spies. These mock-ups were manufactured at a Brisbane City Council Tramways wood machine shop on Coronation Drive, Milton. The guns were made as realistic as possible. Metal brackets allowed windage and elevation. They were painted in approved army colour schemes.
By December 1943, 14th AA Command was known as Brisbane AA Group. It oversaw the supply and operations of 6th Heavy AA Battery, 39th Heavy AA Battery, 56th SL (searchlight) Battery, 68th SL Battery, 651st Light AA Battery and the Brisbane AA Operations Room. Brisbane AA Group was linked to the Brisbane Fortress HQ at St Laurence's College, South Brisbane, the 8th Fighter Section and the HQ of 'A' Group (Brisbane) of the VDC.
The US Army aided Brisbane's AA defences. Among the first arrivals on the Pensacola Convoy on 22 December 1941 were the 102nd and 197th Coastal Artillery Regiments that included AA weapons in its equipment. In April 1942, the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment mounted four .30 calibre heavy machine guns with two searchlights as an AA position at Newstead Park. In July 1943, the US Brisbane Coast Artillery and Brisbane AA Group were placed under a single commander Brigadier E.M. Neyland. Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Thomson followed him in December 1944. The US Army had an AA gun sandbagged emplacement on Ovals No.1 and 2 of Windsor Park (presumably on the previous site of the Australian 3.7 inch guns). The US military had requested Brisbane City Council permission to demolish the park's grandstand to improve the guns' field of fire. A sandbag emplacement was located beside the Brisbane River at the end of Quay Street, Bulimba. Members of the 40th AA Brigade from the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment manned .50 calibre heavy machine guns. Australians drawn from the 114th Light AA Regiment later replaced these Americans. US AA guns were placed in Fleetway Street, Morningside to protect Camp Carina.
The US Navy operated an Anti-Aircraft Training Centre camp at Wellington Point, about 20 miles from Brisbane. The site chosen for the camp was in a public park on the peninsular jutting into Waterloo Bay, considered ideal for AA training.
","Australian War Memorial file, AWM 54, Item: 709/20/50, Brisbane AA Group, Standing Operational Orders, 19 December 1943.
Australian War Memorial file, AWM 60, Item: 9/476/42, Brisbane AA guns allotment and emplacement correspondence, 18 May-10 September 1942.
D.W. Spethman & R.G. Miller, Fortress Brisbane - a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Islands, (Brisbane: Spethman & Miller, 1998).
Brisbane City Council newsletter Between Ourselves, Volume 1, No.16, June 1980.
Marks, Roger R., Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Book 1 ""Newstead House"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
BCC Archives file BCA1344 Windsor Memorial Park, Windsor lease of 1942
[Camouflage - Methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 4, Anti-Aircraft Aerial Survey, September, 1943 [photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/4.
" 750,"Hemmant United States Army Transmitting Station","US Army Signals Corps Radio Station","Radar/signal station","180 Youngs Road and Flemming Road",Hemmant,4174,Brisbane City,-27.4529438018799,153.135482788086,"The Hemmant transmitting station and the Capalaba receiving station were built by and for the US Army in 1943. They were connected to General MacArthur's headquarters in Brisbane City and they were powerful enough to provide him with direct communication with Washington DC. While US Army signallers manned the transmitters and receiver machines, Australian women, employed by the Americans, staffed the adjacent teleprinters that typed out the messages. The two stations closed in 1945 and reopened in 1946 as Commonwealth government telecommunication centres.
","After US General Douglas MacArthur relocated his headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane in July 1942, he required a powerful radio transmitting station that could broadcast Allied messages to the civilians and guerrillas in the Japanese-held parts of the South West Pacific Area plus communicate directly with his superiors in Washington DC. He established his offices in the Australian Mutual Providential (AMP) insurance building at 229 Queen Street in Brisbane City with the basement converted into an army communications centre.
For support, US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA) built a radio transmitting station at Hemmant and a radio receiving station at Cotton's Farm, Capalaba in 1943. The Hemmant site was located on swampy ground at the corner of Flemming and Young Roads. This is possibly the Brisbane City Council vacant land described as the Lindum site that Council leased to the military during the War.
The Hemmant transmitting station comprised a large T-shaped barracks-style, brick transmitter hall and an adjacent small timber generator shed. After the war, when the generator was removed from its shed, the concrete floor was exposed and revealed the names of the three US Army engineers who had laid the concrete slab. They were Sergeants B.E. Norris, H.V. Fowler and R.J. Krotky. To be powerful enough to reach the USA, the Hemmant station was provided with an antennae system comprising rhombics mounted on 100-foot steel aerial towers. A 5-mile length of cable connected the transmitter hall to the AMP building. A barbed wire fence surrounded the site. The surrounding bushland was retained for camouflage purposes.
The Hemmant station was fitted with the latest US made teleprinters and radio wireless equipment. It held with a 40 kW Press Wireless transmitter. A Press Wireless Shifter unit converted teletype signals into radio signals. This machine fed into a 1 kW Federal Transmitter Type BC 339K, which then fed into a 10Kw Colonial amplifier. The 250 kW Buckeye generator was powerful enough to support multiple transmitters.
Detachment '3', 832nd Signal Service Company of the US Army Signals Corps ran the station to 1945. The unit at Hemmant consisted of an Administration Section, a Teletype Section and a Radio Repair Section. Australian civilian women were employed as teletype operators. The US signalmen were based at Camp Yeronga Park.
About 5–6 miles south of the Hemmant site was located the Capalaba station. A smaller building than at Hemmant accommodated the receiver station. It was equipped with a Wilcox receiver and a teletype machine. A diesel-powered Cummins generator was in an adjacent shed. Capalaba station's role was to receive messages from Washington and to monitor enemy radio traffic broadcast from occupied territory. Both the Hemmant and Capalaba stations were staffed around the clock.
After the War, the US Army handed both sites to the Commonwealth. On 26 August 1946, the Hemmant and Capalaba radio stations became the operational responsibility of the Post Master General's Department (PMG, now Australia Post & Telstra).
","Ontario DX Association, Listening In, (Ontario: Ontario DX Association newsletter, November 2007).
United States
Army Services of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three - Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: US Army, February 1946
Dunn, P. Australia @ War - Hemmant Transmitting Site.
" 751,"38 (389th) Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery","Bannister Park Baseball Fields","Fortifications","Gerler Rd and McIntyre Streets",Hendra,4011,Brisbane City,-27.4173622131348,153.06982421875,"Primarily, it was Australian units with 24 Heavy AA guns, 12 Light AA guns and 33 searchlights that defended Brisbane. The Heavy AA guns were in fixed emplacements while the Light AA guns and searchlights were mobile and could be quickly relocated with the aid of army trucks. The three Heavy AA batteries were emplaced in six Brisbane suburbs. The two Light AA Regiments had single guns spread across Brisbane. The three Searchlight Companies occupied various positions in 18 different suburbs. The US Army also manned a small number of AA positions in Brisbane.
","The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 led to a fear of air attack on Brisbane, most likely launched from Japanese aircraft carriers. The siting of the AA guns was designed to protect Brisbane's port facilities and the US New Farm submarine base and to cover the Eagle Farm and Archerfield airfields. The anti-aircraft (AA) gun shortage in Australia caused delays so that Brisbane had still not received its full allotment of 3.7 inch AA guns by May 1942. The guns had to be brought by convoy from Britain. By 28 May, the first 16 guns were despatched on trains from Melbourne. The guns were incomplete as only four came with their cruciform platforms and these were allocated to Archerfield. The scarcity of steel meant that no more platforms could be sent and on 9 June, the Army decided that the remaining guns would not be portable, but instead would be put into fixed emplacements.
There were 6 Heavy AA batteries armed with the Australian-manufactured 3.7 inch gun. Three batteries were located in Brisbane's north and three in the south. They were put into fixed emplacements at Bannister Park at Windsor Park, Windsor; east of Eagle Farm airfield at Pinkenba; in Victoria Park at Spring Hill; on the hill above the Balmoral Cemetery off Wynnum Road, Morningside; on a farm at 214 Fleming Road, Hemmant and close to Fort Lytton in South Street, Lytton. On 29 August 1942, the Army HQ at Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace ordered the cessation of work at Windsor and the guns relocated to a site off Gerler Road, Hendra. The Hendra, Pinkenba and Lytton batteries had hexagonal cinder block gun emplacements. The Eagle Farm, Balmoral and Spring Hill emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete. A Heavy AA battery of four guns was positioned at Archerfield aerodrome. All emplacements were built under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The AWC also requested that an emplacement be built atop Mt. Gravatt.
A Heavy AA battery comprised 4 guns spaced from 90 to 100 feet apart. Each battery had its own central concrete command post. This post included separate concrete pits to house a predictor and a height finder. Each of the four guns had to be within view of the predictor which itself could not be placed either 10 feet below or above any of the guns. The interior of the gun emplacements were lined with steel mesh or scabbing plates designed to contain any flying concrete splinters that were blown off during an air raid from injuring the gun crews. Some of the batteries had enough open space to fit sleeping quarters near the emplacements for the gun crews.
All AA batteries were connected by telephone cable to the Brisbane Central Command Post (14th AA Command) located with MacArthur's headquarters in the AMP Building at 229 Queen Street. This central command was also linked to Brisbane's early warning system that controlled observation posts and later radar units. The 6th, 38th and 2/5th Heavy AA batteries, the components of the 2/2nd HAA Regiment (AIF) manned the guns. From 1943, the six Heavy AA batteries experienced gun crews were replaced by gunners drawn from the Australia Women's Army Service (AWAS) and 'C' Company, 4th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).
The Light AA defences were armed with the locally made QF (quick firing) 40 mm Bofors gun. Twelve Bofors were allotted to Brisbane, belonging to the Australian 113th and the 114th Light AA Regiments. The guns were sited in individual locations. They were mobile guns hauled by Bedford light trucks (referred to as gun tractors). At various times between 1942 and 1945, Bofors guns were located at near the old cotton mill at Whinstanes; at 'Cloudland' in Bowen Hills; near the mouth of Breakfast Creek in Newstead Park; on a Myrtletown farm; at Kangaroo Point and Henda; near the old Appollo Candleworks and at the end of Quay Street in Bulimba; near the Colmslie Oil Storage Tanks; near Thomas Borwick & Sons Colmslie meatworks and elsewhere. A Heavy AA Battery had initially been emplaced near the Colmslie Oil Tanks. In August 1942, this battery relocated to Lytton. A Bofors gun temporarily replaced it at Colmslie. The Australian Army established an AA Training School and Air Defence Centre at the 'Blackheath Home' in Oxley. The VDC and AWAS began to train on the guns by June 1943.
Newstead Park's Bofors was dug-in on the point near where the US/Australian War Memorial (built 1951) stands. Established on 22 August 1942 by 115th Battery, 113th Light AA Regiment, the emplacement was handed to 605 Troop, 114th Light AA Regiment in June 1943. The 651st Light AA Regiment replaced 605 Troop and operated the gun until war's end. The gunners used the nearby Band Rotunda as a wet weather barracks.
Dummy wooden guns were also placed around Brisbane to deceive enemy aerial reconnaissance or spies. These mock-ups were manufactured at a Brisbane City Council Tramways wood machine shop on Coronation Drive, Milton. The guns were made as realistic as possible. Metal brackets allowed windage and elevation. They were painted in approved army colour schemes.
By December 1943, 14th AA Command was known as Brisbane AA Group. It oversaw the supply and operations of 6th Heavy AA Battery, 39th Heavy AA Battery, 56th SL (searchlight) Battery, 68th SL Battery, 651st Light AA Battery and the Brisbane AA Operations Room. Brisbane AA Group was linked to the Brisbane Fortress HQ at St Laurence's College, South Brisbane, the 8th Fighter Section and the HQ of 'A' Group (Brisbane) of the VDC.
The US Army aided Brisbane's AA defences. Among the first arrivals on the Pensacola Convoy on 22 December 1941 were the 102nd and 197th Coastal Artillery Regiments that included AA weapons in its equipment. In April 1942, the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment mounted four .30 calibre heavy machine guns with two searchlights as an AA position at Newstead Park. In July 1943, the US Brisbane Coast Artillery and Brisbane AA Group were placed under a single commander Brigadier E.M. Neyland. Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Thomson followed him in December 1944. The US Army had an AA gun sandbagged emplacement on Ovals No.1 and 2 of Windsor Park (presumably on the previous site of the Australian 3.7 inch guns). The US military had requested Brisbane City Council permission to demolish the park's grandstand to improve the guns' field of fire. A sandbag emplacement was located beside the Brisbane River at the end of Quay Street, Bulimba. Members of the 40th AA Brigade from the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment manned .50 calibre heavy machine guns. Australians drawn from the 114th Light AA Regiment later replaced these Americans. US AA guns were placed in Fleetway Street, Morningside to protect Camp Carina.
The US Navy operated an Anti-Aircraft Training Centre camp at Wellington Point, about 20 miles from Brisbane. The site chosen for the camp was in a public park on the peninsular jutting into Waterloo Bay, considered ideal for AA training.
","Australian War Memorial file, AWM 54, Item: 709/20/50, Brisbane AA Group, Standing Operational Orders, 19 December 1943.
Australian War Memorial file, AWM 60, Item: 9/476/42, Brisbane AA guns allotment and emplacement correspondence, 18 May-10 September 1942.
D.W. Spethman & R.G. Miller, Fortress Brisbane - a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Islands, (Brisbane: Spethman & Miller, 1998).
Brisbane City Council newsletter Between Ourselves, Volume 1, No.16, June 1980.
Marks, Roger R., Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Book 1 ""Newstead House"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
BCC Archives file BCA1344 Windsor Memorial Park, Windsor lease of 1942
[Camouflage - Methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 4, Anti-Aircraft Aerial Survey, September, 1943 [photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/4.
" 754,"Causeway Red Light District","US prophylactic station","Recreation/community","Brodie Street (formally Ford Street)",Hermit Park,4812,Townsville,-19.2731304168701,146.805023193359,"The existence of brothels in Townsville was known long before the commencement of WWII. However the large influx of American and Australian soldiers saw this 'service' expand considerably.
Townsville's ""red light district"" was situated in Ford Street, behind the Causeway Hotel. A line of timber 'workers cottages' provided services to Australian and American serviceman alike. This included African-American serviceman until most of these segregated companies were transferred to New Guinea.
The locality was named after the nearby 'causeway' embankment and bridge that enabled travel to the city.
Nine houses occupied this side of Ford Street in 1942. However, by 1952 there were only five. At least two were destroyed by arson in 1945 and one residence was washed away by the 1946 flood. In an effort to erase the 'reputation' of the area, several Ford Street properties were purchased and removed by Townsville City Council. In c1969 this section was renamed Brodie Street and with the removal of the remaining houses, became vacant land.
","In late 1942, Tom Aiken (Deputy Mayor of Townsville) was riding his bike home from the city when he noticed a crowd of soldiers behind the Causeway Hotel. At the centre were eight US Military Police with pistols drawn and several shot and injured Australians lying nearby. With colourful language, Aiken's introduced himself and threatened the MP's with official retribution. They then quickly departed and Aiken promptly forwarded telegrams to the Australian Minister for the Army and the American Commander in Chief detailing the incident.
Although the recreational facilities of the Causeway Hotel and Ford Street was likely the scene of many disturbances, a note in the Townsville HQ 9 diary states that on 28 November 1942:
The Causeway Hotel…has been placed out of bounds to all troops.
The contraction of venereal disease by serviceman was taken seriously as it meant reduced operational capability. In July 1943 a new method resulted in the apprehension of approximately 99% of all cases. The following extract reveals the extent the authorities took in reducing the spread of venereal disease:
","Essentially the modus operandi was thus. As soon as a venereal disease case was admitted to a hospital, the serviceman was interviewed by a MP Investigator. Whereas descriptions were more frequently than not extremely sketchy, a file of all women of doubtful character enabled the investigator to identify the suspect in the majority of cases.
Under the venereal diseases regulations of Queensland, any qualified medical practitioner can certify that he has reasonable grounds to believe a woman was infected with a venereal disease. Therefore when such a subject was located, the civilian police obtained an order from a Stipendiary Magistrate…If upon examination, she was found to be infected another order was secured for her detention. She was then placed in a special ward of the State Hospital and treated there until cured. All known prostitutes and women of doubtful character were under constant surveillance of the police. A new venereal disease ward was constructed at Townsville General Hospital, and thus afforded sufficient space for the hospitalization of these cases.
A 'blue light' prophylactic station was manned on a 24 hour basis at both the Causeway and the Strand. Over 2600 'treatments' were administered in the July-September quarter during 1943 in Townsville.
HQ 9 Anti-Aircraft Operation Rooms [Townsville] (HQ 9 AA Ops Room) [Whole Diary - 6 items] (Sep 1942 - Nov 1943; Jan 1944 - Feb 1945), AWM 52, 4/15/6.
Routine orders-Artillery: anti-Aircraft Defences, Townsville, AWM 54, 707/9/59.
" 755,"Camp Victoria Park (Lower) - HQ and Enlisted Men's Camp","Base Section 3 and US Army Service of Supply (USASOS) Headquarters","Military camp","223 Herston Rd",Herston,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4498805999756,153.024124145508,"In 1942, the US Army requisitioned Victoria Park, a large public reserve spread across two Brisbane suburbs for a large administrative and accommodation camp. Camp Victoria Park was the nerve centre for the support services that backed-up US combat troop operations in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). The camp was important as the headquarters of both the US Army Services Of Supply and its parent command of Base Section 3. American servicemen lived and worked at the camp while Australian civilians also were employed there. In 1944, a few members of the US Women's Army Corps moved into the camp. Although the Pacific War ended on 3 September 1945, the camp continued to function for a further five months.
","With the arrival in Brisbane of the first US forces to Australia on 23 December 1941, a US headquarters was established at Lennon's Hotel, with Colonel Alexander L.P. Johnson appointed supply officer. On 1 January 1942, Lieutenant General Brett transferred the Headquarters of the United States Forces in Australia (USFIA) from Brisbane to Melbourne. On 5 January, Brisbane was designated Base Section No. 3 for the purposes of the US Army. Johnson was the first base commander. Over the next 4 years, he was succeeded by: Colonel Albert L. Sneed, Brigadier General William H. Donaldson Jr., Brigadier General Emer. Yeager, Brigadier General William H. Donaldson Jr. (again), Colonel Walter C. Lattimore, Brigadier General Homer C. Brown, Colonel Clifford J. Mathews, Brigadier General William H. Donaldson Jr. (again), Colonel George C. Sherman, Colonel Francis N, Wilson, Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Schmidt, Lieutenant Colonel Earl N. Hauschultz. Donaldson was awarded the Legion of Merit for his role.
In 1942, the Brisbane City Council offered Victoria Park to the USFIA. The park was both close to the Brisbane CBD and adjacent to the Normanby rail yards. While the railway intersected Victoria Park, soldiers could cross from one side of the camp to another using an existing wooden footbridge in Kalinga Avenue, adjoining the Girls Grammar School. As the site was to be returned to a public park after the war, no permanent structures were permitted. Numerous prefabricated huts and barracks spread throughout the park. The officers were billeted in the Spring Hill section with an entrance off Gregory Terrace. Across the rail line in the Herston section of the park was located the Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and the Other Ranks (ORs) billets with the main entrance off Herston Road. The entrances were gated, had sentry boxes and were marked with the overhanging sign: US ARMY REPRESENTATIVES.
Apart from accommodation barracks, the camp comprised: a Headquarters Area (a complex of office buildings including the Commander's Office & Adjutant General's Office that held the radio & cable room), a dispensary (including a surgery and dentistry), Ordnance and Engineers vehicle parks, Postal Exchange (PX) and separate officers and NCO/ORs clubs. Australian women were employed in these various sections but no females were permitted entry into either barracks areas. Australians also manned a searchlight position that provided support to the camp's Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun emplacement. Council had placed a public air raid shelter to the west of the tram sub-station fronting Bowen Bridge Road.
On 15 February 1943, the US Navy created the 7th Fleet to serve under General MacArthur. While the USN had an independent command (Base 134) in Brisbane, accommodation for the new fleet's administrative tail was scarce. The offices of Commander Service Force Seventh Fleet were temporarily located in Victoria Park, utilising existing Army buildings.
During 1942–43, Base Section 3 controlled all US troops, services and facilities located around Brisbane. After MacArthur relocated his headquarters to Brisbane in July 1942, the organisation was redesignated Sub Base 3 of Australian Base Command. On 26 February 1943, the newly created US 6th Army took control of all US Army combat units allotted to MacArthur. Sub Base 3 was left with control of rear echelon units, largely in the supply and support role. Primary responsibility for organising supply needs fell to the US Army Services of Supply (USASOS). The USASOS developed Brisbane into ""the largest Supply Base in the Western Pacific.""[1] At its peak, Base Section 3 comprised 6,457 military and 19,084 civilian personnel. Camp Victoria Park served MacArthur's GHQ, USFIA, the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) command, US 5th Air Force, 5th Air Force Service Command, 14th Anti-Aircraft Command, plus (prior to the 6th Army's creation) the 32nd, 41st and 24th US Infantry Divisions and US 1st Cavalry Division. From 1942–46, Base Section 3 processed 2,290,757 US military personnel. USASOS shipped a total of 45,208,782 tons of supplies from Brisbane.
Camp Victoria Park was the administrative centre of this Brisbane supply base. The USASOS contained offices for the General Property Officer, Port Commander, Disposition Centre, Disposals Officer, Procurement Officer, Finance Officer, Postal Officer, Ordnance and Engineering Officers. For example, the Procurement Office staff ordered the weekly supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from the Roma Street Markets.
In mid-May 1944, the US Women's Army Corps (WACs) first contingent (640) arrived at Camp Yeronga Park. The USASOS was allotted 39 WACs to replace civilians working at Camp Victoria Park. Separate billets were built at the camp for the WACs. Most of the US servicewomen were not trained in clerical work, with USASOS General Campbell complaining: ""The Wacs didn't know one Quartermaster report from another but they quickly caught on: even those who had been riveters showed aptitude for it, and did more and better work than civilians. I never saw a bunch more willing to do a job.""[2]
With US President Roosevelt's death on 12 April 1945, flags at US military establishments, including Camp Victoria Park, flew at half-mast. The Officers' Club was gutted by fire in June 1945. After the War, the US forces gradually withdrew from the camp. As buildings became vacant, Australians occupied them. The Brisbane Telecommunications Unit (RAAF) moved to the camp on 13 December 1945. The US left Camp Victoria Park in February 1946. The only remnants are the Officers' camp flagpole on Gregory Terrace and the OR and NCOs camp flagpole located near the Victoria Park golf clubhouse.
[1] US Army Service of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three - Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: USASOS, February 1946), Introduction.
[2] Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women's Army Corps - United States Army in World War II, (Washington: Center of Military History United States Army, 1991), p. 419.
","Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women's Army Corps - United States Army in World War II, (Washington: Center of Military History United States Army, 1991).
RAAF Historical Section, Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - a concise history, Volume 1: Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organisations, (Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995).
US Army Service of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three - Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: USASOS, February 1946).
US Army Special Intelligence Service, S.I.S. Record 1942–1946, (?; SIS Record Association, 1946).
US Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, US Navy Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report, (Washington: USN, 1946).
" 757,"USAAF B-24 Consolidated Liberator 41-23825 Wreckage","'Texas Terror'","Aircraft wreck","Mount Straloch",Hinchinbrook Island,4849,North and Cape York,-18.4523362263805,146.282315254211,"At 8.15am on the morning of 18 December 1942, a USAAF Liberator bomber known as 'Texas Terror' lifted off from Garbutt airbase, Townsville, for Iron Range on Cape York Peninsula. The aircraft disappeared into an overcast sky, but failed to make it. Searches were mounted, but by January 1943 no trace of the bomber had been found and its disappearance was written off as another small unsolved mystery of the war. By late 1943 the Pacific frontline had moved far to the north of Australia and the loss of the 'Texas Terror' had been all but forgotten, when two Aborigines searching gullies on Hinchinbrook Island for alluvial tin, reported finding some burned US currency in the creeks at the southern base of Mount Straloch.
Early in January 1944, over a year after the aircraft's disappearance, several experienced rock climbers were engaged to search the steep face of the mountain which is covered with dense tropical rainforest rising to sheer cliffs 920 metres in height. Most of the ridges are unscaleable and the only practical route is up the bed of a ravine filled with large round granite boulders displaced by the torrential rains of the wet season. The mystery of the 'Texas Terror's' disappearance was finally solved after the searchers hauled themselves over 750 metres up the southern flank of Mount Straloch and came across the wreckage.
The aircraft had struck the face of the mountain some 150 to 180 metres below the summit where the steep slope of the rainforest ends in vertical granite cliffs. The wreckage remains scattered over a large area with part of the fuselage remaining at the point of impact. An outer wing and motor lie wedged in a crevice above. An inner wing and landing gear lie in the forest below, with two motors at the base of the cliff. Part of a tail fin, still carrying the number 123825 on faded camouflage, lies in a nearby ravine. An aluminium cross was erected near the point of impact in 1960 as a memorial to the eleven US crew and passengers who died.
","The 'Texas Terror', serial number 41-23825, was a newly arrived Liberator bomber that had been ferried across the Pacific in early November 1942. Built by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation at their San Diego plant at a cost to the taxpayer of US$287,276, it was the first of a run of twenty-five B-24 D-7's for the USAAF.
The aircraft piloted by Lieutenant James Gumaer, left Amberley airfield, Brisbane, for Iron Range Advanced Operational Base on Cape York Peninsula, carrying a reduced crew of five. On route to Iron Range the aircraft landed at Garbutt air base, Townsville, to pick up a group of five US military passengers and a US civilian representative of Pratt and Whitney whose motors powered the B-24. The most senior of the military passengers was Colonel Carroll Riggs commanding officer of the US 197th Coastal Artillery who was paying his first visit to the anti-aircraft detachments at Iron Range. Accompanying him was Lieutenant Raymond Dakin, also of the 197th, carrying a payroll for the gunners who had not been paid since their detachment from Townsville to Iron Range in August.
On leaving Townsville the aircraft flew into severe turbulence. Over Hinchinbrook Island, in poor visibility, the pilot crashed into Mount Straloch and all crew and passengers were killed. Several early clues as to the fate of the 'Texas Terror' came from local civilian sources. At about 9.00am while Ingham was being lashed by a heavy storm, residents heard an aircraft circling overhead. At about the same time inhabitants near the small coastal settlements of Lucinda and Halifax reported having seen a flash high on the face of Mount Straloch. For several nights thereafter, workers at a nearby sugar mill claimed that in certain light conditions they could see reflections from metal on the mountain. The authorities discounted these sightings, considering that the aircraft would have been much further north by 9.00am on the day it went missing. Air searches for the missing aircraft were abandoned. A final determination on the loss of the 'Texas Terror' would later find from a watch found at the site that the time of the crash was 0905 hours. The flight had lasted just 50 minutes after departure from Garbutt.
Over a year later, after the tip-off by Aborigines and discovery of the wreckage by climbers on 7 January 1944, the remains of the crew and passengers were recovered and interred at the US Armed Forces Cemetery at Ipswich, close to Amberley where the flight originated. After the war the remains were interred as a group at Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Maxwell, Nebraska, USA.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
DH Johnson. Torres Strait to Coral Sea: The defence of north Queensland. DH Johnson, Charters Towers, 1992.
Michael Musumeci. Iron Range Airbase: Carved in the Cape York jungle 1942–1945. Michael Musumeci, Mareeba, 2008.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
The Allied Works Council was responsible for the construction of many military hospitals across Queensland during the war years. In the twelve months to June 1943 for example, hospitals to capable of holding 20000 patients were erected for the Allied forces. The largest hospital built by the AWC was that for the US Army at Holland Park.
","Costing more than £400,000, the Holland Park hospital was built in two sections, each capable of holding 1000 patients. The buildings were erected by Stuart Brothers, with incidental works to other contractors. The average workforce during construction numbered 300 men.
The Main Road Commission built all the roads and pathways, BCC undertook supply of electricity and installation of the sewer line. The first section was completed by September 1943. It had covered walkways between buildings and ramps instead of stairs, innovations apparently uncommon in Queensland at that time. Most of the hospital was constructed of timber and fibre cement, and spread across the site as part of a 'tropical design' which allowed the retention of many mature gum trees.
The Holland Park hospital was occupied by staff of the 42nd General Hospital who moved from the hospitals at Stuartholme in mid-1943, and from Camp Columbia a few months later. Staff at the hospital numbered in excess of 1000 during the majority of the US Army occupancy. The second stage of Holland Park (known as Unit II) was occupied by the 155th Station Hospital that was transferred from Ekibin at the end of June 1944. At various times it cared for psychiatric patients, as well as establishing two wards for WACs. In September 1944 the 155th Station Hospital was attached to the Sixth United States Army and moved on to New Guinea in September 1944.
There are indications that the 42nd General Hospital was disbanded on 11 November 1944, probably as a result of its movement northwards.
Holland Park was then occupied by the 102nd Australian General Hospital until war's end, after which the site was abandoned. It was demolished in the 1950s.
","2 NA digital plans; Marks Book 4; Dunn
NAA: Series BP262/2 9127 PART 2 barcode 438604. Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report of work done by AWC Qld to 30 June 1943
Third Portable Surgical Hospital, 22 August, 1944
WW2 US Medical Research Centre
Roger Marks, Brisbane WW2 v Now, Vol 4 ""Holland park & Ekibin Hospitals"", Brisbane, 2005.
" 761,"Royal Australian Air Force 211 Radar Station",,"Radar/signal station","Charlie's Hill Road, Charlie's Hill",Home Hill,4871,Fitzroy-Mackay,-19.7080421447754,147.464233398438,"RAAF 211 Radar Station at Charlie's Hill became operational in late 1943, and was one of five British-designed Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) radar stations constructed in Queensland during World War II: four being completed (Benowa, Toorbul, Bones Knob and Charlie's Hill) with a fifth not completed (Paluma). The site is located in a reserve about 1.5 km along Charlie's Hill Road, east of the Bruce Highway, about 5km south of Home Hill.
Two reinforced concrete semi-circular igloos, both about 10m long by 6m wide, are located over 50m apart at the summit of Charlies' Hill. Each has a small concrete tower at the north end.
The eastern (receiving) igloo has a square steel box on top of its tower. Four concrete footings (approximately 1.5m by 1.5m each) for a timber tower are located approximately 10m northeast of the igloo. Northeast of the footings is a chest height, concrete lined hole, reputedly a Voluntary Air Observers' Corps (VAOC) spotters post.
The western (transmitting) igloo has exit holes for the aerial cables in the concrete floor. To the southwest of the igloo are four concrete footings for a timber tower. Located in the middle of the tower foundations is another concrete lined hole.
","Radar stations were established along the north Queensland coast during WWII to give the earliest possible warning of approaching enemy aircraft. The RAAF installed 211 Radar Station on Charlie's Hill in late 1943.
The delays that Australia experienced in acquiring British radar equipment spurred an innovative period of radar development by Australian scientists from late 1941. By the time the British Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) radar system was installed at Charlie's Hill, features of its design, especially its two conspicuous tall timber towers, had already been superseded by the Australian designed Light Weight Air Warning (LW/AW) radar.
One tower in ACO stations was for transmitting and the other was for receiving radar signals. The towers were spaced about 100 metres apart to ensure that radio pulses were received as echoes and not confused with transmissions. The towers did not rotate like those commonly used in other radar models. The ACO radar installation consisted of 14 switches on the receiver tower and more on the transmitter. These had to be constantly relayed from on to off, lower to higher, and between different directions. At Charlie's Hill the two timber towers, which were assembled in kit form, were over 40m high.
The igloos were built to house the radar electronics and two tonne consoles for the transmitter and receiver. At Charlie's Hill the eastern igloo housed the receiving equipment whilst the western igloo housed the transmitting equipment. The reinforced concrete igloos could be covered with earth, and were designed with a small tower at one end which was equipped with a ladder and served as a ventilator and escape passage. However, the ACO igloos used in Australia were not buried. Entrance doorways at the other end were large enough to accommodate the radar consoles.
The ACO electronics were the second generation of the British CH (Chain Home) type of radar, a 'floodlit' system operating on the VHF band. The transmitter was a British MB3 model which put out 250 kW of power at 42.5 MHz. The transmitter aerial system was in two parts set at different heights to enable height finding using the floodlit system. Each part had four elements to cover four sectors of 120 degrees.
The receiver was a British RF7 (receiver fixed location) built in four vertical racks held in a frame of 2 x 2 x 0.6 metres. The receiver detected radio echoes from all directions simultaneously, and compared the strength of an echo from within a radius to identify the direction from which the signal was originating. The receiver had two parts on the tower plus crossed dipoles used for the height finding of an aircraft by comparing the echoes from the higher and lower sections on the tower.
Nine British ACO radar stations were completed in Australia by the end of 1943 (while others were built but were never made operational). Four were completed in Queensland. As well as RAAF 211 at Charlie's Hill, there was RAAF 209 at Benowa (since demolished); RAAF 210 at Toorbul; and RAAF 220 at Bones Knob, Tolga. An ACO station was started at Paluma, and concrete igloos were built that still exist on Lennox Crescent, but the towers were never built as the ACO program was cancelled in late 1943.
The RAAF 211 was operational soon after Christmas 1943 and was maintained and operated by a radar unit made up of members of the RAAF and (from early 1944) Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF). The radar units were usually small, numbering around 35 personnel. The station was operated for 24-hours a day. Each shift comprised three-four people - one operator calling out the bearing and distance of the aircraft, one recording the plots, one working on the plotting table, and a fourth person to communicate by telephone to a Fighter Sector HQ. The RAAF staff, who lived on site, maintained and operated the station. The WAAAF staff, who worked as operators, plotters, and recorders, were on site during daylight hours only, and were accommodated in the hotel at Home Hill.
The camp site for RAAF 211 was west of the hill, on what is now farmland. Electricity appears to have been generated in two smaller concrete igloos northwest of the hill, but these no longer exist.
Following the surrender of Japan in August 1945 military installations in north Queensland were disbanded. The Charlie's Hill Radar Station ceased operating on 1 October 1945. The equipment was dismantled and removed. Before leaving the area, the officers and operators of the unit, in return for the hospitality of the Home Hill residents, hosted a tennis afternoon, dinner and dance in the town.
","Radar Station, Charlie's Hill. Queensland Heritage Register 601716
WWII RAAF 220 Radar Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602741
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of
significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Smith, N and Simmonds, E, (eds), 2007. Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
Simmonds, E. (ed), 2007. More Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
National Archives of Australia, ST156. RAAF radio location 1943
""No 202 Radar Station, Victor Harbour"", Twentieth Century Heritage Survey, Stage Two (1928–1945)
WWII RAAF Radar Station 208 (former), NSW Heritage Register
Walding, R. Defences of Moreton Bay—Toorbul Radar Station Unit 210RS
Dunn, P. No. 211 Radar Station RAAF Mascot, NSW, Home Hill, Qld during WW2
" 764,"157th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery and Company Camp",,"Fortifications","Horn Island Airfield",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5834407806396,142.287689208984,"This unit was raised in Canterbury, NSW in June 1942, under the command of Captain Newland, an experienced Middle East campaigner. After training, the unit arrived at Horn Island on 26 October 1942 with twelve 40mm Bofors guns, Predictors, generators, trucks and other equipment. During the war A troop was positioned on Thursday, Goodes and Horn Island protecting artillery, and at the Horn Island airstrip. B troop was positioned alongside the runway at Horn Island and on the ridges overlooking the airstrip, providing protective firepower. The battery took part in inter unit sporting competitions, constructed a swimming pool by damming up Vidgen Creek, and took part in the rescue of the passengers and crew of 'Tojo's Nightmare'. The unit departed the island in October 1944.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 765,"1st Australian Camp Hospital",,"Military camp","near Sherard Osborne Point Road",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5943994522095,142.294876098633,"Due to an influx of troops and airmen into Queensland and the establishment of their camps in 1942–1943, some thirteen smaller camp hospitals were constructed. They were much more primitive than the larger general hospitals.
The 1st Australian Camp Hospital was formed in April 1942 at Reid River, west of Townsville, arriving to Thursday Island on 1 November. Here they assisted the 6th Australian Camp Hospital nurses, until moving to Horn Island on 4 January 1943. The staff consisted of nine nurses, a doctor and medical orderlies.
The hospital itself consisted of a hospital theatre, mess hut, nurses living quarters and a ward housing 36 beds. The ward itself was a canvas tent, with wooden floor boards and gauze sides with tent flaps, while all other buildings were wooden and camouflaged within the trees. After nursing wounded from New Guinea, aircraft and other assorted accident victims, burns, illness, and a myriad of tropical conditions, the unit was disbanded on 10 August 1944, with the 105th Australian Light Field Ambulance taking over.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 766,"26th Infantry Militia Battalion beach defences","26th Infantry Militia Battalion camp","Fortifications","King Point",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5717296600342,142.308120727539,"The 26th Australian Infantry Battalion was formed in north Queensland in July 1939, made up of part-time soldiers of the Citizen Military Forces, also known as the Militia. The new battalion was headquartered at Hughenden with companies based at Julia Creek, Winton and Longreach. On the declaration of war in September 1939 the Battalion was called up for full-time training at Townsville, then Miowera and Sellheim, before being deployed to Fort Kissing Point at Townsville, to deter unrest by Italian cane farmers should Italy enter the war on Germany's side. In May 1942, after Japan's entry in the war, the troops of 26 Battalion carried out reconnaissance patrols in the Townsville district before being stationed at Kuranda where they were engaged in training until mid-1943.
In late May 1943 three company's of 26 Battalion embarked from Cairns to take up garrison duties on Horn Island and the surrounding islands in the Torres Strait. The fourth company—A-Coy—was detached to Dutch New Guinea to become part of Merauke Force. Little evidence remains of the wartime presence of the troops of the Horn Island mobile force, but at King Point in a small concrete ammunition store dug into the side of a hill by the coast, two inscriptions survive—'E Peel 15/8/43' and 'EW Plumb 15/8/43'. Both were privates from D-Company, 26 Battalion. Nearby, other evidence of the Battalion defences include weapons pits and foxholes overlooking the coast.
","The deployment of 26 Battalion in Torres Strait formed part of General Douglas MacArthur's 'Moultrie Plan'to counter a possible Japanese assault against northern and western Australia in general, and the Merauke-Torres Strait area in particular. To meet this possible offensive the garrison at Merauke was to be increased to a brigade and two brigade groups were to be concentrated in the Horn and Thursday Island area with smaller forces on Cape York. On Horn Island 26 Battalion, along with the 5th Australian Machine Gun and Torres Strait Light Infantry (TSLI) Battalions, were to provide infantry support within the Horn Island Defensive Plan as part of the whole Moultrie Plan.
An Army Appreciation report in September 1943 noted that 26 Battalion was to form part of the defence of the Horn Island aerodrome and King Point area. Two tank-attack guns were located at King Point, while the Battalions' B, C and D Company's, one machine gun platoon and two detachments of mortars were to make up part of a mobile force ready to proceed to any part of the island to aid in its defence. The 5th Machine Gun and TSLI Battalions made up the remainder of the troops in this mobile force. Platoon detachments were placed on islands surrounding Horn Island including Goods, Hammond, Entrance, Wednesday and Tuesday Island to provide infantry support for coast defence and anti-aircraft batteries. From August 1943 the 26th travelled between Horn Island and the mainland, switching between garrison work in the islands and labouring on the Red Island Point and Mutee Head jetties. The Battalion left Horn Island between September and December 1943, returning to the island for several months in mid-1944 before resuming training near Brisbane for 11 Brigade's next deployment at Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, where 26 Battalion finally saw action.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Australian War Memorial, .
Reg A Ball, Torres Strait Force 1942 to 1945: The defence of Cape York, Torres Strait and Merauke in Dutch New Guinea, Sydney, 1996.
Graham McKenzie Smith, Australia's Forgotten Army, vol 2, ACT, 1995.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Vanessa Seekee, Horn Island 1939–1945: A record of the defence of Horn Island during World War Two, Horn Island 2002.
" 767,"B-17E Aircraft, Serial Number 41-2497","""Tojo's Nightmare""","Aircraft wreck","Horn Island Airfield",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5752105712891,142.280029296875,"On 24th March 1942, a United States Air Force B-17E, 'Tojo's Nightmare', crashed in mangroves off the coast of Horn Island in North Queensland whilst on approach to Horn Island Airfield, resulting in two deaths.
","Originally assigned to 19th Bombardment Group, 30th Bombardment Squadron, it was later designated for transport duties with the 317th Troop Carrier Group, 46th Troop Carrier Squadron.
During November 1942, 'Tojo's Nightmare' carried one U.S. Army howitzer, a tractor, ammunition and an eight man crew to 7-Mile Drome near Port Moresby from Australia. After delivery, the cargo was divided between several C-47s and flown to the north coast of New Guinea for use at Buna, New Guinea.
Whilst transporting troops on furlough to Australia, the bomber was making its final approach to Horn Island Airfield when the nose began to rise unexpectedly. It stalled, did a quarter turn flat spin from 250′ and crashed in about 4 feet of water in nearby mangroves.
One of the first at the scene was US Army Captain John D. Ewing. The crew was rescued by Americans and Australian personnel who cut a hole into the top of the bomber to remove the passengers. Australians from 34 Australian Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery and the 157 Australian Light Anti Aircraft Battery helped rescue those on board. 17 of the 18 on board received injuries and spent the night in the hospital until another aircraft took them to Townsville the next day. Two died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Remains of the bomber can stil be found in the mangroves, and in 1997, Australian members of the anti-aircraft units involved in the rescue revisited the island and crash site to pay tribute to those killed.
","Seekee, V. (2001).""Horn Island: In Their Steps 1939–1945"", pp199–200. Torres Strait Heritage
" 768,"5th Machine Gun Battalion Camp",,"Military camp","Horn Island Airfield",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5894041061401,142.291885375977,"Lt-Col Robert Hawke raised the unit on 4 September 1942, and by 31 January 1943, the unit embarked the Taroona at Thursday Island. C and D Company moved immediately to Horn Island, where they took up position around the airstrip, while B Coy soon moved to from Goodes Island back to Horn Island. The unit had been sent to Torres Strait as part of McArthur's Moultrie Plan for the area and took their place in the defence of Horn Island. They protected the airstrip and King Point area, and took part in the mobile defensive force of the island. Other duties included continuous training on Horn Island and Prince of Wales Island, wharf duties, providing thousands of tonnes of fish for the island's defence force personnel, supporting troops at Muttee Head on Cape York, and publishing the Horn Herald and Zero Post both very popular publications with the troops. The unit was officially disbanded on 18 July 1944.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 769,"Fuel Dump Dispersal Area",,"Supply facility","East of Airstrip, take track off Airport Road",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5870027542114,142.299819946289,"As Horn Island was such a vital staging base for aircraft heading north, a massive amount of fuel was required. The fuel was brought to the island via ship, and delivered to the Horn Island wharf. During the Coral Sea battle, the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion unloaded and dispersed 7000 tons of aviation fuel at Horn Island in five days. During the early, rushed days of 1942 the fuel was not catalogued, or mapped. It became the 4 Works Maintainence Unit's job to locate, catalogue and map all the fuel dump dispersal sites on the island. They collected the fuel drums and organised them into hidden areas around the island.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 770,"Horn Island Airfield","Horn Island (Ngurapai) Airport","Airfield","Airport Road (Airfield); Double Hill (GS 442); King Point Road (GS 443)",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5855579376221,142.292846679688,"The RAAF's Horn Island Advanced Operational Base (AOB) was constructed between late 1939 and 1941 and was upgraded during 1942. The airfield, located at the northeast corner of Horn Island, was an important staging base for Allied air missions against the Japanese, and a stop-over for fighter aircraft heading to New Guinea. The two wartime runways (136 and 81 degrees) have since been upgraded as the Horn Island Airport's runways number 32 and 26 respectively. Surviving elements include some concrete-lined trenches and bunkers located east of the southern section of runway 136; and the aircraft dispersal area extending north-eastward from runway 136, which consists of two taxiway loops with dispersal bays, some protected with earth mounds. Two concrete Bofors gun pits are located on a ridge (known as Bofors Ridge) a kilometre east of the east end of runway 81. The bitumen surface of a wartime runway extension to the west of runway 81 remains intact. The area southwest of the intersection of the two runways contains a section of taxiway and five surviving dispersal bays, a series of concrete lined trenches and four bunkers intended for airfield defence and runway demolition (Strong Point No.1); several light machine gun pits, and 18 identifiable Japanese bomb craters. The site of the Operational Base Unit (OBU) camp is located in bushland immediately south of the airport manager's house and fuel tanks. Airport Road follows the route of most of the taxiway west of the OBU camp. Aircraft wrecks/components near the airfield include two B-17s on the coastline northeast of runway 136; a B-17 east of the east end of runway 81; and a P-47 Thunderbolt near a dispersal bay further to the east. Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Station 442 occupies the summit of the north-eastern of two small hills that form Double Hill, off Quarry Road, partly on a recent residential allotment. Surviving concrete elements of the gun station comprise a central command post/plotting room (CP); four in-ground octagonal gun emplacements; and three magazines. The fourth magazine has recently been incorporated into the interior of a house. The CP has been adapted as a swimming pool, and the underground plotting room has been sealed. The camp area for Gun Station 442 is located on the hillside 250 metres south-east of the battery. Gun Station 443, approximately 4.8km northeast of GS 442 as the crow flies, occupies an area off King Point Road near the coast of King Point. Surviving concrete elements of the gun station comprise a central CP; four in-ground octagonal gun emplacements, and three magazines. An unidentified building containing a concrete floor slab and underground room forms part of the group. Two of three reinforced concrete magazines are earth covered. The third magazine has been adapted as a dwelling and is occupied. The camp kitchen site for Gun Station 443 is located about 100 metres north-east of the control room.
","During the 19th century colonial defence planners had recognised that the Torres Strait was strategically and commercially important, and Thursday Island was fortified in the early 1890s. Concerns about Japan's intentions, even before that country entered World War II on 7 December 1941, led to additional coastal artillery defences in the Torres Strait, and in addition Horn Island (Ngurapai) was chosen as the site of a RAAF Advanced Operational Base (AOB).
The RAAF undertook aerial surveys over north Queensland during 1938 in response to a plan for the establishment of an AOB network in the region as the likelihood of war with Japan increased. A decision was made to develop an airfield on Horn Island despite the twin difficulties of poor water supply and the lack of adequate wharf facilities. Approval for construction of an all weather landing ground with limited facilities for RAAF supplies was announced on 31 August 1939, three days before the commencement of World War II in Europe. The Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) was made responsible for the construction of the airstrip.
Ships carrying MRC engineers and surveyors began arriving at Horn Island in late 1939 and early 1940. Assisting the MRC were Torres Strait Islanders employed on the project. By May 1940 clearing of the north-south 136 degree runway (today known as Runway 32) had been completed and earthworks and grading were proceeding. Runway 136 was completed and ready for use as a gravel runway by February 1941 and clearing had begun on the east-west 81 degree runway (today known as Runway 26), which was ready for use by late 1941. The two runways were each over 1200 metres long. The first dispersal points were constructed in November 1941, along with bomb dumps, machine gun posts and petrol storage installations. After Japan entered the war the MRC also built aerodrome obstructions and splinter-proof traverse walls around key buildings, including the wireless receiving and transmitting huts.
The strategic importance of Horn Island was emphasised in January 1942 when the Japanese captured Rabaul and made it their main South West Pacific base. On 14 March 1942 Horn Island Airfield received its first Japanese air raid; from March 1942 until June 1943 eight bombing raids were made on Horn Island Airfield, which became the only military installation in Queensland to be regularly targeted by the Japanese. One soldier was killed during the third air raid on 30 April 1942. As a result of the raids a dispersal field for Horn Island was cleared on the tip of Cape York at Jacky Jacky Creek in late 1942, and was later named Higgins Airfield.
Responsibility for the overall administration and operation of Horn Island as an AOB was performed by RAAF No.28 Operational Base Unit (OBU), formed in May 1942. The OBU was responsible for rearming, refuelling and wireless telegraphy communications. Both RAAF and USAAF aircraft used the airfield as a stopover for fighters flying to Port Moresby, and as a staging strip for refuelling and rearming in preparation for raids on targets further north. Some squadrons were based at Horn Island, while others flew in, stayed overnight and then flew out the next day to complete their mission. The Consolidated Catalina flying boats of RAAF 11 and 20 Squadrons also used Horn Island for refuelling and repairs.
The Allied Works Council (AWC) was formed in February 1942 to step up construction of defence works and ensure a coordinated national approach to projects. The Civil Constructional Corps (CCC) was established in April 1942 to provide the manpower, while the AWC organised the heavy equipment and contractors. Works were supervised by the MRC or commercial building contractors. During June 1942 a requisition was made to the AWC for substantial improvements to Horn Island AOB. Company 'A' of the US Army's 46th Engineer General Service Regiment arrived at Horn Island on 24 June 1942 to work on a western extension to runway 81, which was lengthened to 7000 feet, or 2134m. During August the United States Army Services of Supply (USASOS) organisation requested the AWC to complete the sealing of both runways at Horn Island as an urgent priority. Runway 81 was sealed by December 1942. However, by September 1942, as the threat of invasion lessened, airfield demolition works at Horn Island were cancelled. By this period one demolition tunnel had been constructed part way under the intersection of the runways and other tunnels had been commenced.
In June 1942 the first moves had been made to provide anti-aircraft defence for the airfield when A and B batteries of the US 104th Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) were deployed to the island. However, the gun crews were only equipped with light .50 calibre machine guns which were ineffective against high flying bombers. On 23 June 1942, detachments of the US 94th CA (A.A.), equipped with searchlights and 3-inch guns, were moved to Horn Island.
The anti-aircraft defence of Horn Island was augmented by the 34th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery, which arrived at Thursday Island on 14 October 1942. The 34th HAA was accompanied by the 157th Australian Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Battery, equipped with 40mm Bofors guns to provide low level protection. The men of 34th HAA Battery commenced unloading guns, equipment and camp stores at Horn Island jetty on 15 October 1942.
On Horn Island the 34th HAA Battery was split into 'A' and 'B' Sections each forming a 'Class A' Heavy Anti-Aircraft Gun Station (GS) of four Quick Firing (QF) 3.7-inch guns and one QF 40mm Bofors gun for close air defence. The first camp was formed on Double Hill, west of the airfield, which was initially known as Section 'A' and subsequently became GS 442. On 16 October the men began excavation of gun emplacements and the construction of kitchens, stores, ablutions and latrines. A supply of drinking water was another early problem faced by the unit. By November 1942, with the wet season approaching, priority was given to the completion of the reinforced concrete structures for the gun stations.
Each gun station would consist of four 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns on static mounts within in-ground gun emplacements of octagonal shape. The interior walls of each gun emplacement contained recesses where ready ammunition for each gun was stored. The guns were arranged around a reinforced concrete semi-underground Command Post (CP). The standard CP design included a roofed plotting room plus open concrete pits outside for a height finder and predictor (a mechanical computing machine that predicted the future position of a target). Nearby were four magazines of reinforced concrete.
By 10 December GS 442, along with Section 'B' GS 443 at King Point north-east of the airfield, were operational and ready for action except that no ammunition had arrived. The 3.7-inch ammunition finally arrived at Horn Island on the last day of December 1942. The guns at GS 443 were successfully proof fired on 2 January 1943 and at GS 442 on the next day. All ammunition was stored on site under cover, until construction of permanent concrete magazines (which occurred by the end of May 1943). On 30 January 1943 the battery took delivery of an AA No.1 Mk II short range anti-aircraft radar transmitter and receiver (also known as GL 2 or AA Mk2 Radar) for GS 443. By the end of June 1943 camouflaging of GS 442 was well underway. Gun emplacements for GS 443 were completed during July and camouflaging commenced.
In late 1943 the 34th HAA Battery was reformed as 131 Australian HAA Battery, 51 Australian Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Composite), Royal Australian Artillery. The redesignation combined the 34th Australian HAA Battery, 157th LAA Battery and 74th Searchlight Battery together into one composite unit.
Meanwhile, work on the airfield had continued. After the US 46th Engineers moved on to Port Moresby in December 1942 the RAAF's 4 Works Maintenance Unit was directed to complete stump clearance and drainage works, and consolidation of the aircraft hardstands ahead of the approaching wet season. Heavy rain during January 1943 led to the failure of a timber log drainage channel and a bridge which carried the western extension of runway 81 over a creek. Failure of this extension put paid to plans for operation of a heavy bomber squadron from Horn Island and underscored efforts on the mainland to complete Higgins Airfield on the tip of Cape York. However, 5000 feet (1524m) of runway 81 remained serviceable.
By January 1943 detached units of RAAF 7 and 75 Squadrons (Beauforts and P-40 Kittyhawks respectively) were based on Horn island. RAAF 6 Squadron, with Lockheed Hudsons, had been present in late 1942. Other squadrons based on Horn Island included RAAF 32 (Lockheed Hudsons) during 1942 and RAAF 23 (Vultee Vengeance dive bombers) during 1944.
USAAF units which spent some time based at Horn Island included the 71st and 405th squadrons of the 38th (Medium) Bombardment Group in late 1942. Most aircraft of the US 5th Air Force passed through Horn island at some point.
Water storage remained critical on Horn Island and a dam was high on the list of works to be completed. The first successful bore was sunk on Horn Island during July 1943. A second successful bore was sunk during November 1943 and a 13 million gallon dam was finally completed by the 17th Field Company in late 1943. Although recently supplemented by a much larger dam, the wartime Army Dam still provides water for Horn Island residents.
By July 1943 the need for splinter proofing of aircraft dispersal bays was receding and Horn Island and Higgins were the only AOBs in Queensland where this remained a priority. At Horn island, 18 splinter proof pens were constructed in late 1943. Almost every type of aircraft then in service used the base, and thousands of aircraft used Horn Island AOB at its busiest between early 1942 and late 1943.
The phasing down of Horn Island AOB in favour of Higgins Airfield was underway by early 1944. However, in March 1944 the island still hosted a number of RAAF units including 28 OBU, 36 Radar Station, 112 Mobile Fighter Sector Headquarters, 84 Squadron (P-40 Kittyhawks, previously Boomerangs), 75 Wing Headquarters, 1 Repair & Salvage Unit (detachment) and 7 Squadron (detachment).
131 HAA Battery departed from Horn Island in October 1944 and was disbanded in Melbourne the following month. In October 1944 a decision was made to transfer the radio transmitter and aerial from Horn Island to Higgins. On 15 December 1944, 28 OBU on Horn Island was disbanded.
By August 1945 Horn Island Airfield was being used by the RAAF for the aerial survey of Cape York. The airfield was taken over by the Department of Transport and maintained as the gateway to Thursday Island and the Torres Strait. Terminal facilities were upgraded during the early 1990s and in June 1995 the Torres Shire Council took over ownership of the facilities from the Commonwealth. The airfield is now known as Horn Island (Ngurapai) Airport.
","Horn Island Airfield and HAA Gun Stations 442 and 443. Reported Place 30497, DERM.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C., United States Department of the Army.
Wilson, PD 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942–1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Horner, D. 1995. The Gunners: A history of Australian artillery. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards NSW.
Seekee, V, 2002. Horn Island: In their steps 1939–1945. Vanessa and Arthur Liberty Seekee, Horn Island.
Davies, D. ""Horn Island Artillery 1942–1998"", p.6, Radar Returns, Volume 8 No 3, 2003.
National Archives of Australia, NY25/029 W, Horn Island, Queensland 1940
National Archives of Australia. 24/48/AIR PART 2. North Eastern Area Headquarters - Reports on Operational Base - Horn Island, 1942–43
National Archives of Australia, NY25/022 W. Horn Island - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] camps and installations 1944
National Archives of Australia ST613, Horn Island - 28 OBU camp and aerodrome installations 1944.
Dunn, P. 34th Australian anti-aircraft battery Kings Point, Horn Island, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Dunn, P. 104th Coast Artillery (AA Separate) Battalion, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Squadron Histories. 6 Squadron Australian Flying Corps & RAAF
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 772,"RAAF 36 Radar Station, Horn Hill","Horn Island Radar Station","Radar/signal station","Horn Hill",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5999794006348,142.319534301758,";
RAAF 36 Radar Station was first erected by the RAAF on nearby Hammond Island during March-April 1942 to provide the first Air Warning (AW) radar coverage for the Torres Strait and early warning for Japanese air raids on Horn Island Airfield. In August 1943 the radar station was transferred to Horn Island, where it operated until 1945. The Horn Island site is located southeast of the airfield, on top of Horn Hill—the highest point on the island.
The place comprises two small concrete igloos - each 5m by 4m with a doorway at one end - and the radar tower site. A later dwelling is located alongside one of the igloos. A portion of the rear wall of one igloo has been demolished to form a second entrance.
The radar tower site occupies the southern peak of Horn Hill amongst an area of rock outcrops. The site contains the collapsed remains of an early AW radar tower, including the steel spindle; a turntable connected to the spindle; and angle steel sections of the tower legs and trusses. Around the tower site are several sections of cement-covered wire netting, moulded into the shape of large rocks, which camouflaged the radar transmitter/receiver hut. The site of the RAAF camp was to the south of the radar tower site.
","During August 1943 RAAF 36 was dismantled and moved to the top of Horn Hill, the highest point on Horn Island, where the radar was re-erected and operational by 27 August. A US radar unit, the 565th Warning Station, had previously operated from the southeast corner of Horn Island.
The radar station camp at the base of Horn Hill initially consisted of a corrugated iron building, with guttering which fed two water tents at each end of the building. Water was scarce on Horn Island and supplies had to be carted to the camp daily, in 44 gallon drums. The camp building contained a small kitchen, mess and canteen with the remainder left for accommodation. From August 1943 to February 1945 the unit's strength on Horn island fluctuated between 30 and 37 personnel. Most were initially housed in tents which were later replaced by prefabricated huts.
On 10 November 1943, according to the unit's Operations Record Book, a Lister 20 KVA set (diesel powered generator) was installed in a ""new concrete igloo"". A second Lister was installed the following day, again in a ""new concrete igloo"", but it is unknown if both were installed in the same igloo. Two igloos are extant, and one still contains steel reinforcing rods which may have formed a platform for a generator. The other may have been used as a workshop.
All aircraft sightings were reported to the Operations Room on Horn Island (used by 12 Mobile Fighter Sector, later renamed 112 Mobile Fighter Sector) where a decision was made whether or not to signal an incoming raid. Other responsibilities of RAAF 36 included searching for aircraft that went missing, or tracking those in distress.
Between February and May 1944 the radar hut was camouflaged with concrete and wire netting to look like part of the rock outcrops. In another attempt to deceive the enemy, a decoy hut and antenna was located on the hill opposite the original. Painting of non-technical buildings was completed in June 1944, and a rifle range was constructed in July that year. In August a party of non-essential personnel spent two days fishing, shooting and swimming on Wednesday Island, and in October 1944 two members of the unit were in a RAAF Island cricket team which was defeated by a visiting team of notable International and Interstate players.
On 31 January 1945, RAAF 36 ceased to be operational on a continuous basis and changed over to a care and maintenance basis. The unit had tracked 856 aircraft during January, which was considered a good average figure for the number of aircraft then flying in the area. The unit was reduced to 12 personnel during March 1945. These personnel were among the last servicemen to leave Horn Island and the unit was officially disbanded in October 1945.
","Horn Island Radar Station. Queensland Heritage Register reported place 602742.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Horner, D. 1995. The Gunners: A history of Australian artillery. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards NSW.
Seekee, V, 2002. Horn Island: In their steps 1939–1945. Vanessa and Arthur Liberty Seekee, Horn Island.
Simmonds, E and Smith, N, November 2007. Echoes over the Pacific: An overview of Allied Air Warning Radar in the Pacific from Pearl Harbour to the Philippines Campaign, Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria
Simmonds, E, and Smith, N (eds), 2007. Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
Simmonds, E. (ed), 2007. More Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
National Archives of Australia 570. RAAF Unit History sheets (Form A50) [Operations Record Book - Forms A50 and A51] Radar Stations 36 to 45 Oct 42 - May 45
National Archives of Australia, NY25/022 W. Horn Island - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] camps and installations 1944.
National Archives of Australia. 24/48/AIR PART 2. North Eastern Area Headquarters - Reports on Operational Base - Horn Island, 1942–43
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection
" 773,"USAAF Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Bomber 41-2421",,"Aircraft wreck","Horn Island Airfield",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5830783843994,142.295852661133,"On 16 July 1942, Major Clarence McPherson and 1st Lieutenant Pencuick with seven crew were flying in a salvage crew of seven men with spare parts and equipment to repair another B17 (41-2633, later known as Sally) that had crashed on Horn Island a few days earlier. They were carrying a complete landing gear, wheel, tire and break assembly, two propellers, and a great variety of tools. This crash is the largest aviation disaster Torres Strait has known, with the loss of 16 men. Witnesses say the aircraft came in low, attempted a very steep banking turn, and then with the heavy spare parts shifting, the aircraft's wing dipped and slicing like a knife, she went into the ground. The aircraft exploded and was well on fire by the time rescuers' arrived, leaving them to helplessly watch as the aircraft burned—all onboard were killed.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 775,"Remnants of a WW2 Water Tank Base",,"Supply facility","Outie Street, Wasaga Village",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5947389602661,142.247970581055,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"Howard Pearce photographic reference
" 776,"Water tank bases (4)",,"Supply facility","Off Airport Road",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5923709869385,142.251037597656,"The logistical problem of the lack of water on Horn Island was so severe that men were rationed to one canteen of water a day. To rectify this, the 17 Australian Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers, began construction of twelve 95,000 gallon wooden water tanks on 14 May 1943. Grouped into sets of four, they were situated near the wharf (today in Wasaga Village), halfway to the airport, and a third set near Vidgeon Creek, all being supplied by a pipeline from Vidgeon Creek. The tanks were octagonal with 20 foot sides of sheet iron lined T & G timber, jointed into an eight inch reinforced concrete base. The supporting framework of local hardwood and the prefabricated sides were bolted together with bolts made up from steel rod. The trick was to ensure that all joints in the iron were watertight and the bottom seal was in place. Work was completed on 1 September 1943, with 18 tonnes of concrete used to pour the bases, which today remain tangible evidence of these water tanks.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 777,"United States Motor Transport Fuel Depot","Alba wool scour","Supply facility","Alba Siding, Hughenden-Winton Road",Hughenden,4821,North-West,-21.0404262542725,144.037811279297,"During World War II the 2/2 Australian General Hospital was formed nearby at Watten siding on the same rail line, before being abandoned due to flooding in December 1942. Sometime between the years 1942 and 1945, the Alba wool scour was taken over by a unit or units of the United States (US)Army for use as a motor transport fuel and maintenance depot, staffed predominately by African-American troops. However, details of its wartime use remain sketchy.
","By the 1890s wool scours were beginning replace manual methods of washing grease, dust and burrs from the fleece and by the early 1900s large steam-driven scours had come to dominate the wool industry. These were usually located in urban centres. However, in western Queensland mechanical scouring plants were erected at towns and rail sidings in the grazing areas of Charleville, Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Julia Creek, Richmond, Maxwelton and Alba near Hughenden.
Alba woolscour was owned by Andrew McMaster, a brother of Fergus McMaster the founding chairman of the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service (Qantas). The McMaster brothers controlled a string of grazing properties in the Winton and Longreach district. When Qantas was formed at Winton on 16 November 1920, Andrew McMaster provided the fledgling airline with the use of the wool store at Alba scour as the company's first aircraft maintenance hangar.
The wool scour was a large two-storey building of corrugated iron and timber, located at Alba siding on the Hughenden-Winton rail line. The ground floor contained the scouring plant while the upper floor housed the wool room which also served as a community centre for dances during the 1920s and 1930s. A tall brick chimney and steam boilers stood alongside the wool scour. Other buildings included the wool store, and the barracks and kitchen.
After the war the building was still standing in 1947, but is thought to have been dismantled soon after this period. Today only the concrete footings of the scouring plant remain, together with rusted fuel drums and US manufactured kerosene tins.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, 1986.
Alba siding interpretive sign, 1995.
" 779,"Australian Advanced Ammunition Depot","7 Australian Advanced Ammunition Depot, 12 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot, 73 Australian Field Ammunition Depot","Ammunition facility","Baronta Siding, Flinders Highway",Hughenden,4816,North-West,-20.8777866363525,144.511871337891,"Dispersal of ammunition replenishment centres away from Townsville during the crisis months of early 1942, saw the establishment of US ordnance depots at Torrens Creek and Kurukan, and a temporary Australian Army ammunition depot on the Hughenden golf links. During the latter half of 1942 a permanent Australian Advanced Ammunition Depot was constructed east of Hughenden, at Baronta siding on the Townsville-Mount Isa railway. In terms of size and extent, Baronta became one of the largest wartime ammunition depots in north Queensland, exceeded only by the US Kangaroo Ordnance depot at Kurukan north of Townsville.
The Baronta depot, extending northward from the rail siding, contained over 90 fibro-cement and corrugated iron ammunition stores located on concrete slabs; an administrative centre including offices, workshops and a brick laboratory; a camp area; a rations depot and railway spur lines. Today only the concrete slabs remain to show the extent of the complex.
","Transfer of ammunition stores from Hughenden to Baronta was underway by June 1942. In early July the Allied Works Council received a first requisition for construction at Baronta siding including the erection of 35 new fibro-cement stores. Apart from relocation of the ammunition dumps which was carried out by the Army, the federal Department of Public Works was allotted the task of supervising erection of the stores using day labour obtained by the Department of Interior. Progress of the building work was delayed on a number of occasions by shortages of men and materials.
Early work in the transfer of ammunition was undertaken by personnel of 12 Advanced Ordnance Depot, accommodated at Hughenden. Completion of permanent accommodation at Baronta was delayed until at least November 1942 due to lack of building materials.
In late November, General Thomas Blamey ordered a survey of the Atherton Tableland district with the intention of using it as a combined rehabilitation and training area for Australian troops fighting in the South-West Pacific. Originally there were plans to locate one Army division in the Charters Towers-Hughenden area, with two divisions sent to the Tableland. This planning would have increased the importance of the Baronta project, but by April 1943 it was decided that all three divisions would be concentrated on the Atherton Tableland.
By mid January 1943, 12 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot had completed the move from the Hughenden golf links to the new site at Baronta, to be joined by 7 Australian Advanced Armament Depot. Drawings of ammunition storage and camp layout for Baronta, now held by the National Australian Archives, suggest that the depot may have subsequently been occupied by a detachment of 73 Australian Field Ammunition Depot, earlier based at Tolga on the Atherton Tableland.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 782,"Camp Freeman","main camp","Military camp","Freeman Road and?Rosemary Street",Inala,4077,Brisbane City,-27.5848655700684,152.96745300293,"Approximately 75000 American troops were stationed in Greater Brisbane in December 1943. This massive influx of U.S. troops brought swift change to the city, altering its infrastructure, industry and society. By April 1944 there were 1,028 African-American personnel stationed in Brisbane. S
egregated from white troops, and not permitted to participate in active combat, they were usually in labouring or transport units. Camp Freeman, was one of the major camps for African-American troops based in Brisbane.
","Camp Freeman was named for the road on which it was established -Freeman Rd. 1946 aerial photographs indicated the Camp was located on both sides of Freeman Rd and bounded by Archerfield and Orchard Rds. There is some suggestion that one of the camps may have been known as Camp Inala. US service personnel working at the Darra Ordnance Depot, were housed in this camp as well as at Camps Darra and Oxley. African-American units including the 577th Ammunition Ordnance Company, the 48th Quartermaster Truck Regiment and the 5203rd Quartermaster Truck Battalion, 2052nd, 2053rd, and 2058th Quartermaster Truck Company (Aviation) were also housed at this site. It is likely that the Truck Regiments were involved in the transportation of munitions to and from the Darra Ordnance Depot. Camp Freeman is believed to have been used by the Allied Intelligence Bureau after the withdrawal of US forces.
","U.S. Army Ordnance Corps online.
E. Daniel Potts and Annette Potts, Yanks Downunder 1941–1945: The American Impact on Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1985.
Kay Saunders, ""Racial Conflict in Brisbane in WWII: The Imposition of Patterns of Segregation upon Black American Servicemen"", Brisbane at War, Brisbane History Group Papers, No. 4, p 29–34.
Kay Saunders, War on the Homefront: State Intervention in Queensland, 1938–1948, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1993.
Vicki Mynott, World War Two Stories From Brisbane's South West: Richlands, Darra, Wacol, Goodna and Oxley, Richlands, Inala and Suburbs History Group Inc, 2006.
Dan Leach, ""An Incident at the Upper Ross: Remembering Black Servicemen in Australia During the Second World War"", Overland, 2004, p. 82–87.
BCC Heritage Unit files
" 784,"Camp Tasman: United States 172nd Station Hospital","Nudgee Junior College","Military camp","Camp Tasman: United States 172nd Station Hospital",Indooroopilly,4068,Brisbane City,-27.507942199707,152.966171264648,"During 1942 the students at Nudgee Junior College were evacuated and extensions and additions were made to the school to enable it to be used as a hospital. The US Army occupied the site as the 172nd Station Hospital.
","Approximately 160 personnel were stationed there. Part of the school was turned into an Orthopaedic Ward, and another outlying building as an officers quarters, Nurses quarters, recreation buildings, and barrack huts were erected over across the site. Allegedly the hospital treated survivors from the USS Sims and the US tanker Neosho which were sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
The Red Cross also had programs for rehabilitation that were undertaken at the hospital.
The Far East Liaison Office, a military propaganda section of the secret Allied Intelligence Bureau, operated personnel in Japanese-occupied countries during the war. One of its bases on mainland Australia was at a small facility known as Camp Tasman, located at the Nudgee Junior College. The Camp included quarters and offices for FELO personnel.
It is possible that the school was considered as, or used for a training depot for the WAAAF during 1942.","NAA Series BP262/2, 9127 Part 2 Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report of work done by AWC Qld to 30 June 1943. Barcode 438604
NAA Series MP508/1 259/737/978 Indooroopilly, Qld.: W.A.A.A.F. Training Depot, - Hiring of Christian Bros. College barcode 3360051
HN Walker, 'Psychological Warfare in the South-West Pacific, printed in 'Stand To', December 1952 and reprinted in 'Army Journal'
BCC Heritage Unit files
" 785,"AWAS Barracks (Lines of Communication) HQ Signals Camp","St Peter's Luther College","Military camp","Indooroopilly Road",Indooroopilly,4068,Brisbane City,-27.5067272186279,152.987594604492,"The AWAS Signals camp was constructed from September 1942 on vacant Indooroopilly land along the Long Pocket Reach of the Brisbane River. The women soldiers provided support staff for General Blamey's Advanced Land Headquarters at the unfinished University of Queensland site at St. Lucia. Closer to the river was the 24th Australian Line of Communications Signals Area that also served Blamey's headquarters.
The Long Pocket Reach and the adjoining Indooroopilly Reach of the Brisbane River saw a concentration of female military facilities. Apart from No.2 AWAS barracks on Indooroopilly Road, there were Women's American Army Corps (WAAC) members based across at the river at 'Neilson House', Chelmer where the ATIS had offices; further along at 'Ryndarra', Yeronga was the 2nd AWAS hospital and the 27th AWAS barracks; while back across the river at Nudgee Junior College, Indooroopilly there was a Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) training depot.
","On 1 April 1942, the Joint Chiefs of Staff created the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) led by General MacArthur. He appointed Australian General Thomas Blamey to be his Allied Land Forces commander. MacArthur shifted headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane on 20 July. On 1 August, Blamey established his Advanced Land Headquarters (Adv LHQ) in the only two University of Queensland buildings constructed at its new St Lucia campus.
Adv LHQ required a large support staff: stenographers, telegraphists, switchboard operators, and typists. Many staff were drawn from the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS). The Federal Government had approved the formation of AWAS on 13 August 1941. The purpose was to allow single or widowed women to undertake military service without the requirement that they serve in combat areas. AWAS recruiting began in early 1942 with the aim of releasing badly needed military manpower for transfer to fighting units.
Only three AWAS sleeping huts were built at Adv LHQ at the University of Queensland site so accommodation was limited. The Army did not approve of male and female personnel sharing a single camp so the decision was made on 11 September 1942 to build a separate AWAS camp with appropriate facilities close to St Lucia.
The site chosen was on a hill at Indooroopilly overlooking the Brisbane River. Designated the AWAS LHQ Signals Camp, it comprised two sections: the 2nd AWAS Barracks and the 24th Australian Line of Communications (LoC) Signals Area. This camp encompassed a large area of bushland bounded by Indooroopilly Road and the Long Pocket Reach of the Brisbane River. The AWAS camp covered the site now occupied by St. Peter's Lutheran College. The 24th Australian Line of Communications Signals Area was located beside the Long Pocket Reach (now the Indooroopilly Golf Links). Initially 318 women were housed in 12 large (60ftx18ft) partitioned sleeping huts. The 12 officers slept in an additional hut. It had individual Officer's Mess and Kitchen, Sergeant's Mess and Kitchen, Other Ranks' Mess and Kitchen, Recreation Hut, separate Showers and Ablutions Blocks for officers and non-officers, six 12-seat latrines and a sullage plant. The small Regimental Aid Post (RAP) was placed in the canteen. The only entrance was off Indooroopilly Road, controlled by an Orderly Room. The camp was enclosed within a barbed wire fence.
Improvement of camp facilities was gradual. A 14-foot road running through the centre of the camp was not laid until January 1943. Refrigeration for the messes and a meat hut were not added until June. In August 1943, it was proposed to establish a Field Security Depot at Long Pocket. The depot would have provided armed security details to protect Adv LHQ and the AWAS barracks. The proposal came to naught.
AWAS personnel were driven to the Adv LHQ at St. Lucia where the women served in the LHQ Signals unit. Other personnel were attached to the Australian Army Heavy Wireless unit at the 24th LoC Signals Area while AWAS personnel also provided administrative support served at the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) headquarters and prisoner-of-war interrogation centre located at 'Tighnabruaich', Indooroopilly.
On 24 November 1943, the Australian Army's Northern Command (Queensland) sought AWAS reinforcements and an enlargement of the Indooroopilly camp. In August 1944, enlargement of the camp to house a further 151 AWAS members was finally approved (cost £5422). This converted the Indooroopilly site into ""the main Signals area camp for personnel working in the Brisbane area"".[1] Improvements included a laundry, showers extension, extra latrines, 34 small (16ftx12ft) prefabricated sleeping huts (with electric lights) and a replacement 10-bed RAP. The former RAP space in the canteen was converted to a Quartermasters ('Q') Store. Of the reinforcements, 100 were already in Brisbane living in inadequate quarters. The remaining 51 women were to be posted from 2nd Signals Training Battalion at Bonegilla, Victoria.
In July 1945, ATIS left its POW interrogation centre at Clarence Road, Indooroopilly. The 2nd AWAS barracks moved to this site (later the post-war Witton Barracks). The LoC Signals was still based at Long Pocket in 1947.
[1] Secretary C.F.O., Indooroopilly, Queensland: LHQ Signals Camp for AWAS, 29 August 1944.
","John Oxley Library photographic collection.
NAA file, Series BP378/1. Folder I to L, Folio 8.
NAA file, Series BP378/1. Folder I to L, Folio 10.
NAA file, Series BP378/1. Folder I to L, Folio 11.
NAA file, Series BP378/1. Folder I to L, Folio 12.
NAA file, Series J1018, Item LS348.
NAA file, Series J1018, Item LS361.
NAA file, Series J2774, Item W1588
NAA file, Series BP1/1, Item Volume 21.
NAA file, barcode 6016973
" 786,"Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS); Australian 1st Battalion; POW Compound and Interrogation Centre","'Tighnabruaich' and Witton Barracks","Internment/POW facility","203 Clarence and 9 Lambert Roads",Indooroopilly,4068,Brisbane City,-27.5047073364258,152.975677490234,"Leased by the Commonwealth in October 1942 for the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), the site held two nineteenth century houses - 'Tighnabruaich' and 'Witton House'. ATIS established its Australian headquarters (HQ) there. It became the primary interrogation centre for enemy POWs in this country. The interrogation cellblocks remain on the site. Other important work conducted at the ATIS HQ were the breaking of the Japanese Army's codes in1943 and the translation of a captured list that allowed the Allies to compile a Japanese Order of Battle. ATIS left in July 1945 and the site became an Australian Army Women's Service barracks.
","The Commonwealth requisitioned the site from the state government's Public Trustees Limited in October 1942. The site included two residences 'Tighnabruaich' and 'Witton House'. 'Tighnabruaich' was built in 1892. The earlier (1860s) 'Witton House' was moved onto the property from elsewhere in Indooroopilly in 1915.
A joint Australian and American intelligence organisation, the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS) established its headquarters there. In June 1942, there was a re-organisation of the various national intelligence services (Australian, American, Dutch) based in Australia. The Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) was formed to oversee all intelligence activities. The ATIS was probably created around the same time. Its role was to interrogate enemy prisoners of war (POWs) and interpret any captured documents. The first such documents were captured in the Australian raid on Salamua in Papua on 29 June 1942. The Supreme Commander of the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) theatre, US General Douglas MacArthur transferred his headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane on 23 July 1942. The first group of Japanese (8) were captured at Normanby Island (near Milne Bay) on 23 September 1942. By October, Japanese POWs began to trickle in from the Kokoda Campaign. It was at this time that ATIS set-up at Indooroopilly.
ATIS was a joint Australian and US unit. Japanese-Americans (Nisei) and Australians who spoke Japanese staffed ATIS. Interrogation of captured Indonesians or the translation of documents written in the Malay languages of the Indies was undertaken separately by the Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS).
The initial 1942 plans for the layout of the ATIS Camp incorporated 'Witton House' as the Sergeant's Mess with the larger 'Tighnabruaich' allotted as an officers' mess and sleeping quarters. The Other Ranks slept in tents until barracks and an ablutions block were constructed. The Orderly Room/Office was built close to the Camp's main entrance off Clarence Road. A documents translation building was placed near 'Tighnabruaich'. The most important additions were the five-building POW Compound (or Cage) located near 'Witton House' and the Interrogation Building adjacent to 'Tighnabruaich'. Construction was undertaken under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The POW cell designs were deemed TOP SECRET and were never drawn onto the site plans.
Surrounded by barbed wire, the POW Compound contained three brick cellblocks that could accommodate about 15 prisoners. The POWs were guarded by troops drawn from the Australian 1st Garrison Battalion. The Japanese were being shipped from Port Moresby to Brisbane then sent under guard by train or truck to the Gaythorne POW Transit Camp. Individual POWs were taken to the ATIS Camp and placed in a cell prior to interrogation. Interrogation sessions lasted a few days. Once the interrogation was completed, POWs were returned to Gaythorne prior to being placed on a train and sent for permanent incarceration at the Japanese POW Camps in New South Wales or Victoria. While close to suburban housing, the ATIS Camp bordered the Brisbane River and the Ipswich railway line and so was considered escape-proof. Still, the presence of Japanese POWs so near to Brisbane homes was kept a secret from the civilian population. The ATIS headquarters at Indooroopilly was the principal interrogation centre within Australia during the war.
By the time of the Cowra Breakout in August 1944, there were 2,223 Japanese POWs in Australia. Many of these POWs would have been interrogated at the ATIS Camp. German POWs also went to Indooroopilly. HMAS Adelaide and HMNS Jacob van Heemskerk sank the blockade-runner Ramses in the Indian Ocean on 28 November 1942. HMNS Zwaardvisch sank the submarine U-168 in the Indian Ocean on 6 October 1944. The ships' officers and telegraphists were despatched to the ATIS Camp for rigorous interrogation.
During 1942–45, the personnel who worked in the document translation building undertook important work. Two significant translations were of a captured Japanese Officer List and of the captured codebooks belonging to the Japanese 20th Division. The translation of the Japanese Officer List provided the Allies with a proper understanding of the Japanese Army's command structure, such that the Australian analysts became the acknowledged experts the Japanese Army's Order of Battle. In 1943, the Japanese 20th Divisions codes were captured in New Guinea and sent to Indooroopilly for translation. It enabled the Allies to decode Japanese Army signal traffic.
As the number of Japanese POWs and the volume of captured documents increased, the facilities at the ATIS Camp expanded. Such additions were usually small, temporary structures such as army huts, though by April 1944, the Other Ranks had obtained their own Mess and adjacent Kitchen buildings. The Australian Army finally purchased the property for £8,909 on 13 June 1945. In July, ATIS left and until War's end, the site became the barracks for No.2 Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS). This unit had transferred from the AWAS Signals camp on Indooroopilly Road.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 788,"RAAF 52 Radar Station","Mutee Head Radar Station","Radar/signal station","Mutee Heads Road",Injinoo,4876,North and Cape York,-10.9102725982666,142.249313354492,"RAAF 52 Radar Station at Mutee Head was built during 1943, and its surviving radar tower and aerial is the only intact example of a World War II Air Warning radar tower on its original site in Queensland. The radar station ceased operations in September 1945 and in 1947 the abandoned camp buildings were offered as emergency accommodation to the Saibai Island people. The site at Mutee head is about 8kms west of Injinoo, or over 30km by road.
The radar structure, on top of the Mutee Head headland, comprises a 3.4 metre high tower; a turntable and spindle about 2.5 metres in height; and an aerial approximately 4.5 high and approximately 9.4 metres wide, making a total height of 10.4 metres. The Australian transportable (prefabricated) Air Warning (AW) radar tower is of bolted steel construction, and the aerial is a five bay Australian CHL/AW type constructed of angle steel fastened by bolts and plates.
Two circular machine gun pits are located near the base of the radar tower. Evidence of a camp area extends south of the radar tower for several hundred metres, including remnants of the kitchen fireplace, kitchen and mess slab and grease traps. The concrete base of a large (80,000 gallon) water tank is located about 300 metres south-east of the radar tower.
","Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 52 Radar Station was built during 1943 to provide air warning coverage for port facilities at Red Island Point, and the nearby Jacky Jacky (later Higgins) Advanced Operational Base (AOB).
Jacky Jacky airfield (now Injinoo/Bamaga airport) was built to supplement the RAAF AOB on Horn Island in the Torres Strait, which was built during 1941. With the Japanese advances into the South West Pacific Area, Horn Island airfield became an important staging base for Allied bombing missions over New Guinea and Rabaul, and for the transit of fighter aircraft to Port Moresby. By May 1942 Horn Island airfield had received four Japanese air raids resulting in service casualties and destruction and damage to a number of aircraft on the ground. As it was not possible to provide an effective dispersal strip on Horn Island, attention was turned to mainland Cape York. In late June 1942 it was reported that a suitable airfield site had been located south east of Red Island Point (now Seisia).
By 8 August 1942 two companies of the US 91st Engineer Battalion (African American troops) had arrived and were in the process of unloading heavy equipment. By October the US Engineers were working on the airstrip and roads, and were also engaged in pile-driving for a jetty ""at Red Island Point"".
Some disagreement exists over whether the harbour for supplying the airfield was built at Red Island Point or Mutee Head. US records in August 1942 suggested the port of entry was moved from Red Island Point to Mutee Head. However, records of US improvements at Higgins included a 10 mile (16km) access road and a 120′ by 12′ (36.6m by 3.7m) wharf approach and a 80′ by 12′ (24.4m by 3.7m) loading leg. If the road ran from the wharf to the airfield, then the distance matches Red Island Point, not Mutee Head. In addition, by October 1945 a ""D"" shaped jetty (with three sections about 52m, 33.5m and 55m long) and a pontoon landing existed at Red Island Point for unloading fuel for the airfield. At this time it was reported that the jetty at Mutee Head had never been used, its position being unsuitable for tying up boats. A ""well constructed"" road also ran from Red Island Point to the airstrip, and a cold store existed about 2 miles (3.2km) south of Red Island Point.
Work on Jacky Jacky Airfield (called Red Island Airfield by the Americans) ceased as the wet season got underway and the US Engineer units were transferred to New Guinea. The Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC), under the Allied Works Council (AWC), recommenced work on the airfield early in 1943 and the MRC also continued working on a road network to connect Mutee Head and Cowal Creek (now Injinoo) with Jacky Jacky (renamed Higgins in June 1943) Airfield and Red Island Point. In response to the build up of activity around Higgins and Mutee Head, a RAAF radar unit was assigned to the area to protect the airfield facilities, and to assist lost aircraft.
The Mutee Head radar was a British Mk V COL set, equipped with an Australian-made tower and AW Mk II type aerial. The transmitter/receiver set was designed by the Royal Air Force for use in coast defence. COL (Chain Overseas Low Flying) was the overseas version of the CHL (Chain Home Low Flying). CHL stations were for low flying aircraft detection and formed part of the British Chain Home network. RAAF 52 Radar Station at Mutee Head was the fourth Mk V COL station of the ten established in Queensland, the other nine being: 26 Radar Station, Cape Cleveland; 25 Radar Station, Sandy Cape; 23 Radar Station, Lytton; 24 Radar Station, Caloundra; 136 Radar Station, Alligator River; 55 Radar Station, Bowen; 49 Radar Station, Point Lookout; 58 Radar Station, Paluma; and 56 Radar Station, Cooktown.
RAAF 52 was formed at Mascot, New South Wales, on 27 January 1943. After travelling via Townsville, Cairns and Horn Island, two officers and 36 airmen disembarked at Mutee Head on 29 March 1943. The radar tower had already been erected on the headland of Mutee Head. The unit was equipped with one vehicle, and had also obtained a dingy by May 1943. In June the radar equipment was overhauled, and power was connected in early August, with calibration test flights taking place that month. The unit logged 721 hrs operational in August, and on 30 August a Japanese reconnaissance flight was tracked over the area.
On 29 December 1943 a maintenance party from 42 Radar Wing installed an IFF (Identification Friend Foe) interrogator unit on the set. Round the clock operation was often interrupted by short stoppages for overhauls, calibration and the repair of usually minor technical breakdowns. Work had also begun on a new camp on 8 December 1943, with J Stubbs and Sons being the contractor, and by February 1944 work was completed on a kitchen, an airmen and officers mess, administrative building, store, and airmen's barracks. In addition, three more barracks for airmen (10 men per barrack) and a building containing a medical section and officers and sergeants quarters were completed in March 1944.
A number of Australian Army units were posted to Mutee Head during March 1944 including 'B' Company 5 Machine Gun Battalion; 2/18 Battery, 2/9 Field Regiment; and 27 Field Company, a total of 420 additional troops. With the exception of the machine gun company, these units provided labour for construction of a jetty on which work was already underway. During April 1944 a traverse wall was completed to enclose and protect the radar transmitter and receiver rooms, located under the tower. Two machine gun posts were excavated near the radar tower for anti-aircraft defence, and other construction included two sheds to house diesel engines and a building for use as an armoury. A two thousand gallon tank was installed on a rise at the rear of the camp.
During June 1944 the Army completed the jetty and finished upgrading the road to Higgins Airfield. That month the machine gunners of 'B' Company returned to their headquarters on Horn Island and the 27th Field Company departed for Merauke. In September the No. 4 Marine Food Supply unit camped within a quarter mile of the radar camp, next to 57th Field Park Company, but these two units departed in October 1944. The same month RAAF 52 began pumping water from the Jardine River to a new 80,000 gallon (363,687 litre) tank, which supplied water to visiting boats.
Operation of RAAF 52 continued to assist navigation for Allied aircraft, particularly those lost or suffering mechanical problems. However, there was also time for recreation, and activities included cricket matches against RAAF units at Higgins Airfield, movies at Higgins, swimming in the Jardine River, and card evenings. Rations were picked up from Red Island Point, and a fish trap also supplemented the men's diet.
The Pacific war ended with the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan surrendered unconditionally on 14 August 1945. By early 1945, RAAF 52 was only operating for a limited time each day, extending its operational hours when required to assist in air searches for missing aircraft or in other emergencies. On 11 September the station was ordered to cease operations and commence disbandment procedure. All serviceable and salvageable equipment and all records and files were packed and the camp area cleaned up. The camp was vacated on 24 September and the remaining personnel were temporarily quartered at Higgins Airfield. The unit was officially disbanded on 29 September 1945.
In 1947 the abandoned camp of RAAF 52 was used to house Saibai Islanders, whose low-lying village had been impacted by a series of extremely high tides. The Saibai leader, Bamaga Ginau, negotiated with the Queensland Government for the use of Mutee Head until a permanent site for a new settlement could be decided. Water was scarce and a decision was made to locate a permanent settlement inland from Red Island Point near Higgins Airfield. The new township was surveyed and named Bamaga in 1949, after Chief Bamaga, who had died in February that year. The small cemetery east of the radar station site, about 250m south of the beach, is now the only reminder at Mutee Head of the Saibai Island exodus.
What remains of the Mutee Head radar set today comprises an Australian-made tower, turntable, spindle and aerial. It is known from records that British COL electronics were installed, but the tower and aerial could equally well have been used with Australian LW/AW (Light Weight/Air Warning) Mk I or Mk II electronics with only minimal modification. The tower and aerial are of a transportable type, sometimes referred to as a CHL/AW tower.
","Mutee Head Radar Station and Camp, Queensland Heritage Register reported place 602662
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of
significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Simmonds, E and Smith, N, November 2007. Echoes over the Pacific: An overview of Allied Air Warning Radar in the Pacific from Pearl Harbour to the Philippines Campaign, Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria
Simmonds, E, and Smith, N (eds), 2007. Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
National Archives of Australia, 590. RAAF Unit History sheets (Form A50) [Operations Record Book - Forms A50 and A51] Radar Stations 46 to 53 Jan 43 - Apr 45
National Archives of Australia 171/93/742; Director of Works and Buildings - Property - Higgins Field Qld - Operational Base - Hiring of site, 1943–1947
National Archives of Australia, QL656 PART 2. Higginsfield (Jacky-Jacky) RAAF Air Strip, 1943–1970.
Dunn, P. No. 52 Radar Station RAAF, Mascot NSW, Townsville Qld, Mutee head Qld during WW2
Google Earth
Google Maps
" 794,"United States Armed Forces Military Cemetery","Manson Park","Cemetery","Cemetery Road",Raceview,4305,South-East,-27.6320991516113,152.766357421875,"East of the main Ipswich Cemetery, along Cemetery Road, thereis a small open area named Manson Park. A simple white monument is in the centre and a plaque was placed there in 1971 by Major J. Watson of the United States Air Force ""to honour the American Servicemen who paid the supreme sacrifice during World War II"".
The monument was once the base of a flag pole which flew the American flag in the United States Armed Forces (USAF) Military Cemetery. During World War II, many American servicemen died or were killed in action in Australia or the surrounding area. It was not possible to return their bodies to America for burial so a war cemetery was set up in Ipswich.
","Accounts written about Manson Park say that the final number of burials was 1260 and that the area was a field of small white crosses. Most burials were documented but some were unknown and there were three burials for members of the Javenese Dutch Army.
At the end of the war, more bodies were transferred to Ipswich from Townsville and New Guinea. The final number of entries in the Burial Register for the USAF Cemetery was 1402.
In November 1947, the United States ship 'Goucher Victory' arrived in Australia to return the dead to their native country.
To exhume the bodies, 190 Australian civilians, said to have been mainly cane cutters, were employed. A four-metre high fence of canvas was erected around the cemetery to screen it from view and the workers were instructed to observe strict decorum. The grim task was completed by December 20 and two days later, a ceremony was held in Brisbane City Hall to honour the American dead.
Captain J.B. Harris, the American officer in charge of the War Graves Unit, later wrote to the Ipswich Cemetery Trust, thanking it for 'accomplishing a resting place for our beloved deceased prior to their repatriation to their homeland and final resting place'.
A newspaper article dated 14 June 1971 revealed that 'Over two dozen trees and shrubs were planted in the programme and it is envisaged that seats, playground equipment and a fountain will later be included. The Park at the present has no name'.
Today's name, Manson Park, pays tribute to the work of a local resident Mrs Rose Manson who cared for the graves during the war and wrote to the families in America.
","Ipswich City Council - Tanya Jen
Dunn, P. Australia @ War - US Cemetery Ipswich
" 795,"Iron Range United States Army - Australian Bakery","USA RAAF Australian Bakery","Supply facility","Lockhart River Road",Iron Range,4874,North and Cape York,-12.7644309997559,143.284912109375,"A bakery was operating at Iron Range by 1942 although bread was scarce. Initially this was probably provided by an Australian unit and the US and Australian forces may have joined efforts to make the baking facility serve both administrations. The location was noted by a road surveyor on a 1945 MRC survey plan as 'USA RAAF Aust' Bakery'. The bakery was situated in a rainforest clearing and contained four igloo-shaped clay ovens set on an earth base, alongside iron store sheds, water tanks and tent accommodation. Today the rainforest has again taken over and little evidence of the bakery remains except for several concrete footings, one inscribed 'S Hooper 5/12/43'.
The bakery site was located just behind the unofficial Iron Range post office which was built in 1936 for miners in the area, but closed during the war years. The post office reopened after the war and became known far and wide as 'the Green Hoose' after its owner's thick Scots accent.
","Following the outbreak of war in the Pacific and the Japanese invasion of New Guinea in early 1942, Iron Range was chosen as a site for an advanced operational base to disperse and replenish Allied aircraft from New Guinea, and to serve as a field from which strikes could be mounted if Port Moresby was captured. Construction of an airfield for use by heavy bombers was begun by US Army engineers in June 1942 and completed by the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) for the Allied Works Council. US bombers were operating from Iron Range by September 1942. The project involved the construction of runways, gun emplacements, bridges, a water supply, hospital, radio communications and port facilities at Portland Roads. Installation of a refrigeration plant and cold room helped to overcome the problem of maintaining supplies, and a field bakery was set up to provide fresh bread for the large population of US and Australian service personnel and construction workers.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Roger Marks, Photo Memoir of Iron Range Airfield and Portland Roads, 2004.
Michael Musumeci, Iron Range Airbase: Carved in the Cape York Jungle 1942–1945, 2008.
" 797,"Iron Range USAAF/RAAF Advanced Operational Base","Portland Roads Airfield; Gordon, Claudie and New Claudie airstrips; Lockhart River Airport (former Gordon airstrip)","Airfield","Lockhart River Road and Lockhart River Mission Road, Lockhart River",Iron Range,4874,North and Cape York,-12.7861881256103,143.308059692383,"The three airstrips at Iron Range Airfield were constructed between mid 1942 and 1944 as part a US bomber airfield. Gordon Strip has been upgraded as Lockhart River Airport, located about 4km west of the Lockhart River Aboriginal community, while the other two strips are abandoned. Wartime access was from a jetty at Portland Roads, now a 35km 4WD trip to the north.
Claudie Airstrip, southeast of the airport, is a bitumen surface about 2000m long usually covered with seasonal grass. Wartime clearing of rainforest is still evident as are bitumen sealed dispersal bays at the north end. At the south end of the strip a bitumen taxiway heads towards the longer New Claudie Airstrip, which was never sealed. The latter is parallel to Claudie Strip, about 1300 metres eastward. The strip and connecting taxiways are now covered by rainforest regrowth.
Two Heavy Anti Aircraft (HAA) 3.7-inch gun stations also survive. Gun Station 446 is located 1000 metres north of Gordon Strip, just west of a section of the Lockhart River-Portland Roads Road. Located in dense rainforest, known surviving concrete elements include: a semi-underground Command Post (CP); three of four in-ground octagonal gun emplacements (in an arc west and north of the CP); one of four semi-underground magazines (south of the CP); and a slab of the mess kitchen southeast of the CP.
Gun Station 447 is located 1000 metres west of Claudie Strip, in open woodland on a high bank above the Claudie River. Concrete components include: the CP; four gun emplacements (in an arc south of the CP); four magazines (west and northeast of the CP); and the concrete slab of the mess kitchen is located about 180 metres north-west of the CP.
","With Port Moresby's airfields under regular attack by Japanese aircraft in early 1942, it was clear that a fall-back airfield was needed on the north Queensland coast, from where bombing strikes could be mounted against the large Japanese base at Rabaul.
In late May 1942 RAAF and USAAF personnel conducted a ground survey of Iron Range, guided by the local miner Jack Gordon. A flat area of dense coastal rainforest was chosen just east of the Claudie River, as this was the nearest suitable airfield site to existing harbour facilities at Portland Roads—where a jetty had been built about 1938 to service goldfields in the area. The only alternative route to Iron Range for truck convoys was overland from Townsville via Chillagoe, the Mitchell River, Coen and Batavia; a trip which took 10 days.
Iron Range Advanced Operational Base (AOB) was initially referred to by the Americans as 'Portland Roads', although Portland Roads was in fact located 35 km north of the airfield. A radar unit (RAAF 43 Radar Station) and a coastal gun battery (east of the jetty site) were located at Portland Roads during the war.
An advance party of the US 46th Engineers General Service Regiment left Townsville by sea for Portland Roads in early June 1942, accompanied by a Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) team. In addition, an advance party of RAAF No.26 Operational Base Unit (OBU) arrived at Portland Roads on 10 June to establish wireless communication with Townsville.
The US Engineer companies began operations by improving the road and clearing a short landing strip (northwest of the later Gordon Strip, located south of the intersection of Lockhart River Road and Portland Road) for use by a DH-89 Dragon Rapide aircraft. On 12 July more units of the US 46th Engineers arrived equipped with bulldozers, graders and large trucks. After completing the clearing of the 120 degree runway 'Gordon Strip' the engineers turned to clearing aircraft taxiways and dispersal bays, and clearing of the 160 degree runway 'Claudie Strip'. Work was rushed to make Gordon Strip ready for use by USAAF medium bombers, and it was completed as an unsurfaced and unsealed runway by 18 August 1942.
On 9 September ten B-26 Martin Marauder medium bombers of the 19th Bombardment Squadron (BS) of the 22nd Bombardment Group (BG), USAAF, arrived and two days later proceeded on the first operational bombing mission from Iron Range. A second squadron of B-26 Marauder bombers (33rd BS, 22nd BG) landed at Iron Range two weeks later. In late 1942 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers of the 43rd BG also commenced operations from Gordon Strip and three squadrons of this Group (64th, 65th, and 403rd BS) flew from Iron Range until the last squadron of the Group left in late November 1942.
The airfield was initially protected by light anti-aircraft units, but a defence against high-flying Japanese aircraft arrived in October 1942 when eight 3.7-inch Quick Firing (QF) A.A. MkII guns of the 36th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (Static) were unloaded at Portland Roads. The guns were transported to Iron Range where two gun stations were established almost 5 km apart, one north of Gordon Strip and one west of Claudie Strip.
Both gun stations consisted of four 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns on static mounts within in-ground concrete gun emplacements of octagonal shape. The interior walls of each gun emplacement contained recesses where ready ammunition for each gun was stored on wooden racks (some racks still survive). The guns were arranged in an arc, and were co-ordinated from a reinforced concrete semi-underground Command Post (CP) in the centre of the arc. Within the CP were a roofed plotting room, plus open pits for a height finder and predictor, the latter being a mechanical computing machine that predicted the future position of a target. Nearby were four semi-underground magazines of reinforced concrete. Gun crews were housed in tents near the guns and a nearby camp with kitchen, mess and ablution block was attached to each gun station. Construction of the gun stations by the MRC was delayed due to shortages of labour and the difficulty of obtaining transport for men and materials. However, construction was almost completed by early April 1943 when funds were allocated for camouflage of the gun stations.
Australian Civil Constructional Corps (CCC) workers were employed at Iron Range to assist the US Engineers with the construction and maintenance of the airfield. By early November 1942 a total of 48 gravel-surfaced dispersal bays had been formed; three camp sites between the strips had been built for 400 men each and an earth dam had been constructed on the river near the north end of Claudie Strip. Early November saw the commencement of bitumen sealing of Claudie Strip by the 46th Engineers, and the taxiways and dispersal bays were also sealed. Gordon Strip, still only a gravel surface which required constant watering to control dust, became the only useable runway for several weeks while sealing of Claudie was underway.
The first squadron of B-24 Liberator heavy bombers of the 90th BG (with four squadrons) arrived at Iron Range in early November 1942, and by this time Iron Range had become congested. With Claudie Strip still being sealed the Marauder medium bombers of 22nd BG were sharing Gordon Strip with the Liberators of 90th BG, while one squadron of Marauders continued to use Claudie. Aircraft were parked nose to runway both sides of Gordon strip, where the rainforest was retained close to the edge of the strip for camouflage. The decision to operate heavy bombers, rather than just medium bombers, meant that wing-tip clearance was further reduced. The narrow strip, parked aircraft and dust led to an accident during a takeoff of the 90th BG during the night of 16–17 November 1942. One B-24 collided with parked aircraft and exploded, killing 11 men.
Also in November, the US requested that the Allied Works Council (AWC) take over and complete the construction of Iron Range Airfield. The 46th Engineers left for Port Moresby between 19 November 1942 and 2 January 1943, and MRC personnel arrived in mid-December 1942. However, heavy rain and flooding during late December closed the unsealed Gordon Strip and threatened to close the sealed but low lying Claudie Strip.
Early 1943 saw an exodus of USAAF units from Iron Range when the 90th BG headquarters with the 319th, 320th and 321st BS moved out, together with the 19th and 33rd BS of the 22nd BG. It was decided that the 400th BS of the 90th BG and the 28th Service Squadron would also depart. On 14 March the RAAF No.26 OBU moved to the vacated 28th Service Squadron camp between Gordon and Claudie strips.
In May 1943, due to concerns over the lack of construction progress, the Headquarters of USAFFE (United States Army Forces in the Far East) took over responsibility for construction. The US Fifth Air Force had decided to build up Iron Range as a heavy bomber base and the
United States Army Services of Supply
(USASOS) requested that the AWC organise the sealing of Gordon strip, and construction of 24 blast pens. A third airstrip (New Claudie) was also requested, to replace the flood prone Claudie Strip, along with a further 10 blast pens. An AWC Works Requisition for the above projects was issued on 2 July 1943, and in August the USASOS also requested reconstruction of the road to Portland Roads and two new camp sites at Iron Range airfield - one north of the east end Gordon Strip, and one south of the west end of Gordon Strip. These were each constructed with 6 buildings plus latrines and bath houses.
Although Gordon strip was sealed, the road was reconstructed and the two new camps were completed, the blast pens were cancelled, as was the sealing of New Claudie Strip. All work was cancelled on development of Iron Range as a heavy bomber base on 15 May 1944, and
AWC plant and personnel were withdrawn during August 1944. The 3.7-inch HAA defences were withdrawn from Iron Range during June 1944.
From 30 June 1944 onwards, the RAAF assumed total command of the base. The Australian Air Board subsequently decided that the airfield was no longer required as an operational base, although it would be available for use by aircraft flying the coastal route to and from New Guinea. This decision necessitated the maintenance of only one runway and Gordon Strip was chosen. With the lessening of activities at Iron Range, RAAF No.26 OBU was disbanded in December 1944 and a small operational base detachment of No.27 OBU became responsible for the maintenance of the airfield which functioned as an emergency landing ground for the remainder of the war. No.27 OBU was disbanded in April 1946.
After the war the RAAF leased Gordon Strip from the State of Queensland, the airfield being held in the category 'retained but not maintained', with the Commonwealth Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in permissive occupancy. In March 1954 the lease was transferred from the RAAF to the DCA. In recent years Gordon Strip has been upgraded as Lockhart River Airport.
","During December 1942 the Allied Works Council (AWC) received requisitions for construction of a coast artillery battery to cover the vital US anchorage for Iron Range air base at Portland Roads on Weymouth Bay. The work involved the construction of two 60-pounder gun emplacements, a battery observation post, searchlight posts, magazines, shell recesses and other works for the erection of camp facilities. The work was carried out under the Public Estate Improvement Program with PEI teams operating under the Main Roads Commission (MRC). During the same month requisitions were also received for construction of Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Stations 446 and 447 at Portland Roads, including two command posts, eight gun emplacements, shell stores and other facilities. The requisitions were confirmed in January 1943 and the works were probably completed during the first half of the year.
Today the reinforced concrete defences of the coast battery remain hidden on a hill overlooking the remnants of the wartime jetty. The concrete structures include a command post, battery observation post, upper and lower gun emplacements and two coast artillery searchlight posts above the beach. The gun emplacements now serve as footings for a recent dwelling.
","With the coming of war to the Pacific, Portland Roads became crucial to the operation of the US advanced operational air base at Iron Range. Prior to 1942, because of its fresh water supply and jetty, Portland Roads was a watering point and anchorage for fishing boats and small coastal vessels trading the east coast of Cape York and Torres Strait. It was also a port for supplying the remote Wenlock and Iron Range goldfields. A timber mill operated by JM Johnston cut flitches for shipment to Cairns. Besides the mill workers and timber cutters there were a number of solitary prospectors working alluvial gold claims and others employed in treating the cyanide tailings at Gordon's Iron Range mill. A few small-crop farmers resided in the area, in addition to Aboriginal people deported to the Lockhart River Mission.
The early north Queensland aviator, Tom McDonald, had commenced an aerial mail service from Cairns to remote homesteads and mining camps on Cape York Peninsula, landing and taking off on short grass strips. By 1938 McDonald's North Queensland Airways was operating a fortnightly DH-89 Dragon Rapide service from Cairns to Coen, Wenlock, Iron Range and other Cape York settlements.
By 1939 the RAAF was searching for an advanced operational base site on Cape York Peninsula and an area north of the old gold mining settlement at Coen was selected. However, construction and maintenance of Coen aerodrome proved difficult without harbour facilities and alternative air base sites were examined, including the Iron Range area which was accessible by road from the Portland Roads jetty.
By early 1942 with Port Moresby airfield being regularly attacked by Japanese aircraft, it was clear that a fall-back airfield was needed on the north Queensland coast from where bombing strikes could be mounted against the Japanese bases at Rabaul and Lae. In late May RAAF and USAAF personnel conducted a ground survey of Iron Range, guided by the local miner Jack Gordon. A flat area of dense coastal rainforest large enough for several bomber strips was chosen just east of the Claudie River, 35 kilometres south of Portland Roads.
The first ground units of the US Army 46th Engineers General Service Regiment began arriving at Portland Roads by sea in May 1942. The first task was to unload heavy earth moving machinery to open up the track from Portland Roads jetty to Iron Range. At Portland Roads work began on heavy anti-aircraft gun emplacements, supply stores, workshops and accommodation. The jetty was extended out into deeper water to enable large Liberty ships to berth and unload ordnance, machinery, troops and supplies without having to transfer equipment into lighters and barges. A site was selected for a radar station overlooking Portland Roads jetty, to provide air warning for shipping at the busy anchorage and assist lost and damaged Allied aircraft in transit. RAAF 43 Radar Station became operational at Portland Roads in January 1943.
At Iron Range, Gordon strip was completed as a gravel runway in August 1942. By December a second runway-Claudie strip-and dispersal areas had been constructed and sealed by the US 46th Engineers before their transfer to Port Moresby. Construction and maintenance operations were then handed over to the AWC, and continued under the supervision of the MRC.
Iron
Range
defences were scaled down during 1944 as the war front moved northward and by June of that year the personnel and equipment of the coast defence artillery and HAA gun stations had been transferred from Portland Roads.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Roger Marks, Photo Memoir of Iron Range Airfield and Portland Roads, 2004.
Michael Musumeci, Iron Range Airbase: Carved in the Cape York Jungle 1942–1945, 2008.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
During December 1942 the Allied Works Council (AWC) received requisitions for construction of a coast artillery battery to cover the vital US anchorage for Iron Range air base at Portland Roads on Weymouth Bay. The jetty was extended out into deeper water to enable large Liberty ships to berth and unload ordnance, machinery, troops and supplies without having to transfer equipment into lighters and barges. A site was selected for a radar station overlooking Portland Roads jetty, to provide air warning for shipping at the busy anchorage and assist lost and damaged Allied aircraft in transit. RAAF 43 Radar Station became operational at Portland Roads in January 1943.
","Prior to 1942, because of its fresh water supply and jetty, Portland Roads was a watering point and anchorage for fishing boats and small coastal vessels trading the east coast of Cape York and Torres Strait.
Today the reinforced concrete defences of the coast battery remain hidden on a hill overlooking the remnants of the wartime jetty. The concrete structures include a command post, battery observation post, upper and lower gun emplacements and two coast artillery searchlight posts above the beach. The gun emplacements now serve as footings for a recent dwelling.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Roger Marks, Photo Memoir of Iron Range Airfield and Portland Roads, 2004.
Michael Musumeci, Iron Range Airbase: Carved in the Cape York Jungle 1942–1945, 2008.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
The United States (US) 44th General Hospital at Black River was established with 1000 beds. This could increase to 1500 in an emergency and the site was planned for 4500, though this did not occur. The location was believed to be ideal due to the natural landscape of the gum trees and the view of the surrounding hills. The slope of the terrain afforded natural drainage, unlike the 12th and 13th Station Hospitals in Townsville. The buildings were of a specially designed 'tropical type' to suit the climate and were shipped pre-fabricated to the site.
It was considered far enough from the city to be removed from noise, but provided good access with a sealed road to Townsville nearby, a railroad siding on the Cairns-Townsville railway within a mile, and the Bohle air strip four and a half miles away.
","Construction of the US 44th General Hospital at Black River commenced in November 1943, with concrete slabs being laid for the wards in December. The Queensland Main Roads Commission was tasked with the preparation of roads, paths and drainage at the site and delivered concrete for the paved areas. Delays in the shipping of prefabricated buildings from Sydney, meant the project, including roads and sewage, took seven months to complete.
By the time the hospital was completed, the entire United States Army hospital program in the Townsville region (Base Section Two) had been deactivated and combined to establish the US 44th General Hospital at Black River. This resulted in it becoming the largest United States military hospital based in north Queensland.
The hospital became operational in February 1944. In May 1944 the US 63th Station Hospital at Gordonvale closed with patients transferring to Black River. Other hospitals to close in the May-June period and transfer patients to US 44th General Hospital at Black River include; 12th Station Hospital at Mysterton and 13th Station Hospital at Aitkenvale. Buildings were also transferred to this hospital from the 85th Station Hospital at Majors Creek/Woodstock which had ceased operation in January 1944, with one converted to a Chapel.
Japanese prisoners of war on route to southern internment camps were brought to this hospital for ailments and general health checks.
In October 1944 the 44th General Hospital departed and the 89th Hospital took over, eventually closing in 1945.
Several of the hospital ward's slab foundations and connecting paths now located on private property, can still be seen via satellite imagery near the corner of Church Road and Nora Road, Black River.
","Pearce, Howard and The State of Queensland (Environmental Protection Agency) 2009, WWII-NQ A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of North Queensland during World War II, Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane.
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 3 Chaplains' Office. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Queensland. Main Roads Commission & Queensland. Main Roads Commission 1949, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945, Govt. Printer, Brisbane.
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 807,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) High Frequency Direction Finding Station",,"Radar/signal station","off Flinders Highway (west of town)",Julia Creek,4823,North-West,-20.6577301025391,141.711990356445,"The Julia Creek facility consisted of two concrete buildings. One was a rectangular, reinforced concrete room that housed a generator plant that supplied power to the DF equipment and the barracks which were situated south of the generator room. The receiver console was housed inside a round concrete building, referred to as the 'set room', or 'round house' which stood about 200 metres north-west. The set room was originally equipped with four vertical aerials, referred to as a Marconi-Adcock Aerial System. Initially four trenches were dug, each 60 metres long in the form of a cross with a 7 metre high aerial in each corner. Cables were placed in the trenches, meeting under the centre of the round house. A length of heavy copper wire was laid out in the form of a circle connecting each aerial and when completed was covered with a layer of soil.
","Advances in high frequency radio direction finding in Britain in the late 1930s, saw the replacement of early outdated equipment with new Marconi-Adcock sets. In Britain the system was known as HF/DF (High Frequency/Direction Finding) or 'Huff Duff'.
Installation of the new equipment in Australia was well underway before the declaration of war in Europe in September 1939. Adcock-type HF/DF sets were installed as aviation navigational aids on major commercial air routes through Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Karumba, Cloncurry, Cooktown, Townsville, Rockhampton, Archerfield, Port Moresby and Salamaua. Using the Marconi-Adcock system, bearings taken within a 150 kilometre radius were accurate to three degrees and aircraft could 'home' on the DF station when other aids were not available. However, for aircraft beyond 150 kilometres bearings were not as reliable.
In response to Japan's invasion of the South-West Pacific and the US-led build-up of a defence network in north Queensland, RAAF HF/DF stations were built during 1942 at Julia Creek, Mingela (near Charters Towers), Moongobulla (north of Townsville) and Kairi (on the Atherton Tableland). Only two stations-Julia Creek and Kairi-were of concrete construction, the others being of timber and fibro-cement. Installation of the HF/DF equipment was carried out by the Post-Master General's Department and the Julia Creek HF/DF station was operational before October 1942.
Julia Creek HF/DF station received several construction allocations through the Allied Works Council during the early part of 1943. However, the installation may have closed by November 1943, when the RAAF vacated a similar facility at Kairi on the Atherton Tableland as other HF/DF stations were established closer to the New Guinea frontline. The HF/DF equipment was dismantled and removed at the end of the war and the barracks were sold. Some time later an attempt was made locally, to remove all trace of the concrete structures. The round house was easily demolished with an explosive charge as it was not of reinforced concrete construction. However, the reinforced concrete generator room remained standing, despite a double charge of explosives. Today the battered generator room can still be seen on the western edge of Julia Creek township, while the concrete rubble of the round house lies scattered on the northern side of the highway.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
McKinlay Shire Council interpretive signs, Julia Creek.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 808,"5 Australian Farm Company (Kairi State Farm)","Kairi Research Station (DPI Research Station)","Factory site/industry","Experimental Station Road",Kairi,4872,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2160511016846,145.565673828125,"A part of army life has always been to complain about the food. However troops sent to Queensland during World War II benefited greatly from the early development of experimental farms throughout the state by the government's agricultural branch.
Farming had commenced on the Atherton Tableland by the 1880s and a few experimental nurseries and field sites were established in north Queensland to quarantine and disseminate seed and plant material and help farmers develop new skills and knowledge. Increasing demand for government-operated agricultural research centres resulted in the establishment of eight state farms Queensland-wide between 1897 and 1920, including two in north Queensland at Home Hill and Kairi.
The Kairi Research Station today forms a complex of farmed land, buildings and other structures that covers 244 hectares on the banks of Lake Tinaroo. Only a few structures of the early State Farm era survive. They include twin grain silos of concrete construction erected in 1918, a timber dairy shed alongside, and the foundations of No.1 Poultry Shed, the northern-most of four built at the farm, during World War II to produce fresh eggs for troops on the Tableland.
","In 1911 the newly elected Denham Government established a reserve of 527 hectares for a state farm along the Barron River near Kairi. The land consisted of uncleared rainforest and was chosen specifically to research the suitability of rainforest land for agricultural crops. As clearing proceeded 130 hectares was sown with Rhodes grass as stock feed and a smaller area was used for maize cultivation. Twin reinforced concrete silos were constructed in 1918 to store green fodder including sugar cane. At the time these silos were regarded as cutting edge technology and became a common sight within north Queensland dairying districts during the first half of the twentieth century.
Kairi State Farm played an important role in the early development of the north Queensland maize industry and during the early 1920s local growers formed the Atherton Tableland Maize Board which was responsible for storage and marketing of the crop. The board subsequently raised funds for substantial storage silos at Kairi, Tolga and Atherton. However, prospects for the State Farm diminished in the interwar years. After World War I the demand for land for soldier settlements led to the resumption of almost half of the reserve and the farm was closed by the government in 1929 due partly to the onset of the world economic depression. By 1932 the land was abandoned and later leased.
In late 1942 following Japan's entry into World War II, the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey, ordered a survey of the Atherton Tableland with the intention of developing facilities for rehabilitation and training of Australian troops brought home from the Middle East to defend the country. Atherton Tableland Base Area was officially established on 14 December 1942. Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions started arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and began setting up tent encampments around Atherton, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. During February 1943 the 9th Division returned to Australia and the following month began moving into camps around Kairi, Tinaroo and Danbulla. Soon about 40,000 personnel were quartered on the Atherton Tableland, although this number would later swell to as many as 100,000 troops.
Transfer of the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland and the return from overseas of thousands of regular army troops of the Australian Imperial Force created an urgent need to supplement normal rations with locally produced fresh meat and vegetables. To produce food for troops station in north Queensland the Kairi State Farm was reactivated and occupied by 5 Australian Farm Company. Large areas of the farm were cultivated for vegetables, particularly cabbages, silver beet and corn, and improvements were made including the installation of an irrigation system. The army also established a large egg-producing facility comprising four long poultry sheds constructed in parallel rows with some 3500 fowls by mid-1944. Cultivating equipment used was both horse-drawn and tractor-powered and the harvested produce was transported to the Australian Army stores depot at Atherton for distribution.
The farm was no longer required by the army after World War II and in 1947 it was reopened by the Queensland Primary Industries Department as the Kairi Regional Experiment Station-one of a number of such facilities established across Queensland. The station operates as a research and training facility and is prominent in tropical maize development in Australia. Since the late 1950s much of the wartime farm land has been inundated by the Tinaroo Falls dam.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
DPI Research Station and Silos, State Heritage Place Site ID 28903. DERM, Brisbane.
Jeffrey Grey. A Military History of Australia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 809,"RAAF High Frequency Direction Finding Station","RAAF Yadgin. Australian Special Wireless Group","Radar/signal station","Shead Road",Kairi,4872,Atherton Tablelands,-17.1999435424805,145.509490966797,"The RAAF High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF or ""Huff Duff"") Station was built as an aviation navigational aid during 1942, and was later used by the Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG) for intelligence gathering purposes. It is located between Tolga and Kairi, on the north side of Shead Road, northwest of the junction with Yadgin Road.
The site comprises two reinforced concrete buildings. One is a concrete room, 6.3 metres by 3.35 metres and about 2.8 metres high, which housed a power generating plant. This building contains a doorway and one window, and is now incorporated under a large open workshop.
A second concrete building is located in open farm land about 200 metres to the north-west. This round building, called the Set Room, housed the HF/DF receiver console, and is constructed of concrete with a flat roof. The interior was formerly lined with a 'caneite' type board which was fixed to timber battens on the walls and roof. The Set Room, 4.4 metres in diameter, 3 metres high, with walls and roof 400mm thick, has one doorway (with a recent steel door) and four high ventilation openings screened by steel louvres. The four vertical antennae and copper mat earthing system have been removed.
","The Atherton Tableland was chosen as the site of a major concentration of troops and stores during 1943, for a number of reasons. It was close to New Guinea; near a port (Cairns); had a cooler climate yet was suitable for training in jungle warfare; and it was a mostly malaria-free area for the hospitalisation of those suffering from tropical diseases. The physically exhausting terrain and climate of New Guinea meant that Australian troops had to be regularly rested and rehabilitated, preferably close to their theatre of operations. From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland, with the main administrative base established around the town of Atherton and the nearby settlement of Tolga.
The build up of troops in the area would have been matched by an increase in air activity, and the need for military navigational aids. Development of High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF) stations in Australia was underway during the mid 1930s with the growth of commercial aviation and a network of civil HF/DF stations had been established in Queensland before Japan's entry into the war in December 1941.
The idea of using two or more radio receivers to find the bearings of a radio transmitter and with the use of simple triangulation find the approximate position of the transmitter, had been widely known and used since the early 1900s. The general principle was to rotate a directional aerial and note where the signal was strongest when pointing directly towards and directly away from the transmitting source. Two or more bearings from different locations were recorded and the intersections plotted.
The Bellini-Tosi Medium Frequency (MF) direction finding receiver was the first radio aid to navigation used in Australia, from 1935. Bellini Tosi MF direction finding receivers were installed along the major internal air routes before the age of radio beacons. With this equipment the operator could determine the direction of a radio signal transmitted from an aircraft and relay the bearing back to the pilot.
From 1938–39, new High Frequency Cathode Ray Direction Finding (HF CR DF) units were installed to replace the early Bellini-Tosi MF equipment. These were Marconi-Adcock HF CR DF sets developed in Britain where the system was known as HF/DF or 'Huff Duff'. The receiver console was housed in a small hut with four vertically polarised 6 metre (20 feet) high antennae installed in the ground on each side of the building, in the form of a square.
Adcock-type HF/DF sets were installed as aviation navigational aids on major commercial air routes through Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Karumba, Cloncurry, Cooktown, Townsville, Rockhampton, Archerfield, Port Moresby and Salamaua. Using the Marconi-Adcock system, bearings taken within a 150 km radius were accurate to three degrees and aircraft could 'home' on the DF station when other aids were not available.
In response to the war in the South West Pacific, RAAF HF/DF stations were built during 1942 at Julia Creek, Mingela, Moongobulla, and Kairi. Other sites of RAAF HF/DF or Very High Frequency (VHF/DF) Stations in Queensland during World War II included Higgins, Cooktown, Karumba, Rockingham, Garbutt, Brandon, Charters Towers, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Archerfield, Amberley and Lowood.
The Kairi HF/DF station was operational by 15 October 1942 on farm land between Kairi and Tolga. Unlike civil HF/DF stations, its component structures were built of reinforced concrete. The facility consisted of two reinforced concrete buildings with 400 mm thick walls located in an open field. One of the buildings housed a power generator plant. The receiver console was housed inside a round concrete building, referred to as the 'Set Room', which stood about 200 metres north-west of the generator building. The Set Room was originally equipped with four vertical aerials, referred to as a Marconi-Adcock Aerial System. Buried beneath the round concrete building was an earthing system consisting of a large copper mat extending two hectares around it. The main camp for personnel was located in a wooded area about 500 metres south.
By late 1943 other HF/DF stations had been established closer to the New Guinea frontline, and the Kairi HF/DF Station was vacated by the RAAF on 24 November 1943. The facility was subsequently occupied by a unit of the Army's Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG) which took over the operation of the station for intelligence gathering purposes. A role of ASWG was the monitoring of Australian Army communications to audit security. The group was also responsible for intercepting Japanese wireless transmissions and counter measures against clandestine transmissions within Australia. Finding the location of radio and radar transmitters was one of the fundamental disciplines of Signal Intelligence (SIGINT).
In April 1942 a combined Allied SIGINT agency for the Pacific, the Central Bureau of the Allied Intelligence Bureau, was activated in Melbourne under US and Australian command. During World War II the main north Australian monitoring stations for intercepting Japanese radio communications were located at Darwin, Townsville and Brisbane. The Queensland headquarters of ASWG was at Kalinga army camp in Brisbane (with the ASWG buildings being located at Kedron Park, west of Shaw Road).
It is not known when the Kairi HF/DF facility finally closed. ASWG scaled down its operations at the end of the Pacific war and had shifted its Queensland headquarters to Cabarlah, north of Toowoomba, by 1947.
","Kairi High Frequency Direction Finding Station, Reported Place 30353, DERM.
National Archives of Australia, ET339. RAAF Bones Knob and Yadgin, Tolga - Electrical reticulation, 1942–1945.
'Yungaba' was built in 1885 for the Queensland government as Kangaroo Point Immigration Depot. It was converted into a temporary army hospital in World War One. With this prior usage in mind, the immigration depot was converted into a military hospital in 1941, during World War Two. In 1942, it was shared between the 112th Australian General Hospital and the 2/8th Australian General Hospital (AIF). After these units left 'Yungaba', it was allotted to the 126th Army Special Hospital that treated servicemen infected with venereal diseases (VD).
","'Yungaba' was built in 1885 as an immigrant depot for the Queensland colonial government. It was known as the Kangaroo Point Immigration Depot and was given the name 'Yungaba' after World War Two. The building was requisitioned during World War One for a military hospital. It was operational by 1916. Two single-storey wards were constructed to the southeast of the building and a few other alterations were made to 'Yungaba'. For the months after the end of the war (11 November 1818), 'Yungaba' was used to host receptions for returning servicemen and nurses plus their families.
At the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, 'Yungaba' was still a migrant hostel. It cared for and accommodated a trickle of refugees escaping the conflict in Europe and the Middle East. In June 1940, with the growing threat of Japanese aggression, the hostel was used to as emergency accommodation for approximately one hundred British women and children evacuees from Hong Kong.
In 1941, the immigration depot was once again converted into an army hospital. The 112th Army General Hospital was formed on 25 April 1941 at the Exhibition Grounds at Bowen Hills. It then moved to small and cramped site at 'Yungaba'. The hospital unit treated patients mainly from the Australian Military Forces (AMF or militia) units training or based in Brisbane. After the creation of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) on 13 August 1941, the 112th Australian General Hospital was required to tend to servicewomen as well. With the outbreak of the Pacific War on 8 December 1941, there was a possibility of air raids on Brisbane. Large Red Crosses were painted on the roof of 'Yungaba' to identify it as a protected building. The 112th Australian General Hospital gained extra space by using the Anzac Hostel located down the road at 'Shafton House' in Castlebar Street, Kangaroo Point.
The opening of the new military hospital at Greenslopes on 3 February 1942, eased the space problem at 'Yungaba'. The 112th Army General Hospital gradually transferred to Greenslopes and had left Kangaroo Point by April. With the return of the 6th and 7th Divisions of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to Australia in March 1942, there was further pressure on Brisbane's military medical facilities. When the 7th Division moved to Woodford District, Queensland in May 1942, the 2/8th Australian General Hospital (AIF) was re-established at Kangaroo Point. Later, the 2/8th Australian General Hospital followed the 7th Division north to New Guinea.
The medical facilities at the small Kangaroo Point site were next allotted to the 126th Army Special Hospital (ASH). It specialised in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases such as venereal disease (VD). Only servicemen were treated at the Kangaroo Point military hospital. Servicewomen had to go to Yeronga's military women's' hospital at 'Rhyndarra' for treatment for VD. The rate of VD infection was not high usually around 16 to 18 cases per thousand servicemen. The total Australian military cases in Australia were 350,779 in 1942, 380,289 in 1943, 345,004 in 1944 and 219,843 in 1945. Queensland had the highest recorded rate of military VD cases, as, from 1942, it was a major leave and transit centre.
Throughout the war, the hospitals at 'Yungaba' had to share the site with the major shipbuilder Evans Deakin & Co Ltd. Evans Deakin occupied the 'Yungaba' sheds and storerooms situated along the banks of the Brisbane River. Evans Deakin used these buildings to support its corvette and merchantmen construction program at its nearby dry dock in Ferry Street.
After the war 'Yungaba' returned to its purpose as a migrant depot and most of the hospital buildings were demolished.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
National Archives of Australia references
" 814,"Raymond Park (West) Air Raid Shelter","Raymond Park (west)","Civil defence facility","94 Baines Street",Kangaroo Point,4169,Brisbane City,-27.481107711792,153.036666870117,,,"BCC list
" 816,"Evans Deakin Shipyard","Moar's Slip, building corvettes & merchantmen (e.g. Baron Renfrew, Robert Miller)","Naval/port facility","44 Ferry Street (78 Cairns Street)",Kangaroo Point,4169,Brisbane City,-27.47243309021,153.037734985352,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 817,"Private Shelter","Story Bridge Hotel","Civil defence facility","200 Main Street",Kangaroo Point,4169,Brisbane City,-27.4687557220459,153.035583496094,,,"BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 824,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Flying Boat Base","43 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Camp","Airfield","Yappar Street",Karumba,4891,North-West,-17.4856147766113,140.838043212891,"RAAF No.43 (General Reconnaissance Flying Boat) Squadron was formed at Bowen in May 1943 and an advance party moved to Karumba in early June to set up the new base for the squadron. The main party left Bowen for Karumba in mid August and Catalina flying boats of 43 Squadron were based at Karumba from 24 August 1943. The former aeradio quarters (A Block) was converted to an officers' mess and the aeradio building (B Block) became the squadron operations building. Additional facilities were requisitioned including an upgraded concrete slipway, cantilever (nose) hangar and maintenance workshops. Construction of these items was completed by early December. RAAF 34 Operational Base Unit was established at Karumba in mid December 1943. The squadron mounted its first operational patrol from Karumba on 8 September 1943. In addition to general reconnaissance duties the Catalinas of 43 Squadron were engaged in mine laying and bombing roles, convoy protection patrols and offensive operations against Japanese shipping in the eastern islands of the Netherlands East Indies. RAAF No.43 Squadron move from Karumba to Darwin in April 1944 to conduct mine laying operations throughout the Japanese controlled Netherlands East Indies.
","A Shell Oil Company depot was established at Karumba in 1937 to provide a refuelling base for the Short Empire flying boat service inaugurated by Qantas Empire Airways and Imperial Airways between Sydney, Singapore and London. Also in 1937, Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited (AWA), obtained a contract from the Department of Defence to design, install and operate a series of aeradio stations in Queensland, including facilities and quarters at Karumba. The AWA aeradio building (locally known as B Block) and the staff quarters (A Block) were constructed on the Norman River frontage by the federal Department of Public Works during 1938. By mid 1941 the Department of Civil Aviation had taken over the personnel and operation of the facilities from AWA.
During the late 1930s most other residents of Karumba obtained seasonal employment at Shand Brothers Gulf meat works which were erected about 1936 and operated from 1937 until 1939 when the company went into liquidation. The disused meat works were then bought by AW Anderson of Sydney and operated seasonally until their closure in 1941.
In August 1939, a month before declaration of war with Germany, the Australian Defence Committee in Canberra, reviewed the defence of Karumba and Groote Eylandt flying boat refuelling depots on the Gulf of Carpentaria. The committee recommended that rifle club guards be formed at both locations, consisting of flying boat base personnel issued with the necessary rifles and ammunition. When the Japanese launched their invasion of the Pacific in December 1941, the Karumba Rifle Club Guard represented the only defence unit in the eastern Gulf until February 1942 when their weapons were handed over to a newly formed detachment of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) in the area. A month later the VDC unit opened fire on three unidentified vessels approaching Karumba whose occupants turned out to be Australian and Dutch nationals escaping from the Japanese at Ambon. No casualties resulted and the refugee party was flown to Brisbane in Dutch Dornier flying boats.
In response to increased Japanese activity in Dutch New Guinea and the islands to the north of Darwin, in late March 1943 the Queensland directorate of the Allied Works Council (AWC) received an urgent requisition for buildings and services for a RAAF operational base at Karumba, including workshops and hutted camp facilities. After the 'Gulf scare' of April 1943, in which it was feared a Japanese landing had occurred on the Gulf coast north of Karumba, North East Area defence policy was revised.
By July 1944 operations at Karumba were being scaled down and a number of buildings were no longer required by the RAAF. Following the war the Department of Civil Aviation retained control of the former AWA aeradio buildings. These were sold to Ansett Airlines in the 1950s and converted into the Karumba Lodge Hotel. Fire later destroyed A Block and B Block was recently rebuilt as a private residence.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Lutwyche Cemetery was established in 1878. In 1925, Brisbane's tram network was extended to reach the cemetery. This allowed easier public access for grieving families. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Brisbane City Council allotted a portion of the cemetery to military burials. This War Graves Section became the post-war responsibility of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. After the arrival of American forces in Brisbane, the US was also granted its own War Graves Section but it was later moved to Ipswich Cemetery. In 1947, the US service personnel were exhumed and shipped back to the US for interment in domestic cemeteries.
","By the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, Lutwyche Cemetery was the northern terminus for Brisbane's tram network. With Brisbane's older cemeteries at Toowong and Dutton Park have limited burial space, wartime burials had to be directed towards the Lutwyche or Mt Gravatt Cemeteries. Unlike Mt Gravatt Cemetery, Lutwyche Cemetery was easily accessible via public transport and so it was chosen to be the location of those service personnel who died around Brisbane after 1942.
On 28 November 1942, the Brisbane City Council announced that the soldier's section at Toowong Cemetery was nearly full and that subsequently any future military deaths would be buried at Lutwyche. Council set aside a special section that was to resemble the post-World War I Gallipoli and French war cemeteries. The war graves section had no walls. There was no tiling around the graves that were to be placed around a central memorial. Initially it was planned that plaques instead of headstones would be the grave markers but this changed. The headstones were rectangular with rounded tops and were differentiated only by the inscriptions that record the national emblem or regimental rank, the name, unit, date of death, age and religious symbol if applicable.
Post-war, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission assumed maintenance of the Lutwyche Cemetery's War Grave's Section. The Commission had been established during World War I in an effort to mark, record and maintain the graves of British Commonwealth war casualties. With the onset of World War II, the Commission continued its work, establishing new cemeteries throughout the World in honour of the fallen.
Lutwyche Cemetery's War Graves Section consists of ten rows of white marble gravestones with a total of 386 Second World War burials, including one of an unidentified Australian airman (RAAF). In cemeteries of more than 40 burials, a Cross of Sacrifice was erected as the central memorial. Reginald Blomfield's design consisted of a simple cross-mounted on an octagonal base as was placed in Lutwyche Cemetery. As well, in the War Graves Section, there is a Queensland Cremation Memorial commemorating 36 Australians killed in the War whose remains were cremated. The Section has well maintained gardens with low-growing plants and manicured lawn. The Lutwyche Cemetery has several lawns with the graves of other ex-service men and women and their spouses.
In 1942, the United States armed forces established a separate War Graves Section at Lutwyche Cemetery. This was located in the southeast corner facing Gympie Road. The US Section held 11 graves. All were exhumed in June 1942 and transferred to the US War Graves Section at Ipswich Cemetery, where all the American dead were to be concentrated.
After the war, the US Government requested that its service personnel be disinterred for removal for permanent burial in US cemeteries. The US merchantmen Gauchec Victory berthed in Brisbane in November 1947 to carry the exhumed bodies back to the USA. The clearing of the US War Graves Section at the Ipswich was completed by 20 December 1947. As a sign of respect for the US contribution to the defence of Queensland, a coffin holding the body of an unknown US soldier was ceremoniously placed in Brisbane City Hall on 22 December for the public to pay homage. A solemn funeral parade carried this coffin through Brisbane streets to the Newstead Wharf where it was placed aboard Gauchec Victory. Approximately 30,000 Brisbane residents lined the streets for this funeral procession. The last 1,800 American coffins had been transported to Brisbane and sent by ship to the USA by the end of December 1947.
","The Kelvin Grove Defence Reserve opened in 1913. It was renamed a Military Reserve in 1921. By 1939, it comprised five drill halls, two gun parks, an artillery brigade office, artillery officers' mess and the Frank Moran Memorial Hall. It was a training centre for artillery, signallers, Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) and the Australian Army Service Corps (AASC- supply) of the part-time Australian Military Forces (AMF). The site comprised an Upper Barracks facing Kelvin Grove Road and a Lower Barracks facing Sylvan Road (Blamey Street). The Lower Barracks was undeveloped land used as a Riding School (stables) and grazing for the AMF units' horses.
No buildings appeared in the Lower Barracks until 1941. After the arrival of US Forces in Brisbane in 1942, their heavy engineering machinery levelled Kelvin Grove's hilly, sloping parade ground. They created a sunken road (nicknamed 'The Golden Stairs') connecting the Upper and Lower Barracks.
The artillery units were transferred north in mid-1942. Kelvin Grove became a centre for the training of army engineers and signallers. By the War's end on 15 August 1945, Kelvin Grove was a major militia training facility for militia units fighting in New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland and Bouganville.
","One of the first units mobilised at Kelvin Grove was the 5th Field (artillery) Regiment. By 13 September 1939, the 42nd and 43rd Batteries had assembled in the Artillery Drill Hall. The 105th and 111th Batteries assembled at the gun parks. That same month, the first motor transport arrived for the artillery. Signals Corps, RAE and AASC militiamen also reached Kelvin Grove. The 9/49th Signals Unit and the 61st Battalion were operating from the 1914 Infantry Drill Hall, where the Regimental Aid Post (RAP) remained until November 1945.
Militia conscription began on 20 October 1939, bringing fresh recruits to Kelvin Grove. A Garage/Workshop was planned in November 1939. Its construction was a response to the army's motorisation. This building became the Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (AEME) Brisbane area workshops, used by the AEME radar section. US engineers completed this saw-tooth roofed building.
By 1940, the artillery was fully motorised. In 1941, 25 pounders replaced the old 18-pounder guns. Lieutenant Colonels Gordon Kirkwood and Cranston McEachern led the 5th and 11th Field Regiment respectively. In December 1940, each became a two-battery regiment (12 guns). Their third battery (4.5-inch howitzers) was disbanded. During 1940–41, soldiers (e.g. Kirkwood and Eachern) volunteering for AIF service disrupted militia effectiveness. On 11 December 1941, conscription was expanded. Militia service became full-time. The artillery were fully mobilised on 10 January 1942 and, in May, left for northern Australia.
A Post Masters General (PMG) Department (PMG) School for Linesmen-in-Training was built by July 1941 in the Lower Barracks. As the PMG offered to train army signallers with its linesmen, it was granted a-10-year tenure of School. Later, the Lower Barracks was scrub-cleared to accommodate a Signals Corps camp of pre-fabricated huts near the School.
The Lower Barracks held the Headquarters, Commander, 2nd Royal Engineers (CRE) plus a RAE camp housed in 27 pre-fabricated structures. The CRE oversaw all Army construction projects within southeast Queensland. The RAE Maintenance Company provided tradesmen, including Australian Women's Army Service members, for near-by army projects. By 1943, the RAE Drill Hall was Headquarters, the 2nd South Queensland Line-of-Communications Sub-Area.
The Provost Corps established its Brisbane headquarters in the Artillery Drill Hall. The Riding School was requisitioned by the military police as an emergency detention compound. Overcrowding at these ex-stables saw a military riot erupt amongst the prisoners on 13 January 1943. The AASC Drill Hall was later occupied by the Area Officer, Metropolitan Composite Area.
","A Brief History of the site occupied by the Australian Army's Gona Barracks at Kelvin Grove; 2 NA digital plans
Dr. Jonathan Ford, A Brief History of the Site Occupied by the Australian Army's Gona Barracks at Kelvin Grove, (Brisbane: Ford, July 1998).
NA files
John Oxley Library photographic collection
BCC list
" 830,"Kenmore Sanitorium","Kenmore Repartiation Hospital/Fairview War Veterans' Home/Fairview RSL Care","Medical facility","2603 Moggill Road",Pinjarra Hills,4069,Brisbane City,-27.5293483734131,152.915924072266,"Construction of the Kenmore Sanitorium for sufferers of tuberculosis commenced in 1943, the Allied Works Council undertaking the work for the Department of Repatriation.
","By August 1944 the chalet-style building had been erected on the 43-acre site. Allied Work Council reports described it as located ""on a pleasant ridge which commands delightful and expansive views.""
The sanitorium catered initially for 32 patients in one, two and four bed wards. Temporary quarters were erected for nursing staff
The Sanitorium was officially opened in 1945 and was converted to a Repatriation Hospital after the war. It closed on 24 April 1994, after which it was demolished. In 1998 the Fairview War Veterans' Home was opened on the former hospital site.
","NAA digital plans
NAA Series BP262/2, 9127 Part 3, Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report of work done by AWC Qld to June 1944, barcode 438605
" 831,"Camp Keppel Sands (US)",,"Military camp","Area ‘A’: Limpus Ave, Keppel Sands. Area ‘B’: Keppel Sands Road and Coowonga Road, Coowonga",Keppel Sands,4702,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.3358345031738,150.794586181641,"Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable from July 1942.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
Another camp for American troops was Camp Keppel Sands, which had two areas. Area 'A' was a reserve acquired in March 1943, located at the southern end of Limpus Ave in Keppel Sands. A warehouse with a slipway to Pumpkin Creek and a bathhouse were constructed here, by the Public Works Department and troop labour respectively, for the 2nd Engineer Special (Amphibious) Brigade. Area 'B', also acquired in March 1943, was used by both the 24th Division and the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade. It was located north of Keppel Sands Road, either side of Coowonga Road. Two 10,000 gallon water tanks were constructed here by the Rockhampton City Council.
",,"McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, various items, control symbols MAP 44, MAP 45, and MAP 129.
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Engineer Special Brigade (United States)
" 839,"Royal Australian Air Force Station No. 3 Initial Training School","Kingaroy Airport, Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson Airport","Airfield","Warren Truss Drive, off Kingaroy-Cooyar Road",Kingaroy,4610,Wide Bay-Burnett,-26.5767383575439,151.839859008789,"The pre-existing Kingaroy civil aerodrome was taken over by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in late 1941. The first 96 buildings were erected by 10 July 1942, and No. 3 Initial Training School (ITS) moved to Kingaroy later that year. The wartime entrance was from Buttsworth Road east of the aerodrome, but today the main entrance is from the west via Warren Truss Drive, about 1km south of Kingaroy on the Kingaroy-Cooyar Road.
The surviving RAAF structures include a Bellman hangar. To the northwest of the hangar, north of Geoff Raph Drive, is an inflammable store/morgue with a roof ventilator, vehicle wash bay slab, skillion roofed crash ambulance station, and a skillion roofed motor pool; a small fibro radio telegraph shack also stands to the north of Geoff Raph Drive, to the east of the motor pool. Southwest of the hangar is a flat-roofed meteorological hut (relocated) and a gable roofed locker room; southeast of the hangar is a roofless concrete machine gun test butt building. A gable roofed hospital building, ambulance garage and prophylactic room/isolation ward are located further east, just south of Geoff Raph Drive.
A memorial to 24 RAAF and AIF personnel who lost their lives in accidents in the Burnett during the war is located near the intersection of Warren Truss Drive and Geoff Raph Drive.
","At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 urgent consideration was given not only to the construction of aeroplanes, but also to the training of technicians, pilots and aircrew. The Empire Training Scheme (EATS) was set up in late 1939 and was an agreement between Britain and the Dominions, particularly Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for aircrews to be trained in those countries for service with the Royal Air Force. The EATS scheme was conducted through 49 airfields in Australia, Queensland having EATS units at Amberley, Archerfield, Bundaberg, Kingaroy, Lowood, Maryborough and Sandgate.
During 1941 the Kingaroy civil aerodrome was considered as a site for either an Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS), or a Service Flying Training School (SFTS). The RAAF had conducted a reconnaissance of the aerodrome in October 1940, when it had four strips on a grassed airfield. For SFTS (advanced pilot training) purposes, it would need to be extended by clearing and grading the surrounding land. The site received good rainfall for grass, yet was well drained. Other advantages included a nearby railway siding (Taabinga) and two Relief Landing Grounds (RLGs) nearby, at Home Creek and Mannuem. However, concerns about water supply to the site would lead to delays in deciding to proceed with airfield construction.
In April 1941 the option of transferring No. 3 SFTS from Amberley to Kingaroy, thereby freeing up Amberley for other units was discussed. The estimated cost of extensions to the Kingaroy landing area was about £7950, and the cost of buildings and services for a complete SFTS was £260,000. The Air Board agreed to transfer No. 3 SFTS in May 1941, but work on extending the Kingaroy airfield was still being undertaken by the Shire Council, on behalf of the Queensland Main Roads Commission, in late 1941. The RAAF assumed control of the aerodrome in October 1941 (and the Commonwealth officially acquired the airfield in June 1943).
The entry of Japan into the war changed the situation, leading to an increased demand for Queensland airfields for RAAF and US air units. In January 1942 Kingaroy was one of several stations identified for service hospital facilities. The same month 36 splinter proof aircraft pens were authorised under Reciprocal Lend Lease, Project US 129 ""Extension to RAAF Station, Kingaroy, Queensland"", but most construction was later cancelled.
Its move to Kingaroy having been delayed by a US takeover of that airfield, 3 SFTS was disbanded at Amberley in April 1942, due to the geographical rationalisation of flying training in Australia. US units briefly occupied Kingaroy airfield in June 1942, and RAAF 75 Squadron was also reorganised at Kingaroy in mid 1942, before being sent to New Guinea.
The airfield's first 96 buildings were erected by 10 July 1942, and a plan of the site in May 1943 shows over 180 buildings, including 4 Bellman hangars, on the northeast section of the aerodrome. A sentry box was located on the north side of the wartime entrance, off today's Buttsworth Road; the hospital was south of the entrance road (Geoff Raph Drive), with sergeants' and officers' messes further to the west, then a parade ground, and then the hangars. A bomb shelter was also indicated south of Geoff Raph Drive, to the southeast of the motor pool building. Airmen's sleeping huts, kitchens, messes, canteen, gymnasium, chaplain's hut, laundries and latrines were located north of Geoff Raph Drive, with the headquarters building and meteorological hut further to the west, then the trainees accommodation and classrooms, and then the motor pool. South of the sergeants' and officers' messes was a 50′ timber tower with two water tanks (recently demolished), and south of that was a 25 yard firing range, and a concrete machine gun test butt building. West of the test butts were petrol stores, latrines, locker buildings and crew rooms for two squadrons, arranged in a 'C' shape open to the south.
The surviving World War II building located southwest of the Bellman hangar and south of the (relocated) meteorological building was listed as a locker room (building 197) on the 1943 site plan; and the building (167) to the southwest of the motor pool is listed as an ""inflammable store"" but it was reportedly also used as a morgue. The building currently located to the southeast of the hospital is on the site of a prophylactic room (numbered 96) in 1943, but it has also been referred to as an isolation ward. The radio telegraph shack, currently located north of Geoff Raff Drive, is not on the 1943 plan.
No. 3 Initial Training School (ITS) was transferred from Sandgate to Kingaroy in late 1942. In addition, a November 1942 US Fifth Airforce report on Kingaroy noted that there was a 30 bed hospital at the aerodrome, that civilian aircraft used the field, and that the RAAF No. 4 Squadron was present. There were dispersal areas for 12 fighters to the east and the west, air raid shelters and trenches, 3 bomb dumps (on the south west and east edges of field) and 14 machine gun posts. A RAAF report in late December 1942 noted that no RAAF aircraft were then operating from the airfield, and that weed growth was an issue. However, in early 1943 RAAF 5 Squadron moved to Kingaroy for several months training alongside the Army, before moving to Mareeba.
In July 1943 the airfield consisted of four strips: North-South (3300′); East-West (4800′); NW-SE (5280′); and SW-NE (4500′), and in August 1943 sleeping accommodation was available for 154 officers, 96 sergeants and 984 other ranks, with enough female accommodation for 96 officers and 120 other ranks. A number of huts had been allocated to Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) members by May 1943, east of the Sergeants' mess and in the training school area north of the hangars.
By November 1943 Kingaroy was reported as still functioning as an ITS, with an Air Ambulance unit also in residence. By this time the RLGs at Home Creek and Mannuem, and bombing and gunnery ranges near Kingaroy, were not in use. Another 5th Air Force report, in April 1944, noted that civilian aircraft still used the airfield, and that a training school and No. 2 Air Ambulance Unit were present.
3 ITS continued at Kingaroy until the end of the war, and in 1945 Kingaroy was also used for the formation of squadrons, including those flying Beaufighter twin engine aircraft. In May 1945 the airfield consisted of two prepared natural surface strips: NW/SE (4500′) and SW-NE (4000′), and there was hutted accommodation for 1500 personnel. However, by June 1945 Kingaroy was only an Emergency Landing Ground (ELG), and all servicing, refuelling facilities and personnel had been withdrawn. By 12 July 1946 the airfield was no longer required by the RAAF, and maintenance ceased.
Units which used RAAF Station Kingaroy, as listed on the memorial near the intersection of Warren Truss Drive and Geoff Raph Drive, include: No. 3 Initial Training School, No. 4 Radio Installation and MTCE Unit, No. 13 Communication Unit, No. 29 Medical Clearing Station, No. 30 Air Stores Park, No. 46 Operational Base Unit, No. 84 Operational Base Unit, No. 86 Wing HQ, and No. 90 Operational Base Unit. Squadrons included: No. 1 Squadron (Kittyhawk), No. 4 Squadron (Wirraway), No. 5 Squadron (Wirraway), No. 6 Squadron (Beaufort), No. 15 Squadron (Beaufort), No. 75 Squadron (Kittyhawk), No. 92 Squadron (Beaufighter), No. 93 Squadron (Beaufighter), and No. 2 Air Ambulance Unit.
Most of the buildings have disappeared since the war. The former inflammable store/morgue, crash ambulance station, motor pool and meteorological hut are utilised by the Burnett War Memorial Museum Association; one of the Bellman hangars survives, along with a vehicle wash bay, a small radio telegraph shack, a locker building, a concrete machine gun test butt building, and a hospital building with an ambulance garage and a prophylactic room/isolation ward.
","Second World War RAAF Buildings, Maryborough Airport, Queensland Heritage Register 602556
Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson Airport, Queensland Heritage Register reported place 602321
Marks, RR, 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2 - 50 years on. R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Ford, J. March 2009. Significance Assessment Report, Burnett War Memorial Museum Collection, Kingaroy, Queensland. For the National Library of Australia.
National Archives of Australia, 7/1/833. RAAF number 3 - SFTS [Service Flying Training School] - Kingaroy Queensland - Aerodrome works. 1940–1946.
National Archives of Australia, 678. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Kingaroy, Queensland. 1943-1945.
National Archives of Australia, 678. Building Layout - RAAF No 3 Initial Training School - Kingaroy, Queensland [sub item]. 1943
Australian War Memorial photographic collection.
" 849,"Mitchell River Airfield","Mitchell River Mission","Airfield","Magnificent Creek",Kowanyama,4871,North and Cape York,-15.4857540130615,141.752166748047,"In 1942, civil aviation services throughout Cape York used a landing area (DCA Landing Ground No 516) near Mitchell River Mission. This site provided light aircraft access for minor RAAF interest in the area. The most significant of which was the installation of a radar station (No 320), nearby.
While this landing area never compared with the many developed and frequently used throughout the State during WW2, its proximity to a well documented USAAF B-17 Bomber recovery meant that it became better known. This particular recovery called Mitchell River Mission residents, particularly large numbers of Aboriginals at the centre, into great prominence at the time even though newspaper censorship masked location and identities.
","The WW2 history of major bases, not just in Queensland, is frequently peppered not just with day to day operational matters, but also with inevitable crashes, often fatal. The opportunity to cover in pictorial detail an overland mission of some hundreds of kilometres both by train (several trucks on board) and beyond over poor roads and often, NO ROAD OR TRACK, was most enticing.
In an extract from QAWW2 page 42 …""'Blacks save Big Plane.'So stated the Brisbane 'Sunday Mail' newspaper, January 3, 1943. In a 5 'column inch' report hampered by the censorship of the day, the 'Sunday Mail' quoted W F Mackenzie, in charge of a Presbyterian Mission in the 'wild bush of the north':
…not long ago a Flying Fortress with an American crew made a forced landing. She pancaked on to a natural saltpan clearing, but she was in pretty bad shape,… She was located by a Catalina, and a message was sent through to the superintendent of a river station where there are about 700 blacks. The head stockman set out with a team of horses and brought in the crew.
The rescue pilot had a rest and something to eat, then asked could he borrow some men to take him back, because he would have to destroy the plane. That meant £80,000 worth of Flying Fortress would have to be destroyed. In the report based on the crash, it continued to explain with how the Mission Superintendent (Alec) McLeod saw the potential for the aircraft's recovery given the help of 700 'strong healthy natives'.
US authorities despatched a team from Charters Towers equipped with several GMC 6 wheel trucks with trailers and workshop equipment by train through Cairns to the terminus at Mungana. From there, the convoy drove via Wrotham Park, Highbury on the Mitchell River, and probably through Rutland Plains to the Mission. The ABM (Australian Board of Missions) Review, published monthly even during the war, carried the following item in its March 1 1943 edition under the heading of MITCHELL RIVER MISSION:
…Even with war conditions so noticeable in the north the work of the Mission goes on, but is more varied than usual. Its variation consists in rescuing airmen, building by native voluntary labour a 17 mile road to where these planes came down, and constructing a runaway to take off again.
The airmen were amazed at the capacity of the natives to find their way about in the dark, and also refusing payment for the work. The 17 miles of road was put through in a week, and the landing strip of 1200 yards in five days. To get to this plane, four rivers had to be crossed and many creeks had to be made so that they would carry 8 ton trucks. The natives had only a few shovels and picks; the rest worked with their hands. It was a case of the natives showing the Yanks how to work.
Following the war, the airstrip returned to its pre-war use as a civil landing ground and continues to service the community of Kowanyama.
","The Cairns-Kuranda road No.47 was officially opened to traffic on 15 June 1942, providing an alternative access route to the Atherton Tableland to the Gillies Highway, built in 1926 from Gordonvale to Atherton. One of the most difficult mountain roads that the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) had undertaken with the roughest sections built to one-way traffic standard only, the route zig-zagged up the old Smithfield track through rainforest and dense tropical jungle. From Kuranda the roadworks continued to Mareeba by way of pre-war forestry tracks constructed by the Public Estates Improvement Branch of the Lands Department.
","With the increase in motor traffic in the early 1920s, surveys were conducted to find a suitable vehicle route from Cairns to the Atherton Tableland. This led to the opening in 1926 of the tortuous Gillies Highway linking Atherton to Gordonvale. A coastal road connecting Cairns and Port Douglas was completed in 1933 as a Depression employment project while to the south, the unsealed Palmerston Highway ascended the range, providing a link between Innisfail and Millaa Millaa. By 1940 construction of a more direct defence road from Cairns to the Tableland was essential. Railway construction across the Kuranda Range from Cairns to Herberton had commenced in 1886. Until the railway, there was almost no way of getting anything larger than a dray up the range by way of the old Smithfield track.
In late November 1942, almost a year after Japan's entry into World War II, the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces, Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey ordered a survey of the Atherton Tableland with the intention of developing facilities for a rehabilitation and training area for volunteer army troops of the Second Australian Imperial Force recently returned from the Middle East. Key purposes of the scheme were-recuperate troops in a cooler climate while engaged in jungle warfare training; provide suitable hospitalization for malaria and tropical disease cases; and locate personnel and maintenance installations close to the New Guinea frontline with access to railway and port facilities.
Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions began arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and started occupying tent encampments around the settlements of Wongabel, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. Units of the 9th Division returned to Australia from North Africa during February and by April had begun reforming at camps around Kairi, Danbulla and Barrine. Improved road access from Cairns to the Tableland was urgently needed.
The MRC built the Cairns-Kuranda road, opening it to military traffic in June 1942. Continuous use soon necessitated widening and sealing of the road. The Cairns-Kuranda road and railway became vital links in the military build-up on the Tableland. In recent decades t he road has been largely responsible for the economic development of the Atherton Tablelands and the growth of tourism in the district.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 852,"2/1 Australian Convalescent Depot","Lake Barrine Tea House","Recreation/community","Gordonvale-Atherton Road (Gillies Highway)",Barrine,4884,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2451553344727,145.638885498047,"Lake Barrine-the largest of the Atherton Tableland crater lakes-was formed by volcanic activity as recently as 10,000 years ago. Logging of rainforest timber in the area commenced during the 1880s and to prevent the complete loss of the large kauri and cedar pines around the lake the Forestry Department and local council formed what was known as the Lakes Trust to protect the lake and surrounding land from logging. In 1888 the natural and recreational significance of Lake Barrine was formally recognised and the crater lake, along with a band of shoreline vegetation, was proclaimed a scenic reserve. Since the 1920s several generations of the Curry family have been running a tea house at Lake Barrine and providing boat cruises for visitors.
","Local residents, George and Margaret Curry pioneered the tourist use of Lake Barrine in 1920 living on the edge of the lake in a corrugated iron hut with George working as a ranger appointed by the Lakes Trust. After several years of occupation the Curry's applied for a grant and received a perpetual lease over an acre of land on the shore of the lake. Lake Barrine started to become a popular destination for visitors after the opening of the Gillies Highway in 1926. This steep, winding, single-lane pack-horse track provided the only reliable motor vehicle access from Gordonvale on the coast to Atherton on the Tableland until the wartime completion of the Cairns-Kuranda road in June 1942.
A timber teahouse and dance hall was erected by the Curry's in 1928. The teahouse was extended and converted to a guest house in 1935. Since then it has had many uses, including as a guest house, an aquatic centre and a school. With the Japanese bombing of Darwin after Japan's entry into World War II the students of some boarding schools in north Queensland were transferred away from the coast for safety reasons and the schools were then commandeered by Allied forces for military use. On 2 March 1942, less than two weeks after the bombing of Darwin and the day before Japanese fighter aircraft attacked Broome, Wyndham and Derby in Western Australia, students of St Augustine's College in Cairns were evacuated to Lake Barrine guest house
In late 1942 the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey, ordered a survey of the Atherton Tableland with the intention of developing facilities for rehabilitation and training of Australian troops brought home from the Middle East to defend the country. Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions started arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and began setting up tent encampments around Atherton, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. During February 1943 the 9th Division returned to Australia and the following month began moving into camps around Kairi, Tinaroo and Danbulla. Soon over 40,000 personnel were quartered on the Atherton Tableland, and Lake Barrine became a recreational centre for Australian troops on jungle warfare training. On 27 May 1943 for example, the 2/24 Battalion of the 9th Division bivouacked at the lake and held a swimming carnival.
On 16 August 1943 the guest house at Lake Barrine was taken over by a detachment of the 2/1 Australian Army Convalescent Depot. (The 2/1 was a 1200 bed unit based at the 2/2 and 2/6 Australian General Hospital at Rocky Creek between Atherton and Mareeba.) A detachment of the 2/1 Australian convalescent Depot remained at Lake Barrine for the duration of the war.
The Curry family returned to Lake Barrine after the departure of the military and reoccupied the guest house. Members of the family continue to operate the guest house and boat trips around the lake. In 1988 Lake Barrine was included in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and in 1994 it joined Lake Eacham as part of the Crater Lakes National Park.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Lake Barrine Crater Lakes National Park. DERM, Brisbane, 2010. (Online information)
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 853,"'Brightside' Guest House","Women's Rest and Recreation Centre","Recreation/community","Landsborough-Maleny Road",Bald Knob,4552,South-East,-26.7785663604736,152.912384033203,"Brightside Guest House at Bald Knob, built in 1935 for Mrs Winifred Domsch nee Edwards, and her husband Ernest (engineer with John Wilson & Partners). The guest house, which is behind the Sunrise Caravan Park on the Landsborough Maleny Road (1989), was used as a Rest and Recreation centre by servicewomen during WWII. Mrs Domsch was a well-known personality until she died on 15th May 1983 aged 84 years. Before owning Brightside, Mrs Domsch ran the Pagoda Guest House at Bald Knob for a time, until it burnt down.
Today the Brightside Guest House is a private residence situated behind the Sunrise Caravan Park at Bald Knob.
",,"Sunshine Coast Regional Council Libraries Collection
" 854,"Landsborough Railway Station Public Air Raid Shelter","Landsborough Railway Civil Defence shelter","Civil defence facility","Landsborough Railway Station, Cribb Street",Landsborough,4550,South-East,-26.8088188171387,152.96630859375,"The Landsborough Railway Station's public air raid shelter is a rare surviving example of the public shelters built at railway stations in Queensland during World War II. Constructed in 1942 by Queensland Railways to protect civilian and military passengers on the busy North Coast railway line, the shelter is situated on the southern end of the station's platform, on the west side of the line.
The air raid shelter is a rectangular building constructed entirely from reinforced concrete, 12.8 x 3.7 metres in size and oriented north-south along the platform. The shelter is accessed from the east by recessed entrance corridors at each end of the building. The corridors are formed from internal blast walls and turn 90 degrees into the main internal space of the shelter. It has an internal height of approximately 2.5 metres. The reinforced concrete walls and roof are approximately 300mm thick and 150-175mm thick respectively. Eleven dog-legged ventilation slots are located along both the eastern and western elevations. The southern-most access corridor has been sealed with a recent solid-core door and the northern-most corridor, accessed via two concrete steps down to the shelter, has been closed off with a recent galvanised steel security gate.
","The 1942 concrete air raid shelter at the Landsborough railway station was designed to provide shelter for train passengers waiting at the station. By 1893 Landsborough was a refreshment stop on the North Coast railway line, as it was approximately half-way between Brisbane and Gympie. During World War II the station saw increased activity due to the military camps located in the area.
After December 1941 military units were stationed on the North (Sunshine) Coast as part of the defence of Moreton Bay and Brisbane against the Japanese, and for training. For example, the Royal Australian Navy maintained a Signal Station on Wickham Point Caloundra, the Americans maintained a Radar Training School at Caloundra, and Australian artillery units trained at Battery Hill. Fortress troops were stationed at Fort Bribie on Bribie Island, Volunteer Defence Force units trained in the hinterland, and units of the 7th Division Australian Imperial Force also trained on the North Coast in 1942, before being replaced by the 3rd Division (Militia).
Many troops would have arrived and departed from Landsborough railway station, and numerous troop trains also passed through Landsborough on their way to North Queensland, with some stopping for refreshments. In Mid 1942 a troop train full of American soldiers broke down at the Landsborough station. The construction of an air raid shelter at Landsborough railway station was probably linked to this increased wartime traffic, as well as to government regulations regarding the safety of the population.
In the Protection of Persons and Property Order No.1, gazetted 23 December 1941, Queensland's Premier William Forgan Smith, with powers conferred by Regulation 35a, ordered the Brisbane City Council to construct 200 public surface shelters in the city area (235 were built). Another 24 local governments in Queensland's coastal areas were ordered to produce surface or trench shelters for the public (135 public shelters were built). A large number of businesses also built air raid shelters, as the owners of any building in the coastal areas where over 30 people would normally be present at any one time were required to build shelters either within the building, or adjacent to it.
On 2 March 1942 a memorandum from the Undersecretary of the Department of Public Works reported that Queensland Railways had already built shelters for its employees at some of the larger train stations, and it recommended that a further 28 full size public surface shelters, three half size shelters, and three sets of trenches, be built outside Brisbane. Most of the recommended surface shelters and trenches were on the North Coast railway line, at 19 stations from Nambour to Cairns. Shelters were also recommended for Mt Morgan, Kingaroy (trenches), Southport (two), Ipswich, and Toowoomba (two). Landsborough was not mentioned in this list.
By 23 March 1942 work on the public air raid shelters was in hand, after the Department of Public Works and Queensland Railways agreed to proceed in accordance with plans acceptable to both departments. In Australia the process of building public air-raid shelters at railway stations during World War II seems to have been unique to Queensland. Shelters were built at large stations, busy suburban commuter stations, and stations which had refreshment rooms. The latter would have been a vulnerable target for aircraft while passengers were disembarked for a meal.
Of the public shelters built along the North Coast line, only the shelters at Landsborough and Maryborough still exist. In the Brisbane metropolitan area, most railway public shelters were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, and only the Shorncliffe shelter survives. The only other known surviving railway public shelter in Queensland is at Toowoomba railway station.
","Public Air Raid Shelter, Landsborough Railway Station, Queensland Heritage Register 602709
National Archives of Australia, Folder I to L Folio 59, Landsborough Ration Store - Site Plan [1/L/8] 1943.
Queensland Railways Standard Plan 1942. Queensland Government E-Plan 1300.1.
" 855,"US Army Round Mountain Detention and Rehabilitation Camp","Round Mountain Prison Stockade, Round Mountain Ration Stores","Internment/POW facility","Round Mountain Road, north of Round Mountain,?(located between railway line to west and Logan River to east)",Laravale,4285,South-East,-28.0688629150391,152.922943115234,"The US Army's stockade at Round Mountain, south of Beaudesert, was built by the Civil Constructional Corps (CCC) in late 1942-early 1943, to confine US soldiers sentenced for major offences. The prisoners, guarded by the 345th MP Escort Guard Company, worked in the ballast quarry at Round Mountain, which was linked by a railway spur to the interstate railway line. On the spur line west of the Round Mountain Road, opposite Round Mountain, was a large 100′ by 400′ (30.5 m by 122m) ""igloo"" ration warehouse. The site is located about 11km southwest of Beaudesert, as the crow flies. Travelling south of Beaudesert on the Mount Lindesay Highway, pass through Laravale, cross the Logan River and turn north onto Round Mountain Road. The site of the prison stockade is on the right, to the north of Round Mountain. The camp's internal roads around the stockade, parade ground and guards' accommodation sites, to the east of Round Mountain Road, are visible on satellite imagery. Other internal roads are visible west of Round Mountain Road, near the ration igloo, HQ, water tanks, motor pool and poultry farm sites. The foundation slab of the igloo is visible, as are the slabs of at least two other buildings further north.
","With the influx of US troops into Queensland from December 1941, as well as the usual need for accommodation, airfields, roads, supply depots, hospitals and headquarters, there was a requirement for detention facilities for soldiers.
By 1935 a spur line existed off the Brisbane to Sydney interstate railway line, to a ballast quarry at Round Mountain, south of Beaudesert. This was chosen as the site of a prison stockade for the US Army. The Assistant Minister for the (Australian) Army approved a £36,000 budget for the project in October 1942, on the grounds that a military detention camp was urgently required for US prisoners serving sentences for major offences—and no satisfactory accommodation existed for that purpose.
Construction was probably carried out by the Civil Constructional Corps (CCC), which had a camp site to the south of the quarry. A map of the site drawn 25 January 1943 for the Department of the Interior shows two large igloo warehouses west of Round Mountain Road, just north of the spur line; however, only one appears to have been built. The spur line passed to the south of the quarry, curving around to its east side. North of the quarry, east of Round Mountain Road, the fences for the prison camp were still under construction at this time.
An aerial photograph taken 10 March 1943 shows the northern end of the stockade compound, with its twin fences and guard towers and some of the timber buildings, but tents for the prisoners were not yet in place. The total cost of the facility was £58,307, with the Allied Works Council (AWC) undertaking the extra work at the direction of the United States Army Services of Supply (USASOS) organisation—apparently without permission from the Australian Department of the Army.
According to a 1943 map of the completed complex and confirmed by contemporary photographs, the stockade was located north of the quarry at Round Mountain, east of the main road, and had two outer fences, with guard towers at each corner, and midway along the west, south and east sides. The southern part of the stockade contained rows of tents for the inmates, divided into three sections by internal fences. The northern part of the stockade contained timber buildings, including a hospital and chapel, while just to the north of the stockade, either side of the entrance, were power, supply and repair buildings. North of these buildings a road from Round Mountain Road ran east, to a (no longer extant) timber trestle bridge over the Logan River, linking to today's Mount Lindesay Highway. North of this road, opposite the stockade, was a parade ground, and north of the parade ground were timber buildings and tent lines for the prison guards.
The headquarters buildings were located west of Round Mountain Road, to the northwest of the stockade, with a tennis court and motor pool north of the HQ. Water mains ran northwest from the stockade compound, past the south end of the HQ buildings, up the hill west of the road to six water tanks just south of a house. A swimming pool was located west of the water tanks, complete with what appears to be a sandy beach. The poultry farm was located north of the house. Although no buildings survive, most of the internal roads to the various components of the complex, plus the route of the railway spur, are still visible in satellite imagery. Apart from the roads, the most obvious remnant is the slab of the large 400′ by 100′ (30.5 m by 122m) igloo ration warehouse, west of Round Mountain Road, opposite the quarry.
The prisoners were guarded by the 345th Military Police (MP) Escort Guard Company, and were expected to work in the quarry for a set amount of hours per week, as well as undertaking other work in the camp, such as pallet construction, shoe repair, or work in the lumberyard. Both white and African American servicemen were held in the stockade. The camp raised its own pigs, and a poultry farm contained 875 hens by March 1944. Captain HE Hoch was the commander of the 345th MP Escort Company on 28 August 1944; Lieutenant Colonel Carl V. Shoemaker was the Camp Commandant that year, while Captain Lloyd R Holt was the Chaplain.
","Marks, RR, 2005. Brisbane—WW2 v Now, from an American Archives' photo viewpoint. Volume 23, Round Mountain and Tabragalba.
National Archives of Australia, 286/2. Construction of Prison Stockade at Round Mountain, Beaudesert, Queensland. War Cabinet Agendum No 33/1945, 1942–1945.
National Archives of Australia, LS557. Round Mountain - Ration stores, 1943.
National Archives of Australia, FOLDER O to S FOLIO 40. Round Mountain Warehouse and Prison Camp - Site Plan [1/R/113]. 1943.
" 856,"United States 153rd Station Hospital, 105th General Hospital","University of Queensland Gatton Campus (Queensland University)","Medical facility","Warrego Highway",Lawes,4343,South-East,-27.5557518005371,152.335067749023,"The University of Queensland Gatton Campus was requisitioned by the US Army for the 153rd Station Hospital from March to July 1942. It was used by the 105th General Hospital Unit until July 1944, and some buildings were held by the Australian Army as a Reserve Hospital until 1945.
The campus is located south of the Warrego Highway at Lawes, about 6km east of Gatton. Surviving campus buildings used by the Americans include the Foundation Building and Morrison Hall, at the south end of the campus, and the Sir Leslie Wilson Hall, relocated to the west side of the campus. A purpose built US morgue (now a chapel) is located southwest of Morrison Hall.
Timber wards were once located east of the Foundation Building and Morrison Hall, in the Residential area south of Hall Road. Tents were also located south of the timber wards, in the area of the Hugh Courtney Rugby Oval. A US rubbish dump was located about 50m southeast of the present piggery at the southeast of the campus.
About 600m north of the Warrego Highway, on the west side of the road opposite the campus entrance, is a sewerage treatment works, along with an octagonal concrete pump house (north of the treatment works, east of the road); both built in 1942 during the military occupation of the campus.
","The University of Queensland Gatton Campus was established in 1897 as the Queensland Agricultural College, and in the early 1920s it was re-structured as the Gatton Agricultural High School and College. From 1942 to 1944 the College was used as a field hospital by the United States Army, but teaching continued on a reduced scale in new temporary buildings to the northeast of the original campus. College wartime work included the testing of alternative fuels and growing crops of opium poppy, urgently needed for the production of morphine.
In March 1942, 85 acres of the College's land and the majority of its buildings were transferred to the United States Army. The 153rd Station Hospital, the first operational US Army Hospital in Australia, occupied the site from 15 March until it departed for Port Moresby on 10 July 1942. This unit was later located at Southport Boys School. The 153rd was replaced at Gatton on 11 July by the 105th General Hospital (most of the latter's staff were drawn from Harvard University), which had arrived in Australia in early June 1942. It was raining the day the 105th arrived, and the campus ""…with its old-fashioned wooden buildings and with rain dripping from the deep green foliage of the trees, looked like a scene from a Somerset Maughan's novel set in a tropical clime"".
The 105th operated from the College until July 1944, as the primary military hospital supporting General Macarthur's South West Pacific campaign. Increasing numbers of US casualties arrived during late 1942 and early 1943, with another large influx arriving in early 1944. The 105th then moved to Biak island in the Dutch East Indies. As well as treating nearly 19,000 patients, the 105th developed particular expertise in the treatment of injuries and illness in the tropics.
The timber 1897 Foundation Building was used as both the administrative headquarters for the US Army and as a laboratory and pharmacy. The timber, brick and stucco 1936 Shelton Hall (now Morrison Hall) was used as the hospital, its dormitories well suited for use as hospital wards, with dental services, X-Ray facilities and operating theatres located on the ground floor. The timber Sir Leslie Wilson Hall, originally a Gymnasium built in 1899, was used by the Americans as a theatre and for church services. The theatre was an important factor in reducing monotony; movies were shown 5 or 6 nights a week, Australian and American performers and entertainers appeared on stage, and officer-and-nurse dances were held there (dances for the enlisted men were held monthly in adjacent towns). The hall was relocated to its present position on the west side of the campus in 1978.
Extensive temporary facilities were erected by the Civil Construction Corps, including nearly two dozen large timber hospital wards, interconnected by covered walkways, on the eastern side of the inner campus. Other buildings erected included quarters for officers and nurses, a post exchange, mess halls, recreation halls, a receiving office and a craft shop. The locality was also enhanced by the formation of gardens and sidewalks.
Contractors included MR Hornibrook Pty Limited and Stuart Bros, and tenders for painting the wards and other buildings were received in September 1942. A large 'tent city' was established to the south of the inner campus, serving as living quarters for soldiers undergoing rehabilitation. Although these facilities no longer exist, a number of more permanent facilities were also constructed during the period of military occupation, including a Sewerage Treatment Works and a Pump House north of the Warrego Highway. The remnants of a rubbish dump established by the US Army exist about 50 metres southeast of the present piggery.
In 1943 a 'U'-shaped morgue was constructed, used for the examination and preparation of deceased soldiers for transportation back to their families in the United States. In 1944 the two most northerly wings of the building were removed prior to the Americans leaving the College, and the remaining timber and fibrous cement clad section was converted into a small chapel in 1959.
The College repossessed most of its buildings in late 1944, but some were held until 1945 by the Australian Army as a Reserve Hospital. After the war the College continued to operate as both a secondary and tertiary institution until the high school section was closed in 1962. In 1990, the College merged with the University of Queensland.
A cairn and plaque commemorating the use of the College by the United States Army 105th General Base Hospital was erected opposite the main dining hall and was unveiled in 1968. In November 2004 the Remembrance Day service at the campus also commemorated the 60 years since the American's departure, and a descendent of the original Lone Pine tree was planted near the Foundation Building.
","University of Queensland Gatton Campus (Queensland University). Queensland Heritage Register 601672.
The 105th General Hospital: two years Down Under. July 1942-July 1944. Magazine prepared by the Staff of The Post Record. Approved for Publication by the Military Censor of General Headquarters, South West Pacific Area.
Buchanan, Robyn, Historical Report on Gatton College, unpublished manuscript, Buchanan Heritage Services 2002.
Newlands, Leo. A historical tour: the significance of precincts and buildings of the University of Queensland Gatton College, University of Queensland, Gatton 1999.
University of Queensland Gatton Campus Map.
National Archives of Australia, LS222A. Hospital at Gatton for the US Army-Block Plan, 6 June 1942
National Archives of Australia, USM53 PART 1. Tamborine [US Army] Camp (Contained items relevant to Gatton)
Remembrance Day, Links newsletter, Issue 632, 25 November 2004, p.7. University of Queensland.
History News, American Community News newsletter, Summer 2004, p.8. Australian-American Association Brisbane, American Legion and AMCHAM.
Dunn, P. 153rd Station Hospital Base Section 3.
" 857,"Petrie (A-1) Airfield","A-1 (Lawnton)","Airfield","Lawnton Pocket Road",Lawnton,4501,South-East,-27.2819499969482,152.998260498047,"Under development.
","This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at ww2.historic.places@publicworks.qld.gov.au
","Geeson, N. (1995). ""I Remember… Recollections of Pine Rivers Shire During World War Two"", Pine Rivers Shire Council, Queensland.
Dunn, P Australia @ War - Petrie
" 858,"Leyburn Airfield","Strathane","Airfield","Liberator Place",Leyburn,4365,Darling Downs,-27.9594879150391,151.601791381836,"Leyburn airfield was built in early 1942 for use by US heavy bombers, in case the Japanese invaded southeast Queensland. It was maintained by the RAAF but was not used until 1944, by RAAF squadrons flying B-24 Liberator bombers. After the war the circuit formed by the two bitumen runways and the bitumen taxiway linking their north ends was used for motor racing, with an Australian Grand Prix being held at Leyburn in 1949.
The two runways of Leyburn airfield are located over 5km north of Leyburn (northwest of Warwick), between Wirraway Avenue and Elerby Road. Liberator Place, which runs northeast from Wirraway Avenue, follows the route of a former gravelled taxiway to the south end of the 36 degree runway, and then continues along that runway (remnants of the taxiway also continue south of Wirraway Avenue). The 138 degree runway heads northwest from its intersection with the 36 degree runway, and crosses Macquarie Drive and Hamblin Road. A bitumen taxiway then loops northward before heading back across Macquarie Drive to join the northern end of the 36 degree runway, forming a large triangle. No other structures remain on site, but a dam that appeared on wartime maps still exists within the northeast loop of the taxiway.
","The arrival of US forces in Queensland from late December 1941 led to an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft. Existing RAAF airfields were used, and new fields were also constructed. Leyburn was one of four airfields built for US heavy bombers (Leyburn, Cecil Plains, Jondaryan and Condamine). These inland airfields could be used to launch bombing missions if the Japanese ever landed near Brisbane.
The Leyburn site was proposed in March 1942, and although the War Cabinet approved work on Leyburn on 8 May 1942, work had already commenced. By 3 May the northwest-southeast (138 degree) strip had been cleared and graded for 7000′ (2.14km). Gravelling of the northeast-southwest (36 degree) runway was to commence on 5 May 1942. The camp site was about 3 miles (4.8km) south of the airfield hidden in a forest on the Leyburn to Clifton Road, and the camp buildings were painted by March 1943. In the absence of a Japanese invasion of Queensland, the US never needed to use Leyburn, but it was later used by RAAF B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from mid 1944 to late 1945.
A report in May 1943 noted that Leyburn consisted of two sealed runways in clear undulating country. Taxiways had been constructed to hideout areas, but no hideouts existed, other than 16 partly constructed and then abandoned. The north ends of the runways were connected by a 50′ (15.2m) wide sealed taxiway and the airfield was suitable for all types of aircraft, although it had been designed for heavy bombers. There were no accommodation buildings, although a mess hall/kitchen building existed, along with ablution facilities and latrines. There were also no operational buildings, hangars, blast pens or bomb stores, but two 12,000 gallon underground petrol tanks existed by mid 1944. In July 1943 Leyburn joined a list of some 17 unoccupied aerodromes in Queensland, and was listed as having buildings and services for 450 personnel, but no sleeping accommodation.
An April 1944 US report on Leyburn claimed that the airfield (which was still not in use at that point) was developed entirely by the RAAF, and was operated, maintained and controlled by the RAAF. The US had only requested hideouts. A RAAF map of the field in June 1945 reported a 138 degree runway 5350′ long by 150′ wide (1.63km by 45.7m); and a 36 degree runway 7000′ by 150′ (2.14km by 45.7m). At this time the former was used for parking aircraft and needed patching, while the latter was in good condition. A gravelled taxiway, badly in need of grading, ran from the camp to the south end of the 36 degree runway.
Maintenance inspections were carried out by personnel from 14 Operational Base Unit (OBU) from RAAF Station Lowood, and a Main Roads Board repair and maintenance party was stationed at Leyburn by January 1945 (withdrawn by October 1945) to keep the runways serviceable.
RAAF units stationed at Leyburn at various times between July 1944 and December 1945 included 21 Squadron, 23 Squadron, 99 Squadron and 200 Special Duties Flight, all flying B-24 Liberator bombers. RAAF 21 and 23 Squadrons had previously flown Vultee Vengeance aircraft. RAAF 99 Squadron and 200 Flight were both formed at Leyburn in February 1945. The latter's mission was to assist in delivering agents and supplies of the Australian Army's 'Z' Special Unit by parachute into enemy territory. It was possible for a ""stick"" of five jumpers to exit a hatch in the modified Liberators in under 10 seconds, and the jumpers carried a top secret ""S"" phone which could communicate with the aircraft during and after the drop.
By late February 1945 the airfield was crowded, with 1000 to 1300 personnel, and 99 Squadron was moved to Jondaryan in March 1945. 200 Special Duties Flight was the last unit to use Leyburn, disbanding in December 1945. After the war the runway and taxiway circuit was used for motor racing, and the 1949 Australian Grand Prix was held at the former airfield, the first time it had been held in Queensland.
","Former RAAF Base, Reported Place 1030, DERM
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks. Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia 749. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Leyburn, Queensland 1943-1945.
National Archives of Australia 42/501/106. RAAF Cecil Plains Queensland Aerodrome Works 1941–1945
Dunn, P. Leyburn Airfield, Leyburn, Qld, Australia also known as Strathane initially during WW2
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
Queensland State Library, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
" 859,"USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator Bomber 41-23924","'Condor'","Aircraft wreck","Quintell Beach",Lockhart,4870,North and Cape York,-12.7959690093994,143.359024047852,"South of the Lockhart River settlement, the remnants of a B-24 Liberator bomber, 41-23924, are visible at low tide in the sand of Quintell Beach. Although most of the aircraft has long since been salvaged and removed, surviving sections include the lower nose with the still retracted nose gear in place and part of a wing tank.
Flown by Captain Dale Thornhill of the USAAF 90th Bombardment Group(BG), 400th Squadron(BS), the B-24, named 'Condor', was returning to Iron Range on 15 December 1942 after its first mission. The aircraft was carrying a temporary belly tank in the bomb bay, but ran out of fuel just short of Iron Range after a fuel transfer problem. The pilot had only two engines working when he set the aircraft down on the beach with the wheels up and some 800 gallons of fuel still in the belly tank. None of the crew of ten was seriously injured.
Personnel of the US 28 Service Squadron at Iron Range laboured for 36 hours straight in an effort to recover the aircraft. Frantic attempts to jack-up the aircraft and lower the undercarriage ahead of the incoming tide were unsuccessful. In the end much of the brand new aircraft was salvaged for use as spare parts.
","The 90th BG, comprising the 319th, 320th, 321st and 400th squadrons, was formed and activated in Mississippi and Louisiana, USA, early in 1942 and trained with B-24 Liberator bombers. The four squadrons flew to Hawaii in September 1942 to complete their training and were then ordered to the South-West Pacific Area.
The Group, equipped with 48 B-24 D's, arrived in Queensland after an 8000 kilometre journey across the Pacific and were initially based at Iron Range from in mid November 1942. The Group numbered about 290 officers and 1400 other ranks. As part of the US Fifth Air Force they began combat operations and attacked Japanese airfields, shipping, ground installations and troop concentrations on New Guinea and the islands to the north.
The 90th BG was only based at Iron Range for several months before moving on to Fenton and Port Moresby by March 1943. However, during this short period the Group suffered a number of aircraft losses through flying accidents and combat action. This included, in addition to 'Condor', the loss of the B-24s 'Punjaub' 41-11902, 'Bombs to Nippon' 41-23942, 'Little Eva' 41-23762, 'Texas Terror' 41-23825, 'The Corsair' 41-23752, and another unidentified B-24 which blew up on take off.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Roger Marks. Photo Memoir of the World War 2 Period at Iron Range Airfield and Portland Roads, Roger Marks, Brisbane, 2004.
Michael Musumeci. Iron Range Airbase: Carved in the Cape York jungle 1942–1945. Michael Musumeci, Mareeba, 2008.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Three airstrips were hastily cleared on land to the west and southwest of Kingston by US forces in 1942, but they were not used due to the sloping nature of the ground on which they were sited.
The east end of the northernmost airstrip, A-11, commenced at the eastern side of Woodridge Park in Logan Central, west of Jacaranda Avenue. The strip extended to the southwest, parallel with Wembley Road, roughly in line with Gilmore Road.
South of A-11 was another airstrip, named A-10. The southern end of A-10 was located near the roundabout at the intersection of Chambers Flat Road and Browns Plains Road in Marsden, and the airstrip extended to the northwest ending in the area of Eliza Court.
One end of the southernmost airstrip, A-12, was located on the south side of Bumstead Road, just west of its intersection with Chambers Flat Road in Park Ridge. The strip headed southwest, angling slightly away from Chambers Flat Road before ending south of Park Ridge Road.
At both ends of each airstrip trees were felled to clear the approaches to the graded section of the airstrip. Today the airstrips have been erased by development, although part of the A-12 strip is visible as a cleared area on the south side of Park Ridge Road, west of Chambers Flat Road.
","The arrival of US forces in Queensland from late December 1941 led to an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft. Existing RAAF airfields were used, and new fields were also constructed. Five airfields were established near Kingston, south of Brisbane: at Loganlea and Waterford, plus the Kingston airstrips A-10, A-11 and A-12.
The area containing the three airstrips west of Kingston was examined by the RAAF during September 1940, as the possible site of an Operational Base (OB), but nothing eventuated. However, after Japan entered the war the US reviewed the sites the RAAF had examined, as it urgently needed airfields for pilot training and the dispersal of fighter aircraft arriving in Queensland.
The US was working on Loganlea and Waterford airfields in July 1942, and by 19 August that year US Engineers were also undertaking construction at the A-10 airstrip in today's suburb of Marsden. The work was conducted at short notice, without the approval of the Australian Department of Air, and it led to complaints from local landowners whose properties were affected.
The siting of the A-10 airstrip, plus other strips at today's Logan Central (A-11) and Park Ridge (A-12) was poor, due to sloping ground. By January 1943 the RAAF assessed the A-11 as fit for emergency landings only, and the A-10 and A-12 as useless. By February 1943 all three airstrips were listed ""to be abandoned"". It was recommended that they be maintained as ""dummy"" airfields, to confuse the enemy.
All three strips were graded and grassed. The A-10 was aligned to 122 degrees, and was 5200′ (1.58km) long; the A-11 was 53 degrees, and 4800 ft (1.46km); and the A-12 was 29 degrees, and 4500 ft (1.37km). The sites have since been redeveloped and little remains, although part of the southern end of A-12 is visible as a cleared area on the south side of Park Ridge Road, west of Chambers Flat Road.
","Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Buchanan, Robyn, c.1999-2000. Logan&$8212;rich in history, young in spirit. Logan City Council
National Archives of Australia, 7/1/781. RAAF - Operational Base Kingston Queensland - acquisition of site, 1940–1942.
National Archives of Australia 764. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Loganlea, Queensland, 1943.
Dunn, P. Kingston Airfield during WW2.
Howells, M. ""World War II emergency landing fields"", unpublished document.
National Library of Australia RAAF Official aerials.
" 862,"155th Station Hospital (US Army), Camp Cable",,"Medical facility","East of Waterford Tamborine Road (south of Albert River)",Logan Village,4207,South-East,-27.8671607971191,153.126617431641,"This is an important local WWII historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",, 864,"Camp Cable","Camp Tambourine","Training facility","From Logan Village southwards to just south of the Albert River",Logan Village,4207,South-East,-27.8142948150635,153.11572265625,"Camp Cable was built as a training base for the US 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Infantry Division, which was sent to Australia in return for the Australian 9th Division remaining in the Middle East. Most of Camp Cable was constructed between July and October 1942 by private contractors employed by the Allied Works Council. The camp was handed over to the Australian Army in August 1944.
The site of Camp Cable is southwest of Beenleigh, stretching south from Logan Village towards Tamborine, either side of the former route of the Canungra branch railway line. The main camp area lay between the Waterford-Tamborine Road in the west, and Steele Road in the east, with the most southern element being the 155th Station Hospital south of the Albert River, east of the main road. The Divisional Headquarters' site was south of Camp Cable Road, just west of its intersection with the Waterford-Tamborine Road.
Remnants of the camp are limited to traces of four large igloos once located between the railway line and the main road in Logan Village; the internal roads within the camp site; some concrete slabs and building debris on private land; and three memorials located east of the intersection of Camp Cable Road and the Waterford-Tamborine Road.
","As the Japanese advanced through South East Asia in early 1942, Australia demanded the return of its experienced infantry divisions from the Middle East. Two brigades of the 8th Division of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) were lost in February 1942 with the fall of Singapore, while the third brigade was destroyed piecemeal on the islands of Timor, Ambon and New Britain. The 6th and 7th Divisions of the 2nd AIF were released from the Middle East in early 1942, although two brigades of the 6th were diverted to Ceylon for four months on their journey home. The Australian Government also hoped to bring back the 9th Division of the 2nd AIF, but Churchill objected. As a compromise the US, which had dispatched the US 41st Infantry Division to Australia during March and April 1942, offered to dispatch another division to Australia, if the 9th Division remained in the Middle East.
The second US Division dispatched to Australia was the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Infantry Division, formed from National Guard units from Michigan and Wisconsin. It left San Francisco in a single convoy on 22 April 1942, and reached Adelaide on 14 May. The main elements of the 32nd Division at this time included three infantry regiments (126th, 127th, 128th) plus four field artillery (FA) battalions (120th, 121st, 126th, 129th). Other elements included the Division HQ and HQ Company, the Division Artillery HQ and HQ Battery, a Military Police Company, the 114th Engineer Battalion (which replaced the 107th Engineer Battalion, the latter having been dispatched to Ireland before the rest of the Division was ordered to Australia); the 107th Medical Battalion, 107th Quartermaster Battalion, 32 Signal Company, 32nd Cavalry Reconnaissance troop, and the 632nd Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalion, equipped with M-10s. The 32nd Division, along with the 41st Division, later became part of the US 1st Corps under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger.
In July 1942 the 32nd Division was sent from camps near Adelaide to Camp Tambourine, south of Brisbane. A tented camp for 20,000 men was requested on 12 June 1942 by the Chief Engineer, United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), and this was approved by the Allied Works Council (AWC). The site was located south of Brisbane, between Logan Village and Tamborine. The estimated cost was £380,000, and construction of mess halls/kitchens with boiler houses, bath houses, latrines, tank stands and hospital wards were contracted out. Most of the work was divided between five contractors: Stuart Bros, Queensland Building and Engineering (Stronach), PR Ayre, J Hutchinson & Sons, and H. Taylor. Some building was also done by US Army personnel, while the work was directed by Major Willard Farrar, Office of the Base Section Engineer, Base Section 3 (Brisbane), United States Army Services Of Supply (USASOS). The latter organisation had replaced USAFIA on 20 July 1942.
As well as buildings, road access and water supplies were also necessary. In July 1942 Major Farrar requested the upgrading of the roads around the camp's perimeter for two way traffic (gravelled to 16′, or 4.9m wide); strengthening bridges for 20 ton loads on the Waterford-Tamborine Beenleigh-Tambourine, and [Camp Cable] roads; and the formation of new internal roads within the camp (gravelled to 12′, or 3.7m) wide. This work was carried out by the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC). The Department of the Interior was responsible for the water supply, which would be pumped from the Albert River into large tanks, and then be distributed by tanker truck to smaller tanks around the camp. Water mains were later installed to some areas of the camp. Electricity was also eventually installed to some areas.
Camp Cable became one of the largest US training and transit camps in Australia. The number and type of buildings requested fluctuated, but construction began in July, and by mid September 1942, when the work was 80-90% completed, the contractor's building totals included 110 mess huts of several sizes, 99 bath houses, 217 latrines, 3 pump houses, 128 tank stands, 5 hospital wards and 3 nurses quarters. Another 12 mess huts, 27 bath houses and 2 latrines were built by the US Army. At this stage, mess flooring seems to have been either tamped antbed or timber, with plaster covered bricks in the kitchens. Bathhouse floors were initially bricks grouted with cement mortar, although cement was later used. In addition to the above work, by 1 September 1942, ten curved truss (igloo) buildings had been built at Tamborine, plus four at Logan Village. The latter buildings were serviced by a new railway siding, were 96′ by 104′ (29.3m by 31.6m) with earth floors, and their footprints can still be seen between the main road and the railway at Logan Village, south of Quinzeh Creek Road.
The camp was renamed Camp Cable on 30 August 1942, in honour of Sergeant Gerald Cable of the 126th Infantry regiment, who was the first member of the Division killed in action. During the move from Adelaide to Brisbane, most of Division travelled by rail, but much of their heavy equipment was sent on five Liberty ships. One, the William Dawes, was torpedoed by the Japanese Submarine I-11 off Merimbula, NSW, on 22nd July 1942, and later sank off Bermagui. Sgt Cable was one of five men killed at their gun station.
By 26 October 1942 Stuart Bros had finished their contract, other than some flues, urinals, and hot water systems to some mess halls, and by 22 December 1942 PR Ayre had finished the hospital. During early 1943 additional mess halls, bath houses and latrines were built for newly arrived US troops (147th and 148th FA battalions), and a number of 30′ by 60′ (9.1m by 18.3m) igloos were also built within the camp during 1943. In mid 1943, 3"" concrete floors were ordered for 25 mess halls (completed by 28 December 1943).
A 1945 map shows that the main part of Camp Cable was located between Quinzeh Creek Road (then called Sandell Avenue) in the north, and Plunkett Road (then called Boice Road) in the south. There was also a hospital just south of the Albert River, on the east side of the Waterford-Tamborine Road (McKenny Boulevarde). The distance between Quinzeh Creek Road and the Albert River is about 11km as the crow flies. Most of the camp lay between McKenny Boulevarde in the west, and Steele's Road (Schroeder Drive) in the east.
The HQ area was south of Camp Cable Road (Quinn Boulevarde) at its intersection with the Waterford-Tamborine Rd. An internal road, Haggestadt Road, continued east through the camp from this intersection, to join Schroeder. Further south, Wentland Lane crossed southwest-northeast from McKenny to Schroeder, while further south again Andrews Road headed east from McKenny, crossed Schroeder, and continued until it met Boice Avenue to the northeast of Plunkett Railway Station, where there was another igloo warehouse. This area east of Schroeder was also part of the camp. Another internal road, Hootman Drive, headed south from Haggestadt, past Wentland, to join Andrews. Hootman was located between McKenny Boulevarde and the Canungra Branch railway line, which ran down through the eastern side of the camp. Keast Circle looped east from near the southern end of Hootman, to Andrews Road. A large area west of the main camp, reaching almost to Jimboomba, was also requisitioned for military use.
The three infantry regiments were located on the west side of the camp (from north to south: the 128th, 127th and 126th). The four FA battalions were camped east of the Canungra railway line (from north to south: 129th, 126th, 120th; and the 121st was located between Boice Road and Andrews Road, east of Schroeder). The 632 TD Battalion was located east of Schroeder road, along Andrews Road. The 155th Station Hospital was located south of the Albert River. Divisional Signals and the Reconnaissance troop were located north of Quinn Boulevarde, with the Quartermaster Battalion located halfway between the HQ and Logan Village. Tennis courts and an open air picture theatre were located south of the HQ, along with a 1000 yard rifle range, pillboxes, and a grenade range, with split trenches and dugouts.
The 32nd Division did not have time for much training at Camp Cable; in late September 1942 the Divisional HQ and two regimental combat teams, based on the 126th and 128th regiments, were sent to Port Moresby with only one artillery piece. They were followed by the 127th regiment in mid November. After sustaining heavy casualties from combat and sickness in the attack on Buna (taken early January 1943), the 32nd Division returned to Camp Cable in March and April 1943, where it rested and trained its replacements in jungle fighting tactics. In late October 1943, the division returned to New Guinea.
Another US unit which almost called Camp Cable home was the 1st Marine Division. Desperately in need of rest after their efforts at Guadalcanal, some men of the Division were shipped to Brisbane in late December 1942. However, General Vandegrift was concerned about the presence of mosquitoes at Camp Cable, and he sought a cooler location for his Division to recover. As a result the Marines were sent to Melbourne in January 1943, as portrayed in Episode 3 of the miniseries ""The Pacific"".
Other units at Camp Cable reportedly included some Paratroopers, as well as Cavalry Troops from Panama. A Chemical War Services unit was testing flamethrowers at the camp by November 1942, and by October 1944 the US 85th Station Hospital was present at Camp Cable. Famous visitors to Camp Cable included General Douglas MacArthur, and Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt visited on 9 September 1943.
All construction work was halted by the US in March 1944. Camp Cable was handed over to the Australian Army in August 1944, and the hospital was handed over in February 1945. The 5th Australian Reinforcement Deport (ARD) took possession of part of the camp site in January 1945, the remainder in May, and the hospital (which became the 22 Australian Camp Hospital) in July 1945.
In June 1945 there were about 5000 personnel in the camp, and in September 1945 a number of areas of the camp were still in use, including the railway yards, the HQ area and the hospital. However, the Military Post Office at Camp Cable closed 11 January 1946. In the late 1940s local farmers received compensation for damage, with complaints including damaged fencing; loss of timber; rubbish dump removal; the reinstatement of waterholes that had been drained to eradicate mosquitoes; concrete slabs; latrine pits; drains; roads; gravelled areas; rifle ranges, trenches, foxholes, pillboxes, dugouts, a grenade range, and barbed wire entanglements. Unexploded ammunition (UXO) issues continued to haunt the area into the 1990s.
The north end of the camp has since been subdivided and the remainder, utilised as a pine tree plantation since the 1960s, is also earmarked for development. Three memorials are located at the intersection of Camp Cable Road and the Waterford-Tamborine Road. One is to the 32nd's mascot, a dog named Vicksburg (born in the city of that name in Mississippi), which was killed in a road accident at Southport, (the old memorial was claimed the accident was on 8 October 1942; a new memorial says 1944). Another is to Sergeant Robert Dannenberg, killed in action in December 1942. The largest memorial is a stone cairn that reads simply: ""USA Camp Cable They Passed This Way, 1942-44"".
","NARA, RG111SC Neg #177441. Joe E Brown entertaining troops, 155th Station Hospital, Camp Cable, 15 March 1943.
NARA, RG111SC neg#181177. Water truck and water tank, 32nd Division, 129th Field Artillery, Camp Cable, 9 December 1942.
NARA, RG111SC neg# 339333. General MacArthur observes class in infantry tactics, Camp Cable, 24 May 1943.
NARA, RG111SC neg#185988. Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt examines a tank destroyer, (632nd TD Battalion), Camp Cable 9 September 1943.
" 865,"Longreach Airfield and QANTAS Hangar","USAAF 19th Bombardment Group","Airfield","Landsborough Highway",Longreach,4730,Central-West,-23.4372444152832,144.272994995117,"Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS) was registered in November 1920 and the first board meeting was held at Winton early in 1921. In the same year, the company moved to Longreach, a more central position from which to operate. The first hangar had been constructed near the site of the show grounds in 1921, but the contract for the mail service necessitated larger premises and a contract for a new hangar was awarded to Stewart and Lloyd of Sydney in March 1922.
The hangar was completed in August 1922 at the site of the new aerodrome, east of the town. Qantas ended its occupation of the Longreach hangar in June 1930, when the company's headquarters were moved to Brisbane. Qantas merged with British Imperial Airways in 1934 to become Qantas Empire Airways.
From early May until late July 1942 the hangar was used by the USAAF 19th Bombardment Group as a workshop and for mission briefing sessions. After the war it remained in commercial use until 1996, when it was adapted as part of the Qantas Founders Outback Museum.
","RAAF records contain drawings dating to January 1942, showing a proposed hutted camp close to the racecourse on the north-west boundary of Longreach aerodrome and development of the existing two short runways. The Main Roads Commission (MRC) began extension of the runways on 9 February 1942 to provide an important landing ground on the inland ferry route from Brisbane and Charleville to Darwin and beyond.
During the early months of the Pacific war Longreach aerodrome and the former Qantas hangar were controlled by US Forces who were already in occupation of the aerodrome when the first B-17 bombers of 19th Bombardment Group (Heavy) landed around 5 May 1942. By early June a number of buildings in Longreach had been taken over for the accommodation of USAAF crews, including the Town Hall, Masonic Hall and Oddfellows Hall.
A requisition from US Forces was lodged with the Allied Works Council for further work at Longreach aerodrome to be undertaken by the MRC, including extension and gravelling of one runway to 6000 feet (1828 metres) in length and the construction of taxiways. However, by early June 1942 the strategic situation in north Queensland had improved slightly to the point where the USAAF could consider moving dispersed outback bomber squadrons closer to the coast. A directive issued by the North East Area command on 21 June curtailed further inland aerodrome construction and in the case of Longreach, decided that it would revert to ferry route status when units of the 19th Bombardment Group were transferred to a new advanced operational base at Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Queensland Outback: An illustrated heritage guide to western Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2002.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 870,"Lowood Airfield",,"Airfield","Daisy Road",Lowood,4311,South-East,-27.4645442962647,152.484848022461,"RAAF Station Lowood was constructed in late 1941 for No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS). It was used by two USAAF fighter squadrons in early 1942, before becoming a RAAF Operational base (OB) for dive bombers. After World War II the single sealed runway and its taxiway circuit were used for motor racing, before the runway was redeveloped as Daisy Road.
The airfield was bounded by Forest Hill-Fernvale Road, Coominya Connection Road, Mount Tarampa Road and McCarthy Road, while dispersal taxiways and 9 dive bomber hideouts were located north of Pakleppa Lane and around a circuit between Mount Tarampa road and Watsons Road. Another taxiway circuit linked both ends of the runway to the tarmac area next to four Bellman hangars at the southwest side of the airfield. Some sections of taxiway and most of the runway are now used as roads, while unused sections of the runway and taxiways are still visible. The concrete slabs of the four Bellman hangars and some camp buildings are also visible on aerials, as are the sites of bomb dumps on the west side of Mount Tarampa.
A semi-underground reinforced concrete Operations building was sited on the north slope of Mount Tarampa overlooking the airfield from the south, and a Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building of similar construction was built east of the airfield, to the west of the intersection of Rifle Range Road and Forest Hill–Fernvale Road. Both abandoned facilities survive on private land.
","At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 urgent consideration was given not only to the construction of aeroplanes, but also to the training of technicians, pilots and aircrew. The Empire Training Scheme (EATS) was set up in late 1939 and was an agreement between Britain and the Dominions, particularly Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for aircrews to be trained in those countries for service with the Royal Air Force. The EATS scheme was conducted through 49 airfields in Australia, Queensland having EATS units at Amberley, Archerfield, Bundaberg, Kingaroy, Lowood, Maryborough and Sandgate.
The Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) commenced construction at Lowood in September 1941, after a decision to have No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) move to Lowood from Bundaberg. Relief Landing Grounds (RLGs) were also approved at Wivenhoe and Coominya (the latter, also known as A-4, was located southeast of Coominya). The camp area was located at the southwest side of Lowood airfield, and the barracks were located south of four Bellman hangers.
In January 1942 12 EFTS moved to Lowood, which at that time was a grass airfield with incomplete hangars, and heavy storms damaged numerous Tiger Moths several weeks later. In February 1942 alterations were made to some huts to accommodate members of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF). That same month a number of US aircraft dispersed to Lowood after a false alarm about an unidentified aircraft carrier being sighted off Moreton Island (it was the US's first aircraft carrier, the converted collier USS Langley).
The Americans returned on a longer term basis in March 1942, when two squadrons of the US 8 Fighter Group (FG) - the 36 and 80 Fighter Squadrons (FS) equipped with P-39 Airacobras - moved to Lowood. By April 12 EFTS had to move, and by 20 May 1942 it was reported that the airfield had been taken over by the Americans. However, the new residents were unhappy with the field and during May the US requested a new airstrip; as a result one was built west of Coominya (Coominya No. 2, or A-6). The US squadrons moved out (to Antill Plains and Petrie) during April and May 1942.
By 10 July 1942 the RAAF's 23 Squadron was at Lowood, having moved there from Amberley. There was no dispersal scheme at this point, and a lack of natural cover nearby (the only timber was near the creek to the north, or on Mount Tarampa to the south of the airfield) meant that Lowood came close to being scrapped in favour of Coominya No. 2. Nine camouflaged hideouts for dive bombers were later built near the creek, along with dispersal taxiways.
The RAAF took over Lowood again in September 1942, and by February 1943 Lowood was being developed as an Operational Base (OB), with Coominya No 2 as ancillary landing ground. By 23 May 1943 the MRC was still working on taxiways to the hideouts and by 30 May work had started on a new Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building and a new Operations building. Both of these facilities were of semi-underground reinforced concrete construction, with a curved roof section. The W/T Transmitting building, with a shorter curved roof section than the Operations building, was located about 4km east of the airfield.
The Operations building, sited on the north slope of Mount Tarampa overlooking the airfield, was about 35m by 7m and was camouflaged to resemble a farmhouse. The land was acquired around late January 1943, and three masts forming a triangle around the building are indicated on plans from April 1943. The site was about a kilometre drive south of the entrance to the airfield's camp area. There was also an observation post near the summit of Mount Tarampa, reached by a gazetted easement which passed just to the west of the Operations building.
By mid August 1943 the Operations building was close to the back-filling stage, and by December that year it and the Transmitting building were reported as 95% complete. Other semi-underground RAAF buildings in Queensland included in the report were the Stuart Fighter Sector HQ (extant) and the Zillmere Remote Receiving building (since demolished). However, fitting out of the two semi-underground buildings was still occurring in early 1945. With the threat of Japanese air attack on Lowood fairly remote at this point in the war, there was probably no rush to complete such buildings. On 9 December 1943 a conference at RAAF HQ had in fact decided, regarding the Lowood Operations building, that ""owing to the very dispersed location of this building it may be regarded a shadow operations signals building only"" (for use only under conditions of enemy attack).
Both the Operations building and Transmitting building still exist today. A Very High Frequency Direction Finding (VHF/DF) Station, used as a navigational aid, was also installed between the Coominya Connection Road and Pakleppa Lane just to the northwest of the airfield, but this no longer exists.
Work on the airfield also continued. A report in May 1943 noted that although Lowood was originally designed as an EFTS, it was now an OB occupied by the RAAF's 23 and 71 Squadrons. There were about 570 personnel on the base. The land was undulating, and rose towards the south, where the camp was sited on elevated ground. At this time the Operations building appears to have been Building 9, a classroom near the second Hangar from the east. There were no permanent bomb stores in May 1943, although some were later built on the west side of Mount Tarampa. The bombing range was located immediately southwest of the airfield, which was still only grassed at this stage, with gravelled dispersal taxiways to the north. In dry weather Lowood was suitable for fighters and medium bombers, but it was unusable for up to two weeks after heavy rain.
In order to upgrade the airfield for wet weather use, a perimeter taxiway connecting the ends of the runway to the tarmac area near the hangars was planned and the road would also be deviated around the northwest end of the runway, which would be sealed. The taxiway and road deviation were completed by October 1943, and the 128 degree runway, 6000′ by 150′ (1.83km by 45.7m), was gravelled and primed by June 1944. Taxiways were listed as gravelled by this stage, and Lowood was classified as an OB for dive bombers.
Sealing of the runway started in late November 1944, and by January 1945 the new surface was proving hard on the tyres of RAAF 32 Squadron's Beauforts. The taxiways are also listed as sealed by early 1945. In February 1945 plans were made to clear the approaches to the runway as crash strip extensions, by about 3700′ by 300′ (1127m by 91m) at the northwest end, and 2700′ (823m) at the southeast end. In June 1945 Lowood was occupied by 18 Beauforts with 32 Squadron, plus 4 Survey Flight aircraft.
RAAF units which occupied Lowood during the war included: No. 12 EFTS (Tiger Moths) January 1942 to April 1942; 23 Squadron (P-39s then Vultee Vengeance) June 1942 to early 1944; 75 Squadron (P-40 Kittyhawks- reforming) July 1942; 71 Squadron (Avro Ansons) late 1942 or early 1943 to December 1943, with A-Flight of the squadron there from May 1942 to June 1944; Survey Flight, March 1943 to January 1946; 21 Squadron (Vultee Vengeance dive bombers) late 1943 to early 1944; 24 Squadron (Vultee Vengeance then B-24 Liberator heavy bombers) circa April 1944 to June 1944; 32 Squadron (Beauforts) May 1944 to November 1945; 14 Operational Base Unit (OBU) November 1942 to February 1947; 47 OBU (in transit) December 1943 to January 1944; 10 Repair and Salvage Unit (RSU), September 1942 to November 1942.
Lowood was retained by the Commonwealth for some time after the war, but was not maintained. In 1948 the Commonwealth intended to retain the observation post on Mount Tarampa as a permanent installation, and at this time the Commonwealth was also considering keeping the Operations building, although by 1949 its interior had been stripped. From the late 1940s into the 1960s the runway and taxiway circuit were used for motor racing, and the Australian Grand Prix was held there in 1960. The bitumen runway was later developed as Daisy Road, with some houses facing the runway having bitumen front lawns. No structures survive on the airfield site, although the foundations of some camp buildings, the slabs for the Bellman hangars, and traces of the old taxiways still exist.
","Main Roads Commission, Queensland, 1949. The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks. Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia 774. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Lowood, Qld 1943
National Archives of Australia 171/56/10 Part 2. DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - RAAF Lowood Qld - Aerodrome works, 1944-1947
National Archives of Australia 171/1/1493. RAAF Headquarters - DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Utilization of semi-underground buildings. 1943-1948
National Archives of Australia Z5. Lowood - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] site for VHF/DF [very high frequence/direction finding] transmitter site. 1942.
National Archives of Australia LS863. Lowood - Plan of Bomb Shelter Compound and Access on Resub. 3 of Sub. 1 of Portion 287, Parish of England, County of Cavendish.1943
National Archives of Australia QL618/1. Acquisition of land from Walter Utz. RAAF Order. Lowood Underground Operations Building. 1943-1949.
Dunn, P. Lowood Airfield during WW2
Dunn, P. Lowood Operations building underground bunker, at Mount Tarampa, Qld near Lowood Airfield
Dunn, P. Lowood Transmitting building near Tarampa, Qld during WW2
No. 24 (City of Adelaide) Squadron
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
" 871,"Lowood Operations Building",,"Civil defence facility","Rifle Range Road",Lowood,4311,South-East,-27.4525375366211,152.534927368164,"A semi-underground reinforced concrete Operations building was sited on the north slope of Mount Tarampa overlooking the airfield from the south. This abandoned facility survives on private property.
","RAAF Station Lowood was constructed in late 1941 for No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS). It was used by two USAAF fighter squadrons in early 1942, before becoming a RAAF Operational base (OB) for dive bombers.
The Operations building, sited on the north slope of Mount Tarampa overlooking the airfield, was about 35m by 7m and was camouflaged to resemble a farmhouse. The land was acquired around late January 1943, and three masts forming a triangle around the building are indicated on plans from April 1943. The site was about a kilometre drive south of the entrance to the airfield's camp area. There was also an observation post near the summit of Mount Tarampa, reached by a gazetted easement which passed just to the west of the Operations building.
By mid August 1943 the Operations building was close to the back-filling stage, and by December that year it and the Transmitting building were reported as 95% complete. However, fitting out of the two semi-underground buildings was still occurring in early 1945. With the threat of Japanese air attack on Lowood fairly remote at this point in the war, there was probably no rush to complete such buildings. On 9 December 1943 a conference at RAAF HQ had in fact decided, regarding the Lowood Operations building, that ""owing to the very dispersed location of this building it may be regarded a shadow operations signals building only"" (for use only under conditions of enemy attack).
","Main Roads Commission, Queensland, 1949. The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks. Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia 774. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Lowood, Qld 1943
National Archives of Australia 171/56/10 Part 2. DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - RAAF Lowood Qld - Aerodrome works, 1944-1947
National Archives of Australia 171/1/1493. RAAF Headquarters - DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Utilization of semi-underground buildings. 1943-1948
National Archives of Australia Z5. Lowood - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] site for VHF/DF [very high frequence/direction finding] transmitter site. 1942.
National Archives of Australia LS863. Lowood - Plan of Bomb Shelter Compound and Access on Resub. 3 of Sub. 1 of Portion 287, Parish of England, County of Cavendish.1943
National Archives of Australia QL618/1. Acquisition of land from Walter Utz. RAAF Order. Lowood Underground Operations Building. 1943-1949.
Dunn, P. Lowood Airfield during WW2
Dunn, P. Lowood Operations building underground bunker, at Mount Tarampa, Qld near Lowood Airfield
Dunn, P. Lowood Transmitting building near Tarampa, Qld during WW2
No. 24 (City of Adelaide) Squadron
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
" 872,"Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building",,"Civil defence facility","Rifle Range Road",Lowood,4311,South-East,-27.4660339355469,152.542816162109,"A reinforced concrete Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building was built east of the Lowood airfield, to the west of the intersection of Rifle Range Road and Forest Hill–Fernvale Road. This abandoned facility survives on private property.
","RAAF Station Lowood was constructed in late 1941 for No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS). It was used by two USAAF fighter squadrons in early 1942, before becoming a RAAF Operational base (OB) for dive bombers.
The RAAF took over Lowood again in September 1942, and by February 1943 Lowood was being developed as an Operational Base (OB), with Coominya No 2 as ancillary landing ground. By 23 May 1943 the MRC was still working on taxiways to the hideouts and by 30 May work had started on a new Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Transmitting building. This facility, along with the new Operations building, was a semi-underground reinforced concrete construction, with a curved roof section. The W/T Transmitting building, with a shorter curved roof section than the Operations building, was located about 4km east of the airfield.
By December 1943 the Transmitting building and the Operations building were reported as 95% complete. However, fitting out of the two semi-underground buildings was still occurring in early 1945. With the threat of Japanese air attack on Lowood fairly remote at this point in the war, there was probably no rush to complete such buildings. On 9 December 1943 a conference at RAAF HQ had in fact decided, regarding the Lowood Operations building, that ""owing to the very dispersed location of this building it may be regarded a shadow operations signals building only"" (for use only under conditions of enemy attack).
","Main Roads Commission, Queensland, 1949. The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks. Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia 774. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Lowood, Qld 1943
National Archives of Australia 171/56/10 Part 2. DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - RAAF Lowood Qld - Aerodrome works, 1944-1947
National Archives of Australia 171/1/1493. RAAF Headquarters - DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Utilization of semi-underground buildings. 1943-1948
National Archives of Australia Z5. Lowood - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] site for VHF/DF [very high frequence/direction finding] transmitter site. 1942.
National Archives of Australia LS863. Lowood - Plan of Bomb Shelter Compound and Access on Resub. 3 of Sub. 1 of Portion 287, Parish of England, County of Cavendish.1943
National Archives of Australia QL618/1. Acquisition of land from Walter Utz. RAAF Order. Lowood Underground Operations Building. 1943-1949.
Dunn, P. Lowood Airfield during WW2
Dunn, P. Lowood Operations building underground bunker, at Mount Tarampa, Qld near Lowood Airfield
Dunn, P. Lowood Transmitting building near Tarampa, Qld during WW2
No. 24 (City of Adelaide) Squadron
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
" 875,"Public Cantilever Shelter"," Wallace Place","Civil defence facility","423 Lutwyche Road",Lutwyche,4030,Brisbane City,-27.4251384735107,153.033279418945,,,"BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 877,"Fort Lytton Inner Examination Battery","Fort Lytton National Park","Fortifications","South Street",Lytton,4178,Greater Brisbane,-27.4102783203125,153.151458740234,"Constructed in 1880-81 to defend Brisbane's port facilities, the fortifications at Lytton remained a defence facility until the early 1960s. The armaments of the fort were periodically upgraded to meet changing technologies. The fort was manned during the Russian war scare of 1885, and during WW1, at which time its heavy guns provided the rivers only defensive position.
","In 1938 the role of Fort Lytton changed and the remaining heavy armaments consisting of 6-inch 'disappearing' guns were fired for the last time and were removed. The Fort becoming an Inner Examination Battery on the Brisbane River while fortifications on Bribie Island and at Cowan Cowan formed the Outer Examination Battery. The outbreak of the European war in 1939 did not see significant changes to Lytton's role. It was not until Japan declared war and the subsequent establishment of bases in Brisbane for the United States forces that Lytton became a close defence fortification. The Lytton Heavy Battery moved to the fort in December 1941, at which time it came under the command of Brisbane Fixed Defences.
Anti-submarine nets were installed across the river from Bulwer Island, linked by the Boom Defence Vessel HMAS Kinchela (Z96) permanently moored mid-river, to the southern bank's RAN Station No. 8 Lytton, a shore winch station. Kinchela and No. 8 Station were manned by RAN personnel. The boom net was secured to two concrete posts, 100 feet apart that were installed on the north bank and were then connected to two parallel sets of five timber dolphins in the river. These wooden dolphins had been driven into the riverbed and secured in place with concrete. The centre of the boom net was secured to the Boom Defence Vessel HMAS Kinchela that was moored to two pylons in the middle of the river. The boom net comprised 3 foot steel squares and it was secured to the river bed by concrete bases while the net's top floated on the river with the aid of buoys.
Kinchela (370 tons) was built in 1914 as a lighter. The RAN requisitioned her as an Auxiliary Boom Defence Vessel (ABDV) on 3 March 1942 and she was allotted the fleet number Z06. She was slow at 9 knots and was lightly armed with 0.5 inch machine guns and searchlights placed on her bridge. She was commissioned on 28 August 1942, being redesignated as Z96. She was purchased by the RAN on 16 May 1946 and paid-off on 18 December 1946.
The boom gate was across from the south bank in the Quarantine Flats Reach of the river. When opened, it was swung towards the south bank and ending approximately 200 feet from the shore. Controlled by a winch house at Fort Lytton, the gate was attached to a swing dolphin in the river located about 480 feet out from Kinchela.
When a ship entered the river, Kinchela lowered the net to the floor of the river. At the same time, Fort Lytton's coastal guns were manned, as was a .303 Vickers machine gun post at Bulwer Island. It took approximately 20 minutes to open the boom to allow ships to enter the Brisbane River.
The fortifications were modified in early 1942 to allow the installation of a 4.7-inch naval gun in one of the old gun emplacements to cover the approaches to the boom-gate, the construction work being undertaken by the Main Roads Commission. Two searchlights were also installed at the fort. In August 1943 in response to concerns that the upstream US submarine base might be subject to river attack, an emplacement for a twin 6-pounder 10cwt quick-firing gun and an elevated fire control post were commenced on the front face of the fort. Work on this gun was not completed until May 1944.
Covering the Boom Defence Gate was the priority. Gun crews stood time at the opening of the gate day or night. No.2 Gun Pit's floor was concreted to allow gun crews slept by their weapons.
The 1st Heavy Training Battery moved to Lytton in May 1943, to train men who would be posted to Heavy Batteries armed with the US 155mm M1917/M1918 field guns. Personnel from the Volunteer Defence Corps began training on the twin 6-pounders and the 155mm guns from September 1944. As the war moved further from Australia and the danger receded, the number of men at the site was reduced, and the VDC gradually assumed responsibility for manning the fortifications.
","Spethman, DW and Miller RG, 'Fortress Brisbane: a guide to the historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Bay Islands', Brisbane, nd.
" 879,"Fortress Signals Area Camp, Signal Hill","23rd Radar Station","Radar/signal station","South Street",Lytton,4178,Greater Brisbane,-27.4137592315674,153.161804199219,"Signal Hill was a wartime signal station and engineers training camp associated with nearby Fort Lytton. Having been the site of a telegraph station since 1873, Signal Hill was developed into an outer redoubt to screen the fort during the 1880s. It was fully manned during World War II and it continued to be used as a defence site until the 1960s.
","In the 1880s, to protect Fort Lytton from an overland flanking attack from an enemy party landing at Moreton Bay, a forward defensive redoubt was proposed for a strategic site on the nearby high ground of Lytton Hill. The site held an electric telegraph station and residence builtin1873 and so Lytton Hill was sometimes referred to as Signal Hill. In 1881, buildings belonging to a boys' reformatory school were constructed on the hill that became known locally as Reformatory Hill. By 1885, a redoubt had been dug around the reformatory buildings. In 1900, these buildings were removed but the planned redoubt was only partially developed, comprising a trace, the temporary mounting of a 12 pounder gun and barbed wire entanglements.
The site was further developed during 1901-03, when it was used as a training camp for mounted troops embarking for the Second Boer War. A 20-stall timber stables building and a brick store were added to Signal Hill. Thereafter the site was little used except for annual military encampments. During World War I, the site again became a military training camp with an army dermatological hospital added in 1917. During 1919-31, the flat ground near the hill was used as Brisbane's first airfield.
At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the redoubt was again fully garrisoned. It comprised a wooden stockade with arrow-headed demi-bastions placed on each flank with both of these structures protected by a deep ditch dug at the front. In the war's early year's Brisbane Area's Fortress Signal camp, where signals training was conducted, utilised the old 1873 telegraph station building. This building was extended with a covered walkway leading to a new building with a concrete floor. The Fortress Signal camp had a telephone line connected to the Headquarters (HQ) of Brisbane Fortress Command located at the requisitioned St Laurence's Boys College, 82 Stephens Road in South Brisbane.
The 23rd Radar Station was formed at Signal Hill on 12 June 1942 led by Pilot Officer A.J. Allen. It was a Fixed Radar Station, being one of the first 18 radar installations established in Australia. It was equipped with either a British Mk V COL set or an Australian-made AW set. The Margaret Marr Memorial Home for Boys located near the corner of Tingal Road and Petersen Street at Wynnum was requisitioned as the billet for the members of No.23 Radar Station. The unit underwent a number of changes in commanding officer: Pilot Officer W.E. Foster on 24 July 1942; Pilot Officer R.W. Mitchell on 24 August 1942; Pilot Officer I.B. Asman (date unknown); Pilot Officer G.C. Scott on 10 December 1942; Pilot Officer H.W. Flynn on 21 January 1943; Pilot Officer W.F. Gill on 17 May 1943; Pilot Officer A. Harris on 9 December 1943 and Flight Lieutenant L.F. Sawford 6 June 1944.
By early 1943, Signal Hill comprised 29 buildings constructed within the redoubt and a small building just outside the redoubt. To the left of the redoubt there were another 18 buildings, mainly timber accommodation huts, an electrical generator shed plus a central parade ground. This was the camp occupied by the Australian Army engineers and signallers. The engineers are thought to have dug some underground bunkers and/or tunnels around Signal Hill as part of their training.
By the end of the war, the site was known as the Lytton Signal Station. A few of the World War II structures remain at Signal Hill which is located within the Caltex Refinery site.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
D.W. Spethman & R.G. Miller, Fortress Brisbane - a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Bay Islands, (Brisbane: Spethman & Miller, 1998).
Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.5.
" 880,"3 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot and Vehicle Park (3 AAOD)","4 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (4 AAOD)","Supply facility","Mains Road and Kessels Road",Macgregor,4109,Brisbane City,-27.5613803863525,153.069122314453,"Established as a US Army motor pool in 1942, it was transferred to the Australian Army in 1943. The Mt Gravatt vehicle park, a motor transport repair and storage facility, was operated initially by the Australian 3rd Advanced Ordnance Depot and from 1944 by the 4th Advanced Ordnance Depot. The vehicle park with its repair facilities was located at the intersection of Kessels and Main Roads, near the Bulimba Creek Bridge. Kitchen, toilet and shower facilities were placed on the other side of Mains Road in an unused section of the Mt Gravatt Cemetery Reserve. The Australian Women's Army Service undertook some of the work. At war's end, the site stored the army vehicles that were ready for private sale.
","By November 1942, the United States Army had established a large motor pool for vehicle storage in a paddock located at the corner of Kessels and Main Roads, opposite the Mt. Gravatt Cemetery. The cemetery had opened in 1918 but was still largely undeveloped by World War Two. Being an open vehicle depot, the Americans only needed to construct a small number of scattered buildings on the site.
In mid-1943, the Australian Army's 3rd Advanced Ordnance Depot (3AAOD) moved onto this large, 50-acre site near the Mt Gravatt Cemetery to use the site as a motor vehicle park. The main section of the vehicle park was located across the road from the cemetery at the southeast corner of the intersection of Mains and Kessels Roads. By 15 July 1943, a mess hall with attached kitchen and butcher's shop plus two other buildings had been placed at an undeveloped corner of the Mt Gravatt Cemetery Reserve, across Mains Road from the former motor pool. This is now the ANZ Stadium site. Another two general-purpose buildings were proposed for this, the kitchen and ablutions block, of the 3AAOD motor vehicle park. On the other side of Mains Road, the main vehicle park expanded the length of Kessels Road as far as Bulimba Creek, which became one of its perimeters.
By 7 September 1943, the kitchen and ablutions block in the Cemetery Reserve had been completed so that officers, NCOs and other ranks each had their own facilities in separate buildings. The main vehicle park had four internal roads centred upon a large Outward Convoy Assembly area. The site contained two large vehicle parks placed in an open field. Other parts of the vehicle park held a proposed motorcycle store, workshops for both major and minor vehicle repairs, a tool store and carpenter's shop, a petrol pump, a butane store and a few small buildings. Both the major and minor repair workshops had been allotted space across Mains Road in the Cemetery Reserve and the plan included fencing off part of Mains Road to provide security for the entire site. This proposal was soon dropped.
The vehicle park was completed by November 1943. Over the previous two months, it had been expanded and reorganised with previously allotted areas repositioned elsewhere to make way for the new areas that provided more motor repair services to the army. The vehicle park had grown to encompass over 20 buildings spread across a site accessed by a grid system of internal roads. These buildings were workshops, spare parts stores, oil stores, a few offices and a central air raid shelter. The vehicle park had defined components: Workshop Area, Unit Transport Area, Major Repair Area, Minor Repair Area, Deferred Sentence Area, Vehicle Preparation, Convoy Preparation, Ear Marked Vehicles, Serviced Vehicles, Service Station and Written Off Vehicles. It handled an assortment of vehicles, heavy and light trucks, ambulances, fire tenders, cars, Dodge weapons carriers, jeeps, amphibious jeeps and two-wheeled trailers. The vehicles were operated and serviced mainly by members of the Australian Army Women's Service (AWAS). No accommodation was provided on site though the women were provided with a sperate ablutions block within the main site. A high fence surrounded the entire vehicle park, with the site guarded by members of the militia's 1st Garrison Battalion.
In January 1944, after a further expansion of the vehicle park, the controlling unit was redesignated 4th Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (4AAOD). Captain N.S. Morgan was attached to the 4AAOD headquarters that ran the site. By April 1945, the 2nd Australian Imperial Force's (AIF) 2/3rd Infantry Battalion's workshop company was also on-site.
After the war ended in August 1945, the vehicle park became a storage area for thousands (one source suggests a 60,000 site capacity) of army vehicles, of all types, that were awaiting sale or scrapping. A small accommodation block was established around the mess halls in the Cemetery Reserve, to provide accommodation for personnel (including AWAS) guarding or handling the disposal of these military vehicles.
All the structures that were part of the 3AAOD and 4AAOD Mt Gravatt Motor Vehicle Park have been demolished except one. In 1946, after the local member of Federal Parliament Sir Joshua Francis made representations, a standard ex-US Army timber hut was moved to Logan Road, where it has become the Upper Mt. Gravatt Progress Association Hall. The former AAOD site now contains a large commercial precinct at the corner of Kessels and Mains Roads plus a housing estate incorporating Omeo, Grout, Nidalla, Worrell (part of), Vievers and Bedser Streets, Macgregor.
If you have further information about this important place or images, contributions can be made at www2.historic.places@publicworks.qld.gov.au
","Brisbane City Council, 1946 aerial photographs
National Archives of Australia (Series BP378/1) - Layout of 3 Aust. A.O.D. Vehicle Park, (Drawing No.L&S 803, 15 July 1943).
3 Aust. Adv. Ord. Depot MT Vehicle Park Mt Gravatt, (Drawing No.890, 7 September 1943).
Vehicle Park Mt. Gravatt, (Drawing No.1166, November 1943).
Dunn, P. Australia@war
" 881,"American Red Cross Rest and Leave Facility","Grand Hotel","Recreation/community","North-East corner, Brisbane and Victoria Streets",Mackay,4740,Fitzroy-Mackay,-21.1413879394531,149.188598632812,"The American Red Cross took over the Grand Hotel in Mackay during the Second World War, as its headquarters and to accommodate service men and women on leave in the area. The period of occupation latsed for approximately two years.
","Each day transport aircraft flew in between 75 and 125 men and took off with a similar number whose leave was ended.
Whilst at the Rest/Leave area, US service personnel were provided with a vast array of recreational options. Activities included roller skating, horse riding, swimming and beach activities, hiking in the hinterland and a variety of dances and social functions. The Red Cross and the US Army in their joint supply of facilities, worked closely with local community groups and businesses.
The AFVs or Air Force Victorettes, were an organisation of from four to five hundred women in Mackay who served on a roster system to entertain American servicemen on leave.
Local business, Corporate Express Stationery, now exists on the original hotel site, as the Grand Hotel was destroyed by fire on 16 October 1950.
","Australian War Memorial reference
Dunn, P. Australia @ War
State Library of Queensland
" 882,"Mackay Airfield","Mackay Airport","Airfield","East Boundary Road",Mackay,4740,Fitzroy-Mackay,-21.1699409484863,149.178314208984,"At the outbreak of the Second World War a Civil landing area (DCA LG 260) existed on the site south of the Mackay city centre. Located on the coast it was logical that this should be developed if only for the north-south ferry service. The cross runways initiated in 1942, remain those still in use today, though significantly improved for modern airline traffic.
","An American Air Force veteran with extensive service throughout the eastern seaboard of Australia, Walter Maiersperger by name was one who kept significant diary notes and photos of that time.
Mackay served as a principal 'R&R' location, particularly for American servicemen during 1942–1945. US veterans with fond memories of such periods have revisited the city and made contact with researchers of the local military history. While some have visited to see again a place of respite association, others have recalled the disastrous crash of an early model B-17 bomber fitted out for such R&R transport duty. The aircraft after taking off from Mackay came to grief south of the city near Baker's Creek.
","Roger and Jenny Marks - 'Queensland Airfields WW2 - 50 Years On'
" 883,"American Officer's Mess and Sleeping Accommodation","Hotel Mackay","Military accommodation","179 Victoria Street",Mackay,4740,Fitzroy-Mackay,-21.1406993865967,149.181045532227,"During the Second World War, the United States Army Air Corps established rest and recreation facilities in Mackay Queensland, Australia. The Mackay Hotel was utilised as an American Officer's Mess and Sleeping Accommodation facility.
","From the end of January 1943 until early 1944, thousands of United States servicemen were ferried almost daily from New Guinea to Mackay by air transport to spend around 10 days on furlough (R&R). They were usually carried by two B-17 Flying Fortesses converted for transport duties and an LB-30 (civil transport version of the B-24 Liberator bomber), stationed in Mackay with the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron, whose parent Unit was stationed in Townsville, Queensland. One of these aircraft crashed at Bakers Creek, south of Mackay.
","Benson, Col - 'Valiant - Mackay during WWII' website
" 887,"Fanning Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Landing Ground",,"Airfield","Virginia Park Station, Flinders Highway",Macrossan,4816,North-West,-19.9024085998535,146.529525756836,"Japan's entry into World War II led to considerable effort in aerodrome construction for the defence of Townsville from early 1942.
Garbutt aerodrome was extended, duplicated, sealed and developed on a massive scale to serve as a terminus and operational base for combat aircraft on the Pacific ferry route from America. Development of Garbutt led to the need for nearby dispersal aerodromes and fighter interceptor strips.
During March and April 1942 the US 46 Engineer General Service Regiment and the Queensland Main Roads Commission began clearing and building a string of gravel dispersal runways and fighter strips westward along the railway from Townsville to Charters Towers. Two runways were constructed near the Fanning River as part of this program. The main strip has been maintained for use on Virginia Park station. Fanning is the name of the closest railway siding.
","Work on clearing and levelling the runways at Fanning was commenced by the Main Roads Commission early in April 1942. At the outset Fanning was assigned the role of a fighter repair strip for Garbutt and Antil Plains aerodromes, in contrast to being developed for dispersal or combat purposes.
By May it was apparent that during the urgent rush to establish airstrips between Townsville and Charters Towers, there had been considerable duplication of effort and overlap in instructions to surveyors and clearing and grubbing teams. As an outcome work on the northern (70°) runway at Fanning was abandoned before its completion. By August 1942 the main runway (95°) had been completed with a gravel surface. When RAAF 6 Aircraft Repair Depot was formed at Breddan Airfield during October, it was decided to transfer 12 Repair and Salvage Unit (RSU) from there to Fanning and a contract was issued for the construction of facilities. However, by February 1943 the RAAF had decided to transfer 12 Repair and Salvage Unit (RSU) to the nearby Macrossan aerodrome and work at Fanning was halted.
Completed facilities at the airfield included tent floors, latrines and mess huts and a water supply reticulation system. On reaching standard operational base category, Fanning was relegated to an emergency landing ground role. For a period in 1944 the landing ground was occupied by RAAF 1 Signals Task Unit. By mid-1944 the Department of Civil Aviation had decided there was no post-war need for retaining Fanning and the RAAF eventually decided not to acquire the land.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Macrossan, like most sites chosen for airfield construction was close to the railway heading west to Mt Isa. Situated on the left bank of the mighty Burdekin River, Macrossan was planned as an RSU (Repair and Salvage Unit) base. In addition the RAAF and Australian Defence Authorities chose to construct a significant RAAF stores depot in this vicinity. Like some others throughout the country, such as Drayton near Toowoomba and Dubbo in NSW, this complex featured larger warehouse buildings, very much with an air of permanence; i.e. meant to last post-war.
The very suggestion of design life for buildings beyond the anticipated period of hostilities was at odds with the American philosophy of tailoring scarce manpower and materials resources in tune with tactical advances being made northward and away from Australia. However, Australian authorities did prevail. Though delayed several times in target completion, this RAAF Number 8 Stores Depot was commissioned and the property at least in the late 1990s remained as an ADF (Australian Defence Force) stores base.
Two airstrips were cleared and formed to the SE of the stores base. It appears these were only occupied by RAAF Units and there, the ""hangar"" buildings two in number were in stark contrast to the larger buildings of the Stores Depot. The foundations for these cantilever hangar aircraft servicing structures are all that do remain and Roger Marks has so far failed to locate any war-time photos of these buildings at Macrossan. A similar structure does appear in surviving photos at Garbutt, enabling some appreciation of the open-air nature of the structure.
","Further information is sought. Please contact us to contribute.
","Rogers Marks
" 898,"Recreation Camp, 29 Air Stores Park (RAAF)",,"Recreation/community","Alma Beach",Magnetic Island,4819,Townsville,-19.1480731964111,146.868225097656,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference.
" 899,"85th Station Hospital, Base Section Two","VD Hospital","Medical facility","Giru Woodstock Road",Majors Creek,4816,Townsville,-19.6021003723145,146.902420043945,"The location of a 'portable hospital' is mentioned in the archives at both Majors Creek and Woodstock. These refer to a single hospital that was located adjacent to the Woodstock-Giru Road at Majors Creek.
","The US 135th Medical Regiment was set up at Majors Creek on 25 April 1942 with patients of a convalescent/rehabilitation class hospitalised here. The hospital also specialised in the care and rehabilitation of patients who had contracted venereal diseases and this was the primary reason for its isolated location. The 2nd Field Hospital subsequently managed this hospital later in 1942. In turn it would be taken over by the 9th Portable Hospital and later the 85th Station Hospital.
The hospital initially had 150 beds with the capability to expand to 350 extra in an emergency by using tents.
In June 1943, a 1000 bed hospital was completed consisting of semi-permanent buildings and the use of tents was then discontinued. A large stage and projection booth for movies was also on site for the entertainment of staff and patients.
The 85th Station Hospital was closed on 31 January 1944. Buildings from this location were transported to the 13th Station Hospital at Aitkenvale (Hatchett Street) and the 44th General Hospital at Black River (Church Road). They were then re-used for Red Cross facilities and two became Chapels.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1 Office of the Surgeon. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
" 925,"First Australian Army Officers' Mess","Mareeba Scout Hall","Supply facility","5 Kilpatrick Street",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-17.0031929016113,145.429306030273,"Detachments of the First Australian Army based around 1 Australian Army Headquarters and Signals unit were stationed at Mareeba State School from late 1943 until departing for Lae on the north coast of New Guinea by October 1944. The First Australian Army was a rear echelon group commanded by Major-General John Murray, a much-decorated soldier, recently returned from North Africa with the 9th Division after commanding the 20th Brigade in fierce fighting against the elite Afrika Korps at Tobruk.
","The stone fireplace and chimney now incorporated into the Mareeba Scout Hall are said to have been constructed as part of a log cabin hut which formed the quarters of the commanding officer of the First Australian Army, Major-General Murray. Another stone fireplace and chimney standing nearby in the grounds of a house at 1 Kilpatrick Street may have been constructed as a mess and recreation hut for other officers of the First Australian Army. The buildings probably formed part of a complex of officers' facilities overlooking the Barron River at Mareeba during World War II.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 926,"American Postal Exchange Store and Australian Womens' Army Service (AWAS) District Headquarters","Mareeba Government Assay Office","Headquarters","cnr Constance and Hort Street",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-16.9951305389404,145.425186157227,"Plans to expand Cairns airfield were dropped in early May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Instead the United States Army Air Force in Australia decided to establish a new advanced operational base at Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland. Mareeba would become far north Queensland's main operational air base. Between May and July the 28th, 30th and 93rd Bombardment Squadrons of the 19th Bomb. Group began moving from outback bases at Cloncurry and Longreach to their new quarters at Mareeba airfield. From July 1942 to May 1943 thousands of American servicemen of seven heavy bomber squadrons from the US 19th and 43rd Bomb. Groups made Mareeba their home. During this time they launched missions against Japanese targets in New Guinea and throughout the South West Pacific Area.
American presence at Mareeba increased with the arrival of other support units. As work began on the airfield, Mareeba State School was taken over by the US 2 Station Hospital in expectation of casualties. Many other buildings in the town were requisitioned for use by American units including the disused Queensland government mining assay office in Arnold Park which is said to have served as a local American Postal Exchange, or PX store for US troops.
","When the Ryan Labor government was elected in Queensland in 1915 Mareeba was becoming the centre for the booming Chillagoe, Wolfram Camp and Mount Mulligan mineral fields nearby. This laboratory and retort with its brick chimney was built by the government in 1916 as a mineral assay office to support the growth of the district's mining industry. It was located near the court house which also served as the mining warden's court. The assay office was closed in 1921 after a general post-World War I decline in mining in the Mareeba district.
In 1942 following Japan's entry into World War II and the construction of Mareeba airfield, the assay office is said to have served as a US PX (Postal Exchange) store. In 1943 it is said to have become the headquarters for the Australian Womens' Army Service in the town. After the war the building was used by the Forestry Department until the 1960s.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 927,"Mareeba Airfield","Hoevet Field/RAAF Station Mareeba/Mareeba Airport","Airfield","Kennedy Highway",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-17.0531120300293,145.42431640625,"Mareeba Airfield was constructed between May 1942 and early 1943 and was used by both RAAF and USAAF units. The southernmost runway, which runs roughly east-west, is located about 6km south of Mareeba on the Kennedy Highway and now functions as Mareeba airport.
To the north of the airport, west of Ray Road, are the remnants of a second runway, which runs roughly north-south. The most obvious section is located south of Jennings Road and consists of about 700m of the original 2286m (7500ft) length. Curving wartime dispersal taxiways are still evident in the farmland between the runways.
The reinforced concrete elements of Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Station 448, the northernmost of two HAA gun stations at Mareeba, are spread over a number of properties south of McIvor Road to the west of Ray Road. There is a single room underground Command Post (CP); two octagonal in-ground gun emplacements (of four that were laid out in an arc west and north of the CP); and four semi-underground magazines. The magazines are covered with earth mounds, and each has two entrances with stairs down to a central corridor, with a doorway to a single room.
HAA Gun Station 449 is located on farm land south of the airport, west of the Kennedy Highway. The four gun emplacements were laid out in a square, but only three are evident. Each has been filled to varying depths. It is probable that the missing fourth gun emplacement and underground CP are also buried. Four ammunition storage magazines are located nearby.
","A Japanese attempt to capture Port Moresby and gain a foothold in the Solomon Islands to isolate Australia was thwarted by US and Australian ships and aircraft during the Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4 to 8 May 1942. Plans to expand Cairns Airfield were changed during the final days of the sea battle with a US decision to establish a new Advanced Operational Base (AOB) alongside the Atherton Tableland railway line, at Mareeba.
Work on Mareeba Airfield began around 11-12 May 1942 under the supervision of the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC), which was given eight days to have a strip ready to receive aircraft. Clearing was carried out using plant and equipment from Mareeba and other Atherton Tableland shires. A gravel strip was ready for No.100 Squadron RAAF, which arrived in late May.
The Beaufort bombers of 100 Squadron began operations from Mareeba in June. By this time two runways, one east-west and one north-south, had been completed as gravel strips. It was decided that the northern runway would be substantially improved to cater for the planned arrival of a USAAF Heavy Bombardment Group (BG). An inspection on 20 June 1942 found that the east-west runway was ""in use"", and the north-south runway was ""ready for use"". No.24 Operational Base Unit (OBU), RAAF, was formed on 25 June to coordinate the responsibilities for administration and servicing of airfield operations at Mareeba. No.100 Squadron departed from the airfield in mid 1942.
By 2 July the runways still unsealed, and on 10 July 1942 the Allied Works Council (AWC) ordered the building of bomber hideouts at the airfield with the work to be supervised by the MRC using Civil Construction Corps (CCC) labour. Camp and workshop facilities were also constructed by the CCC. Additional work included the construction of taxiways and dispersal bays, some gravelled and some sealed. Part of Ray Road (then the main road from Mareeba to Atherton) was used as a taxiway between the runways, and could also be used as a fighter runway. By 8 August 1942 work on sealing the north-south runway had started, and five arched hideouts (49m by 26m) had been completed (a total of 15 were built). A severe shortage of bitumen led to experimentation with molasses to keep down the dust on the east-west runway until it could be properly sealed.
In July 1942 the 28th, 30th and 93rd Bomb Squadrons (BS) of the 19th Heavy Bombardment Group (BG) of the US Fifth Air Force, equipped with B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, moved from Cloncurry to Mareeba Airfield. The B-17s would fly from Mareeba to Port Moresby, load up with bombs and fuel, raid the Japanese at Rabaul, and return to Mareeba for rest and maintenance. Later they were able to resupply at Mareeba. The 19th BG had been fighting since the Philippines were attacked in December 1941, and in late 1942 it returned to the US to rebuild. One squadron left Mareeba in late October, while the other two left in November 1942. Mareeba Airfield was unofficially referred to by USAAF personnel as Hoevet Field after Major Dean Hoevet, whose B-17 crashed into the sea off Cairns in August 1942 with the loss of all crew.
Although Mareeba was a base for bombing raids on the Japanese, it also required protection against Japanese attack. Early anti-aircraft defence of Mareeba Airfield was provided by the US 94th Coastal Artillery (AA) Regiment (equipped with 3-inch guns and .50 machine guns) and the Australian 33rd Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Battery, and during the war AA emplacements of earth, stone and gravel were constructed around the airfield. Mareeba received further anti-aircraft defences against high flying Japanese bombers during September 1942 with the arrival of the 37th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery (Static), equipped with eight 3.7-inch (94mm) Quick Firing (QF) Mark II guns. Two HAA gun stations were then established - 'A' Section Gun Station 448 was positioned near the northern end of the north-south runway and 'B' Section Gun Station 449 was positioned about 7 km south near the eastern end of the east-west runway.
In October 1942 the Cairns firm of T.J. Watkins was awarded the contract for building the gun stations and battery accommodation, and AWC minutes indicate that the construction work was nearing completion by late February 1943. The owner of the land on which the northern battery was built received extra compensation from 1 November 1942, as more land was required than originally thought. During January 1943 both gun stations were provided with 40mm Bofors guns for close aerial defence, becoming Class 'A' HAA installations. Units of the Australian Women's Army Service were subsequently added to the establishment of the battery.
Both gun stations consisted of four 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns on static mounts within in-ground concrete gun emplacements of octagonal shape. The interior walls of each gun emplacement contained recesses where ready ammunition for each gun was stored on timber racks, and the bases of the emplacements contained a circle of steel bolts to fasten the gun mounts. The guns were arranged around a reinforced concrete semi-underground Command Post (CP). Nearby were four semi-underground magazines of reinforced concrete. The standard CP design included a roofed plotting room plus open concrete pits outside for a height finder and predictor (a mechanical computing machine that predicted the future position of a target). Only the plotting room is evident at Gun Station 448's CP, while Gun Station 449's CP has been totally buried.
Meanwhile, between August and November 1942 the 63rd, 64th and 65th BS's of the 43rd BG (B-17s) arrived at Mareeba Airfield where they replaced the 19th BG, receiving some of its aircraft and personnel. By early October the airfield was being used by an average of 80 heavy bombers and was occupied by between 2,000 and 2,500 personnel. The 63rd, 64th and 65th were stationed at Mareeba until leaving for New Guinea in January 1943. A plan of the airfield dated 31 January 1943 lists the north-south runway - 7500′ (2286m) long - as sealed, while the east-west runway—7000ft (2134m) long—was still gravelled, with 50% primed for sealing, with the connecting taxiway (Ray Road) also primed. Both runways were listed as sealed by 26 June 1943.
Control of many north Queensland airfields was passed from the USAAF to the RAAF in May 1943. However, Mareeba stayed under the control off USAFFE (United States Army Forces in the Far East) for the purposes of operations and construction well into 1944. From January to May 1943 Mareeba Airfield was occupied by the B-17 crews of the US 403rd BS (43 BG), returning from Milne Bay to re-equip with new B-24 Liberator bombers. Also during the first half of 1943 squadrons of the US 8th Fighter Group were sent to Mareeba from New Guinea to rest and re-equip with P-38 Lightning and P-40 Kittyhawk fighters. In June 1943 No.5 Squadron RAAF, equipped with Australian-made Boomerang and Wirraway fighters, completed a shift from Kingaroy to Mareeba, where it served a training role in ground support for the Australian Army formations on the Atherton Tableland.
By January 1943 the Australian Army had commenced the 'Atherton Project' involving large scale troop rotation between New Guinea and the Atherton Tableland and by mid-1943 numbers of Australian troops were passing through Cairns and Mareeba on their way to the jungle warfare training and recuperation camps. The Atherton Tableland was chosen as the location for such facilities for a number of reasons: it was close to New Guinea; near a port (Cairns); had a cooler climate yet was suitable for training in jungle warfare; and it was a mostly malaria-free area for the hospitalisation of those suffering from tropical diseases. The physically exhausting terrain and climate of New Guinea meant that Australian troops had to be regularly rested and rehabilitated, preferably close to their theatre of operations.
Mareeba Airfield was increasingly used by C-47 transport aircraft engaged in parachute training for newly established airborne regiments, ferrying troops and supplies in and out of Mareeba and transporting wounded back from the New Guinea front line to the US Station Hospital at Mareeba Primary School and to the large Australian General Hospital at Rocky Creek near Atherton.
On 16 August 1943 the 37th Australian HAA Battery was renamed 137th HAA Battery of 56 Australian Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Composite), Royal Australian Artillery. In accordance with general policy, this brought associated light anti-aircraft (40mm Bofors) and searchlight batteries with all necessary workshops, together into one composite unit. The Mareeba HAA gun stations were transferred to the command of the 35th HAA Battery in Cairns on 25 November 1943 and 137 HAA Battery left Mareeba for Cairns in early December 1943. The guns had been removed by November 1944, and as the battery sites were no longer required, at this time consideration was given to destroying the gun pits; but it was decided that they should be retained for the duration of the war.
By November 1943 the Ray's house at the western end of the eat-west runway was occupied by a RAAF Photographic Unit, and from May 1944 No.1 Mobile Parachute Maintenance Unit were quartered at Mareeba Airfield using one of the disused bomber hideouts. The Australian Army's No.1 Parachute Battalion was camped east of the railway in the original USAAF camp site. No.5 Squadron RAAF departed from Mareeba Airfield during mid-November 1944. It was the last full squadron to occupy the base and the two runways were only occasionally used during the last months of World War II. In late November 1944 the airfield was being used by six Vultee Vengeance aircraft of No 5. (Communication) Unit RAAF and six Avro Ansons of No.8 Service Flying Training School.
The Pacific war ended in August 1945 and RAAF personnel vacated Mareeba in March 1946. The North-South Runway with the wartime taxiways and dispersal bays was made available for agricultural use. The southern-most east-west runway continues to be used for general aviation purposes as Mareeba Airport.
","Mareeba Airfield and HAA Gun Stations 448 and 449. Queensland Heritage Register reported place 602740
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Wilson, PD 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942–1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Simpson, B, ""Mareeba's Anti Aircraft Batteries"", Heritage Bulletin, Number 7, November 2007, Mareeba Historic Society Inc.
Fowler, SR, November 2007. Plans and photographs of elements of northern Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery site.
National Archives of Australia 175/6/109 PART 1, DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Mareeba Qld - Aerodrome - Hiring of site, 1942–1948.
National Archives of Australia 823, Mareeba 1942
Dunn, P. Mareeba Airfield also known as Hoevet Airfield Mareeba, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Australian War Memorial photographic collection
State Library Queensland, John Oxley Library photographic collection.
" 928,"United States (US) 2nd Station Hospital","Mareeba State School","Medical facility","cnr Atherton and Constance Streets",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-16.9920825958252,145.425552368164,"Strict censorship meant that most Australians were unaware that a crucial battle was taking place off the coast of north Queensland during early May 1942. Japanese plans for the invasion of Port Moresby were thwarted by American and Australian naval and air forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Instead of proceeding with expansion of Cairns airfield the United States Army Air Force decided to establish a more secure advanced operational base at Mareeba on the Atherton Tableland.
Work on Mareeba airfield was started on 12 May four days after the Coral Sea battle ended and the first gravel strip was in use in just ten days. Mareeba would become the main operational airfield in far north Queensland. Between May and July the 28th, 30th and 93rd Bombardment Squadrons of the 19th Bomb. Group began moving from outback bases at Cloncurry and Longreach to their new quarters at Mareeba airfield. From July 1942 to May 1943 thousands of American servicemen of seven heavy bomber squadrons from the US 19th and 43rd Bomb. Groups made Mareeba their home. During this time they launched missions against Japanese targets in New Guinea and throughout the South West Pacific Area.
American presence at Mareeba grew rapidly with the arrival of other support units. As work began on the airfield, Mareeba State School was taken over by US 2 Station Hospital in expectation of casualties. The timber-frame, weatherboard-clad school comprising three main blocks built around a central quadrangle, was developed into two large wards with separate operating theatre and morgue, dental clinic, staff accommodation, and a mess block. The hospital was fully equipped and had its own mechanised laundry.
","The first state school was built on the arrival of the railway from Cairns in 1893 when the surveyed township of Granite Creek was named Mareeba. During the early 1900s the old school underwent conversion and new buildings were erected and extended. Substantial remodelling of the later school took place during 1937 about five years before Japan's entry into World War II.
On 8 July 1942 US 2 Station Hospital was established with 250 beds under tents in the grounds of the state school. It was set up by a detachment of the US Army 46th Engineer General Service Regiment and plans were prepared at the Townsville office of the Allied Works Council for conversion of the main school blocks to permanent hospital facilities. State school students were taught at the nearby Catholic school of St Thomas of Villanova. For a period of two years during World War II, St Thomas's School housed the entire student population of Mareeba.
A detachment of US 2 Station Hospital at Mareeba was sent to Gordonvale in November 1942, to set up a 150 bed hospital by taking over the Gordonvale Hotel and Commercial Hotel in the town's main precinct, in preparation for the arrival of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Gordonvale.
US 2 Station Hospital continued to operate from the school until after the transfer of the USAAF heavy bomber squadrons in mid-1943 moving closer to the New Guinea frontline.
After departure of the American hospital Mareeba State School was taken over by units of the First Australian Army, based around 1 Australian Army Headquarters and Signals, a rear echelon command. Advance parties of the First Army began transferring from Mareeba to New Guinea in April 1944 and by October that year most of the unit had moved from Mareeba State School to new quarters at Lae on the north coast of New Guinea.
Administration of Mareeba State School was subsequently returned to the Queensland Education Department and continues as an important community learning centre for Mareeba and the Tableland.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Hugh J Casey. Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Vol. VI: Airfield and base development. US Government Printing Office, Washington, 1951.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 940,"Maryborough Public Air Raid Shelter","Former Maryborough Railway Station","Civil defence facility","Lennox Street",Maryborough,4650,Wide Bay-Burnett,-25.5387325286865,152.699615478516,"The public air raid shelter at the former Maryborough Railway Station is a rare surviving example of the public air raid shelters built at railway stations in Queensland during World War II. Constructed in 1942 by Queensland Railways, it is located on the west side of Lennox Street, south of Ellena Street, in the middle of the access loop and car park just south of the former station building.
The shelter is a concrete structure 47′ 6″ (14.5m) long, and 12′ (3.6m) wide. The flat concrete roof is 6′ (150mm) thick, and the walls are 12′ (300mm) thick. Doorways are located at each end of the northeast elevation, with each doorway being set in a recessed area that is stepped back 4′ (1.2m) from the end of the shelter, and 5′ (1.5m) from the front face of the shelter. A sign on the north-east elevation reads 'Air Raid Shelter for Passengers Only'. The shelter is used for storage, and electrical cables enter it above the double timber doors at the north-west end. There is a single timber door at the south-east end.
","The Maryborough Railway Station was built as the terminus of a railway network that radiated out from Maryborough from the 1880s, transporting timber, coal, sugar and other agricultural products to the wharves on the Mary River. This network was later linked to the North Coast railway line, and although the Maryborough station was bypassed and became a dead-end station, it remained busy.
In addition to civilian traffic, after the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 many Australian and American troops and supplies were railed north on the single railway line to Cairns. The construction of two air raid shelters (only the southeast shelter survives) at Maryborough Railway Station in 1942 may have been linked to this increased wartime traffic, and the fact that there were refreshment rooms nearby. Shelters were built at large stations, busy suburban commuter stations, and stations which had refreshment rooms. The latter would have been a vulnerable target for aircraft while passengers were disembarked for a meal.
Maryborough was also a potential industrial target. There were railway workshops (since demolished) close to the shelters and during World War II the Walkers Limited shipyards on Kent Street in Maryborough built seven Bathurst Class corvettes and three River Class frigates, out of the total of 72 corvettes and frigates built in Australia during the war. These shipyards would have made a good target for air raids. Military units in the area included the No.3 Wireless Air Gunners' School and No.3 Air Navigation School at RAAF Station Maryborough and a USASOS (Services of Supply) camp at Tiaro.
The building of public air raid shelters was also spurred by government regulations regarding the safety of the population. In the Protection of Persons and Property Order No.1, gazetted 23 December 1941, Queensland's Premier William Forgan Smith, with powers conferred by Regulation 35a, ordered the Brisbane City Council to construct 200 public surface shelters in the city area (235 were built). Another 24 local governments in Queensland's coastal areas were ordered to produce surface or trench shelters for the public (135 non-trench shelters were built). A large number of businesses also built air raid shelters, as the owners of any building in the coastal areas where over 30 people would normally be present at any one time were required to build shelters either within the building, or adjacent to it.
On 2 March 1942 a memorandum from the Undersecretary of the Department of Public Works reported that Queensland Railways had already built shelters for its employees at some of the larger train stations, and it recommended that a further 28 full size public surface shelters, three half size shelters, and three sets of trenches, be built outside Brisbane. Most of the recommended surface shelters and trenches were on the North Coast railway line, at 19 stations from Nambour to Cairns. Shelters were also recommended for Mt Morgan, Kingaroy (trenches), Southport (two), Ipswich, and Toowoomba (two).
By 23 March 1942 work on the public air raid shelters was in hand, after the Department of Public Works and Queensland Railways agreed to proceed in accordance with plans acceptable to both departments. In Australia the process of building public air-raid shelters at railway stations during World War II seems to have been unique to Queensland.
Of the public shelters built along the North Coast line, only the shelters at Maryborough and Landsborough still exist. In the Brisbane metropolitan area, most railway public shelters were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, and only the Shorncliffe shelter survives. The only other known surviving railway public shelter in Queensland is at Toowoomba railway station.
","Maryborough Railway Station Complex and Air Raid Shelter, Queensland Heritage Register 600702
Public Air Raid Shelter, Landsborough Railway Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602709
Maryborough Station 1975. E-Plans, Project Services, Queensland Government.
" 941,"Royal Australian Air Force No.3 Wireless Air Gunners' School and No.3 Air Navigation School","Maryborough Airport","Airfield","Saltwater Creek Road",Maryborough,4650,Wide Bay-Burnett,-25.5183792114258,152.710296630859,"The surviving World War II buildings at Maryborough airport were constructed between 1941 and 1944 as part of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No. 3 Wireless Air Gunners' School and No. 3 Air Navigation School.
Maryborough airport is located on the northeast outskirts of Maryborough, to the east of Saltwater Creek Road. Most of the structures associated with RAAF Station Maryborough, which were located either side of the current airport's entrance drive, have been removed, but the pattern of the interior roads can still be seen on satellite images.
On the right hand side of the airport's entrance drive is a former inflammables store (a small square building with a hipped roof with large ventilator); a former motor transport garage (with a skillion roof); and a latrine building with a gabled roof. Just east of these is an adapted P1 hut that was part of the Sick Quarters.
Closer to the runway, and now acting as the airport terminal, is another P1 hut, formerly a parachute-packing shed. To the north of the terminal is a galvanised iron Bellman aircraft hangar, one of four that were built, and north of the hangar is another P1 hut, a former Flight Office.
","At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 urgent consideration was given not only to the construction of aeroplanes, but also to the training of technicians, pilots and aircrew. The Empire Training Scheme (EATS) was set up in late 1939 and was an agreement between Britain and the Dominions, particularly Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for aircrews to be trained in those countries for service with the Royal Air Force. The EATS scheme was conducted through 49 airfields in Australia, Queensland having EATS units at Amberley, Archerfield, Bundaberg, Kingaroy, Lowood, Maryborough and Sandgate. Maryborough was chosen as a base for a Wireless Air Gunner School (3 WAGS) and an Air Navigation School (3 ANS).
Maryborough's civil airfield was secured for RAAF use in December 1940 under the provisions of National Security (General) Regulations, and the Air Board set about acquiring more land to extend runways and facilities. The training school was opened 18 September 1941 and the first intake was on November 16. Among the buildings erected were 'P' series huts, pre-cut of timber and galvanised iron and assembled on site. There are three huts of this type remaining at Maryborough. Two prefabricated Bellmen Hangars (out of four proposed) were also built, and there were three gravelled runways.
On 7 December 1941 the United States of America entered the war. The EATS scheme was suspended for reassessment in response to the perceived threat to Australia. However, Australia decided in February 1942 to continue to send aircrew to Europe and North Africa but retain enough aircrew in Australia to crew home and Pacific based squadrons, and also recall some experienced aircrew.
From April 1942, Maryborough's activities included Recruit Training. No. 3 Recruit Depot operated at Maryborough until July 1943 and No. 6 Recruit Depot from November 1944 to June 1945. These units gave basic training to about 4000 recruits. Women (WAAFs) were also stationed at Maryborough.
During 1942 a Wireless Transmission Station and Medium Frequency Direction Finding (MF/DF) Station were constructed north of the airfield but neither exists today. The Transmission Station was located on the north side of Bongoola Road, just west of the school, while the MF/DF Station was located on the west side of Claas Road, on the second property heading northeast.
Maryborough aerodrome facilities were also used for airframe overhaul and a third and fourth Bellman hangar were erected at Maryborough in late 1944, although on 15 August 1944 it was decided to close number 3 WAGS Maryborough and train Wireless Operators at Ballarat instead. The facilities at the base were then used by RAAF 1 Radar School. The training school closed on closed on 6 December 1944.
Following the victory in Europe in May 1945 the Royal Navy formed the British Pacific Fleet. In June 1945 the HMS Nabstock unit arrived in Maryborough. This was a MONAB, a mobile naval air base for training crew and the assembly of aircraft for the British Pacific Fleet. A number of Royal Navy Air Squadrons were based in Maryborough until late 1945. The RAAF station was closed after the departure of the last of these, MONAB VI HMS Nabstock in November 1945. Following the cessation of hostilities, control of the aerodrome was transferred to the Department of Civil Aviation on 31 July 1946.
Today the airport is an active civil facility regularly used by private and chartered aircraft and by the Maryborough Aero Club. It has two runways; one is bitumen surfaced and the other is a grassed cross strip. The third (southwest-northeast) runway from World War II is no longer extant.
","Second World War RAAF Buildings, Maryborough Airport, Queensland Heritage Register 602556
National Archives of Australia. Item control symbols: 171/54/1 PART 1; 171/54/1 PART 2; 171/54/11; 171/54/12
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 944,"Loganlea Airfield (USAAF)",,"Airfield","East of Loganlea Road (in vicinity of University Drive)",Meadowbrook,4131,South-East,-27.6635303497314,153.144744873047,"Constructed by the RAAF and used by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) from mid 1942, Loganlea airfield was not utilised to any significant extent. It consisted of two grassed airstrips, which had been cleared, rolled and graded. A camouflaged arch type hideout, suitable for fighters, appears to have been the only structure built. The airfield, which has since been erased by post-war development, could only be used in dry weather.
The airfield's two grassed strips were located in the area bounded by Loganlea road to the west; Armstrong Road to the south; and a line extended from the north end of Evans road to the east. The two strips intersected just north of University Drive, between Meadowbrook Drive and the lake, and the western ends of both runways terminated on the east side of Loganlea Road, although cleared areas also extended west of the road. The northeast end of the 40 degree runway terminated in what is now a golf course; while the southeast end of the 130 degree runway terminated just west of the eastern loop of Kilsay Crescent. The formation of the airstrips is no longer visible in aerial photographs.
","The arrival of US forces in Queensland from late December 1941 led to an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft. Existing RAAF airfields were used, and new fields were also constructed. Five airfields were established near Kingston, south of Brisbane: Loganlea and Waterford, plus the Kingston airstrips A-10, A-11 and A-12.
On 10 July 1942 it was reported that Loganlea airfield had been commenced as a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) for Archerfield aerodrome, but had been changed to a satellite strip. Construction was under RAAF supervision, but the extension of the area was under US control. The dispersal scheme was under design by US Camouflage Section, and construction of taxiways and hideouts was in progress. The contracting firm MR Hornibrook was reported in Allied Works Council (AWC) minutes as being directly engaged by the Americans in camouflage work at both the Loganlea and Waterford airstrips.
In May 1943 Loganlea, which was then not in use, consisted of two grass strips which had been cleared, graded and rolled; and one camouflaged arch type hideout (probably erected by MR Hornibrook) suitable for fighter aircraft. The 40 degree (southwest to northeast) strip was 2800 feet by 300 feet (853m by 91m), while the 130 degree (northwest to southeast) strip was 4800 feet by 300 feet (1463m by 91m). The airfield was suitable for fighters and medium bombers, in dry weather only; and there were no other buildings, hangars, or blast pens. The 130 degree strip was to be made usable, by mowing and removal of small plant suckers, for practice landings and takeoffs by US fighters by the end of July 1943.
In mid 1943 the RAAF considered using Loganlea for a Reconnaissance squadron, but the idea lapsed. In November 1943 the airfield's function was listed as a RAAF RLG. A US report on the airfield in March 1944 claimed that Loganlea airfield had been constructed (extended?) by the Allied Works Council (AWC), as requested by the US on 1 July 1942. The airfield was still controlled by the US in 1944, but had 'never been used'. The airfield was formally transferred from the US to RAAF control in August 1946.
The area has since been developed and no remnants of the two airstrips are visible.
","Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Pullar, M. July 1997. Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland. Report for the National Trust of Queensland.
Buchanan, Robyn, c.1999-2000. Logan—rich in history, young in spirit. Logan City Council
National Archives of Australia 764. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Loganlea, Queensland, 1943
National Archives of Australia Q/8/44 PART 1. Logan Village (Queensland) part of Camp Cable (owner M Bishop) H/S [Hirings Service Serial] 916 (17), 1942–1948.
Howells, M. ""World War II emergency landing fields"", unpublished document.
National Library of Australia RAAF Official Aerials.
" 946,"Miallo Japanese Bombing Site","Japanese Bombing Memorial","Incident","Miallo-Bamboo Creek Road",Miallo,4837,Cairns,-16.3720531463623,145.367645263672,"This memorial was unveiled by Carmel Emmi (née Zuilo) on the fiftieth anniversary of an attack on 31 July 1942 by a lone Japanese aircraft, which dropped a total of eight bombs over the Mossman area. One exploded in a cane field about 50 metres behind the site of the memorial, causing damage to the Zuilo family farmhouse and injuring two-year-old Carmel. This was the last of four Japanese bombing raids on the Queensland mainland. The Zuilo house has since been demolished.
","During the night of 26 July 1942, three Japanese long range Kawanishi H8K (Emily) flying boats, flying direct from Rabaul to Townsville, dropped a total of six bombs which exploded harmlessly in the sea near the wharves. Night raids on Townsville were repeated in the early mornings of 28 and 29 July, on each subsequent occasion by a single Emily flying boat operating from Rabaul. The raids were carried out by the 2nd Group of 14th Kokutai (Air Group), Japanese Naval Air Force, under the command of Major Misaburo Koizumi, who planned to undertake night raids on harbour facilities and airfields at Townsville. In all, five raids were planned; three actually occurred.
A fourth Japanese raid was planned for Townsville on the night of 31 July, however the lone Emily flying boat may have experienced engine difficulties and decided to drop its load of eight bombs over the Mossman area. One bomb exploded in a farm at Miallo, north of Mossman, damaging the Zuilo family's house and injuring Carmel Zuilo. Although the attack marked the end of Japanese raids on the Queensland mainland, raids on Horn Island in the Torres Strait continued until June 1943. Japanese raids in the Darwin and Kimberley region continued until November 1943.
There is a plaque located on the memorial with the inscription:
","JAPANESE AIR RAID ON DOUGLAS SHIRE - 1942
At 3.30 a.m. on 31/7/42, a Japanese aircraft dropped eight bombs in this Shire, one landing fifty metres directly behind this point.
Carmel Zullo aged 2 1/2 years was asleep in the home of her parents when the bomb exploded nearby. Shrapnel pierced the iron walls of the house, one fragment grazing Carmel's skull. She was the only civilian casualty inflicted by the enemy on the Eastern Australian mainland throughout World War 2. This plaque was unveiled by Mrs. Carmel Emmi (nee Zullo) on 31/7/92 at a public ceremony to commemorate the attack, fifty years later.
Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
DERM, Oonoonba Bomb Crater draft entry, CHIMS.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
" 947,"Kowguran Explosives Storage Depot","Possum Park Ammunition Bunkers","Ammunition facility","Leichhardt Highway",Kowguran,4415,Darling Downs,-26.5029373168945,150.099502563477,"Built by the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) in 1942, the Kowguran Explosives Storage Depot, 20 kilometres north of Miles, consisted of approximately 20 reinforced concrete and other underground bomb storage facilities, spaced around a heavily wooded site. Each storage bunker was about 60 metres long and covered by at least 4 metres of earth. The site is now utilised as Possum Park Self Contained Accommodation.
Located on a hill, east of the Leichhardt Highway, the Area Explosives Reserve was manned by 3 Central Reserve (RAAF) which was formed at Kowguran on 18 August 1943. Fifty nine men were employed on the development of the project which had an estimated value of £22,723. A ring road linked all the bunkers and had full access to the nearby rail facilities.
","The 135 hectare site was purchased by David and Julie Hinds in 1985 and turned into Possum Park, a local holiday destination. A number of the underground bunkers were converted into self-contained underground motel units. Very effective original ventilation and the insulation of the site is still utilised. Elsewhere on the property, above ground ""Troop train"" railway carriages are offered as extra accommodation. Tent sites are also available. The old RAAF parade ground on the top of the hill is now used as the camping area. A small museum known as the ""Brisbane Line"" room displays weapons, uniforms and other memorabilia from the Second World War.
Contact details for the current site can be found at Possum Park
","""The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939 - 1945""
""Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - A Concise History"", compiled by RAAF Historical Section.
NAA Series A705, 171/89/21, DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - RAAF - Explosives Storage - Number 3 Central Explosives Reserve - Kowguran [Miles area] - Buildings and services; Canberra 1942 - 1947, Barcode 1191303
NAA Series J1018
" 951,"Mingela VHF Radio Direction Finder Station (VHF DF)",,"Radar/signal station","Flinders Highway",Mingela,4816,North-West,-19.8780899047852,146.62776184082,"The town of Mingela had been in decline prior to WW1. Previously named Ravenswood Junction and also Cunningham, this decline accelerated after the closure of the railway to the gold mining town of Ravenswood in 1931. Perched on the mountain range that shares its name, Mingela during the war was selected by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as a secret Very High Frequency Direction Finding (VHF DF) station.
","In April 1942, a cablegram was sent to the Minister for Trade and Customs by Mrs I F Jones, proprietor of the North Australian Hotel at Mingela. The Hotel had burnt to the ground five months previously but was still trading from another building. Mrs Jones concern for Allied Works Council tradesmen inadvertently revealed that something was happening at Mingela.
Male population greatly increased since doing essential work…beer quota totally inadequate… Shortage is likely [to] retard work…
VHFDF stations enabled the plotting of aircraft under the control of Fighter Sectors. No.3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) was located at the Grammar School at North Ward until in 1944 a purpose built headquarters was completed at Stuart. VHFDF equipment had been considered essential when 3FSHQ was established in February 1942.
VHF DF enabled the controller to see at a glance exactly where aircraft were, enabling them to be directed by radio. This meant that pilots no longer had to plot their own position and could follow instructions from the controller. A 'Homing Station' was to be on the Cairns Road, on the other side of Garbutt airfield (possibly at the Bohle).
Plans from April 1942 reveal that the installation included a transmitting/receiving station and living quarters. The huts were considered to be unsuited to the tropical climate and changes were recommended. The station was operational by September 1942.
The station covered two square blocks of land. Site one contained the transmitting station, generator and a 70 foot mast.
Site two contained the receiving station. This was a hexagonal 'silo type structure' which housed an operator and the receiving equipment.
Similar ""Triangular"" stations were also located on the coast at Moongabulla (40 miles north of Townsville) and at Brandon (30 miles south of Townsville).
The station could also detect unidentified or enemy aircraft.
On 1 February 1943, three unidentified aircraft were detected by VHF DF that followed a course 30 miles north-east of Townsville. 3FSHQ diaries suggest they may have been Japanese submarine-based reconnaissance aircraft. These collapsible floatplanes had previously conducted reconnaissance over Sydney and Melbourne. Five days later, guards were sent to Mingela VHF DF station, perhaps to increase security at this secret installation.
In August 1945, Mr C McCullloch wrote to the RAAF enquiring whether the VHF DF buildings were to be auctioned. Though he wished to purchase them for removal as a private dwelling, he noted that termites had begun to enter the buildings.
By July 1946 the RAAF regarded these VHF DF 'Fixer Stations' as obsolete and buildings were disposed of at auction.
","Camp Moorooka was a large American staging camp set up near the tram terminus at Moorooka. It covered many streets of present day area and was the designated United States Army Service Of Supply (USASOS) and similar to Victoria Park in central Brisbane, dealt with the United States Service of Supply.
","The camp also incorporated the Moorooka State School and a number of private residences in the area. A vast array of tented lines for accommodation, were surrounded by pre-fabricated buildings, which housed messes, heaquarters offices and ablutions. A large parade ground featured in the centre of the complex.
","National Archives of Australia
US Army Brisbane Telephone Directory Oct. 1943
" 955,"Clapham Junction Railway Station","Moorooka Railway Station","Military accommodation","Beaudesert Road",Moorooka,4105,Brisbane City,-27.5363082885742,153.013076782227,"During the war, Moorooka Train Station was one of the busiest transport hubs in Brisbane, facilitating military and supply transport north and south on what is now the current Beenleigh Line. Given the nickname 'Clapham Junction' after the famous London rail station, it facilitated supply, industry, troop movement and distribution from the industry of Rocklea and Salisbury.
",,"National Archives of Australia
Brisbane City Council
" 957,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Engine Overhaul Workshops","operated by Australian National Airlines (ANA)","Workshop","Hamilton Road and Anson Street",Moorooka,4105,Brisbane City,-27.5384521484375,153.016571044922,"The RAAF built an Engine Overhaul Workshop on this site during the war, to overhaul aircraft engines following a designated number of flying hours of operation. The site consisted of seven large vaulted warehouse portions, that housed workshops, storage areas and machinery bays.
","The site was demolished as late as 2006 and made way for a residential development project. Utilised by a number of businesses, the main tenant of the war era was Australian National Airways Pty Ltd.
","National Archives of Australia
Brisbane City Council
" 958,"Australian Army Leave and Transit Depot","Tonks Paddock","Military accommodation","Within the boundary of Timbury Street and Beaudesert, Ipswich, and Muriel Roads",Moorooka,4105,Brisbane City,-27.5416927337646,153.01741027832,"The Australian Army LOC Leave and Transit Depot was re-located to this site in March 1945. Prior to 1945, the LOC Leave and Transit Depot was located at the Exhibition Grounds, Bowen Hills.
",,"National Archives of Australia
Brisbane City Council
AWM photgraphic reference
" 959,"Moorooka War Workers Housing Estate","The 'Cottage' project (later used by the Royal Navy)","Military accommodation","Beaudesert Road",Moorooka,4105,Brisbane City,-27.5406990051269,153.024993896484,"In 1943, the recently built Rocklea Munitions Works converted its operations from Australian army ammunition production to aircraft engine repairs for the US forces. Both the urgency of this work plus the large workload required by the USAAF meant that more civilian war workers were required. Brisbane was suffering an acute wartime accommodation shortage. A planned modern housing estate for married war workers, known as the Cottage Project was built at Moorooka in an effort to attract workers living outside of Brisbane. Over 100 cottages were completed before the end of 1944 with the total reaching 200 before the end of the war in 1945.
","The Rocklea Munitions Works was constructed during 1941. It began operating in November 1941. Initially the factory complex manufactured small arms ammunition and artillery shells for the Australian army, with the workforce mainly drawn from Brisbane and surrounds. In 1943, the Rocklea Munitions Works ceased ammunition production and switched to undertaking engine overhauls for the US Army's Air Force (USAAF). General Kenney's 5th Air Force, based in the South-West Pacific Area required a rapid turnover of engine repairs so that the maximum number of planes could be employed in offensives against the Japanese.
The factory's workforce was expanded and recruitment for more workers was conducted intra and interstate. By 1943, with the large number of Allied service personnel based in and around Brisbane, accommodation was in very short supply. So to attract more war workers to the Rocklea factory complex, there was a need to offer modern, affordable accommodation located within close proximity of defence works sites.
The Commonwealth War Workers Housing Trust requested that the Allied Works Council build a cottage housing estate for married war workers and their families. This project was to be built in conjunction with the planned hostels for single war workers in nearby Tonks Street and Nettleton Court at Moorooka. The initial cottages would be built along Beaudesert Road as it was connected by tram to the city and the Clapham Junction (now Moorooka) railway station was nearby.
The married workers would be engaged in engine overhaul or airframe repair duties at the Rocklea Munitions Works, or at nearby joint USAAF and RAAF Archerfield air base, the RAAF engine overhaul workshops on Hamilton Road, Moorooka. Centrally located in Moorooka, the workers living in the Cottage Project could be employed at other local defence works such as the Clapham Junction Transport Office, the QANTAS engine overhaul hangar in Colebrook Avenue, Moorooka or the Commonwealth Marine Engine Works at the corner of Beaudesert and Evans Roads, Rocklea.
Approximately 100 cottages were built by October 1944. Only male war workers and their families were allotted cottages. This project effectively was designed as a postwar housing estate. The latest town planning principles were used to design the street grid of the Cottage Project. The whole estate was to have carefully laid-out roads and footpaths, concrete stormwater drains, reticulated sewerage plus water main, gas and electricity connections. Each timber cottage sat on low concrete stumps. Roofs were of terracotta or asbestos tiles. Heating both internally and externally was provided through a combination of asbestos cement or fibrous plaster. The Cottage Project would also provide sports playing fields, children's playgrounds, individual gardens and plenty of tree plantings. Half the cottages were designed as 3-bedroom homes, while the rest had two bedrooms. All cottages were provided with a sleep-out space and a verandah.
The total number of cottages planned for this project was 200. It was expected that the remaining cottages would be completed by early 1945. The last building proposed for construction was a sewerage treatment plant that would service both the 200 homes of the Moorooka Cottage Project but also the two Rocklea War Workers' Hostels.
","National Australian Archives, File Series: BP262/2, Item: 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland, October 1944.
" 960,"6 (387th) Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery","6 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Group","Fortifications","580?Wynnum Road",Morningside,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4716320037842,153.066650390625,"This site was an integral part of the Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery system designed to protect Brisbane in the event of enemy air raids during World War II. After the raid on Darwin in February 1942, many felt that as Brisbane was the largest city in Queensland, it would be the next to experience a large-scale raid by the Japanese. It was one of limited number of four gun anti-aircraft positions sited along the Brisbane River. Only the sites at Lytton, Hemmant and Balmoral are known to survive.
","The 6 [387th] Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (or 6 HAA Group) was constructed in 1942, as part of a program to monitor and prevent aircraft entering Brisbane airspace using the Brisbane River as a navigational aid. Its role was also to protect Allied facilities located along the river, including airfields, camps, a submarine base and their associated stores. The 6 HAA Group was a collection of ""A class"" (four static guns) defensive positions. These included; Colmslie [385] (also known as Lytton), Victoria Park [386], Balmoral [387], Pinkenba [388], Hendra [389], Hemmant [390], Amberley [391], and Archerfield [392].
The Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery was of the standard four-gun emplacements, with magazines and a central control room. The position was armed with four 3.7-inch static AA guns, the standard medium British anti-aircraft gun. A gun crew usually consisted of 10-12 men. The guns were controlled by a centrally located, semi-underground command post/plotting room. This contained instruments such as the spotter's telescope, a height/range finder and a predictor.
Personnel at the site consisted of both 6th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft and VDC (Volunteer Defence Corp) personnel from mid 1943. AWAS (Australian Women's Army Service) were involved in operating instruments such as range finding and spotting, but generally not in the firing of the guns. In 1944 personnel on the battery had diminished to a care and maintenance role and for training purposes. In August 1945 all HAA sites in Brisbane were disarmed and abandoned.
This former 6 [387th] Battery is located adjacent to the Balmoral Cemetery, in bushland controlled by Brisbane City Council. It was located at this position because of its elevation and proximity to the Brisbane River. At some time since the war some of the emplacements have been damaged, the concrete broken down to ground level and the emplacements filled in. It appears that the magazines may no longer exist, however the entire position has not been thoroughly surveyed to determine its overall intactness.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation.
" 961,"Morningside Air Raid Shelter","Thynne Road Public Cantilever Shelter","Civil defence facility","580 Wynnum Road (14 Thynne Road)",Morningside,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4690093994141,153.070220947266,"The Morningside air raid is important as a part of the Air Raid Precaution activities that were implemented for the defence of Brisbane during the Second World War. In the event of air raid attacks or other emergencies, the air raid shelter located at the corner of Wynnum Road and Thynne Road was designed to afford protection to the civilian population. Built by the Brisbane City Council, the shelter's solid construction and rectangular shape are characteristics of a World War II Brisbane public air raid shelters. The Morningside air raid shelter, now used as a road reserve shelter, demonstrating the secondary uses that were part of the original design intention.
","The Morningside air raid shelter is a rectangular concrete structure comprising a heavy floor slab, which is now covered by concrete pebbling, and a flat roof supported by concrete piers. An example of the wartime work of the City Architect's Office and particularly the work of City Architect F.G. Costello. Built in 1942, following the entrance of the United States of America into the war and the bombings of the Australian mainland.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation.
" 964,"USN Mine and Torpedo Depot (Camp Cootha)","Mount Coot-tha Forest Park","Ammunition facility","Sir Samuel Griffith Drive",Mount Coot-Tha,4066,Brisbane City,-27.4667778015137,152.958831787109,"The US Navy requisitioned Mt Coot-tha Reserve in 1942. Being heavily wooded, it was suitable to camouflage the USN Mine Depot constructed by the 55th Seabees Battalion in mid-1943. Later the Depot undertook torpedo assembly and storage for Brisbane's important USN submarine base. As the USN began to shift the Depot to Darwin in 1944, the RAAF took over the site for a Magnetic and Acoustic Mines Depot. The USN retained the lease of the site to war's end.
","Mt Coot-tha was declared a Public Reserve in 1880. By the 1930s, it was a popular picnic spot, criss-crossed with walking tracks. On 1 August 1942, the Brisbane City Council lent the park to the US Navy for use as an ordnance depot. Its dense bushland provided suitable camouflage for munitions storage.
The 55th Naval Construction Battalion built the depot. The 55th Naval Construction Battalion arrived in Brisbane on 24 March 1943. Such battalions were known as Seabees after their unit emblem. The battalion was based at Camp Seabee off Lavarack Avenue at Eagle Farm, which the unit constructed prior to commencing work on the Mine Depot. The Seabees were trucked to Mt Coot-tha daily to build above-ground magazines that were then covered with dirt and to clear the bush with bulldozers and tip-trucks for roads and buildings. They used explosives to blast roads along the mountainside. The Allied Works Council provided Australian labour to assist the Seabees.
The initial 13 magazines were timber-framed, covered in fibrolite. Later, 38 prefabricated steel Armco magazines were shipped to Brisbane from the USA and emplaced in the Depot. All magazines were covered with dirt, grass and bushes to aid camouflage. A camp for the USN personnel who were to be based at the Depot was built near the present Hoop pine picnic area. It comprised 1 steel Stran Administration Buildings (40x100 ft) and 16 pre-fabricated Quonset huts (20x48 ft igloos) for separate Officers and Enlisted Men's Messes, a kitchen, a bakery, a food store, a Quartermaster's Store, a Chief Petty officer's office and quarters, a laundry, a latrine and a hospital. As a USN facility, naval terms were used so that the Officers' Mess was called the Wardroom, the kitchen was the Galley, the bakery was a Bakeshop, the hospital was the Sickbay and the latrine buildings were the Heads. There was a Powder Surveillance Building (30x30 ft). A Garage and Maintenance Shed (40x100 ft) serviced the Depot's vehicles and machinery and there was a small Pump House, a power generator hut (20x14 ft), a 3,000 gallon-oil tank plus two 2,000 gallon-water tanks, one 3,000 gallon-water-tank, an incinerator and a USN regulation flagstaff. The Depot had two entry points, both with manned sentry boxes and was surrounded by a barbed wire fence to prevent public access. These were at the Mt Coot-tha Reserve gates and at the intersection of Simpson's Road and Sir Samuel Griffith Drive. The Depot was commonly referred to as 'Camp Coot-tha'.
Commander of the USN Mt Coot-tha Mine Depot was Lieutenant Commander Xavier Smith. The magazines held detonators while the unfused mines were stored in open pits. Both items were then put together in the Depot's assembly plant buildings. A few months after opening, the USN requested that the site be formally requisitioned in preparation for expanding the Depot and leasing further land. The US Navy commenced paying Council for the lease of The Reserve on 31 May 1943. The rent was £1,413.8.0 p.a. Additional sites were leased on 20 May and 15 June 1943 plus 9 May 1944. By that latter date, there were so many personnel at the Depot that some enlisted men had to be accommodated in a separate tent area (10 tents), complete with a Head (20x30 ft), a boiler house (9x15 ft), paths and a clothesline.
Torpedo storage and assembly were added to the Depot's responsibilities. The Australian Army Hiring Service leased the Benedict Stone Factory at Mt Coot-tha for a USN Torpedo Repair Shop. A large extension and new crane rails were added to the factory, while an Enlisted Men's barracks and mess was built nearby. Torpedo storage and assembly was of major importance. US General Douglas MacArthur was only allotted a small number of warships 9the 7th Fleet) by the USN but his submarines could carry the fight all the way to the Philippines. Brisbane became the major US submarine base on Australia's east coast.
The summit of Mt Coot-tha contained a kiosk and a scenic observation mini-park. The Australian Army occupied the summit and placed anti-aircraft guns and searchlights there. Pits were dug for the AA guns while the searchlights were mobile; being mounted on four-wheeled towed trailers. Lieutenant Douglas Campbell commanded one searchlight unit. The large Moreton Bay Fig trees in the mini-park were heavily lopped to provide a clear field of fire. These trees never recovered. In 1944, the Australian Army AA and Searchlight batteries vacated the summit for rebasing elsewhere and the US Navy then occupied the gun pits and other facilities.
In 1944, the Seabees began to relocate the USN Depot to Darwin. The Depot was downgraded so that its command fell to a Lieutenant (R.L. Keeting). The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) reutilised the facilities at Mt Coot-tha for a Magnetic and Acoustic Mines Depot. Flight Lieutenant W.C.A. Worland commanded the RAAF Depot. By war's end in September 1945, t he USN had built a total of 58 Armco steel magazines in The Reserve. Three small detonator magazines (4ft x 4ft x 5ft) were also added to the Depot. It is estimated that 120,000 tons of explosives were stored at Mt Coot-tha throughout the War.
The USN maintained its control of Mt Coot-tha until 31 August 1945. The USN ceased paying rent on 17 May 1946. The Royal Australian Navy occupied the Depot from 1 September 1945 to 17 May 1946 for the specific purpose of supervising the removal of ammunition from The Reserve. By 15 September 1945, a clean-up and disposal party comprising 8 officers and 179 sailors was left at the site.
On 24 August 1948, Council lodged a compensation claim for £1,952 to the Commonwealth for the removal of concrete floor slabs plus the general restoration of after its use as a USN Depot. On 10 November 1948, Council reassessed its compensation claim and it was reduced to £1,748.5.0. Council decided to retain rather than remove the 800-yard concrete drain built by the USN for the Depot beside Simpsons Rd. The USN left behind a road network, drains, concrete culverts and footbridges still scattered throughout Mt Coot-tha Forest Park. The US had spent $300,909 (US) on the USN Mt Coot-tha Mine Depot, with Australia providing $35,162.60 (US) in Reciprocal Lend Lease aid for the project.
","BCC Heritage Unit file
USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section 1946 report
The 55th Seabees 1942-45
" 972,"Mount Isa Airfield",,"Airfield","Mount Isa-Duchess Road",Mount Isa,4825,North-West,-20.7501087188721,139.500625610352,"The Mt Isa airport of today was constructed post WW2. However, during WW2 Mt Isa did have a landing area located south of the town (DCA LG #121 revised 7/41).
","This airfield would have seen transient aircraft movement, particularly that related to services in the town for the numerous truck convoys which passed through. American Forces were prominently involved in the upgrading of the somewhat non-existent and certainly very much weather dependant Barkly Highway through to the Northern Territory and beyond.
Mt Isa was a US Army hospital (No 17 Station Hospital) site and at a crucial stage, miners in their spare time decided to excavate an UNDERGROUND hospital. They could be properly regarded as bomb proof should an enemy attack have penetrated so far. This hospital is now maintained as a museum.
","Roger and Jenny Marks - 'Queensland Airfields WW2 - Fifty Years On'.
" 975,"Underground Hospital, Mount Isa","Beth Anderson Museum and Underground Hospital","Medical facility","Joan Street, Mount Isa Base Hospital",Mount Isa,4825,North-West,-20.7315998077393,139.49446105957,"The Mount Isa Underground Hospital, constructed during March/April 1942 in the grounds of the Mount Isa District Hospital, was built by off-duty miners from Mount Isa Mines. As a wartime underground civilian hospital, built by civilians, it appears to be unique in Australia.
The underground hospital occupies an area roughly 20m square in the southeast corner of the Mount Isa Base Hospital grounds, and entry is via the Beth Anderson Museum building, which is accessed from Joan Street.
The layout of the underground hospital consists of three parallel east-west tunnels cut into shale rock, joined at their eastern ends by a 20m crosscut tunnel running north-south, forming a large reversed 'E'. A ventilating raise is located in the intersection of the crosscut and the north tunnel, and at the rear of the crosscut opposite the north and south tunnels are two recesses for cupboards. The tunnels are of varying widths, between 2.6 to 3.5m. The south tunnel is now the entrance for visitors, while the middle tunnel is now the exit. The north tunnel is still sealed.
Before restoration, little remained of the original furnishings and medical equipment. However, between 1997 and 2001 the internal fit out was reproduced, based on photographs from 1942.
","The war in the Pacific reached the shores of Australia on the 19 February 1942, when Darwin was bombed. Within days Timor fell to the Japanese, the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth was sunk during the Battle of Sunda Strait, and Broome, Derby and Wyndham in Western Australia were all bombed by Japanese aircraft on 3 March.
The threat to Mount Isa seemed very real because there appeared to be little military opposition left in the north of Australia, and the Mount Isa Copper Mine was seen as a strategic resource of great value to the Japanese. Reacting to the perceived threat of air raids, Dr Edward Ryan, Superintendent of the Mount Isa District Hospital, decided to take precautions. He contacted Vic Mann, MIM Mine Superintendent, who offered the co-operation of the company and the services of Underground Foreman Wally Onton to supervise the project. The company supplied all the equipment for the work, which was done by Mount Isa miners who volunteered their time.
The work was done during March/April 1942. The drilling, blasting and mucking out was mostly done over a two-week period, with the fitting-out taking a few more weeks. Three parallel adits were driven into the hill face and then connected to a crosscut level to form a large underground shelter with an 'E' shaped plan. A vertical raise to the hillside above helped ventilation and was also equipped with a ladder to serve as an emergency exit. The excavation was timbered using the contemporary mining methods of the day, then equipped with furnishings and fittings to perform all the functions of a hospital. There were male, female, and maternity/children's wards, a surgical theatre and a delivery room.
The finished underground hospital was about 100m from the rear of the nearest hospital building, with access along a gravelled pathway. Inside the underground hospital was framed either with sets of round native timber or sawn Oregon timber. The ceiling was sawn hardwood planks and some of the walls were lined with gidyea logs, while the floor was bare earth. The hospital was equipped with electric lights and a telephone, and buckets of water and sand, stirrup pumps and shovels were present in case of an air raid.
Dr Ryan kept the shelter fully equipped and ready for use with linen, medical equipment, dressings and pharmaceutical stocks. Once a week there was an air raid drill, and nurses and orderlies wheeled less-seriously ill patients up the steep gravel path to the underground hospital.
Mount Isa never experienced air raids, and although air raid drills ceased, the underground hospital remained in use for less urgent purposes. The shelter was used as a dormitory by the nurses on hot nights, then like most unused spaces, it gradually became a store room of hospital equipment and files. After the war, lax security allowed young children to play in the tunnels, which still contained medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies.
The shelter was closed in the 1960s, when rubble, excavated during the construction of the new four-storey hospital wing, was used to close the three entrances. The ventilation raise was also filled in. The underground hospital remained closed until the fill at the north collapsed in 1977 and at the main entrance in 1988. Each time an entrance opened there was debate in the community regarding the future of the site. In 1992 the main entrance again collapsed. The entrance was closed, but reopened in 1994. While the entrance was open and its future was being discussed in the media, a fire broke out in the southern tunnel at 1.30am on 27 August 1994. A public meeting in late 1995 showed that community support had swung strongly in favour of conserving and developing the underground hospital rather than again burying the entrance. Vandals set a second fire on Sunday 26 October 1997 causing further damage to the interior.
Restoration efforts from 1997 to 2001, based on old photographs, have returned the tunnel to its appearance during 1942. Some of the original furniture has been reinstated from storage elsewhere on the hospital grounds. Visitors to the Beth Anderson Museum can enter the underground hospital from the southern entrance, and exit from the central entrance. The northern entrance remains sealed and unreconstructed.
","Former Underground Hospital, Mount Isa, Queensland Heritage Register 601102
Medley, Margaret, ""The Underground Hospital—Mt Isa"", National Trust Queensland Journal, April 1998.
Mount Isa Underground Hospital and Beth Anderson Museum
Mathewson, Catriona. ""Hidden history reveals united spirit"".
www.news.com.au/couriermail/extras/federation/CMFedNWHospital.htm.
" 979,"Mount Marlow Foothills Defence Positions","Town Common National Park, Mt Marlow","Fortifications","Town Common National Park",Mount Marlow,4800,Townsville,-19.1818695068359,146.74250793457,"Several machine-gun positions and 'foxholes' remain near gaps in this mountain range which lead towards the beach. They were constructed with local stone and concrete and placed to repel any possible Japanese invasion.
Before Japanese strength was known, Townsville prepared for the worst and hastily devised plans for the defence of the city were drawn up. Probably the first was the Suggested Plan for Beach Defence of TOWNSVILLE. The plan, conceived as early as 29 December 1941, highlighted how ill prepared Townsville was to meet a land invasion. It anticipated a landing at any point from Ross Creek to Kissing Point, and an anti-tank unit was to be based in the Band Rotunda at Anzac Park.
","On 4 February 1942, Lieut.-General Mackay, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Home Forces, submitted a memorandum on the Defence of Australia to the Minister for the Army for consideration and direction. It was recommended that the main forces be centred in the south-east area; that Townsville should not be re-enforced, but that forces currently there not be reduced for reasons of morale. Mackay grimly pointed out that:
""It might be necessary to submit to the occupation of certain areas of Australia by the enemy, should local resistance be overcome.""
The War Cabinet took note of the memo, but also argued that Australia was a base for a counter offensive; that the return of the AIF from the Middle East was imminent; and that US land forces would be arriving soon. They also recommended that anti-aircraft defences at Townsville be increased.
By May, the Fifth Division under the command of Major-General Milford had been given the responsibility of defending Townsville. On 4 May, operation advices were forwarded to his command stating that a strike on Port Moresby was likely and could be followed by a landing on the north Queensland coast, with a progressive advance south being covered by land based aircraft. The instructions also advised that the retention of Townsville was vital, and that its denial to the enemy was desirable. Indeed, during this May emergency, troops were put on full alert, and machine - gun nests such as the ones at Mount Marlow were manned 24 hours a day. Major-General Milford's Townsville Defence Scheme was an elaborate and highly detailed plan, listing numerous defensive positions in the hills around Townsville
The Plan stated it was imperative the Fifth division avoid being bottled-up in Townsville, and when defence of the town was no longer possible it was to withdraw west to Charters Towers.
The chief of the Navy General Staff's Planning section, Captain Tomioka Sadatoshi was the principal strategist behind the Australian invasion question. He recorded in January 1942 that Australia had to be subjugated quickly; meanwhile his Army equivalents were recording in their own diaries that any invasion on Australia would be overextending the supply lines. The land invasion of Australia never went beyond the speculation and planning stages for the Japanese. In Japan's eyes, Australia was acting as a host to its enemy, but even the Army could not deny that the build-up of war materials in Australia was cause for concern.
","The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 984,"Royal Australian Air Force No. 6 Convalescent Depot",,"Medical facility","Mt Spec Road (vacinity of Smith Crescent)",Mount Spec,4816,Townsville,-19.007884979248,146.207153320312,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photographic reference
" 986,"Mount St. John Airstrip",,"Airfield","Brad Webb Drive (near)",Mount St. John,4818,Townsville,-19.2496948242188,146.737518310547,"Mount St John airstrip was a graded dirt landing ground that had been constructed prior to 1938 for the Townsville Aero Club. Separated from Garbutt aerodrome, it lay on the north-western side of Mount St John and was also referred to as Saint John Zoo airstrip, after the nearby animal park.
","The 33rd RAAF Transport Squadron was formed in Townsville on 16 February 1942 and initially used this airstrip for their twin engined DC2's. They were later based on the northern edge of the Stock route airstrip (Dalrymple Road).
A February 1942 list of airfields shows Mount St John airstrip being 4500 feet long. In May 1942, a report on camouflage works in the Townsville area revealed:
St John Zoo - 3 men are employed at this strip erecting nets for covering 2 aircraft.
After the 33rd left Mount St John, the airfield was used for the dispersal of aircraft from the main Garbutt aerodrome and for minor maintenance.
By June 1943 the airstrip is listed as 'abandoned' and having a surface of graded grass.
In the late 1990s, numerous 1940s era fuel drums and aircraft parts littered the site of the former airstrip.
In the early 2000s, an industrial estate was constructed on the former airstrip site.
","Cardell, Rodney G. Wings Around Us. Amphion Press, Brisbane, 1991.
Marks, Roger R. Queensland Airfields WW2 – 50 Years On. Self published, Brisbane, 1994.
RAAF Selection of sites for new aerodromes in Townsville area 1942, A705/1, 151/1/703 ACT.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Townsville Aero Club Aerial Pageant 1938, John Oxley Library Collection.
" 987,"Royal Australian Air Force 53 Radar Station","Mount Lookout/Radar Hill","Radar/signal station","Gulf Developmental Road",Mount Surprise,4871,North and Cape York,-18.120059967041,144.347839355469,"No.53 Radio Direction Finding (RDF) Station, Mt Surprise, was established in 1943 as one of 25 RDF stations controlled by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No.42 RDF Wing Headquarters in Townsville. Intended to provide early warning of air attack on Townsville and allied units training on the Atherton Tableland, it operated uneventfully between August 1943 and January 1945.
The remains of RAAF 53 Radar Station are scattered over Mount Lookout/Radar Hill, located just north of the Gulf Developmental Road, about 4km northeast of the township of Mount Surprise.
The collapsed 'Doover' hut and control tower minus the transmitter/receiver (radar screen) is located on a small terrace beneath a rocky knoll at the northern end of Mount Lookout. Other remnants of the installation are located on the summit and several other terraces descending to the south: two collapsed concrete bunkers with associated machine-gun mountings in pits; remnants of a wire/barbed wire fence strung on bush poles; at least 8 small 'sentry posts' constructed from local rocks; Ironwood and Ironbark trees used as telephone poles; and a number of concrete slabs. The former encampment area at the southern base of Mount Lookout has been impacted upon by a gravel extraction operation.
","In response to the Japanese military threat to Australia, a network of RDF (Radar) stations was established throughout the northern inland and coastal regions of Australia and Papua New Guinea and the islands of the western Pacific, and the RAAF constructed 25 RDF stations in northern Queensland.
RAAF 53 Radar Station, Mt Surprise, was a key link in the detection of low flying aircraft heading from the Japanese occupied Dutch East Indies in the direction of Townsville or the Atherton Tableland. Its other roles were to provide assistance to the Catalina flying boats returning to base in Townsville, following long-range patrol over Java, and in the training of radar personnel.
The equipment installed at the Australian radar stations was mostly an Australian version of the original British technology, designed for the tropics and lightweight and portable for installation in remote locations. The installation at Mt Surprise was Australian designed: an Air Warning (AW) aerial on an AW tower weighing 12 tons, with AW electronics. It is likely that the station operated AW Mk2 equipment, designed to be assembled on site from a kit provided. The kit, known as a 'Doover', comprised the control tower, a hut for radar operators and mechanic, turning mechanism and radar transmitter/receiver screen and was hauled to the summit of the hill by flying fox.
The Allied Works Council (AWC) constructed RAAF 53 Radar Station in early to mid 1943, and a camp was constructed at the southern base of Mount Lookout which consisted of mess, kitchen and toilet/washroom facilities and accommodation tents.
No.53 RDF was formed at Richmond, New South Wales on 15 May 1943 with a strength of 35 men and one officer. The unit arrived at 42 RDF Wing in Townsville on 22 July, and some personnel reached Mt Surprise on 29 July, with the remainder arriving by 14 August 1943. At this time investigations were under way to locate a suitable airstrip. The radar installation was completed on 15 August 1943.
By the end of that month, a camouflage party from the Department of Home Security was engaged at the station. During this time black-out lighting was installed, preparation of slit trenches was under-way, fixed weapons had been installed and small arms were issued to the airmen. The camp's tents were replaced by prefabricated masonite huts from late November 1943.
Station morale was maintained by the periodic visits of various padres on chaplaincy duty and officers of the 25 OBU (Operational Base Unit) who showed educational films and discussed technical courses. Fraternising with locals generally took place at the nearby Mt Surprise Hotel; at the weekly dances; and at cricket matches. Other recreational pursuits included gymnastics and swimming. Overnight fishing expeditions to Elizabeth Creek were organized through the local police station and there were shooting expeditions to the surrounding country. Rations were supplemented by the raising of young pigs captured during these expeditions.
Diary entries record the occasional disruptions to radar watch caused by maintenance or technical difficulties and the periodic visits of RAAF technicians to undertake maintenance. Other interruptions arose from the occasional storm and disruptions to the power supply and interference to the otherwise poor telephone communications leaving the station totally isolated.
From 22 May 1944 the previously continuous radar watch was reduced to four hours daily and by the end of June, operational strength was reduced to 18. On 8 January 1945 the station was placed on a 'care and maintenance basis' with reduced personnel, after which its operational strength rapidly declined as staff were deployed elsewhere. The station was relocated to Pitt Town, New South Wales on 2 June 1945.
","No.53 RDF Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602259.
Simmonds, E. (ed), 2007. More Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
National Archives of Australia. Control Symbol 590. RAAF Unit History sheets (Form A50) [Operations Record Book - Forms A50 and A51] Radar Stations 46 to 53 Jan 43 - Apr 45.
" 989,"Aitkenvale Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery",,"Fortifications","7 and 9 Bartlett Avenue",Mundingburra,4812,Townsville,-19.2941474914551,146.779403686523,"When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941, Australia's focus in the war turned to the Pacific. After the raid on Darwin in February 1942, many felt that as Townsville was the second largest city in Queensland, it could possibly be the next to experience a large scale raid by the Japanese. Townsville was already designated as a staging point, with a significant US buildup underway and the best Port facilities in North Queensland.
","Due to Townsville's distance from the front line, it could not be raided by land-based bombers that had added to the devastation in Darwin. Any air raid would be restricted to aircraft carriers or long range flying boats. Between March and July the Japanese conducted regular reconnaissance missions over Townsville using long range aircraft.
In mid 1942 the Commonwealth Government requisitioned an area of land for an Anti-Aircraft (A/A) battery at Bartlett Avenue in the community of Aitkenvale.
A 1942 memo stated that work at a Charters Towers A/A battery site had been abandoned for strategic reasons and that eight guns were to be transferred to Aitkenvale and The Strand, Townsville. Two factors decided this change. Aircraft carrier losses in the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway, meant Japan could no longer fulfill its objective of launching a carrier based raid against Townsville. Charters Towers would decline in importance as an operational base by July as the need to disperse aircraft to the west of the town was no longer necessary due to Japanese naval losses from these two engagements. By late July 1942 the 14th Kokutai based in Rabaul set out to attack Townsville with long range flying boats over five nights, with three raids actually occurring. Even after recent defeats, the Japanese were still capable of striking far from their operational bases.
Known as a 'class A gun station', Aitkenvale A/A originally contained four 3.7 inch guns, manufactured in Australia. The 3.7 inch anti-aircraft gun was developed shortly before World War Two and was the standard medium anti-aircraft gun for the British Army from 1938 to 1956. Effective range was around 9100 metres. The octagonal shaped emplacements with surrounding shell store originally housed a sandbagged entry point with more bags placed on the magazine roof. Rooms contained rifle racks and anti gas equipment, 280 rounds of ammunition for the A/A gun and doors for the perimeter entrances.
Operational by late 1942, the siting of Aitkenvale A/A was a strategic one. Its primary role was to defend nearby Hubert's Well, Townsville's power and water pumping station. By March 1943, defence minutes detail the removal of improvised bush timber revetments from the existing 40"" diameter gun pits at Aitkenvale A/A. Their replacements would consist of four emplacements, four separate shell stores and a command post. All were to be built of reinforced concrete.
Hidden from aerial view, four separate semi-underground shell stores provided cool storage for high explosive rounds. The guns were controlled by a centrally located command post. Sightings of suspicious aircraft were relayed to the post for action by Fighter Sector Headquarters which communicated with observer units.
In 1942 there were two US hospitals, an Australian hospital at Ross River, 1 Wireless Unit in French Street, Ross River airfield and numerous other vital military installations within a three kilometre radius of Aitkenvale A/A. Additionally Armstrong's Paddock, a large staging/camp area for US and Australian troops was less than a kilometre away. Aitkenvale A/A also provided cover for the Ross River airfield, as enemy aircraft typically used rivers as a navigational aid when conducting reconnaissance.
The site was manned by bothAustralian Women's Army Service (AWAS) and Volunteer Defence Corp (VDC) personnel from mid 1943, and these arrangements remained in place until late 1944 when a review of Townsville's A/A sites recommended a reduction of one third.
During the 1950s this section of Aitkenvale was absorbed into the adjacent suburb of Mundingburra.
","The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. 1998 Thesis by Ray Holyoak held at James Cook University Library North Queensland Collection.
Coast and anti-aircraft defences - Townsville and Cairns: Agendum Number - 65/1944: Date of meeting - 12 April 1944 ACT.
Scale of manning coast and AA [anti-aircraft] defences - Townsville and Cairns [1 map 'The Southern Pacific Area'. Illustrates ranges of enemy land-based bomber and fighter aircraft, November 1943 and March 1944][sub-item] MP729/6. 16/401/671 VIC.
[Camouflage - methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54 161/3/2.
[Camouflage - methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 4, Anti-Aircraft Aerial Survey [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54 161/3/4.
Site Plan AA Battery J153 collection, drawings T438A, T439A, T440A, T441A, T442A, T443 Qld.
" 998,"United States (US) Army 12th Station Hospital","Private residences","Medical facility","1-33 Chapman Street",Mysterton,4812,Townsville,-24.4289989471436,145.425689697266,"In early 1942, the gravity of the war situation and the scarcity of building materials meant that civilian homes could be requisitioned under Commonwealth Security regulations by the military forces.
On 18 March 1942, personnel from US 12th Station Hospital unit (250 beds) arrived in Townsville by rail from Brisbane and were initially camped at Armstrong's Paddock.
Officers soon chose Chapman Street in nearby Mysterton to be the location of Townsville's first US Military hospital. These fashionable and high quality homes of the early 1930s were requisitioned and the owners given notice to leave. Many chose to evacuate south due to the likelihood of air raids or invasion.
","In all 33 private homes were taken over. Alterations were made to the dwellings and tents were placed in the yards to increase bed capacity with patients first admitted on 29 March 1942. Many houses were then transformed into 'wards' and connected by raised walkways. Others became a mess hall, a recreation hut for patients, movie theatre, Officers quarters, bakery, barber and a branch post exchange.
In addition to acute medical or surgical class patients, Officers, nurses and psychiatric patients were also treated here.
In late 1942 services began to vacate the houses and into on-site prefabricated buildings on which further increased bed capacity. At normal capacity the 12th Station Hospital held 480 patients but this could increase to 930 in an emergency.
A large swamp approximately two miles long by 75 yards wide was drained in front of Chapman Street in the space of three weeks. The area had been discovered to be infested with the 'Anopheles mosquito', a malaria and disease carrying species.
It was soon realised that military hospital patients did not just include those wounded by the enemy. The hazards of mosquito born disease and 'malaria discipline' were taken seriously as it reduced operational capability. Malaria education packs of repellent and Malariol tablets were supplied to all troops to prevent infection.
Base Surgeon records noted that wool gloves were to be issued to soldiers in Townsville to prevent mosquito infection. These were to be used instead of proper mosquito gloves, until stocks of the former were exhausted. Somewhat obviously, the Surgeon noted that it would be:
doubtful that wool gloves would be used by an American soldier in a tropical climate without stern disciplinary measures.
Additional land at the corner of Mears and Chapman Streets were obtained for a portable infirmary and an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist as well as a dental clinic.
The hospital closed to new patients on 7 February 1944, with the register revealing that 23,377 patients had passed through for treatment sine March 1942.
On 28 March 1944 a severe storm damaged the hospital and roofs were blown off. On 15 April 1944, 408 patients were moved from the 12th Station Hospital to the US 44th General Hospital at Black River.
By May 1944 all prefabricated buildings at the 12th Station Hospital were demolished with owners progressively reoccupying after repairs were made at US Army expense. However the former morgue remained at the rear of one house for many years afterwards.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 2. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University]
Potts E & Potts A. Yanks Down Under 1941–1945: The American Impact on Australia. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1985.
" 1002,"St Christopher's Chapel",,"Recreation/community","St Christophers Chapel Road",Nerimbera,4701,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.4222526550293,150.603988647461,"Between mid 1942 and early 1944 the area surrounding Rockhampton sustained thousands of US soldiers who were fighting in the Pacific and this non-denominational chapel was constructed to service the religious needs of those troops. Erected within Area 'A' of Camp Nerimbera (a convalescent camp for US personnel) in 1943, by the US 542nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment, St Christopher's Chapel is located west of St Christopher's Chapel Road, to the southeast of Rockhampton.
The single storeyed chapel is open at the front (east) and to both sides, with a low stone wall around the perimeter. The chapel has a wide centre aisle with timber pews to either side and a random rubble stone wall at the west end of the chapel creates a recessed central altar with a door to either side accessing rear side rooms, which are enclosed with fibrous cement sheeting. A free-standing stone pulpit is located at the southern side of the altar. A later octagonal band rotunda is located on the northern side of the chapel. This structure has a concrete and stone base, and is constructed of timber.
","The open-air non-denominational St Christopher's Chapel at Berserker was erected in 1943 by the American 542nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment of the 2nd Engineer Special (Amphibious) Brigade. The timber and stone chapel was built on Rockhampton Harbour Board land made available to the U.S. Army by the Queensland Government. It reflects the presence of American troops in Queensland during World War II and stands as the only structure of its kind in Australia.
The chapel was constructed as part of Area ""A' of Camp Nerimbera, a convalescent camp for American troops based around Rockhampton and other U.S. units which had been sent to Rockhampton to rest after combat operations in the Pacific islands. Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was the first US division dispatched to Australia, with contingents arriving at Melbourne and Sydney during April and May 1942. After training at Puckapunyal in Victoria, the division, initially called the ""Sunset Division"" and later the ""Jungleers"", was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable (from July 1942 before heading to New Guinea from September 1942). The 32nd had been offered to Australia in return for Australia leaving its experienced 9th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) in the Middle East.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The 24th was originally the Hawaiian Division, and it retained the latter's shoulder sleeve insignia of a taro leaf. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
After arriving at Rockhampton the 41st Division commenced training in jungle warfare, and each battalion in turn was sent down to the Toorbul Point Combined Training Centre near Brisbane, for training in amphibious warfare. Units of the 41st Division fought in New Guinea during 1943 and in April 1944 the Division landed simultaneously at Hollandia (Dutch New Guinea) and Aitape (New Guinea) in Operation Reckless and Operation Persecution, in an attempt to isolate the Japanese 18th Army at Wewak. The 24th Division also landed at Hollandia as part of Operation Reckless, having prepared at Goodenough Island (New Guinea) from January 1944.
Area 'A' (1st Training Centre) of Camp Nerimbera was located between today's St Christopher's Chapel Road to the northeast and the Fitzroy River to the southwest, and between the Rockhampton-Emu Park road to the northwest, and St Christopher's Chapel Road to the southeast. Areas 'B' (1st Training Centre HQ, 101st Station Hospital), 'C' and 'D' of Camp Nerimbera were located north of the Rockhampton-Emu Park Road, between Black Creek Road and about 2kms northeast towards Mulgoodoo Road.
In 1943 several army chaplains recognised the need for a non-denominational chapel, and approached the Corps Commander for assistance. The 542nd Engineers were given the task of constructing the chapel under the supervision of the chaplains. The timber roof trusses and the stones used in construction were collected from the surrounding area. When the work was completed late in 1943, the four chaplains (two Protestant, one Roman Catholic and one Jewish Rabbi) consecrated the chapel as a place of divine worship where non-denominational services could be held.
After the US troops left in early 1944 there was a gradual deterioration in the building until Henry Beak, whose grazing property adjoined the chapel, began to take care of it in July 1947. From mid 1955 the Livingstone Shire and Rockhampton City Councils assumed responsibility for the chapel. In 1958, Master Sergeant Jack Bauman, US Army, returned to Rockhampton and attempted to raise funds for the restoration of the chapel. Jack Bauman died before funds were raised but the 41st Division in America forwarded $130 to the American 41st Division Association in Rockhampton to paint the chapel. An octagonal band rotunda was erected in honour of Master Sergeant Bauman adjacent to the chapel.
In 1959 vandals destroyed a number of articles in the chapel which precipitated the formation of a committee and the appointment of trustees from the R.S.S.A.I.L.A. and the 41st Division Association to preserve and maintain the chapel. The committee established an annual service held on the Sunday closest to 4 July, American Independence Day. During the time the committee looked after the chapel the memorial fence was erected with each donor's name engraved on a stainless steel panel. The lower gates were donated by the R.S.S.A.I.L.A. Rockhampton Branch and the main gates were a gift from Henry Beak. The signs commemorating athletic events, which are located around the sides of the chapel, are mementos collected from a sports oval which was located near the chapel and used by the troops during their occupation. These signs were placed in the chapel by Henry Beak. In 1986 the committee dissolved, at which time the R.S.L. was approached to be the new caretakers for the chapel.
","St Christopher's Chapel, Queensland Heritage Register 600660
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V – South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia. MAP 17. Rockhampton District Camp Areas - Engineer Office Base Area Command No. 2 [USASOS]
Base Section 3 A.P.O. 926 - ""A"" Area Camp Nerimbera. 1944
National Archives of Australia, MAP 146. Rockhampton District Camp Areas - Engineer Office Base Area Command No. 2 [USASOS] Base Section 3 A.P.O. 926 - Camp Nerimbera Garbage Collection, 1944.
Dunn, P. Camp Rockhampton Base Area Command No. 2 USASOS Base Section 3, APO 926, Rockhampton, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
Operations Reckless and Persecution
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Image of 41st Division shoulder patch.
Engineer Special Brigade (United States)
" 1004,"United States Navy Audio Visual Aids Training Library","CSR Refinery site and wharf/Cutters Landing Residential Apartments","Training facility","66 Lamington Avenue",New Farm,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4650897979736,153.052017211914,"The United States (US) Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane serviced all naval personnel based in the South West Pacific Area during its time of operation. One of the important tasks conducted by the Base was training for the thousands of navy personnel passed through the City. To aid the process the Navy constructed a purpose-built facility to train ships crew in a variety of tasks.
","The US Navy negotiated with the Colonial Sugar Refinery to use vacant land at the Refinery in New Farm rent-free. Buildings were erected by the Allied Works Council and US Navy personnel. The site was occupied from 13 January 1943, and included facilities for the Audio Visual Training Library #3, Night Lookout Training Centre, and the Aircraft and Surface Craft Recognition School.
The mission of the Library was to stock, distribute and service equipment used as audio-visual aids for both ships and shore-based units, and to organise training programs in the South West Pacific Area. The Library issued up to 450 training films a month. It was staffed by two officers and 10 enlisted men.
The Night Lookout Training Centre, and the Aircraft and Surface Craft Recognition School appear to have been part of the Anti-Submarine Warfare School that operated in a 30′ x 50′ Fibrolite building. The School provided training in anit-submarine attack procedures and doctrine for ships officers and crews arriving in Brisbane. The unit could train six ships crew per day.
When then facility was closed down from 18 January 1946, the site was used for a short time by the USN Fleet Post Office and DARA Group until occupied by the Royal Navy.
","1946 BCC Aerial photography
USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report - General, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane (1946)
BCC Heritage Unit files
" 1005,"United States Naval Base (134 Receiving Station)","New Farm Park","Military camp","137 Sydney Street",New Farm,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4696712493896,153.051956176758,"The United States Navy (USN) requisitioned New Farm Park in September 1942 for development into the major USN accommodation base in Brisbane. The New Farm Receiving Station could house 500 enlisted men and smaller numbers of unmarried officers. It also provided messing, recreation, immediate medical and postal facilities for the sailors. The USN closed the Station in January 1946, about five months after War's end. The Australian Government then leased the base to the Dutch forces fighting against the Republic of Indonesia.
","The arrival in Brisbane of United States Navy warships in April 1942 saw the establishment of the New Farm submarine base. Initially, USN personnel numbers (252) were small and accommodated in hotels or boarding houses. By June, USN facilities had expanded and Brisbane was designated USN Base 143. With increasing numbers of sailors to house, the USN leased Brisbane City Council's New Farm Park and riverfront land belonging to the Colonial Sugar Refining Company on 14 September 1942. The leases were arranged through the Australian Army Hiring Service offices at Victoria Barracks.
The site was developed into the USN New Farm Receiving Station. It included Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ), a Dispensary and an Armed Guard Pool. The Receiving Station also had two barracks, a Mess Hall (seating 50) and Galley (kitchen), a laundry, an enlisted men's recreation room, a theatre, Ship's Store, a brig (jail), a seabag storage building, a 2-chair barber shop, a subsidiary post office, an administration building, a wet (alcohol) canteen and a Chaplain's Office. The USN Dispensary was a 25-bed unit, with a surgery, medical wards, dental facilities and a prosthetic laboratory. The Armed Guard Pool was built within the Receiving Station. The Station serviced both USN personnel allotted to Base 134 plus sailors who were transiting through Brisbane.
Construction was undertaken under the supervision of the Seabees naval construction battalion that had a camp at Eagle Farm. The cost of the two 250-bed barracks, the Mess Hall and Galley and Recreation Room was £23,529.19.0 (Australian). The BOQ was a (88 feet, 6inche by 53 feet, 6 inch) wood frame building with asbestos siding and roofs and provided with electric lighting, plumbing and hot water system. It cost £10,583.7.3. The Mess Hall was equipped with an electrically heated food conveyor, locally acquired food pots, meat dish and hot and cold cupboards. It cost £164.0.0. The two-storey, timber framed Naval Dispensary comprised a Sick Quarters and medical store. It cost £7057.1.5. The USN Laundry included a boiler house and cost £3022.10.4. The administration building, Canteen, brig, seabag storage building, barber shop and sub-post office cost a total of £5658.19.8. All of these buildings were wood framed with shiplap siding and had asbestos cement roofs. The Naval Chaplain's Office cost £175.0.0.
A high fence that was backed by floodlights and a public address (PA) system (total cost £502.18.8) surrounded New Farm Park. The New Farm USN Receiving station was given concrete stormwater drains (cost £564.9.11). A 1,000-gallon capacity water softener was installed (cost £239.0.0). An incinerator for trash removal was also built (cost £143.0.0). Locally purchased furnishings (1,068 items) for the entire Station cost £13.881.13.3. The entire construction program cost £13.881.13.3 from USN Funds and £51940.6.3 in Reciprocal Aid.
The BOQ soon could not cope with the numbers of USN officers requiring accommodation in Brisbane. On 9 February 1943, another BOQ was established around the Waterloo Hotel in nearby Newstead. In Brisbane' quarters and eating facilities were eventually provided for a Base 134 personnel peak of 6,464 officers and men. The peak was 685 officers on 1 June 1944 and 5,862 enlisted men on 1 July 1944. When the commanders of the 7th Fleet and 7th Fleet Service Force transferred headquarters to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea, Base 134 and other USN Australian bases were placed under the Services Force 7th Fleet, Subordinate Command, Australia, in Brisbane. This change occurred around 25 October 1944. Commander USN Forces, Australia-New Guinea (HQ was also in Brisbane) succeeded it on 15 August 1945.
In March 1945, an order was sent to all USN Australian bases to reduce activities towards a final closure of the bases. The New Farm Receiving Station closed on 12 January 1946.The Commonwealth immediately leased the facilities to the Netherlands East Indies Air Force then engaged in operations against the Indonesian Independence Movement. It had been planned to decommission Base 134 on 1 March 1946 but this was brought forward to 14 January 1946.
","USN Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report - General, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, (1946).
Brisbane City Council Lists.
" 1006,"United States Navy (USN) Submarine Base and Repair Unit","New Farm Wharf and Wool Stores","Naval/port facility","Macquarie Street",New Farm,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4593753814697,153.050155639648,"The New Farm submarine base was the major US Navy facility to be established on Australia's east coast. It repaired, replenished and degaussed (anti-mine) submarines. It operated from April 1942 to March 1945. In April 1945, the base was allotted to the British Pacific Fleet. A total of 59 submarines and 3 submarine tenders were based, at various times, at the base. Among the famous people to visit the base were US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (13 September 1943), US Vice Admiral Arthur S. 'Chips' Carpender and comedian Joe E. Brown (i.e. the film Some Like It Hot).
","At the Pacific War's advent in December 1941,US Submarine Squadron 5 was patrolling the Atlantic. It was ordered to the Panama Canal where it met the submarine tender USS Griffith on 5 February 1942. On 28 February, the force was ordered to Brisbane and passed through the canal into the Pacific on 5 March. Griffith and six old (1920s), short-range S-Class submarines (designated Division 53) berthed at New Farm Wharf on 15 April 1942. Joining them that day was a seventh S-boat and the gunboat USS Tulsa. They were reinforced on 20 April by another two S-boats and on 23 April by two more S-boats. These five submarines had transferred from Fremantle. Griffith and her 10 submarines were the nucleus of Brisbane's new submarine base.
Preparation for this base began on 29 March, when the Australian Naval Board wrote to Brisbane's District Naval Officer (DNO) requesting facilities for US submarines. Initially, the Pinkenba Wharf was considered but it was deemed too far away from Brisbane's supply railheads of Roma Street and South Brisbane Stations plus the repair facilities of the South Brisbane Dry Dock. On 14 April 1942, the Australian Army Hirings Service leased New Farm Wharf from the Brisbane Stevedoring Company. The wharf was used for wool storage and shipping. Its four sheds and mobile crane were immediately requisitioned. Initially, the base comprised a small Naval Supply depot office, a Submarine Repair Unit office and periscope/submarine parts repair shops. Limited storage space was available in the existing wool sheds. Quarters were provided for 252 sailors. The first base commander was Captain Ralph Waldo Christie USN, who had 27 years experience as a submariner and led Submarine Squadron 5. He put his headquarters on Griffith.
Christie's submarines were the most powerful strike force of the small naval force allotted to General MacArthur and his South-West Pacific Area (SWPA) naval commander US Admiral Leary. Leary designated the Brisbane-based submarines as Task Force 42.1. After the formation of 'MacArthur's Navy' into the US 7th Fleet on 15 March 1943, the submarines based on Australia's east coast were redesignated Task Force 72. On 15 November 1944, it was absorbed into Task Force 71 that controlled all 7th Fleet submarines. The Brisbane-based submarines became Task Group 71.9.
The first submarine patrol launched from the New Farm Base was by S-47 on 22 April. By the end of the month, four submarines were positioned to participate in the Battle of the Coral Sea (4-8 May). On 27 August, a modern Sago Class submarine reached Brisbane. Two more arrived by the end of the month. On 9 November, the tender Fulton replaced Griffith, which returned to the USA. The tender Sperry reached Brisbane on 13 November, returning to Pearl Harbour on 17 January 1943. The submariners provided the traditional USN Christmas Party for disadvantaged children aboard Fulton in December 1942. Their tradition of hosting a party on the night before leaving on patrol often caused friction with the Queensland police due to the strict state liquor laws.
By December 1942, all the S-boats had left Brisbane to be replaced by new, long-range submarines. Captain James Fife Jr. succeeded Christie as base commander on 22 December 1942. In late 1943, Milne Bay in Papua became an advanced submarine base. Fulton transferred there from Brisbane on 23 October. The New Farm base was relegated to rear echelon support but it still played an important role as it could undertake more substantial repairs than the advanced base in Papua. Fife left Brisbane on 2 December 1943. Captain W.N. Downes took command at New Farm. Captain E.H. Bryant succeeded him on 12 February 1944. The submarines were rotated so that after completing the required number of patrols, they were sent to Pearl Harbour and replaced with other submarines. Relief crews were lodged at New Farm.
The Submarine Repair Unit operated from the tenders and from New Farm Wharf. New floors and partitions altered the customs office and 4 sheds. Barracks, a Mess, a laundry and a dispensary were crammed onto the site, with buildings connected by elevated footbridges. A 12-ton crane (replacing the first crane) and new piers improved the wharf. Eight submarines could be berthed at New Farm, though the repair capacity was for 3 to 7 submarines. All submarine stores and torpedoes sent from the USA were delivered to New Farm before being despatched elsewhere (e.g. the USN Fremantle submarine base).
Eventually Base 134 facilities spread across Brisbane were provided for a shore-based personnel peak of 6,464 sailors. The peak for officers was 685 on 1 June, 1944 and 5,862 for enlisted men on 1 July, 1944. Transfer of USN submarine facilities to Subic Bay in the Philippines commenced in early 1945, with the last submarine leaving on 27 January. The Submarine Repair Unit ceased operations in Brisbane on 20 April 1945 but the USN Brisbane Base 134 remained to undertake minor work.
The Royal Navy assumed control of the New Farm repair facilities on 20 April 1945. The tender HMS Bonaventure with 6 midget submarines (X-1 to X-6) arrived on 27 April. The British retained use of the New Farm base until December 1945. In 1946, the US Navy planned to close the remaining Base 134 facilities on 1 March but decommissioning advanced to 14 January.
During 1942-45, 11 S-boats, 24 Gato Class, 8 Sargo Class, 4 Gar Class, 3 Salmon Class, 3 Tambor Class, 2 Balao Class, 2 Narwhal Class, 1 Argonaut Class and 1 Porpoise Class submarines were allotted to this base. Six boats were lost: Amberjack, Darter, Grampus, Seawolf, Triton and Argonaut. The others were S-37, S-38, S-39, S-40, S-41, S-42, S-43, S-44, S-46, S-47, Gato, Albacore, Bashaw, Blackfish, Bluegill, Bream, Cero, Dace, Drum, Flounder, Flying Fish, Greenling, Grouper, Growler, Guardfish, Peto, Pompom, Raton, Ray, Scamp, Silversides, Wahoo, Sargo, Saury, Sculpin, Sailfish, Seadragon, Spearfish, Swordfish, Gar, Grayback, Gudgeon, Snapper, Stingray, Sturgeon, Trout, Tuna, Balao, Guavina, Narwhal, Nautilus and Porpoise.
","David Jones and Peter Nunan, U.S. Subs Down Under,(Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2005).
Peter Nunan, Queensland Maritime Museum - Collection of material copied from the US Naval Archives.
Anthony J. Watts, Allied Submarines - WW2 Fact Files, (London: MacDonald and Jane's, 1977).
US Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report -General (1946).
US Navy, Base Report - Base: Brisbane, pp. 33-38.
At its peak the US Navy had almost 6500 personnel stationed in Brisbane during 1944.
Of these 685 were commissioned officers.
Brisbane offered few entertainment venues for visiting or stationed officers, and a decision was made by the Commander Service Force, Seventh Fleet to construct an Officers Mess.
","Through the Australian Army Hiring Service, the USN acquired vacant riverside land from the Brisbane City Council, taking possession on 4 November 1943. Due to its low-lying nature the land could not be built on and a considerable amount of fill was placed by the riverside to enable a graded building pad. Two 40′ x 100′ Stran Steel buildings were erected on the site, and joined by a timber-frame foyer.
The Mess was staffed by three US Navy personnel and 17 civilians. Facilities included two 35mm film projectors and a projection booth. The site was tastefully landscaped and quickly became a wartime Brisbane showplace. The US Navy ceased activities at the property on 23 June 1945.
","USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report - General, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, (1946).
BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 1012,"Public Bus Shelter","Bank Street (cnr Enoggera Terrace)","Civil defence facility","Bank Street (cnr Enoggera Terrace)",Newmarket,4051,Brisbane City,-27.4319343566894,153.0048828125,,,"BCC list
" 1014,"Igloo (Three at post 1945 location)","moved to site post 1945","Supply facility","5 Stratton Street",Newstead,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4524459838867,153.041885375977,,, 1017,"RAN Recruiting Depot and victualling store (HMAS Moreton)","HMAS Penguin IV (1939-40)/HMAS Brisbane (1940–42)","Naval/port facility","195 Merthyr Road",New Farm,4005,Brisbane City,-27.4631481170654,153.050262451172,"For the early part of WWII existing buildings had been requisitioned to hold supplies for vessels operated from Brisbane by the Royal Australian Navy. In 1944 a purpose built Victualling Store was constructed at New Farm.
","The two-story fibro-clad Naval Victualling Store built on the Brisbane River had approximately 6 acres (27360 sq ft) of floor space. The building was considered to be of an exemplary design, with a brick fireproof wall dividing the structure and and equipped with fireproof sliding doors and a sprinkler system.
A rail siding and loading platform with an electric crane enabled off-loading onto the concrete lower floor. The upper floor was timber on steel joists with concrete pillars, a departure from usual construction techniques in Brisbane. The first floor also held staff amenities including canteens and dining rooms and locker rooms. An electrically operated goods conveyor operated between floors.
The Stores had two wharves, the larger 326′ long and 50′ deep joining an inner wharf 320′ x 26′ with dock facilities to unload lighters or barges.
After the War the Stores formed the basis of HMAS Moreton and the site was an active RAN establishment until the mid-1990s.
","NAA Series BP262/2, 9127 PART 3 Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report on activities of AWC to June 1944, barcode 438605.
NAA Series BP262/2, 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland and Northern Territory, barcode 1830009
" 1019,"Naval Supply Depot, USN Shipping Office","Newstead Wharf","Naval/port facility","35 Macquarie Street",Newstead,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4606151580811,153.050384521484,"The US Naval Supply Depot was initially established at New Farm wharf where the Submarine Repair Unit was located. Later as the Naval Base grew it became necessary to move the Naval Supply Depot to Newstead Wharf where the depot could expand as requirements demanded.
","Newstead wharf was acquired by the US Navy through the Australian Army Hiring Service, and occupied from 7 December 1942. Additional facilities for the Navy were approved the Commander US Seventh Fleet and Commander Service Force Seventh Fleet. These included the Naval Supply Depot, other storage facilities, the Registered Publications Issuing Office, and the Spare Parts Distribution Centre. The Material Recovery Unit also occupied part of the Spare Parts Distribution buildings.
The US Navy vacated Newstead Wharf facilities on 5 September 1945, and it was re-occupied by its owners.
","BBC Citation and Files
" 1024,"United States Navy Bachelor Officers Quarters, Waterloo Annexe","Waterloo Hotel","Military accommodation","4 Commercial Road",Newstead,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4525394439697,153.041213989258,"The Waterloo Hotel was a modern, inner-city hotel that was requisitioned in February 1943 by the US Navy. The USN also leased a neighbouring block of land for the purposes of constructing an accommodation barracks for USN officers either attached to units in Brisbane, or temporarily staying in Queensland's capital. The entire site was known as the USN Bachelor Officers Quarters, Waterloo Annex and it could house about 150 officers. The USN closed the Annexe in October 1945.
","The Waterloo Hotel was constructed at the busy intersection of Commercial Road and Ann Street leading into Fortitude Valley in 1937. In April 1942, when the US Navy first established a permanent base in Brisbane, the small number of navy personnel requiring accommodation caused few problems. The billeting of USN officers and enlisted men was dealt with by leasing rooms in many of the CBD or nearby suburb's hotels and guest houses/hostels, or by leasing unoccupied private residences. But by the end of 1942, with the expansion of the USN submarine base and associated facilities (designated USN Base 134), it became increasingly difficult to find accommodation for the new USN arrivals.
On 9 February 1943, the USN leased the Waterloo Hotel directly from the hotel's owners and leased an adjoining vacant block of land through the Australian Army Hiring Service. Not only was the entire hotel building to be used as officers' quarters but also new buildings were to be constructed beside the pub. The Seabee construction battalion, based close-by at Eagle Farm, oversaw the construction process. A two-story, wood frame building measuring 115ft and 2inches by 91ft was erected beside the hotel. This barracks could house 140 USN officers. A boiler house (10ft x 10ft) containing a coal-fired boiler, a water tank, three weatherboard personal gear lockers (6ft x 7ft) mounted on concrete floors were also built. The site was secured by the erection of 7ft high fence that covered a 150ft site boundary. The USN requisitioned electric lighting facilities, lavatory equipment, hot water system and the necessary internal engineering services from local suppliers. The total cost of the construction works was $49,130.16 (US). A further $3,977 (US) was spent on purchasing furnishings for the officers' quarters.
The site was designated the USN Bachelor Officers Quarters, Waterloo Annex. The Waterloo Hotel, while providing a limited amount of officers' accommodation, was primarily used, because of its existing kitchen facilities as the USN officers' mess for the Annexe. Supplies to the Annexe were drawn from the local Base of Quartermaster (BOQ) stores. Only unmarried officers, either those who were based in Brisbane or were in transit through the city, were accommodated in the Waterloo Annexe.
The USN cancelled its lease on the Annexe site on 15 October 1945. This was just a month after the end of the war. The Waterloo Hotel returned to its owners while the remainder of the Annexe was given to the Commonwealth via its Australian Army Hiring Service. A Welfare Organisation immediately occupied the Annexe for use as a temporary home for the dependants of Australian servicemen.
","US Navy, Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report - General, (1946).
" 1027,"Inverleigh Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Aerodrome","Inverleigh Airfield","Airfield","Inverleigh Station, Normanton€“Burketown Road",Normanton,4890,North-West,-18.0044097900391,140.535629272461,"Owing to the unserviceability of Augustus Downs landing ground after rain, the RAAF was faced with the immediate necessity of providing an all-weather strip in the Gulf country of up to 3000 yards (3280 metres) that could be constructed with minimum effort within a short period. Inverleigh cattle station, south-east of Normanton, was already equipped with a small strip from pre-war days, used by Airlines of Australia and other local operators. The civil strip was located on a well-drained gravel rise without overburden, west of the station homestead on L Creek. All that was necessary was to bring in earth moving equipment to extend the strip, provide a cross runway and form taxiways and dispersal bays. It was proposed to establish Inverleigh as the main operational base in the region.
Today Inverleigh airfield is unchanged in layout from the wartime years. Although the buildings-decorated and camouflaged in 1943 by Eric Jolliffe, then Australia's favourite cartoonist-have long since been removed or consumed by white ants, the airfield remains in use as the station strip and it's still possible to follow the taxiways and identify the wartime wind sock post, duty pilot tower footings and machine gun pits at the intersection of the runways.
","Extension of the Inverleigh station strip was underway by early 1943 before the wet season intervened. In March 1943 a small party transferred from the RAAF 29 Operational Base Unit detachment at Augustus Downs, but it was not until early July that 29 OBU commenced full operations at Inverleigh and Augustus Downs was vacated.
Inverleigh was one of several north Queensland advanced operational bases at which splinter-proof aircraft dispersal bays were planned. Bulldozer excavation of at least 12 large earth-mounded aircraft pens was well advanced by July 1943 when all further work was cancelled. After a letter from General Douglas MacArthur to Prime Minister John Curtin, RAAF North Eastern Area Command issued a directive that 'all construction forces now at Inverleigh be dispatched as rapidly as possible to Higgins and Horn Island to expedite those dromes.' Thereafter Inverleigh ceased to play a significant role in Allied air operations in north Queensland during World War II. The flying doctor service and a civil air mail service received permission to use the strip in August 1943. The airfield has been licensed to Inverleigh pastoral station since 1945.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1028,"Normanton Airfield",,"Airfield","Burke Development Road",Normanton,4890,North-West,-17.6935043334961,141.057266235352,"The civil landing area (DCA LG # 148 revised 4/41) just south of the town and adjacent the isolated railway line to Croydon was sufficient for incidental RAAF communications traffic that used it. Plans were prepared and commenced in 1944 for properly constructed runways and that work further upgraded is the Normanton Airport of today.
","This page is being developed further. Contact the project on heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au to assist.
","Roger and Jenny Marks - 'Queensland Airfields WW2 - 50 Years on'
" 1032,"Dummy gun positions","Castle Hill","Civil defence facility","Upper Gregory Street",North Ward,4810,Townsville,-19.2575092315674,146.806350708008,"In 1946 the remains of two dummy anti aircraft gun positions were located in the vicinity of upper Gregory Street on the slopes of Castle Hill. These consisted of sandbagged positions, partially covered with camouflage netting. Tree trunks or telephone poles were mounted to resemble anti aircraft guns.
","After the fall of Lae and Salamaua to enemy forces, daylight reconnaissance by Japanese long range aircraft occurred several times between March and late July 1942 when Townsville experienced its first air raids. On at least two occasions, four engined Kawanishi 'Mavis' flying boats were fired on by anti-aircraft guns in broad daylight prior to the night raids. The aircraft flew over Townsville at midday as the absence of sun shadows to distort building outlines enabled clearer images of base installations and the port facilities. These intelligence gathering missions would be used to pinpoint bombing targets in the July 1942 air raids.
Efforts were taken by the authorities to camouflage sections of Townsville beyond the standard practice of painting the roofs of buildings in camouflage or non-reflective paint. By May 1942 a section of Garbutt air base was painted to resemble an extension of the Garbutt suburb. Nearby Belgian Gardens cemetery gained an extension with false 'grave' sections extending over the base area. A misleading indication of fighter strength in the city was created with the construction of full size balsa wood and canvas 'fighters' scattered around the aerodrome.
At a ceiling height of some 25 000 feet, Japanese reconnaissance aircraft may also have gained a false impression of Townsville's anti-aircraft gun numbers.
","Interview with R Holyoak Snr, July 2010.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/2.
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage, Anti Aircraft Guns and Machine Gun Posts, 15 April 1942, AWM 54, 161/3/27.
" 1038,"Queens Park Stockade (United States)","800th United States Military Police Battalion","Internment/POW facility","Sporting fields near Queens park",North Ward,4810,Townsville,-19.2506160736084,146.807418823242,"A stockade was a jail or detention facility for military prisoners. The Queens Park stockade was managed by the United States 800th Military Police Battalion and was located between the Sports Reserve and Queens Gardens in North Ward. This stockade was for less serious offences.
Headquarters for the 800th Military Police were at Beak House on the corner of Flinders and Stokes Streets.
","Another stockade at Garbutt held military prisoners that were awaiting execution, court martial or were considered to be violent. In 1942, Colonel Patterson, the US Provost Marshal was given approval to use the Stewart Creek civilian jail as an auxiliary to the Garbutt stockade. Another stockade for Australian military prisoners was at Kissing Point. This stockade also held Japanese prisoners of war briefly whist in transit to southern internment camps.
In August 1943 plans were made to show the Australian Public a real American Football game (Gridiron). The 800th MP Battalion and 167th Field Artillery volunteered as teams and the games staged at the nearby North Ward Sports Reserve. A first for Townsville, the event attracted ten thousand people and was complete with a cheering section and team mascots.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Volume 3 Base Finance. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Stephenson, John R. Nor Iron Bars A Cage, Boolarong Publications, Ascot, 1982.
Base Two Restricted Telephone Book, July 1943. Author's collection.
""The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1042,"United States Naval (USN) Stores Depot","Northgate Warehouses T1-T14","Naval/port facility","219-249 Toombul Road, 343 and 345 Earnshaw Road, 15 and 21 Edgar Street, 34 and 60 Allworth Street",Northgate,4013,Brisbane City,-27.394323348999,153.072616577148,"In March 1942, the United States (US) naval commander in Australia, Admiral Leary divided his submarine force between Fremantle and Brisbane. This allowed attacks on Japanese shipping in the Netherlands East Indies or New Guinea and the Philippines. Brisbane developed into a major US submarine base. Initially it had 11 submarines (Task Group 42.1) commanded by Captain Ralph W. Christie.
On 15 February 1943, the US 7th Fleet ('MacArthur's Navy') was formed and based in Australia. Brisbane's submarines were re-designated a task force TF.73. The Northgate Stores Depot was built in response to this expansion. It was one of the two major USN depots in Brisbane. It held naval stores except ordnance, which was kept at the United States Navy (USN) Mt. Cootha Depot.
The Northgate Depot was built in 1943 and comprised 19 USN warehouses or other buildings. It was bounded by Toombul and North Coast (now Melton) Roads, Edgar and Allworth Streets. In 1944, the Australian Government purchased 11 acres, 2 roods and 32 perches of depot land. The USN left the depot in 1946. The Australian Army used the depot until 1949. Thereafter, it was designated for private industry.
","The site chosen was on undeveloped land from the unsold Hala Estate (c1924). Many flood-prone subdivisions remained undeveloped. Because of rate arrears, the Brisbane City Council (BCC) controlled much of the Estate's land by 1942.
Under the National Security Regulations, the Commonwealth Government appropriated the land for lease to the USN in 1943. The USN chose the site as it was close to Northgate Station, the adjoining Railway Maintenance Workshops and the Holland & Mackenzie Foundry. These two factories could be utilised to repair or manufacture some spare parts required by the USN. Being close to Nudgee Road, the site had a direct access route to the USN facilities at Brett's Wharf, Hamilton.
One large warehouse T9 and 11 smaller warehouses (T1-T8 & T10-T12), a battery storage shed, a motor room and a loading ramp were constructed. Three roadways (one became Landy Street) were created to allow access to the depot's interior. The USN placed power/light poles, floodlights, generators, drains and water mains throughout the site. To aid security, Fraser Road was closed to public access.
The depot was operational by 24 June 1943 and commanded by the US 7th Fleet's Public Works Officer Lieutenant A.M. Hurth. Poor drainage led to the purchase a block in Allworth Street on 8 July 1943. US Lieutenant-Commander F.A. Kinzie ordered a drain dug from this land to the swampy Northgate Public Reserve. In June 1944, further land ('A' Area) was purchased along Fraser Road to accommodate administration buildings (T16 & T18) and a laundry (T17). By December 1944, warehouse T13 with an adjoining office (T13A) were built along Toombul Road.
In 1944, the Commonwealth wanted to buy the site. The BCC was opposed as the land was zoned for residential not industrial use. There were price disagreements with the landowners - BCC, Harry Raff, Louise Mothersole, Margaret Clarke. Using its Land Acquisitions Act's compulsory provisions, the Commonwealth overrode objections and authorised a £1640 purchase on 30 December 1944, with the Americans billed £2720 for the all costs involved.
The USN began vacating the warehouses on 26 November 1945. T4 was finally handed-over to the Australian Army on 5 November 1946. Some buildings became Commonwealth Disposals Commission kit stores and Peace Offices. T9 was the Northern Command Medical and Veterinary Stores from November 1945 to 15 July 1949.
Post-war, warehouses were converted into factories or workshops for Kraft Walker Cheese, Bergers Paints, GMH, Athol Hedges coachbuilders and the Queensland Tobacco Growers Co-operative.
","Jonathan Ford, ""Location 7: NORTHGATE US NAVY STORES"", Banyo - Nudgee Heritage Trail, (Brisbane: Bangee Festival Committee, 2000). USN Bureau of Yards & Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report - General, US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, (1946).
" 1043,"Allied Works Council (AWC) quarry","Royal Navy Borrow Pit","Supply facility","45 Queens Road",Nudgee,4014,Brisbane City,-27.379207611084,153.080093383789,"World War Two saw a number of military quarries open in the Nudgee District. In early 1942, the US Army quarried a site at left-hand corner of Tufnell and Northgate (now Earnshaw) Roads, in preparation for the site to develop into its Brisbane General Depot (Banyo). The earth was taken to Eagle Farm and used as landfill for the flood-prone airfield. This quarry closed in March 1942.
During 1943-44, another US Army quarry was dug off Nudgee Road on land that was part of J.S. Childs Vineyards (now Nudgee Golf Course).
In 1944, and again in 1945, a third quarry operated from Queens Road on land belonging to St Vincent's Orphanage. The quarry was used by the Allied Works Council (AWC) in 1944 and, then, by the Royal Navy in 1945.
","In 1944, the AWC of the Commonwealth Government leased a site that was a component of St. Vincent's Orphanage at Nudgee. The Roman Catholic Church had established the orphanage in the 1860s. The Sisters of Mercy order that ran the home for boys and girls agreed to allow the AWC to excavate some of its fertile cropland for fill. The site chosen was near the corner of St Vincent's Road and Queens Road.
Quarrying operations commenced on 25 February 1944. A new, protective fence was built surrounding the pit site and three loading ramps were constructive for the use of dump trucks. As the earth that was dug from the site, was transported to Eagle Farm to complete the east/west runway for the United States Army Air Force.
The Church had initially requested a lease payment of £5.4.2 per month. But the AWC finally agreed to pay £62.10.0 per annum. The lease was settled on 18 March 1944. The AWC completed the earth removal, using ten trucks, by November 1944 and the quarry was closed. The nuns were left with a hole in the ground and they estimated that they had lost 18 acres of good farm soil that was needed to grow crops for the orphanage. The Archbishop of Brisbane James Duhig protested to the AWC on the nun's behalf but to no avail.
In 1945, the quarry re-opened. The British Pacific Fleet was formed on 22 November 1944 with Brisbane designated as an Advanced Fleet Base. The Royal Navy leased the quarry as a Borrow Pit. The quarry provide fill for use in the naval boom defences at Pinkenba and on Shirley's Wharf and Berth 'E' at Hamilton. The Royal Navy had 119,000 cubic yards of soil removed from the Nudgee quarry.
During 1945-46, the Royal Australian Air Force wanted to buy the quarry. The Church requested £1191 but the RAAF offered £1000 and the sale fell through. The Commonwealth Government purchased the site from the Church on 14 August 1947. The Brisbane City Council bought the old quarry on 27 November 1963.
","Banyo-Nudgee Heritage Trail
history = NULLJonathan Ford, ''Location 7: NORTHGATE US NAVY STORES"", Banyo - Nudgee Heritage Trail, (Brisbane: Bangee Festival Committee, 2000)
" 1045,"United States Army warehouses",,"Supply facility","40 Railway Street and 61 Railway Parade",Nudgee,4014,Brisbane City,-27.3688812255859,153.081481933594,"On 20 July 1942, US General Douglas MacArthur transferred his Australian headquarters (HQ) of the South-West Pacific (SWPA) command from Melbourne to Brisbane. Brisbane was chosen as it possessed major port facilities; was a rail hub; and was closer to the frontline in Papua and New Guinea. Thus Brisbane became a major Allied base during the Pacific War, of equal significance to Pearl Harbour (Central and Northern Pacific commands HQ) and Bombay (South-East Asia command HQ).
These twin warehouses are examples of the military infrastructure that the American forces constructed in Brisbane so as to develop it as an important logistical base and the SWPA headquarters.
","Construction of some US Army warehouses at Nudgee was proposed in August 1943. The site chosen was at the lower end of St Achs Street where it bordered the rail line to Sandgate. The Queensland Government's Department of Works looked to purchasing a site in Nudgee to build military storage facilities close to Brisbane's suburban rail network. The site chosen was the St Achs Street market garden that was owned by Archibald Goonchee. Goonchee was quite dissatisfied as the Works Department paid him £175 for the lease of this block of land that he had paid £375 for in 1941.
By October 1943, two warehouses and an accompanying rail siding were built. One warehouse was labelled the 'X' Building with the other known as the 'Y' Building. Each warehouse was 262 feet long by 123 feet wide and a 44-foot roadway gave truck access to the site via St Achs Street. While the warehouses were aligned so that their entrances faced Railway Street, this was not chosen for the placement of the roadway that allowed site access. This was because Railway Parade was low-lying and prone to flooding. Having constructed the roadway, the Brisbane City Council sold it to the US Army for £50.
After the US forces began moving to their new base at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea from May 1944, Australian and other military forces used the warehouses. By 10 April 1946, it was holding medical stores for the Dutch forces then engaged in Indonesia.
On 19 July 1945, before war's end, the Commonwealth bought the warehouses site from its new owner Guy Sue Tin. The finalisation of the sale dragged on for nearly four years. While still nominally the owner, Tin wanted to earn income from the warehouses. He hoped to lease the 'X' Building to Danesi Brothers and the 'Y' Building to furniture manufacturers Sue Brothers by the end of 1946. The leases eventually went to Parkinson Steel ('X' Building) and S & G Furniture ('Y' Building). Tin was finally paid £175 in 1949 for his property.
","BCC Heritage Citation.
National Archives of Australia.
" 1051,"United States Army Petroleum and Oil Store Depot","United States Base Section 3 Oil and Fuel Store","Supply facility","2 Amelia Street",Nundah,4012,Greater Brisbane,-27.4050483703613,153.070007324219,"On 20 July 1942, US General Douglas MacArthur transferred his Australian headquarters (HQ) of the South-West Pacific Area (SWPA) command from Melbourne to Brisbane. Brisbane was chosen as it possessed major port facilities; was a rail hub; and was closer to the frontline in Papua and New Guinea. Thus Brisbane became a major Allied base during the Pacific War, of equal significance to Pearl Harbour (Central and Northern Pacific commands HQ) and Bombay (South-East Asia command HQ).
This petroleum and oil store was an example of the military infrastructure that the American forces constructed in Brisbane so as to develop it as an important logistical base and as the SWPA headquarters.
","A US Army petroleum and oil storage complex was proposed for Nundah due to its close proximity to both the US air base at Eagle Farm and the railway that connected to north Queensland. As the complex was to store highly inflammable material, a site was chosen at the end of Amelia Street because it was surrounded on three sides by swampland. This would limit the spread of any possible fires to any neighbouring houses. The site was also fairly isolated as the nearest residences were six houses located further along Franklin Street.
Mr. T.B. Payne of the Queensland Government's Surveyor & Property Office completed building plans and a site survey for the petroleum depot on 6 February 1943. A United States building inspector, Mr. Wagner, oversaw the planning of the site together with Payne.
The Commonwealth Government's Department of the Interior undertook construction. The site was operated by the US 202nd Signal Depot Company led by Major Worden.
The US Army Petroleum Store comprised 15 structures. The central warehouse (the pre-fabricated igloo-style Building 1) was 104 feet long and 200 feet wide (31.7 m by 60.9 m) and had a concrete floor. Completing the complex were a small office building, five guard huts, two checkers' huts, one general-purpose hut, two male latrines, one female latrine, one dressing shed and a bathhouse. The main entrance to the Petroleum Store was via Nudgee Road that ran straight to Eagle Farm.
By mid-1944, MacArthur's US forces were moving their support base from Brisbane to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea. So a topographical site plan was made of the site on 19 June 1944, in preparation for its hand over to the Australian Government.
","National Archives of Australia
US Army Telephone Directory October 1943.
" 1055,"Lysaght Hangars, Army Aviation Centre Oakey","Oakey Airfield","Supply facility","Swartz Drive",Oakey,4401,Darling Downs,-27.4147205352783,151.736312866211,"Seven Lysaght hangars in total form a group adjacent to the Bellman hangar. They are relatively intact and have not been substantially modified in terms of their structure or fabric. One Hangar is currently used as part of the Museum display. These hangars are constructed with steel portal frames with steel cladding (a heavier gauge then others on the base) supported on a concrete floor. External walls are supported on concrete plinths and large sliding panelled doors hung on overhead track slide open to allow access for large vehicle/aircraft. Louvre windows allow light and ventilation in to the building while bays of translucent roof sheeting allow additional light in from the roof.
","Insuficient information.
","DERM citation.
" 1056,"Oakey Airfield",,"Airfield","Beale Street",Oakey,4401,Darling Downs,-27.4157199859619,151.735214233398,"This was a site chosen from the start to provide the RAAF with what became its 6AD (No. 6 Air Depot). Two hard surfaced runways and substantial base and camp buildings, including a number of Belman prefabricated steel frame hangars were constructed by October 1943. Several RAAF Squadrons formed and were equipped with aircraft at Oakey before proceeding northward.
It is one of the WW2 installations which was judged worthy of retention after the war and current day it serves as the base for the Australian Army's Aviation Squadrons. Oakey was assigned a DCA LG # 871 in May 1947 and civil airlines use the strip.
It was to Oakey that squadrons returned with their aircraft at the end of hostilities for the process of demobilisation. It is the stuff of legends that during the months of systematic scrapping of rows of parked fighter aircraft that some were secreted and saved from the scrappers. Perhaps it is partly because of the presence of disused coal mine excavations in the area that such stories have gained some traction. With the passing of every year it becomes less likely that any fact will emerge from the tangle of stories about 'whole crated spitfires buried somewhere near Oakey airfield'.
","Insufficient information
","Roger Marks
" 1059,"Japanese bombing site (3rd Air Raid)","DPI Veterinary Laboratory","Incident","Department of Primary Industries Animal Health Station",Oonoonba,4811,Townsville,-19.3207092285156,146.829971313477,"In July 1942, the 2nd Group of 14th Kokutai (Air Group), Japanese Naval Air-Force, under the command of Major Misaburo Koizumi, decided to undertake night raids on harbour facilities and airfields at Townsville. In all, five raids were planned; three actually occurred. The raids occurred over three nights between 25 and 29 July 1942. Later code named by the Allies as ""Emily"", the Kawanishi H8K1 flying boat was an advanced design and regarded as extremely difficult to shoot down. Heavily defended, its armaments comprised dorsal and tail turrets cannons, with machine-guns in two beam blisters, ventral and cockpit hatches and bow turret. Not only did it carry considerable protective armour, its fuel tanks were partially self-sealing and designed that if punctured, fuel was collected and pumped into undamaged tanks. Additionally, the hull tanks carried a carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher system. With a range of 2567 miles, this meant that a fifteen hour flight to a target such as Townsville and returning to base was possible. The bomb crater is still visible and is located on Department of Primary Industry property at Oonoonba. The site can be viewed with permission. The crater has been fenced off to prevent intrusion by livestock. A plaque detailing the sites significance is nearby. Recent plantings of palms surround the site.
","Townsville's third and last raid was significant because it entailed three variants on the previous raids. Allied fighters made contact; a bomb fell close to the populated area and near a vital rail link; and the episode was graphically recorded by a mobile ABC broadcasting unit from a vantage point on one of the hills in the city centre.
For the Allies the lessons of the previous two sorties had been learned, the most important one being for 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) to co-ordinate with anti aircraft (A/A) units. This meant that engaging Allied fighters could intercept the enemy without being damaged or shot down by friendly fire.
At 1548 on 28 July 1942, Kingo Shoji, Flight Leader in Emily W-47, departed Rabaul for Townsville. Co-Pilot for this night was Fukuki Morifuji, 2nd Flying Level. Shoji's report states that eight 250 pound bombs were carried on this raid. This mission originally started out with two aircraft. The Japanese log stated the number of the second plane was W-37. At 1645 this aircraft experienced engine trouble and was forced to return to base. W-47 continued with the mission and at 0025 on 29 July arrived over Townsville. However, 3FSHQ at North Ward had issued a yellow warning at 2350 and had US P39 Airacobras airborne some fifteen minutes before the raider appeared.
Much to Shoji's surprise, Emily W-47 was almost immediately picked up by a searchlight battery. Although A/A fired briefly, these were ordered to cease to allow the fighters to intercept. At 0030 the enemy was held in the beam of some eleven searchlights, impressive enough for Captain Shoji to record it in his log. Simultaneously, Shoji dropped his bombs a matter of only seconds before the Airacobras intercepted the flying boat. He recorded that while caught in the beam of ten searchlights, he was intercepted by what he believed to be two Hurricane fighters which made seven attack passes at him. As well the plane sent a message to its base
The Emperor's ship has been attacked from both broadsides and damaged.
W-47 was first intercepted on a tracking between Cleveland Bay and Oonoonba. Seven bombs were seen to fall in Cleveland Bay, between the southern end of Magnetic Island and the breakwater at Townsville, about one mile from the wharves. The eighth of its complement was dropped in a paddock at Oonoonba. The damage the bomb achieved was severing a fence post, almost severing a palm tree and creating a crater four feet deep and ten feet wide. An army investigative team found it difficult to obtain specimens of the bomb casing due to souvenir hunters who arrived at the sight almost immediately after the bomb had exploded. It is the opinion of several locals who witnessed this raid that the Japanese were aiming for Rooney's bridge which was the only rail link into the city.
While the theory is indeed a possibility, there is another more probable one. As the Emily jettisoned seven of its eight 250 pound bombs in the bay when being attacked, why would it retain one bomb? It is most likely that it simply became stuck in the external bomb racks and was dislodged or released after the interception. The previous night's bombing raid hints of a faulty bomb rack as well, with seven craters being discovered and a splash being heard on the sea side of Mt Marlow, some two miles apart.
Captain Shoji's bombing report on the damage he was supposed to have inflicted on Townsville cannot be given credence. In two entries he recorded:
""Dropped 3 bombs near aerodrome causing 3 fires. Dropped 5 bombs on the town causing 2 fires.""
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Correspondents Chester Wilmot and Dudley Leggett were sent to Townsville after the first raid. Their goal was to capture audio of a similar event on mobile recordable disk and conduct interviews for broadcasting. On hearing the air raid siren, Wilmot had positioned himself on Stanton Hill. The entire recording of the actual raid with Wilmot narrating as eyewitness still exists in the ABC archives.
The American pilots who intercepted the Japanese aircraft were Lieutenant Robert L. Harriger of Rose Bush (Michigan) and Captain John D. Mainwaring of Wilkes Barry (Pennsylvania).
The following day Legget interviewed Captain Mainwaring:
Question: Now, Captain Mainwaring - Do you think you hit the bomber?
Answer: Yes we did, we are quite sure of that. We attacked just after he dropped his bombs. We both made the first pass at him and I think we killed the rear gunner because he didn't fire on us at all the whole time. I know we started a fire in his tail, but it soon went out.
Question: Yes, we saw the fire quite distinctly - it flared up just when you made the first attack and lasted a short time after you'd finished. I thought it might have been an explosion shell from your cannon.
Answer: Yes, it could have been that.
Question: How did you first come at him?
Answer: We were both above him when we saw him so we were some distance away. Then we edged up on him. Actually we let him go by and then made a stern attack as you could see from the way the tracers went. He began to turn for home then.
Question: I thought he seemed to lose height just a little after that first attack. As a matter of fact having seen the fire on his tail we thought he was starting down.
Answer: Yes, he did come down a little but I think he shoved his nose down to get more speed. I made another pass at him, but it didn't seem to affect him. But I'm pretty sure I put some more holes in him.
Question: How do you like night fighting?
Answer: Well, it is different from day fighting, but the search-lights picked him up nicely for us.
Additionally, Wilmet interviewed Lieutenant Harriger:
Answer: I made about seven passes at him. I chased him till I ran out of ammunition.
Question: You must have followed him out to sea?
Answer: Yes, I followed him out about 40 miles. I made two passes at him after the … I made belly passes at him from the front and side and could see my tracers going into him.
Question: Was he firing at you?
Answer: His turret guns were firing at me, he was not using tracers, but I could see his gun flashes.
Question: What about his nose guns?
Answer: I didn't give him a chance to use them.
Question: Ah, ah, -- well, how was he getting along when you left him?
Answer: He was at about 12,000 feet and still diving away to get speed.
Question: Do you think he would get back?
Answer: Well he might, it is hard to say. But if he did get back I imagine he would sink.
Several of those who observed Harriger's pursuit over Halifax Bay believed that the flying-boat had crashed. No. 104 Radar Station at Kissing Point had tracked the aircraft as far as Palm Island at which point Harriger turned back, low on fuel and ammunition exhausted. Although the Airacobra remained on screen, the flying boat echo disappeared. What those witnesses would never know, nor Harriger himself, because of wartime security and secrecy provisions, was that Shoji made it back to Rabaul the very morning Harriger and Mainwaring were giving their ABC interview.
No.1 Wireless Unit had intercepted a message from Emily W-47 requesting touch-down around 0750 on Wednesday 29 July. The communiqué was immediately ""classified"", and the ABC's recordings on acetate disk were never broadcast. But why did the echo disappear from the radar? As the aircraft was still diving when Harriger disengaged, it is probable that it simply slipped under the radar's detection height. If so this was clever thinking on Shoji's part; if it had been continued to be tracked, Allied fighter's might have been sent to intercept the damaged aircraft. The other possibility is that atmospheric conditions were no longer favourable for optimum detection.
Though a local psychic would offer help to the authorities to predict future raids on the city, Townsville would not come under attack again. The final attack on the Queensland coast would occur at Miallo, near Mossman two nights later. The intended target for this mission was again Townsville but engine problems would again plague the Japanese. Mizakura, the pilot who bombed Townsville on two previous occasions would be forced to jettison his bombs. The fifth planned raid did not eventuate.
A plan that had involved up to seven aircraft, each flying a return distance of some 3000 miles, would yield little more than propaganda for the Japanese.
","Imperial Japanese Combat Evaluation Sheets, 28/29 July 1942.
Jenkins, David, Battle Surface: Japans Submarine War Against Australia, Random House
Australia, Milsons Point, 1992.
Piper, Robert, Townsville Under Attack, Unpublished, 1987.
Policy File - Air Raids - reports Townsville raids 1942 ; Vic series MP535/3/0, item P/6/2344.
RAAF Historical Section, Units Of The Royal Australian Air Force, A Concise History: Volume 5 Radar Units, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1995.
Townsville Defence Scheme 1942; Vic series 1587/1, 218P.
Townsville Air Raids - Commentaries and Int. By Dudley Leggett & Chester Wilmot, tape no. 72/7/399, W (AP) 24. ABC Archives.
Townsville Air Raids 1942; AWM series 60, item 9/468/42.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1062,"26th Australian Infantry battalion",,"Fortifications","Bunker complex",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5966911315918,142.295318603516,"This unit was raised in central northern Queensland in June 1939, under the command of Lt.-Col. H.W. Murray. The men originated from places such as Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek, Cloncurry, Mt Isa, Winton, Longreach and surrounding areas. Between their formation and May 1942, the unit spent time in Townsville, Bowen, Charters Towers, Barron Waters and Kuranda. B, C and D Companies arrived at Horn Island on 28 May 1943 as part of McArthur's Moultrie Plan, while A Coy travelled to Merauke. The Moultrie Plan saw a build up of troops and airmen to Torres Strait to support McArthur's flank on his northern push through New Guinea.
As there were not enough troops to defend Horn Island, a mobile defence force was established, with the majority of the men coming from the 26 Aust Infantry Battalion, while other platoons were sent to Goodes, Entrance, Hammond, Wednesday and Tuesday Island to provide infantry support to artillery.
","At least six reinforced concrete bunkers, and a gun emplacement, connected by Slit Trenches. Bunkers are 2.5 X 2m in area, 1m high with 20cm thick walls and ceiling. One bunker bears graffitti with details of three individuals from 1943.
Gun emplacement opens off the Slit Trench, and would have contained an 18 pounder Bofor Gun. A 10.6m high rock wall runs adjacent to the Slit Trench—sandbags would have been placed along this in wartime. Overgrown by vegetation, but this provides some protection.
","Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 1065,"Mount Isa-Camooweal-Tennant Creek Defence Road",,"Civil defence facility","Barkly Highway",Camooweal,4828,North-West,-20.1742248535156,138.883438110352,"A supply link between the Mount Isa railhead in Queensland and the North-South Road, running from Alice Springs railhead to the Birdum railhead in the Northern Territory, was first proposed by the Main Roads Commission (MRC) in October 1940 during the formation of the North-South Road. Initially a road was planned across the Barkly Tableland from Newcastle Waters to Camooweal, using MRC road plant returning from construction of the North-South Road. However, the project was shelved until March 1941 when the Army advised that approval had been given for immediate construction of a road by the most direct route from Camooweal to Tennant Creek. This road was named the Barkly Highway in 1944. The North-South Road was named the Stuart Highway. The Queensland section of the Barkly Highway has been realigned, widened, resurfaced and upgraded in recent decades. Bypassed sections of the wartime road remain, including reinforced concrete low-level bridges, such as at Spear Creek north of Mount Isa. At Camooweal the former MRC workshop and Army bore are still in use.
","By early 1941 a road had been surveyed from the Mount Isa railhead to connect with the North-South Road near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. Clearing and forming the road commenced from Camooweal in April and the initial cut of 283 miles (455 kilometres) was completed by late July. To assist travellers bores were sunk at suitable sites to overcome the lack of surface water over the last 200 miles (320 kilometres) to Tennant Creek. The work of gravelling soft and sandy sections of the road continued throughout 1941. At the same time the existing track between Mount Isa and Camooweal was improved by the MRC as a State project.
In late January 1942, owing to the sudden strategic importance of the link for the Pacific area, the War Cabinet approved the construction of the whole of the Mount Isa-Tennant Creek road as an all-weather road, together with the provision of further bores for water supply at about 10 mile (16 kilometre) intervals. The work was underway by March. The difficulties of dry, sandy country and heavy wear on machinery were compounded by almost continuous military traffic, which for some months during 1942 amounted to a thousand heavy trucks a day in addition to light vehicles. Reinforced concrete and steel bridges were completed across the dry watercourses and the first enrolment of men on the job into the Civil Construction Corps (CCC) was made in August 1942. Later, 400 CCC workers were replaced by 540 internees of the Civil Alien Corps.
The Australian Army unit responsible for supply between the Mount Isa and the Northern Territory railheads was the Mount Isa Maintenance Force (MIMF). A staging camp was formed opposite the Mount Isa railway station early in 1941, then a second camp and a Bulk Issue Petrol Oil Depot (BIPOD) was established at Camooweal. A third BIPOD and camp was established in the Northern Territory at No.3 Bore, later known as Frewena. Meanwhile the first US ordnance units began arriving in Mount Isa to set up trucking depots and workshops. Many of the transport convoy drivers were African-American troops. Early in 1942 the MIMF was replaced by the 2/109 Australian General Transport Company (AGTC). The unit operated from Mount Isa to Larrimah (Birdum) and return until late 1942, transporting everything from ammunition and petrol to army personnel, rations, building materials, machinery and finally bitumen for road sealing; while enduring long driving hours, heavy choking dust, high cabin heat and the impact of road corrugations.
Due to the impossibility of maintaining the gravel road surface under the concentration of heavy traffic, bitumen surfacing commenced in January 1943 after a plant was established at Mount Isa for the manufacture of bitumen emulsion. A further emulsion plant was erected at Camooweal and later in the year the Mount Isa plant was dismantled and transported to the North-South Road. A number of road camps were formed by the MRC, including the 114 Mile Camp, during sealing of the road between Wooroona Creek and Camooweal. The workers slept in prefabricated huts and the concrete bases from these huts are still visible.
Bitumen surfacing was completed by the MRC in May 1944 and the road was handed over to the Department of the Interior which undertook the continuing wartime maintenance of the project. The project workshop at Camooweal continued to operate until January 1945 to service works at the Camooweal aerodrome and to repair road plant. The workshop served for a time as a garage and service station during the post-war period.
","Joint Committee on War Expenditure, Defence Construction in Queensland and the Northern Territory, CPP No.15, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 1944.
Lillian Ada Miller, The Border and Beyond: Camooweal 1884, Toowoomba, 1999.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1068,"Camp Oxley","Base Section 3 Engineers, 28th Chemical Warfare Coy, US Army","Military camp","Blunder Road",Oxley,4075,Brisbane City,-27.5739364624023,152.98371887207,"Camp Oxley appears to have been a small US Army camp located on Blunder Rd, Oxley. It is likely to been associated with Camps Darra and Freeman and may have been constructed when these camps reached capacity.
","Camp Oxley was constructed in 1943 and was first occupied by the African-American troops of the 28th Chemical Decontamination Company, (28th Cml. Decon. Coy). The primary role of a decontamination company was to 'counter the threat of crippling gas attacks on rear area service facilities.' By October 1943 a typical chemical decontamination company consisted of four 33-man platoons with a total strength of 120 men. The smallest operating unit of the company was a 10-man section.
Photographic evidence shows the 28th in Brisbane was operating an MIIA1 decontaminating unit. This apparatus consisted of a truck-mounted sprayer with a 400-gallon tank that could distribute a heated decontaminate of bleach and water. The 28th is known to have worked at Crosby Park, providing decontamination demonstrations as part of the training carried out by the Chemical Warfare School. Being a mobile unit it is likely to have visited other US Army facilities in south-east Queensland as required. When not engaged in training the Company provided a ready labour force for facilities such as the Darra Ordnance Depot.
The 577th Ordnance Ammunition Company, also an African-American company, is known to have occupied Camp Oxley after October 1943 upon its return from Townsville. The men of the 577th primarily worked at the Darra ammunition depot.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
R Marks, Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Vol 5 ""Crosby Park chemical w'fare depot"", Brisbane, 2005
" 1069,"Public Pill Shelter","Given Terrace (cnr Guthrie Street)","Civil defence facility","Given Terrace (cnr Guthrie Street)",Paddington,4064,Brisbane City,-27.461877822876,153.006301879883,,,"BCC list
" 1073,"Japanese bombing sites (2nd Air Raid)","Town Common National Park, Mount Marlow","Incident","Many Peaks Range (Northern end)",Pallarenda,4810,Townsville,-19.1931400299072,146.727249145508,"In July 1942, the 2nd Group of 14th Kokutai (Air Group), Japanese Naval Air-Force, under the command of Major Misaburo Koizumi, decided to undertake night raids on harbour facilities and airfields at Townsville. In all, five raids were planned; three actually occurred. The raids occurred over three nights between 25 and 29 July 1942.
Later code named by the Allies as ""Emily"", the Kawanishi H8K1 flying boat was an advanced design and regarded as extremely difficult to shoot down. Heavily defended, its armaments comprised dorsal and tail turrets cannons, with machine-guns in two beam blisters, ventral and cockpit hatches and bow turret. Not only did it carry considerable protective armour, its fuel tanks were partially self-sealing and designed that if punctured, fuel was collected and pumped into undamaged tanks. Additionally, the hull tanks carried a carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher system. With a range of 2567 miles, this meant that a fifteen hour flight to a target such as Townsville and returning to base was possible.
","The second Japanese air raid on Townsville occurred early on the morning of 28 July 1942. At 1950 hours on 27 July, a message between an enemy plane and its base at Rabaul was detected by 1 Wireless Unit in Townsville and translated from the Japanese Kana code. As the aircraft appeared to be heading in the direction of the Australian mainland, a plot was made which showed that if indeed heading for Townsville it would arrive around 0020. Between 0030 and 0054, two P40 Kittyhawks from No.35 squadron were scrambled; however, no interception was made and they returned to base.
Due to unusual atmospheric conditions No.104 R.A.A.F Radar Station gave an hour and fifty minutes warning, with a yellow warning issued at 0033. At 0127, an aircraft was reported to be high overhead but the red warning was not issued until 0203, when it was claimed that there was more than one enemy approaching from the NE. It is most likely that this aircraft was Japanese, undertaking reconnaissance similar to the previous nights attack and then heading out to sea and re-positioning for the main bombing run.
Two P39 Airacobras from the US Eighth Fighter Group had been sent up at 0156 to intercept the aggressor at an estimated height of 15 000 ft. Another allied aircraft, possibly a P40 was ordered to intercept at 0216 making a total of three allied planes airborne. Searchlights at Rowes Bay picked up the flying boat at 10 000 ft at 0220. ""X"" Battery at Jimmy's Lookout then opened fire with 32 rounds, many shells appearing to burst very close to the fuselage. ""Y"" Battery at Mt St John then opened fire with 20 rounds. It was the opinion of the observer that the plane would probably have been damaged when a salvo from ""X"" burst directly beneath the nose.
The Japanese aircraft then followed along the Many Peaks Range and dropped its bomb load at the western end. Only seven craters were found with the eighth bomb retained possibly due to the release mechanism seizing. A splash was heard by an observer in the sea near Mt. Marlow, the summit of Many Peaks Range. It is likely that this eighth bomb failed to explode and was never recovered. An Army survey team assessed the total damage for this raid to be splintered trees and one dead rock wallaby.
When the bombs were dropping on the mainland at 0225, A/A fire opened up on three aircraft at 27,000 feet over Magnetic Island. These were not enemy aircraft but the three Allied planes still searching the area where the flying boat had been 10 minutes previously. A quarter of an hour elapsed before the next report. At 0248 a light was observed in the sky in the direction of the flying boat's retreat. It was claimed to be changing colour. At 0322 the Directional Finding station at Garbutt received a tracing of the aircraft which appeared to have come down at sea. It is not known if the A/A fire actually damage the aircraft, causing a fire aboard and forcing it to make a sea landing to douse the flames?
Surviving Japanese intelligence reports reveal that the Captain in charge was Kiyoshi Mizukura, who had also flown on Townsville's first air raid. Mizukura recorded that they ""bombed the aerodrome for three minutes from 0215 and been caught in searchlights and anti-aircraft fire"". No damage to their aircraft was mentioned in Mizukura's log book and the aircraft returned to Rabaul.
In 2010, several shallow craters can be viewed at the end of Many Peaks Range across the salt flats of the Town Common National Park.
","North Queensland Register, ""When the Japs raided North Queensland"", 8 December 1945.
Townsville Defence Scheme 1942; Vic series MP1587/1, item 218P.
Piper, Robert, Townsville Under Attack, Unpublished, 1987.
Piper, Robert, The Hidden Chapters: Untold stories of Australians at war in the Pacific, Pagemasters, Carlton, 1995.
Townsville Air Raids 1942; AWM series 60, item 9/468/42.
16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (16 Hvy AA Bty) [Whole diary - 12 items] (Mar 1942 - Nov 1944); AWM series 52, item 4/16/20.
Nos 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 104, 105, 109, 131, 132, 134, 135, 136, 138 Radar Station (June 1942 - September 1945); AWM series 64, item 9/5.
Imperial Japanese Navy Combat Evaluation Sheets for 25 July, 27/28 July, 28 July, 28/29 July, 30/31 July 1942.
Francillion, Rene J, Japanese Aircraft Of The Pacific War (2nd ed.), Putnam & Company, London, 1979.
Commonwealth documents reveal that Three Mile Creek Anti Aircraft (A/A) Battery was Townsville's earliest operational A/A Battery.
","On 11 February 1942 a camouflage report for Kissing Point noted that paint and assistance had been given to Three Mile Creek A/A in order to 'tone down' the roofs of the huts. Ashes from the Hubert's Well Power Station on Ross River Road were used to make the Battery less obvious from the air.
Although no separate unit diary exists for the Battery, it is likely Three Mile Creek fired on Japanese reconnaissance aircraft or the flying boats that attacked Townsville in July 1942, due to its proximity to Garbutt aerodrome.
The location of the Battery would be slightly south of the present Pallarenda Garden Settlement home.
","Army Coastal Fortification - Townsville (Kissing Point), SP 110/6, 88 ACT
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/2
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage, Anti Aircraft Guns and Machine Gun Posts, 15 April 1942, AWM 54, 161/3/27.
" 1076,"Palm Island Airfield",,"Airfield","Park Street",Palm Island,4816,North and Cape York,-18.7356338500977,146.577026367188,"Located North of Townsville and SE of the North Queensland sugar port of Lucinda is the Island Group known as Palm Isles. During 1943 the US Navy's 55 Construction Batallion (Seabees) constructed a seaplane maintenance facility near Wallaby Pt, on one of the major islands in the group,Great Palm.
","Maintenance workshops and accommodation buildings were timber frame and quite likely were removed when the unit vacated. A substantial concrete slipway was constructed to allow typically PBY Catalina flying boats to be hauled onto land for maintenance.
This location is featured in the RAAFs publication ACD 157 but no particulars of the Maintenance Base appear there. The Unit responsible for construction did publish an account of the project during the latter stages of WW2 and that limited edition may be available to review. Perhaps because of censorship of the time, no photos of significance appear in the publication.
","Roger and Jenny Marks - 'Queensland Airfields WW2 - Fifty Years On'
" 1079,"4th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers Camp Water Supply","Kolora Park Lagoon","Supply facility","Kolora Park",Palmwoods,4555,South-East,-26.6852607727051,152.960311889648,"Palmwoods is located on the Sunshine Coast, on the North Coast rail line, approx 10 km south of Nambour. During WW2, a fresh water lagoon at the entrance to Palmwoods, on the Woombye - Palmwoods Road near the Railway Line, was utilised to provide fresh water for more than 50,000 troops station in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
","The area is now known as Kolora Park Lagoon and it respresents the location of an elevated water tank which gravity filled military water trucks with fresh water, for distribution further afield. The 4th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers established a significant camp at the location. This camp became a major water supply point for numerous military camps around the Sunshine Coast region.
In July 1994, a group of engineers from the 4th Fld Coy, returned to Palmwoods for a reunion. At this reunion, they unveilled a drinking fountain with commemorative plaque. The drinking fountain is located at the position where the water tank stood.
","Richard Waldie, Secretary, Palmwoods & District RSL Sub Branch
Dunn, P Australia @ War
" 1095,"No.1 Wireless Unit",,"Radar/signal station","Sycamore and French Street",Pimlico,4812,Townsville,-19.278507232666,146.791091918945,"In early 1942, the gravity of the war situation and the scarcity of building materials meant that civilian homes could be requisitioned under Commonwealth Security regulations by the military forces.
By mid-March 1942 it was decided to set up a wireless intercept station in a forward area consisting of RAAF and US personnel. Townsville was considered an ideal location for the interception and decoding of Japanese transmissions.
","In French Street Pimlico, several fashionable Inter-War style homes had just been completed for their owners when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in December 1941.
Two of these homes were initially commandeered, 24 French St and 21 Sycamore St. Expansion of the intercept station meant that 25 and 26 French St, plus 3 Sycamore St were also required. Another house at 20 French Street was requested however the owner refused to leave. The authorities relented and several tents were placed on a spare block across from 24 French St. On 25 April 1942 this secretive unit was given the deliberately ambiguous title of 1 Wireless Unit (1WU).
The Japanese used several codes to disguise plain language messages. Unknown to them, their codes and subsequent updates were broken by the Allies before the commencement of the Pacific War. The Japanese were using codes based on German code machines which had also been broken.
The houses in French and Sycamore Streets contained intelligence analysts, cipher experts, telegraphists, teleprinter operators, Japanese linguists and translators.
The priority for 1WU was to locate and intercept Japanese transmissions from airfields and aircraft in New Guinea. They also liaised with direction finding stations (such as Kissing Point and Paluma) to pinpoint aircraft locations en-route. This information then gave prior air raid warnings.
One of the US personnel at 1WU was Captain H W Brown whose quarters were at 25 French St. Somewhat of a character, Brown honed his pistol skills by shooting through his window at pigeons outside on the electrical wires. He was also known to target his light globe before going to bed at night.
During Brown's 1WU period in French Street, his personal US command car was stolen. A group of off duty serviceman were organised to locate it and it was soon found abandoned. These men were then ordered by Brown to perform a stakeout in French Street in case the thieves returned and to shoot anyone interfering with it. The culprits however, did not return.
Although Brown's behavior was considered unusual to his staff, his dedication to 1WU was solid. Handwritten intelligence reports list Captain Brown being in contact with Townsville's Three Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) leading up to the 2nd and 3rd raids on Townsville.
Extracts from the 2nd raid 27 July 1942 reveal 1WU role:
Extracts from the third air raid include:
These advance warnings provided by 1WU in French Street prior to the 2nd and 3rd raids gave Townsville anti-aircraft and fighter units time to prepare. This definitely hindered the Japanese aircraft's bombing run meaning bombs were jettisoned rather than accurately targeting populated areas.
1WU occupied the houses in French Street between March and September 1942. After this they began moving into a new reinforced concrete building at Stuart on the outskirts of Townsville.
By May 1943, 24 French Street's secretive role had been downgraded to that of being the parcel sorting and storage depot for No. 6 RAAF postal unit. By years end this operation was transferred to the School of Arts at the corner of Walker and Stanley Streets.
In 2011 there is no sign of French Street's former secretive role; however a concrete lined air raid trench was recently unearthed in the yard of a former 1WU house. And pigeons still sit on the electrical wires and roofs of French Street.
","RAAF NEA Townsville buildings and services Pt 2, 1944-47, A705/1, 171/19/86 ACT.
Reports by Intelligence Officer - operation of No.3 Fighter Sector HQ, AA 1969/100/445, 5/7/Air ACT.
Bleakley, Jack. The Eavesdroppers, AGPS Press, Canberra, 1991.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1096,"RAAF 135th Radar Station","Pinkenba Radar Station","Radar/signal station","Luggage Point",Pinkenba,4008,Greater Brisbane,-27.378116607666,153.143356323242,"In Australia, radar units were solely the responsibility of the RAAF whereas the US Army staffed American radar installations.
Formed at Brighton in early May 1943, 135th Radar Station moved to Pinkenba by the end of the following month. Personnel from both the RAAF and the WAAAF staffed the radar station. It maintained watch on any planes approaching the port of Brisbane and it remained at Pinkenba until 1945.
","The 135th Radar Station was formed at the Sandgate RAAF Station on 5 May 1943. Five days later, Flight Lieutenant A.W. Williams was appointed the unit's first commander. The period of the first half of 1943 was important for the development of Australia's radar defences as it saw the largest number (42) of RAAF radar units formed for any six-month period during World War Two. The 135th Radar unit trained for nearly two month at the Sandgate Station. The unit was issued with its equipment including the distinctive LW/AW Mk II radar antennae tower before being declared operational.
On 28 June 1943, it was sent to Pinkenba near the mouth of the Brisbane River. The location chosen was close to the Brisbane City Council's sewerage treatment works and so the new radar station soon became unofficially known as 'Stinkenba'. A combination of RAAF men and members of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) staffed the unit. The women service personnel had undergone their training at Kiama, New South Wales. Australia began training WAAAF members as radar operators in 1942. The first 23 WAAAF trainees had commenced at the RAAF 11 Operations Centre on 15 June 1942.
Apart from the radar hut, the Pinkenba site also had separate male and female barracks, an orderly room, mess and kitchen and a recreation hut. The 135th Radar Station was designated for Ground Control Intercept (GCI) duties. A total of 37 GCI radar units were to be raised in Australia. GCI stations were equipped with either British Mk II radar sets, Canadian RWG/GCI sets or Australian-made LW/AW Mk I or Mk II sets. The 135th Radar Station's main role was to track any planes approaching the Brisbane River. The unit also guided lost RAAF or USSAAF to their airfields at Eagle Farm or Archerfield.
To improve morale and relieve boredom, the WAAAF members produced a unit newsletter for distribution throughout the site. A wedding for one of the WAAAF members was held in the recreation hut that was temporarily converted into a church for the occasion. The unit cook even found enough ingredients to bake a wedding cake at the station. The presence of WAAAF members drew visitors to the 135th Radar Station from the nearby US units based at Eagle Farm, Meeandah and Pinkenba. The Americans would take some of the women on joy flights on their military aircraft.
On 15 December 1943, Pilot Officer E.A. Appleton became the new commanding officer. Pilot Officer L.J. Burder replaced him on 21 May 1944. Flight Lieutenant J.F. Brier became commander on 2 July 1944. On 18 December 1944, Section Leader M. O'Connor was appointed the last commanding officer of 135th Radar Station.
","Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.5
" 1099,"38 (388th) Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery","56th Searchlight Company (Royal Australian Engineers)","Fortifications","Main Myrtletown Road",Pinkenba,4008,Brisbane City,-27.4131565093994,153.120315551758,"Primarily, it was Australian units with 24 Heavy AA guns, 12 Light AA guns and 33 searchlights that defended Brisbane. The Heavy AA guns were in fixed emplacements while the Light AA guns and searchlights were mobile and could be quickly relocated with the aid of army trucks. The three Heavy AA batteries were emplaced in six Brisbane suburbs. The two Light AA Regiments had single guns spread across Brisbane. The three Searchlight Companies occupied various positions in 18 different suburbs. The US Army also manned a small number of AA positions in Brisbane.
","The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 led to a fear of air attack on Brisbane, most likely launched from Japanese aircraft carriers. The siting of the AA guns was designed to protect Brisbane's port facilities and the US New Farm submarine base and to cover the Eagle Farm and Archerfield airfields. The anti-aircraft (AA) gun shortage in Australia caused delays so that Brisbane had still not received its full allotment of 3.7 inch AA guns by May 1942. The guns had to be brought by convoy from Britain. By 28 May, the first 16 guns were despatched on trains from Melbourne. The guns were incomplete as only four came with their cruciform platforms and these were allocated to Archerfield. The scarcity of steel meant that no more platforms could be sent and on 9 June, the Army decided that the remaining guns would not be portable, but instead would be put into fixed emplacements.
There were 6 Heavy AA batteries armed with the Australian-manufactured 3.7 inch gun. Three batteries were located in Brisbane's north and three in the south. They were put into fixed emplacements at Bannister Park at Windsor Park, Windsor; east of Eagle Farm airfield at Pinkenba; in Victoria Park at Spring Hill; on the hill above the Balmoral Cemetery off Wynnum Road, Morningside; on a farm at 214 Fleming Road, Hemmant and close to Fort Lytton in South Street, Lytton. On 29 August 1942, the Army HQ at Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace ordered the cessation of work at Windsor and the guns relocated to a site off Gerler Road, Hendra. The Hendra, Pinkenba and Lytton batteries had hexagonal cinder block gun emplacements. The Eagle Farm, Balmoral and Spring Hill emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete. A Heavy AA battery of four guns was positioned at Archerfield aerodrome. All emplacements were built under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The AWC also requested that an emplacement be built atop Mt.Gravatt.
A Heavy AA battery comprised 4 guns spaced from 90 to 100 feet apart. Each battery had its own central concrete command post. This post included separate concrete pits to house a predictor and a height finder. Each of the four guns had to be within view of the predictor which itself could not be placed either 10 feet below or above any of the guns. The interior of the gun emplacements were lined with steel mesh or scabbing plates designed to contain any flying concrete splinters that were blown off during an air raid from injuring the gun crews. Some of the batteries had enough open space to fit sleeping quarters near the emplacements for the gun crews.
All AA batteries were connected by telephone cable to the Brisbane Central Command Post (14th AA Command) located with MacArthur's headquarters in the AMP Building at 229 Queen Street. This central command was also linked to Brisbane's early warning system that controlled observation posts and later radar units. The 6th, 38th and 2/5th Heavy AA batteries, the components of the 2/2nd HAA Regiment (AIF) manned the guns. From 1943, the six Heavy AA batteries experienced gun crews were replaced by gunners drawn from the Australia Women's Army Service (AWAS) and 'C' Company, 4th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).
The Light AA defences were armed with the locally made QF (quick firing) 40 mm Bofors gun. Twelve Bofors were allotted to Brisbane, belonging to the Australian 113th and the 114th Light AA Regiments. The guns were sited in individual locations. They were mobile guns hauled by Bedford light trucks (referred to as gun tractors). At various times between 1942 and 1945, Bofors guns were located at near the old cotton mill at Whinstanes; at 'Cloudland' in Bowen Hills; near the mouth of Breakfast Creek in Newstead Park; on a Myrtletown farm; at Kangaroo Point and Henda; near the old Appollo Candleworks and at the end of Quay Street in Bulimba; near the Colmslie Oil Storage Tanks; near Thomas Borwick & Sons Colmslie meatworks and elsewhere. A Heavy AA Battery had initially been emplaced near the Colmslie Oil Tanks. In August 1942, this battery relocated to Lytton. A Bofors gun temporarily replaced it at Colmslie. The Australian Army established an AA Training School and Air Defence Centre at the 'Blackheath Home' in Oxley. The VDC and AWAS began to train on the guns by June 1943.
Newstead Park's Bofors was dug-in on the point near where the US/Australian War Memorial (built 1951) stands. Established on 22 August 1942 by 115th Battery, 113th Light AA Regiment, the emplacement was handed to 605 Troop, 114th Light AA Regiment in June 1943. The 651st Light AA Regiment replaced 605 Troop and operated the gun until war's end. The gunners used the nearby Band Rotunda as a wet weather barracks.
Dummy wooden guns were also placed around Brisbane to deceive enemy aerial reconnaissance or spies. These mock-ups were manufactured at a Brisbane City Council Tramways wood machine shop on Coronation Drive, Milton. The guns were made as realistic as possible. Metal brackets allowed windage and elevation. They were painted in approved army colour schemes.
By December 1943, 14th AA Command was known as Brisbane AA Group. It oversaw the supply and operations of 6th Heavy AA Battery, 39th Heavy AA Battery, 56th SL (searchlight) Battery, 68th SL Battery, 651st Light AA Battery and the Brisbane AA Operations Room. Brisbane AA Group was linked to the Brisbane Fortress HQ at St Laurence's College, South Brisbane, the 8th Fighter Section and the HQ of 'A' Group (Brisbane) of the VDC.
The US Army aided Brisbane's AA defences. Among the first arrivals on the Pensacola Convoy on 22 December 1941 were the 102nd and 197th Coastal Artillery Regiments that included AA weapons in its equipment. In April 1942, the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment mounted four .30 calibre heavy machine guns with two searchlights as an AA position at Newstead Park. In July 1943, the US Brisbane Coast Artillery and Brisbane AA Group were placed under a single commander Brigadier E.M. Neyland. Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Thomson followed him in December 1944. The US Army had an AA gun sandbagged emplacement on Ovals No.1 and 2 of Windsor Park (presumably on the previous site of the Australian 3.7 inch guns). The US military had requested Brisbane City Council permission to demolish the park's grandstand to improve the guns' field of fire. A sandbag emplacement was located beside the Brisbane River at the end of Quay Street, Bulimba. Members of the 40th AA Brigade from the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment manned .50 calibre heavy machine guns. Australians drawn from the 114th Light AA Regiment later replaced these Americans. US AA guns were placed in Fleetway Street, Morningside to protect Camp Carina.
The US Navy operated an Anti-Aircraft Training Centre camp at Wellington Point, about 20 miles from Brisbane. The site chosen for the camp was in a public park on the peninsular jutting into Waterloo Bay, considered ideal for AA training.
","Australian War Memorial file, AWM 54, Item: 709/20/50, Brisbane AA Group, Standing Operational Orders, 19 December 1943.
Australian War Memorial file, AWM 60, Item: 9/476/42, Brisbane AA guns allotment and emplacement correspondence, 18 May-10 September 1942.
D.W. Spethman & R.G. Miller, Fortress Brisbane - a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Islands, (Brisbane: Spethman & Miller, 1998).
Brisbane City Council newsletter Between Ourselves, Volume 1, No.16, June 1980.
Marks, Roger R., Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Book 1 ""Newstead House"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
BCC Archives file BCA1344 Windsor Memorial Park, Windsor lease of 1942
[Camouflage - Methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 4, Anti-Aircraft Aerial Survey, September, 1943 [photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/4.
" 1102,"Royal Australian Navy Station No.9","Myrtletown Boom Defence and Indicator Loop Bunkers","Fortifications","Myrtletown Reserve, 65 Sandmere Road (end of Gannon Road)",Pinkenba,4008,Brisbane City,-27.3912296295166,153.141845703125,"In early 1942, the site initially comprised a machine gun emplacement on the Brisbane River's north bank built to cover the anti-submarine boom that stretched across the river to Fort Lytton. From February 1943, a submarine indicator loop was added to Pinkenba's defences. In September 1943, a Photo-Electric Beam Receiver Station was added. The site was designated RAN Station No.9 in January 1944.
","In early 1942, the Commonwealth approved the laying of an anti-submarine boom near the mouth of the Brisbane River. The boom was lodged at Bulwer Island (Pinkenba) on the river's north bank and the boom net ran across to Fort Lytton on the south bank. At Pinkenba, an emplacement mounting a .303 Vickers machine gun was constructed on Bulwer Island. This north bank machine gun nest supported the boom's main defences that were located across the river at Fort Lytton.
By April 1942, Brisbane had become, along with Fremantle in Western Australia, the major USN submarine bases in the South West Pacific Area. To counter an enemy attack upon the New Farm submarine base, the defences of the Brisbane River were strengthened. A site was chosen downriver from the boom net and closer to the river mouth providing advance warning of approaching shipping on 3 February 1943. A submarine indicator loop was laid across the river from Myrtletown (Pinkenba) on the north bank to Fisherman Island on the south bank. Initially, the site was called RAN Boom Defence Depot, Pinkenba. It was located next to existing shipping berths and a 1,400 feet sea wall.
On 28 September 1943, a Photo-Electric Beam station was added to the defences. A Photo-Electric Beam was transmitted from Fisherman Island to the Myrtletown Receiver Station. The Photo-Electric Beam was a beam of light sent out to the river's entrance. If the beam detected a ship then it caused a break in a photoelectric cell, triggering an alarm at the Myrtletown Receiver Station. The receiver station (or control room) was a concrete bunker with a separate concrete engine room with timber accommodation huts for officers and other ranks plus latrines, showers and a laundry at the rear. A 12-month expansion program followed that saw the clearing of nearly 10 acres of swampland.
The site was re-designated RAN Station No.9 on 8 January 1944. By October 1944, it comprised: six well-appointed officer's cabins (total area covered 80 foot x 24 foot), a petty officers' quarters (40 foot x 20 foot) and two 60 foot x 20 foot rating's barracks. The petty officers and ratings had separate Mess Rooms and Kitchens (100 foot x 20 foot). The officers were served in their cabins. An Officer's Building (50 foot x 12 foot) provided three offices. A Recreation Hut (50 foot x 30 foot) contained a billiards room and canteen. On another part of the site, a triple set of rail tracks extended from the main Pinkenba line allowing stores to be freighted directly onto the concrete floor of the Boom Equipment Store (300 foot x 150 foot). Adjacent was a concrete slab (300 foot x 100 foot) used for boom net making and repairs. There was a workshop (50 foot x 120 foot) holding machinery to undertake other repairs. The concrete slabs were laid by the Qld Main Roads Department. Private contractors W.J. Boland and A.R. Bell constructed the buildings.
The US gave support with a Searchlight Battery located 400 metres to the north east of Station No.9. HMAS Limosa removed the indicator loop on 1 June 1945 before the War's end. The control and the engine rooms plus some hut foundations remain at Pinkenba.
","NA file Series BP262/2, Item 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland, October 1944.
" 1103,"Camp Meeandah and US Army General Depot","Australian Army Damascus Barracks","Supply facility","100 Sugarmill Road",Pinkenba,4008,Brisbane City,-27.4238243103027,153.100296020508,"The Meeandah Stores Depot was part of the largest major storage project undertaken by the Allied Works Council for the US Army in Brisbane. Although construction was planned for 47 huge warehouses on three sites totalling 420 acres at Meeandah, Banyo and Pinkenba, only 29 stores in total were built. The total storage space was 1,143,000 square feet on the floor. These Depots, which warehoused food, clothing and general US equipment and stores, were also built '…to serve as holding depots for all classes of material under Lend-Lease.'
","Construction of the US Army's General Stores Depot commenced in early June 1943, with the depot to be spread across three Brisbane suburbs. All three of the Depot's components were located on unused land, the low-lying nature of which meant that drainage requirements occupied a large portion of the early work. Five miles of roadways were constructed on the Meeandah site exclusive of site access roads, and a railway siding was also laid to specially constructed platform at the site. The depot was completed in January 1944. Meeandah was the major depot having 19 warehouses, while Banyo had 9 and Pinkenba had one warehouse, all completed by October 1944.
While all the stores, most of which were 400 feet x 100 feet, were of lighter temporary construction, with cement flooring, prefabricated timber roof trusses made from Oregon pine, timber frames, weatherboard cladding and iron roof, they were still estimated to cost around £11,000 each. Eventually, 17 warehouses of this dimension were erected at Meeandah, with six others of smaller dimension. All warehouses had electric light and power connections. Other facilities included an earth dam holding 500,000 gallons, vehicle servicing structures including workshops, latrines, a picture theatre, guard huts and an administrative building. The General Stores Depot was operated by the US Army Services of Supply (USASOS) that had its headquarters at Camp Victoria Park at Spring Hill.
Some stores were stacked wooden crates in the open away from the warehouses. The constant loading and unloading of military stores meant that that was heavy vehicular traffic around the depot. Apart from stores delivered by ship, the depot also held used military equipment in its Salvage Yard. Recovering and repairing military hardware saved on shipping space for supplies. Once the US military hardware had been brought back to operational status (e.g. 155mm, 105mm, and 37mm guns restored at the US Ordnance Depot Coopers Plains) it was railed to Meeandah where it became the responsibility of the Salvage Office.
From July 1944, the US Army gradually vacated the Depot and moved its supply depot to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea. As warehouses became available, they were allotted to a variety of military users, including the Australian army and the RAAF. No.5 RAAF Transportation and Movements Office (TMO) had a detachment placed at Meeandah. Two small warehouses No.23 and No.24 were allotted to the Dutch/NEI forces at the Meeandah Depot.
Meeandah Stores Depot now operates as the Australian Regular Army's (ARA) Damascus Barracks and is the only former US Army barracks still occupied by the Australian forces in Brisbane.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
NAA; BP262/2, 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland and Northern Territory, barcode 1830009
United States Army Services of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three – Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: US Army, February 1946).
" 1105,"Strathglass Airfield",,"Airfield","Strathglass Station (north of Flinders Highway)",Prairie,4816,North-West,-20.7648849487305,144.6220703125,"Strathglass Airfield was located near Hughenden, and can be grouped with three or four others as sites chosen in 1942 for which only some basic clearing was done. The need for several of these disappeared thankfully and in most cases little visual evidence remains of such urgent work.
","Clearing which was undertaken was generally done by Units of the Main Roads Commission working with the CCC - Civil Construction Corps, or under the guise of the Allied Works Council. Certainly there is evidence that two strips were slated for Prairie Strathglass but it does appear only one was significantly cleared.
","Roger and Jenny Marks - 'Queensland Airfields WW2 - 50 Years On'.
" 1109,"Rattlesnake Island Bombing Range","Jungle Warfare and Survival Training Camp","Training facility","Rattlesnake Island",Rattlesnake Island,4816,Townsville,-19.0328788757324,146.610885620117,"Rattlesnake Island is one of the islands South of the Great Palm Island group, northwest of Magnetic Island, and directly east of Rollingstone in the Halifax Bay.
Royal Australian Air Force Base Townsville (No. 323 Combat Support Squadron RAAF) conducts live firing with military aircraft on regular occasions. When the RAAF are not live firing, they also conduct survival courses on the island.
",,"Wikipedia.org
" 1179,"Australian Army Vegetable Store","formerly Ravenshoe RSL Hall","Supply facility","10 Monument Street",Ravenshoe,4888,Atherton Tablelands,-17.6041812896728,145.482864379883,"Built during World War II for the collection and distribution of vegetables to Australian Army units in the Ravenshoe area, this corrugated iron, timber frame shed was purchased by the local committee of the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) in 1946 or 1947 to serve as the community memorial hall. The Ravenshoe Bowls Club which shared the use of the hall, acquired it outright in 1953 or 1954 and the RSL moved to a new club room in Grigg Street in the middle of the town. The empty shed has been disused for some time.
",,"Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Personal communication: Graham Hepple, Ravenshoe.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009
As part of the construction program for Ravenshoe military camp a large timber truss igloo theatre was erected at the entrance to the camp. Only the concrete floor slab of this building now remains to provide an indication of its former dimensions.
","From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland with the main administrative centre around the town of Atherton. A huge schedule of construction work under the direction of the Allied Works Council was commenced in January 1943 involving the building of tent encampments, hutments, stores, bakeries, mess kitchens, hospitals, sewage plants and entertainment theatres.
Like similar military camp theatres in north Queensland at Rocky Creek, Wondecla and Danbulla, the Ravenshoe theatre was about 42 metres in length and 22 metres wide and stood about 7.5 metres in height. It was clad in corrugated iron and composed of two major elements-an igloo auditorium with a stage area attached. The theatre was a communal centre of the camp and was regularly used for church services, picture shows, reviews and concerts.
Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions began arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and started occupying tent encampments around the settlements of Wongabel, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. Units of the 9th Division returned to Australia from North Africa during February and by April had begun reforming at camps around Kairi and Danbulla. Ravenshoe military camp was home to infantry battalions and support units of the 7th Division in 1943 and the 9th Division in 1944.
By March 1943 up to 17,000 men of the 7th Division were camped along the Ravenshoe-Mount Garnet road (now the Kennedy Highway) from Millstream Falls to Archer Creek. During July 1943 the 7th Division took part in training with US Army paratroopers before departing from Ravenshoe for amphibious landing exercises near Cairns, where the battalions began boarding transports for Port Moresby in readiness for landings on the north coast of New Guinea.
The 9th Division began returning to Australia from New Guinea in 1944 and in March the Division was reformed at the vacant Ravenshoe camp. Due to rapid development of the Pacific war and strategic uncertainty over the role of Australian forces in the region, the 9th Division remained at Ravenshoe for over a year. For the men of the units training endlessly, 1944 was the most frustrating year of the war. By the time they embarked on their final campaigns in March, April and May 1945 some units had not seen action since 1943.
After the Japanese surrender in August that year Ravenshoe and the other Atherton Tableland camps were decommissioned. Buildings and structures were disposed of at auctions and this may have been the fate of the Ravenshoe camp theatre.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 1188,"Ravenshoe Hotel Tully Falls","Australian Army Officers' Quarters","Military accommodation","Griggs Street",Ravenshoe,4888,Atherton Tablelands,-17.6049690246582,145.481796264648,"During the occupation of the Atherton Tableland by the Australian Army from 1943 to 1945 the hotel was requisitioned and served as an officers' quarters and mess.
After World War II, along with the nearby Club Hotel, the building resumed use as a community hub and local tourism attraction, and was renamed the Hotel Tully Falls.
","The hotel is a typical north Queensland single skinned timber building with exposed stud framework of milled timber and weatherboard, roofed with corrugated iron. Though slightly damaged in 2006 during Cyclone Larry the hotel remains an imposing two-story building with partly enclosed upper-floor verandahs, decorative projecting gables, casement windows and a hipped iron roof.
This establishment was built in 1927 by John and Connie Ross and originally known as the Millstream Hotel. By the mid-1930s it had been renamed the Ravenshoe Hotel and it has always been famous as Queensland's highest pub.
At over 900 metres above sea-level Ravenshoe is Queensland's highest town. Substantial stands of cedar, walnut, mahogany and pine were discovered in the area in the early 1880s. The first sawmill was built about 1899, but the town was not settled to any extent until about 1910. With the opening of the last section of the Tablelands line in 1916, the town of Cedar Creek-renamed Ravenshoe-was connected by rail with Herberton, Mareeba and Cairns.
The Cairns railway, together with the Gillies Highway to Gordonvale in 1926, and the Palmerston Highway to Innisfail in 1936, ended Ravenshoe's isolation. The Pacific war brought more changes as up to 18,000 troops occupied encampments in and around Ravenshoe at various periods from 1943 to 1945.
The town has always relied upon the logging and milling of rainforest timbers for its survival. In 1987 900,000 hectares of rainforest around Ravenshoe were declared a World Heritage Area and logging was phased out. Today the town still has one timber mill operating, using mainly plantation pinewood.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Personal communication: Graham Hepple, Ravenshoe.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions began arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and started occupying tent encampments around the settlements of Wongabel, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. Units of the 9th Division returned to Australia from North Africa during February and by April had begun reforming at camps around Kairi, Danbulla and Barrine.
Ravenshoe military camp was home to infantry battalions and support units of the 7th Division in 1943 and the 9th Division in 1944. Individual encampments were built to hold about 1000 men each and comprised mostly tent accommodation with concrete slabs for latrines and ablution blocks. Concrete grease traps and drains were installed at open-air kitchens. Tent messes for officers and troops had raised timber floors and locally built stone fireplaces for winter warmth. Networks of rock-lined paths linked various tent sites and locally crushed granite was used for paths and tent floors to reduce mud. Motor transport units had extra facilities such as roads and parking areas as well as ramps and pits for maintaining vehicles.
","In late November 1942, almost a year after Japan's entry into World War II, the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces, Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey ordered a survey of the Atherton Tableland with the intention of developing facilities for a rehabilitation and training area for volunteer army troops of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) recently returned from the Middle East.
Key purposes of the scheme were-recuperate troops in a cooler climate while engaged in jungle warfare training; provide suitable hospitalization for malaria and tropical disease cases; and locate personnel and maintenance installations close to the New Guinea frontline with access to railway and port facilities.
From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland with the main administrative centre around the town of Atherton. A huge schedule of construction work under the direction of the Allied Works Council was commenced in January 1943 involving the building of tent encampments, hutments, stores, bakeries, mess kitchens, entertainment halls, hospitals and sewage plants. Because of the difficulties in obtaining fresh vegetables, building contractors were required to establish vegetable gardens for their Civil Construction Corps (CCC) workforce.
Work had just commenced on construction of the camp when units of the 7th Division began arriving there in January 1943. The Division comprised three brigades each of three infantry battalions-18 Brigade (2/9 Battalion, 2/10 Battalion, 2/12 Battalion): 21 Brigade (2/14 Battalion, 2/16 Battalion, 2/27 Battalion): 25 Brigade (2/23 Battalion, 2/31 Battalion, 2/25 Battalion). Support units included: Royal Australian Engineers, 2/4 Field Regiment and 2/9 Armoured Regiment (Tank).
After return from the Middle East, 18 Brigade had participated in the battle of Milne Bay in September 1942 which resulted in the first defeat of Japanese land forces in World War II. Meanwhile 21 and 25 Brigades had been responsible for reversing the Japanese advance on the Kokoda Track. Then followed the battles of Buna and Gona on the north coast of Papua, in which 18 and 21 Brigades suffered high casualties in eliminating the Japanese beachheads.
With the capture of Buna and the end of the Kokoda campaign, the 7th Division battalions returned to Australia to recuperate and retrain at Ravenshoe. On arrival at the camp area it was found that only basic access roads had been constructed due to the CCC's heavy workload which included constructing its own camp, and many building tasks were taken over by platoons of the Divisions' Pioneer Battalion. By March 1943 all infantry brigade headquarters and their respective battalions were camped along the Ravenshoe-Mount Garnet road (now the Kennedy Highway) from near Millstream Falls to Archer Creek.
During July 1943 troops of the 6th and 7th Divisions took part in invasion training with US Army paratroopers at Mount Garnet. After amphibious landing exercises near Cairns, divisional battalions began boarding transports for Port Moresby. Australian operations on the north coast of New Guinea involving the 7th and 9th Divisions continued with the advance towards Salamaua, the capture of Lae and the subsequent advance up the Markham and Ramu River valleys. Another hard campaign followed in the Finisterre Ranges including the intense battles on Shaggy Ridge.
After the landing at Finschhafen and the taking of Sattelberg, the 9th Division began returning to Australia from New Guinea early in 1944. After a period of leave, in March 1944 the Division was reformed at the vacant Ravenshoe camp where many of the units had to be virtually rebuilt due to the high turnover as men were discharged or transferred. An entire Militia battalion-62 Battalion of nearly 400 men-was broken up to provide infantry reinforcements. Due to rapid development of the Pacific war and strategic uncertainty over the role of Australian forces in the region, the 9th Division remained at Ravenshoe for over a year before seeing action once more, this time on Borneo.
For a brief period from September to November 1944, all three AIF Divisions (6th, 7th and 9th) were encamped on the Atherton Tableland. For the men of the units training endlessly, 1944 was the most frustrating year of the war. By the time they embarked on their final campaigns in March, April and May 1945 some units had not seen action since 1943. While Australian 1 Corps had originally been intended to participate in the liberation of the Philippines, these plans were dropped and the Corps was instead tasked with taking the Borneo oilfields involving the last Australian amphibious landings of the war by the 7th and 9th Divisions, at Balikpapan, Tarakan, Brunei and Labuan.
By mid-1945, it was clear that the Pacific conflict had moved away from Australia's shores. After the Japanese surrender in August that year Ravenshoe and the other Atherton Tableland camps were decommissioned. Buildings and structures were disposed of at auctions and most remaining debris was burnt or buried.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes (1942–1945), BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Ian Holloway. Report on the status of Army training bases circular 1944 in Millstream National Park. QPWS, Environmental Protection Agency, Atherton, 2005.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
Australian troops participated in intensive weapons training including rifle marksmanship, as part of jungle warfare, parachute drop and amphibious landing exercises. Ravenshoe rifle range was one of many used by Australian and American military forces on the Atherton Tableland during World War II.
","Units of the Australian 7th Division began arriving at the town of Ravenshoe on the Atherton Tableland in January 1943. The Division comprised three brigades each of three infantry battalions, with various support units and service corps-in all about 17,000 men. By March each of the Division's infantry brigade headquarters and their respective battalions were camped along the Ravenshoe-Mount Garnet road (now the Kennedy Highway) from near Millstream Falls westward to Archer Creek. The 7th Division was replaced by the Australian 9th Division at Ravenshoe from early 1944.
At over 900 metres above sea-level Ravenshoe is Queensland's highest town. Substantial stands of cedar, walnut, mahogany and pine were discovered in the area in the early 1880s. The first sawmill was built about 1899, but the town was not settled to any extent until the early 1900s. The rifle range was one of the earliest features of the settlement being laid out in 1903. It was one of many rifle ranges established in Queensland country towns soon after Federation, under the new Federal government's plan to encourage the formation of local volunteer militia units for regional defence. As constructed the range was 700 yards (765 metres) in length.
Ravenshoe rifle range continued to be controlled by the Department of Defence until recently when it was transferred to the Queensland Department of Natural Resources as a recreational reserve. The rifle range is still regularly used by local sporting shooter groups.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Personal communication: Secretary, Ravenshoe Sporting Shooters Association and Graham Hepple, Ravenshoe RSL Association.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
During World War II, the Ravenshoe School of Arts Hall was the scene of army concerts, vaudeville reviews and dance evenings, such as on December 30 1944 when the 2/24 Battalion dance band entertained the troops of the 9th Division and the local community in celebration of New Year's eve and what was the last year of World War II.
","Built about 1912 to 1914, the Ravenshoe School of Arts hall was among the first public buildings to be erected in the new town. The 'School of Arts' movement began in Britain in the 1820s to provide places where working class men could hear lectures of use in their practical work, or access a library and so improve themselves. By 1900 Australia's many country towns each supported a School of Arts (or Mechanics' Institute), most with a membership of about 100 and a library of about 1000 books.
For almost a century the Ravenshoe School of Arts has served as a library, a community hall, a picture theatre and a dance hall. For years it was used as a school after disastrous floods swept away the local state school.
Clearance of the rich stands of rainforest timbers on the Evelyn Tableland increased after 1903 as the district was surveyed for agricultural selection in anticipation of the proposed railway extension from Herberton. But delays in construction meant that access to the district remained difficult. Packhorse and bullock teams provided the only means of transport and the town of Cedar Creek was not settled to any extent until 1910. When the railway from Herberton reached Cedar Creek in late 1916 and the new terminus was renamed Ravenshoe.
The Ravenshoe School of Arts is still used for social functions and regular meetings of the local Buffalo Lodge.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Personal communication: Graham Hepple, Ravenshoe RSL Association.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
An empty concrete slab on a vacant allotment in Grigg Street, Ravenshoe, opposite the railway station, was the site of an Australian Army field bakery. During 1944 the bakery was operated by the bakers of 15 Australian Field Baking Platoon of the Australian Army Service Corps, 9th Division AIF.
","The Ravenshoe Australian Army field bakery was one of a number of field bakeries in the Ravenshoe area that supplied fresh bread daily to the thousands of troops in the nearby encampments. The bakery originally occupied a much larger area than the surviving slab. The allotment of the present service station alongside, was used for the storage of cordwood for the ovens.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 1208,"Allied Forces Recreation Centre","Ravenswood Imperial Hotel","Recreation/community","23 Macrossan Street",Ravenswood,4816,North-West,-20.1006984710693,146.889938354492,"The Imperial Hotel in Ravenshoe was utilised by Allied Forces as a recreation camp. It was also a popular watering hole for troops based in, or passing through, the area.
","The walls of the Imperial Hotel at Ravenswood contain the penciled 'graffiti' of numerous former patrons. Many are obscured by paint and difficult to view. However some are still clear enough to tell the story of the people and units that trained in the town during World War Two.
One of several names still visible is the following:
WM Pyle, QX23927 (service number), 3/2/42?. Born 12 December 1921, Mr William Donkin Pyle enlisted at Silkstone near Brisbane on 29 September 1941 and was a Gunner in the Australian 2/3 Field Regiment. He would have been twenty years old when he was training at Ravenswood. Mr Pyle survived the war and was discharged from the Army in April 1946.
Several other names with dates from the World War II period remain on the walls and include Australian Infantry Force numbers.
If you know of My Pyle or any other members of the Australian Forces station at Ravenswood during the war, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","Australian Army Nominal Roll: PYLE, William Donkin QX23927.
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 1209,"No. 24 Squadron Wirraway (A20-117) Crash","Ravenswood Airstrip","Incident","Mount Wright (in the vacinity of)",Ravenswood,4816,North-West,-20.1006546020508,146.908706665039,"In June 1940 No.24 Squadron moved to Townsville to carry out maritime reconnaissance and training duties. Equipped with Australian built Wirraway aircraft, this single engined monoplane fighter was based on an American training aircraft and carried a pilot plus an observer/rear gunner.
","On 18 April 1941, a 24 Squadron Wirraway (A20-117) flew from Townsville to undertake training at Ravenswood, which had a small graded airstrip constructed during the mid 1930s.
Whilst undertaking manouvers over the town, both Flying Officer Ian Lombton Menzies (29) and Observer Corporal Kenneth Ian Scott (24) were killed instantly when their aircraft crashed after an engine stall. A Court of Enquiry stated that the aircraft probably stalled whilst performing a steep turn in which that there was insufficient height to recover.
In 2010, an interview was conducted with a Ravenswood family descendent who was mentioned in the Court of Enquiry. They believed the aircraft may have been undertaking aerobatics as a spectacle for the town's residents on the day of the accident. Two residents then guarded the crash site overnight until a RAAF representative arrived the following day from Townsville to assist with removal of the remains.
On 21 January 1942 eight Wirraway's of 24 Squadron made a valiant but futile attempt to defend Rabaul from Japanese air attack. Outnumbered and outclassed, six of the eight Wirraway's were shot down by Japanese Zero fighters.
In 2011, a crater still marks the crash impact site between Ravenswood and Mt Wright.
","Australian War Memorial Wirraway aircraft image description, AWM 000713. http://cas.awm.gov.au/item/000713
[No 24 Squadron] - Crash of A20 - 117 at Ravenswood on 18th April 1941, ACT A11297, 16/17/AIR
Wirraway A20 [Accidents Part 7], ACT A9845, 107.
Wirraway A20 [Accidents Part 5], ACT A9845, 105.
" 1212,"Public Pill Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","Musgrave Road (cnr Windsor Road)",Red Hill,4059,Brisbane City,-27.4546394348145,153.0068359375,,,"BCC list
" 1216,"2nd Australian Women's Hospital, Redbank","Redbank Railway Workshops shunting yards","Medical facility","Weedman Street",Redbank,4301,South-East,-27.5922870635986,152.873641967773,"The Australian Army's 2nd Australian Women's Hospital was established at Redbank in early 1943. The hospital was contained within the Redbank Army Camp, on the western outskirts of Brisbane. The patients and staff at the facility were housed in tents, and endured quite rudimentary facilities.
","The site of the 2nd Australian Women's Hospital is now occupied by the Redbank Railway Workshops shunting area. However, during the Second World War the whole Redbank area north of the current Ipswich motorway was occupied by the 2/4th and 7th Australian General Hospitals, numerous training facilities, and both industry and supply facilities.
The Redbank Woollen Mills were producing army blankets and the Redbank Railway Station was the main alighting and departure point for most troops who were station at the camp.
In late 1943, the 2nd Australian Women's Hospital was moved to Yeronga, taking up a position on the Brisbane River at 'Ryndarra', which was located at 23 Riverview Place and 7 and 20 Heritage Close.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
Allan S Walker. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 5 - Medical - Volume I - Clinical Problems of War (1962 reprint)
NAA Resources - NAA Series BP378-1. Barcode 3279804 - Redbank - Site Plan Amends (5 plans) [plan number 1-R-1].
" 1219,"Camp Redbank","Redbank Military Training Area","Military camp","Montgomery Road and Smith Street",Redbank,4301,South-East,-27.5915374755859,152.873153686523,"Elements of Redbank Military Camp, west of Brisbane, were established prior to the Second World War. However, upon the declaration of war with Germany in early September 1939, movements were begun to expand facilities to suit the training requirement of new recruit volunteers. Escalation of the war into 1940 and beyond, witnessed the camp scale increase to include three hospitals, including two general hospitals, and AWAS camp, and a number of rifle ranges, ordnance bunkers and supply depots.
","The camp was located within the bend of the Brisbane River at Redbank, and offered good road and rail links to other camps in the western Brisbane-Ipswich corridor. The Redbank railway station serviced the camp and had a direct links to other large installations such as Camp Columbia and Camp Freeman, and direct rail links to the port of Brisbane, Hamilton, Pinkenba and Eagle Farm. Road links between Brisbane and Ipswich also ensured that the camp was well situated.
With a total camp area of approximately 300 hectares, Camp Redbank was one of the largest in Queensland. It contained the 2/4th Australian General Hospital, 7th Australian General Hospital, 2nd Australian Women's Hospital, an AWAS Camp, the First Australian Army Weapon Training School, and the Redbank Army Stores Depot. Supporting industry and infrastructure in the area included the Redbank Meatworks and Woollen Mills, producing essential supplies for the war effort, and the Redbank Railway Station, which was used as a major transport hub for troops and supplies.
The camp was divided into quadrants, with the camp commandant located in the centre of the location at the current intersection of General MacArthur Place and Smith Street. The quadrants were listed as West Camp North, East Camp North, West Camp South, and finally East Camp South.
Following the end of the war, Camp Redbank was utilised for a time, but closed shortly after due to the superior facilities at the Camp Columbia area, further east towards Brisbane. This site became the Wacol Army Camp and saw National Service, Reserve and Regular troops in residence until the 1990s. The lower aspects of the Redbank facility, such as the rifle range on the southern side of the Ipswich Motorway and training area at White Rock, became part of the Greenbank Military area facilities.
This historic place is significant to Queensland's heritage. If you have images or information relating to the place, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","Low brick structure, partially sunk into the surrounding earth within the paddocks between Smith and Monash Streets. Approximately 7.5m long and 5m wide, the magazine was utilised by the wider Redbank military camp during the Second World War.
","During World War II a large army camp was established at Redbank. The first contingent of 400 men marched into the camp on 21 October 1939, with the initial quota of 2500 men being reached soon afterwards. The camp gradually developed into a small township with huts, hospitals, a post office, bank, water supply and sewerage lines established. At the height of the war up to 6000 troops were based at Redbank.
","" 1231,"US Radio Receiving Station","Cotton's Farm, Capalaba, Radio Communications site, US Army Signal Corps","Radar/signal station","Old Cleveland Road East",Birkdale,4159,South-East,-27.5097961425781,153.201843261719,"In July 1942 General MacArthur moved his General Headquarters for the South West Pacific Area (GHQ SWPA) to the AMP building in Queen Street, Brisbane. MacArthur kept in contact with the United States and Washington DC via shortwave radio, with a transmitting station at 180 Youngs Road, Hemmant (still extant) and a receiving station 9km to the southeast, near Capalaba.
The US Army Signal Corps established the Capalaba radio station to the west of Old Cleveland East Road, south of Uhlman Road, on land owned by the Cotton family. A Wilcox receiver was used, and teletype equipment was also installed at the site. Messages were relayed by teletype link to GHQ SWPA.
The rectangular brick receiving building still exists, having been used by the Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) after the war, the Commonwealth acquiring the land in 1948. The site is still owned by the Commonwealth as an Air Navigation Station.
","Insufficient information
","National Archives of Australia, LS2634. Capalaba Radio Receiving Station - Detail Survey, 1951.
Peterson, A. ""General MacArthur's Brisbane radi"", Listening In, November 2007. Ontario DX Association
Dunn, P. US Army Signal Corps Hemmant transmitting site Youngs Road, Hemmant, Brisbane, Qld during WW2.
Title Deeds, DERM
Google Earth
Google Maps
" 1234,"Jungara United States Army Station Hospital","116 Australian General Hospital; Malaria Research Unit","Medical facility","Shaws Road",Redlynch,4870,Cairns,-16.903205871582,145.694519042969,"Located at Redlynch near Cairns, Jungara was designed by US engineers for 750-bed capacity and built by the Allied Works Council (AWC). The hospital contained over 140 prefabricated buildings including wards, operating theatres and staff accommodation, with the prefabricated components made in Sydney. Jungara hospital was later transferred to the Australian Army.
","The Jungara US Army Station Hospital was established at Redlynch in September 1943, and construction work was completed by 15 February 1944. In support of the vast numbers of US and Australian troops training in the vicinity of Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands, additional bed space was required. To stretch the infrastructure of the region further, the Cairns area containing a number of large staging camps, for use by troops en-route to the war in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
On the 25 March 1944, the Australian Army took over US hospital at Jungara and by mid-May the 116 Australian General Hospital (AGH) had transferred from Charters Towers to occupy the wards and offer complete medical services, including psychiatric and disease services. To assist with the prevalence of malarial cases returning from the jungles of the south-west pacific, the Malaria Research Unit moved from North Cairns State School to the Jungara site at a similar time.
A housing estate now exists on the current site of the former Jungara Hospital, servicing the rapid population growth of the region in recent years.
","Pearce, H. (2009). ""A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II"", DERM, 2009
Dunn, P. Australia @ War
National Archives of Australia
Roger and Jenny Marks.
" 1235,"Redlynch Staging Camp","16th Australian Personnel Staging Camp","Military camp","Harley Street",Redlynch,4870,Cairns,-16.882719039917,145.688949584961,"The Redlynch Staging Camp, or 16 Australian Personnel Staging Camp was located in the vicinity of Harley Street, Redlynch. Also know as a Leave and Transit Depot, the Redlynch site saw vast numbers of troops pass through its gates, en-route to New Guinea and later Borneo and the South-West Pacific.
","The camp was utilised as a final organisational depot prior to overseas departure. Most often troops would undertake a spell in the area en-route to the Atherton Tablelands, which housed the 6th, 7th and 9th Division camps and training areas. Or, for those troops travelling down from the range by truck to link up with the railways at Redlynch Station. From Redlynch the troops would travel to Cairns fior embarkation on a troopship.
The camp consisted of ast tented lines, simply designed to accommodate the troops. Whilst they were at the depot, they would be resupplied in preparation for departure. Should personnel become sick en-route, the 116 AGH and US Station Hospital was just south of the area. Known as Jungara Hospital, the facility was famous for scientific treatment and prevention of malaria.
The camp was lucky to have a cinema, which entertained thousands of troops during the war to prevent stagnation, boredom, thus reducing the opportunity for less honorable pursuits.
","Australian War Memorial - Image references
National Archives of Australia.
" 1236,"Reid River Airfield","US 46th Engineer General Service Unit (EGS) camp","Airfield","Flinders Highway",Reid River,4816,North-West,-19.7688827514648,146.835891723633,"The Reid River Airfield consisted of three graded and hard surfaced runways and was located a few kilometres south of Woodstock, towards Charters Towers. Reid River was little used by the RAAF but remained throughout the war years as an American base. The complex was another built by the US 46th EGS (Engineer General Service Unit).
Understandably the south bank of the Reid River was favoured as camp areas and relics of various mess buildings remain. In contrast to Townsville where city dwellers were encouraged if not forcibly removed during the period of most danger from invasion, properties on the fringe of outlying airfields were little disturbed. During research, Roger Marks had contact with one such person Lux Foote, who lived near this site during the war.
","A National Archives progress report to RAAF Headquarters by Pilot Officer, John Keays' on the 14 April 1942, stated:
…Reid River: This site has been constructed by the US Corps of Engineers, in preference to the selected site at Cardington. Runways have been located clear of hills and site has been approved by operational personnel. Grading will be necessary and site will have to be gravelled before use…
The report went on to quote:
Karl C Dod referred to the 46 EGS unit's initiative, quoting it's CO, Albert G Matthews' post-war correspondence—
…Matthews described the construction of these airstrips as ""field improvisation at its… best"" The Officers of the 46th were largely on their own and ""did what seemed good to them and in most cases their engineering common sense was the primary and single qualification for the work"". Construction was held to the simplest standards. Because equipment was short, dispersal taxiways, hard stands and revetments were omitted. As the long dry season was just beginning, drainage was dispensed with. Since the engineers had no asphalt or tar, they surfaced the runways with rotted granite, semi-decomposed shale or sometimes merely with gravel and clay. The fields were rough and crude, but planes could land on them.
Keays' lengthy 14 April 1942 review shows he was a party to constructive evolution of design standards—
…Width of clearing and pavement: strips are being cleared for width of 300 feet only and it has been suggested width of pavement for fighter strip should be decreased from 150 feet. A direction in this regard is required. I consider 300? will be insufficient for bombers and suggest 400 or 450 feet of clearing with the full 150 feet of pavement (for bombers).
At the time of Keay's reporting, the first P-39s arrived at Woodstock Airfield. Rod Voller, then the Dept of Home Security's man in charge of camouflage at Townsville, could not find specific reference to the first aircraft to land at Reid River. His diary notes blanketed the matter and he simply said—
…these outlying strips were used as soon as they were formed without any bitumen surfacing. They were very dusty and visible! (from the air)…
The thirteen page history from the files of 46 EGS veteran John A McFee tells of early aircraft arrival and of a diversion&8212;
…During the latter part of April, the 18 BS (redesignated 408 BS on 22 April 1942) of the 22 BG (B-26) arrived at Reid River and began operation from strip No 1. These bombers would fly to Port Moresby to refuel and load up and strike at Lae and Rabaul. Within weeks a second squadron arrived using strip No 1. On May 3 1942, operations were temporarily stopped when the regiment was put on the alert for a supposed enemy invasion of Northern Australia, possibly in the vicinity of Townsville. Company F returned from their outpost overlooking the town of Giru during the alert and resumed work on strip No 1. Company's D E and H & S moved to Reid River (from Woodstock over the period 5-9 May 1942) and commenced work on dispersal roads and parking bays. Lt-Col W H Mills assumed command of the regiment on May 9 1942 relieving Col. A G Matthews.'
In June of 1942 Anti Aircraft Troops and equipment were deployed to the various airfields and other points in Townsville area.
In respect of REID RIVER these troops appear to have been from the HQs US 3 Battalion with batteries D, H, L and M and one platoon each from batteries A and E of the 94 CA (A-A), which defended the airstrips at Reid River and Woodstock…
The disposition of these batteries is not known and it appears their weapons were nothing heavier than 0.5"" calibre machine guns.
While the US 22 Bombardment Group squadrons stayed for many months, the 46th Engineer elements had all departed Reid River by 7 July 1942. The plan then for the airfield was advancement to bitumen surfacing on all three strips and the erection of two squadron camps. Both were located between the 87 degrees runway and the river. A large CCC camp developed west of the railway siding.
During August, renewed concern for the adequacy of several of these North Queensland airstrips in the next wet season arose. By then most of the work was being undertaken by the Allied Works Council through the Main Roads Commission and the forces of the Civil Construction Corps, because the US Engineer organisations had moved either to Port Moresby or into Cape York area. It is also a fact that significant work was then progressing on airfields west of Brisbane and it became a matter of deciding priority. The outcome was curtailment in the south so that renewed effort could be applied in the north.
The RAAF 'Aerodrome Works File' for Charters Towers records the dissatisfaction of DWB with work underway by Main Roads Commission (MRC) at Charters Towers and Reid River, in mid November 1942. Agreement reached at a recent conference between AWC/MRC and DWB officers, meant '1' and '2' (operational) runways were to be opened up, in turn, to allow culvert installation.
Apparently the MRC workers on the job diverted from this plan incurring—
…the construction of 4 500 foot of drain which will be about 5 feet deep… (involving) an entirely unwarranted expenditure of funds and also tie up plant, (which) cannot be agreed to…
No resolution appears 'on file', but drawings of Reid River show miles of open drains and no culverts under the runways!
Both the US 2nd and 408th Bombardment Squadrons converted to B-25 Mitchells during 1943. For a few weeks in May and June they shared the airfield with two squadrons of the 345 Bombardment Group (M), a fresh unit en-route to New Guinea.
","Roger Marks (Contributing Author)
National Archives of Australia
AUSLIG - Aerial Imagery
" 1286,"Archer Park Drill Hall Complex (former)","Central Queensland Military and Artefacts Museum","Training facility","40 Archer Street",Rockhampton,4700,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.3760356903076,150.507919311523,"The Archer Park Drill Hall (training depot) site was a Defence Force Reserve from 1901. During World War II the depot was used for recruiting and troop assembly for the nearby railway station. Surviving pre-World War II structures include the 1906 drill hall, a former drill hall and wagon shed relocated from Mount Morgan in 1928, and a rifle range and Q-Store. The former depot is located to the northeast of the Archer Park Railway Station [Queensland Heritage Register 600777].
The 1906 timber drill hall fronts Archer Street, and is divided into three equal gable roofed sections with a transverse gable over the drill hall behind. The rifle range is located just northeast of the drill hall, and is approximately 25 metres long with a timber and earth wall (about 8m across by 4m high) at the northwest end.
The corrugated iron clad drill hall from Mount Morgan is located on the eastern side of the site. The former wagon shed from Mount Morgan, another corrugated iron-clad structure, is located just to the northwest. The former Q Store, located northwest of the wagon shed, is a red brick building with a hipped corrugated iron roof with a small windowed loft/attic in the centre.
","The block bounded by Alma, Archer, Cambridge and Denison Streets in Rockhampton was once known as Leichhardt Square. Archer Park Railway Station was constructed on the southern half of the square in the late 1890s and opened in 1899, while the northern portion of Leichhardt Square was gazetted as a Defence Force Reserve (R139) in 1901.
The reserve was one of many sites nationally that was transferred from the state to the commonwealth at Federation for defence purposes. The 'Drill Shed Reserve, Archer Park' was valued at £2250 with no structures listed as being on the site at the time. Before Federation the Queensland Defence Forces in Rockhampton utilised a site in Fitzroy Street.
Specifications for a drill hall and offices for the defence force, Rockhampton were prepared by the Department of Public Works, office of the Government Architect in May 1906. The specifications included the construction of the drill hall and offices, tank stands, earth closet, and a split paling fence and double gates. By 1911, when repairs were undertaken to the site, an armoury had been constructed to the east of the drill hall. Plans to renovate the 1906 drill hall were carried out in 1937, when it was extended on the southern side. From 1939 onwards, the 1906 hall was not used for formal military drilling. The hall area was not considered large enough for drilling purposes and the parade ground was used.
In 1928 a drill hall, wagon shed and earth closet were removed from Mount Morgan and re-erected at the training depot. In addition, a brick Q-store was built, apparently by 1939. A section of this building was also utilised as a magazine, until it was decommissioned in the 1980s. The rifle range was also constructed by 1939, although a 1948 plan of the training depot records it in a slightly different position to where it is today.
During World War II army medicals were held in the 1906 drill hall, which, by then, was also used as a recruiting depot. The adjacent parade ground was the assembly point for servicemen on route to camp. By 1943, the original armoury had been replaced with an ablutions block. The former Mount Morgan drill hall was being used for administration and also as a lecture hall, while the wagon shed was in use as a garage.
A 1948 plan of the complex shows a number of sleeping and mess huts at the north end of the site, but these were later demolished and replaced with other buildings, some constructed as late as the 1990s. Since 1948 structures have also been built between the 1906 drill hall and the Mount Morgan drill hall.
At the time of its closure in 2000, the depot was occupied by the 42nd Battalion, the Royal Queensland Regiment. Other units to have occupied the site include the 3rd Battalion Queensland Mounted Infantry, 15th Australian Light Horse, 9th Field Ambulance, 35 Field Engineer Squadron, 107 Transport Company, 4 Transport Company, the Royal Queensland Regiment, Regimental Cadets and the Air Training Corps.
","Training Depot Drill Hall Complex (former). Queensland Heritage Register 602258.
Archer Park Railway Station, Queensland Heritage Register 600777
National Archives of Australia, 1-R-52 Locality plan of drill hall area, 1948
Google Maps.
" 1314,"Camp Rockhampton",,"Training facility","Current suburbs of Norman Gardens, Kawana, Parkhurst, Ironpot and Sandringham",Rockhampton,4700,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.3380699157715,150.532775878906,"Camp Rockhampton was home to the US 41st Infantry Division, part of the US I Corps, between July 1942 and early 1944. The camp stretched from Moores Creek northwards along the Bruce Highway almost to Parkhurst; either side of the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road before the intersection with Artillery Road; and south of Artillery Road between the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road and Sandringham. Additional Areas of Camp Rockhampton were located at the Botanical Gardens near the golf course (Area 'U') and at the Showgrounds (Area 'V').
Another I Corps Division, the 24th Infantry Division, arrived at Rockhampton in September 1943 and was accommodated at Camp Caves, north of Rockhampton between Etna Creek Road and Alligator Creek. Other camps in the vicinity of Rockhampton included Camp Nerimbera, Camp Thompson's Point, Camp Keppel Sands, Camp Yeppoon and Camp Wallaroo.
The main combat units of the 41st Division included the 162nd, 163rd and 186th Infantry Regiments, the 116th Engineer Battalion and the 146th, 167th, 205th and 218th Field Artillery (FA) Battalions. Units of the 41st fought in New Guinea during 1943, and in early 1944 the whole division departed Rockhampton to engage in simultaneous amphibious assaults on Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea (Operation Reckless) and Aitape in New Guinea (Operation Persecution).
","Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was the first US division dispatched to Australia, with contingents arriving at Melbourne and Sydney during April and May 1942. After training at Puckapunyal in Victoria, the division, initially called the ""Sunset Division"" and later the ""Jungleers"", was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable (from July 1942 before heading to New Guinea from September 1942). The 32nd had been offered to Australia in return for Australia leaving its experienced 9th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) in the Middle East.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The 24th was originally the Hawaiian Division, and it retained the latter's shoulder sleeve insignia of a taro leaf. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
After arriving at Rockhampton the 41st Division commenced training in jungle warfare, and each battalion in turn was sent down to the Toorbul Point Combined Training Centre near Brisbane, for training in amphibious warfare. Units of the 41st Division fought in New Guinea during 1943 and in April 1944 the Division landed simultaneously at Hollandia (Dutch New Guinea) and Aitape (New Guinea) in Operation Reckless and Operation Persecution, in an attempt to isolate the Japanese 18th Army at Wewak. The 24th Division also landed at Hollandia as part of Operation Reckless, having prepared at Goodenough Island (New Guinea) from January 1944.
When not deployed outside Australia, the main units of the 41st Division were accommodated in Camp Rockhampton, north of the city, although numerous buildings within the city were also requisitioned for US use. Camp Rockhampton stretched from Moores Creek northwards along the Bruce Highway, with Areas 'A' (5th Station Hospital) and 'B' (92nd Evacuation Hospital) astride Richardson Road. The 33rd Surgical Hospital was also located on Richardson Road. Areas 'C' (116th Medical Battalion), 'D' (69th Topo Coy, I Corps HQ battery, I Corps 36th MP Coy, I Corps 56th and 58th Signals Companies, 17th Replacement Battalion), 'E' (41st Division Reconnaissance Coy) and 'F' (741st Ordnance) were located either side of the Bruce Highway before the turnoff for the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road. Area 'G' (808th Ordnance, with 7 igloo warehouses and ""401"" siding) was on the east side of the North Coast Railway Line, to the southwest of the turn off, and areas 'H' (41st Division HQ, Army Exchange Service) and 'I' (808th Ordnance; Ordnance, I Corps; Ordnance, Base Section 3) were further north, along the west side of the Bruce Highway and the North Coast Railway Line respectively, before Parkhurst.
Areas 'J' (186th Infantry Regiment with 3 battalions), 'K' (162nd Infantry Regiment with 3 battalions), 'L' (Quartermaster Coy) and 'M' (163rd Infantry Regiment with 3 battalions) were either side of the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road, before the intersection with Artillery Road. Areas 'N' (41st Division Artillery HQ), 'O' (167th Field Artillery [FA] battalion), 'P' (205th FA Battalion), 'Q' (218th FA Battalion), 'R' (146th FA Battalion), 'S' (116th Engineer Battalion) and 'T' (3 landing strips with 5 hangars) were to the south of Artillery Road, before Sandringham. After these areas, but still before Sandringham, was a Corps Artillery Camp, labelled as Areas 'M' to 'Q' of Camp Caves, located either side of Artillery Road.
Area 'U' (I Corps HQ) was at the Botanical Gardens located south of Penlington Street and west of Wentworth Terrace, near the golf course. Area 'V' (PX, Laundry, and Salvage Depot) was at the Showground north of Exhibition Road. Small latrine buildings were also built for allied troops in the centre of town, with two in the middle of William Street, two in Denham Street and two in Fitzroy Street.
There were also two rifle ranges marked as part of Camp Rockhampton: the Frenchville small arms range, east of Norman Road, north of Farm Street; and the Lovandee small arms range, west of the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road on the south side of Ironpot Creek. Other small arms range areas were located either side of the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road and south of Artillery Road. Ranges for the artillery units at Rockhampton included the Cawarral, Cobberra, Josekeleigh, Salt Flat, and Sugarloaf artillery ranges.
Land hiring dates for Camp Rockhampton commenced in June 1942, through October 1943, and the main construction agency was the Public Works Department, along with work by RL Schofield, R Cousins & Co, R Coward, TF Wollam, the City Council and troop labour. Tozer & Sons constructed the target buts at the Lovandee small arms range. Detailed maps of the locations of individual buildings within each area can be accessed in digitised form from the National Archives of Australia website, control symbols MAP 22 to MAP 39. Lists of buildings and contractors can be found at MAP 118 to MAP 128; and units in occupation are listed in the schedules of garbage collection, MAP 147 to MAP 149. All areas of Camp Rockhampton had been vacated by March 1944, except for Area 'A' (July 1944).
","McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau"".
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia. various items, control symbols: INDEX; MAP 16 to MAP 18; MAP 20 to MAP 57; MAP 59; MAP 60; MAP 62: MAP 63; MAP 77; MAP 79; MAP 81; MAP 83; MAP 118 to MAP 133; MAP 146 to MAP 150.
Dunn, P. Camp Rockhampton Base Area Command No. 2 USASOS Base Section 3, APO 926, Rockhampton, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
Operations Reckless and Persecution
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Image of 41st Division shoulder patch.
St Christopher's Chapel, Queensland Heritage Register 600660
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V – South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia. MAP 17. Rockhampton District Camp Areas - Engineer Office Base Area Command No. 2 [USASOS]
Base Section 3 A.P.O. 926 - ""A"" Area Camp Nerimbera. 1944
National Archives of Australia, MAP 146. Rockhampton District Camp Areas - Engineer Office Base Area Command No. 2 [USASOS] Base Section 3 A.P.O. 926 - Camp Nerimbera Garbage Collection, 1944.
" 1349,"11th Australian Base Workshop","1st Australian Engineer Base Depot","Workshop","Sherwood Road and Medway Streets",Rocklea,4106,Brisbane City,-27.5414009094238,153.008010864258,"The 11th Aust Base Workshop of the 1st Australian Engineers Base Depot was located on the western side of the current Beaudesert Road. The site existed as a combination workshop and military accommodation facility.
",,"National Archives of Australia
Brisbane City Council
" 1350,"Commonwealth Marine Engine Works","Evans Deakin and Co/English Electric/Alstom Factory","Factory site/industry","35 Evans Road",Rocklea,4106,Brisbane City,-27.5446014404297,153.021179199219,"The Australian Shipbuilding Board, responsible for the building and repair of merchant ships, as well as for the supply of engines, boilers and equipment, established the Commonwealth Marine Engine Works, to build two marine engine annexes - one in Brisbane, and the other in Melbourne.
In 1941, the Commonwealth Government resumed land on the corner of Compo Road (later changed to Evans Road) and Beaudesert Road in the Rocklea area of Brisbane from the Farm-Allen family, to construct the Commonwealth Marine Engine Works.
","In 1940, Evans Deakin Industries, and the Royal Australian Navy, proposed the establishment of a program for the manufacture of steam engines and the building of ships in the Brisbane area. Evans Deakins Co. undertook to build parts for ""River Class"" cargo ships at Rocklea. The vessels were then assembled and launched at the Evans Deakins Shipyards at Kangaroo Point.
The wartime-built workshop was approximatley 5,600 square metres (60,000 sq. ft.) in size and fully enclosed by barbed wire. Today the location is occupied by Alstom Australia at 35 Evans Road, Rocklea. Alstom manufacture high voltage Transformers and Switchgear.
Bays 4, 5 and part of 6, which were part of the original buildings built during WW2, are utilised today. Bays 7 and 8 were built for the manufacture of larger transformers in 1957/58. Bays 1, 2 and 3 plus the main office building were built in 1967.
English Electric took over the building in 1948, only from the Commonwealth Marine Engine Works. The land was eventually transferred to English Electric in 1958. The name 'English Electric' can still be seen as painted on the roof of the remaining warehouses.
","BCC Heritage Citation
National Archives of Australia - Series A3995
" 1351,"Commonwealth War Workers Housing Trust Hostels","Munitions Workers Hostels No.1, 2 and 3","Military accommodation","(No.1) Tonks Street, (No.2) Nettleton Court, (No.3) Fegen Drive",Rocklea,4106,Brisbane City,-27.5399951934814,153.01904296875,"In 1943, the recently built Rocklea Munitions Works converted its operations from Australian army ammunition production to aircraft engine repairs for the US forces. Both the urgency of this work plus the large workload required by the USAAF meant that more civilian war workers were required. Brisbane was suffering an acute wartime accommodation shortage so two modern hostels were constructed near the Rocklea Munitions Works in an effort to attract workers living outside of Brisbane. Hostels No.1 and No.2 were completed before the end of 1944 but it would that the planned Hostel No.3 was not built.
","The Rocklea Munitions Works was constructed during 1941. It began operating in November 1941. Initially the factory complex manufactured small arms ammunition and artillery shells for the Australian army, with the workforce mainly drawn from Brisbane and surrounds. In 1943, the Rocklea Munitions Works ceased ammunition production and switched to undertaking engine overhauls for the US Army's Air Force (USAAF). General Kenney's 5th Air Force, based in the South-West Pacific Area required a rapid turnover of engine repairs so that the maximum number of planes could be employed in offensives against the Japanese.
The factory's workforce was expanded and recruitment for more workers was conducted intra and interstate. By 1943, with the large number of Allied service personnel based in and around Brisbane, accommodation was in very short supply. So to attract more war workers to the Rocklea factory complex, there was a need to offer modern, affordable accommodation located close-by.
The Commonwealth War Workers Housing Trust requested that the Allied Works Council build three hostels that could house both male and female war workers. Only non-married workers could lodge at the hostels. These workers would be engaged in engine overhaul or airframe repair duties at either the Rocklea Munitions Works or at nearby joint USAAF and RAAF Archerfield air base. Hostel No.1 was in Tonks Street. Hostel No.2 was in Nettleton Court. Hostel No.3 was to be in Fegen Drive. Each Hostel was planned to provide beds for 600 residents and employ 50 staff that undertook cooking, cleaning, gardening and maintenance duties. Both war workers and hostel staff lived at the hostels.
By October 1944, Hostel No.1 was close to completion and three-quarters occupied. It already accommodated nearly 450 workers. Only pedestrian paths and roads needed to be finished. The buildings of Hostel No.2 were nearly finished but unoccupied. It was handed over to the Department of the Army before the end of 1944. It would appear that Hostel No.3 might not have been built. The Brisbane City Council extended the Salisbury tramline thereby making it easier for the war workers to access the shops and entertainment available in the city.
Hostels No1 and No.2 offered 28 sleeping units or apartments. Each hostel had a community kitchen and dining hall. The hostels included a number of surrounding ancillary buildings including a resident and staff central laundry block, a boiler house and separate food and linen Bulk Stores. Approximately 40 buildings comprised layout of the twin hostels.
","National Australian Archives, File Series: BP262/2, Item: 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland, October 1944.
" 1352,"RAAF No.3 Personnel Depot, Royal Australian Engineers searchlight position, US Army Camp","Rocklea State School and Showgrounds","Military camp","Ipswich Road",Rocklea,4106,Brisbane City,-27.5475978851318,153.011596679688,"The Rocklea State School and Showgrounds were the site for Royal Australian Air Force and United States Army Staging Camps.
",,"National Archives of Australia
Brisbane City Council
" 1354,"Rocky Creek Hospital","5th Australian Camp Hospital, 2/2nd and 2/6th Army General Hospitals, 1st Australian Mobile Laundry Unit, 2/1st Australian Convalescent Depot","Medical facility","Frazer Road/Rocca Road, off Kennedy Highway",Rocky Creek,4357,Atherton Tablelands,-17.182336807251,145.455535888672,"The Rocky Creek Hospital Complex was in operation from October 1942 until September 1945, and some 30,000 patients were treated at this facility. Located on the southern side of the Kennedy Highway, almost five kilometres north of Tolga, the site includes a theatre (entertainment) igloo and remnants of part of the 2/2nd Army General Hospital (AGH) on Frazer Road's road reserve.
The main section of the igloo is corrugated iron clad, and has a curved auditorium roof 34 metres long and 17.4m wide. The interior trusses are made of native timber. Along each side of the curved wall there are seven dormer windows with iron sides and skillion roofs, fitted with window panes of Caneite. A gabled stage and backstage area, clad in corrugated asbestos cement sheeting, extends 8.6 metres from the southwest end of the igloo and is 22 metres wide.
Remnants of the 2/2nd AGH are visible either side of Frazer Road, which runs southeast from the igloo. These include ward concrete slabs with drainage and toilet outlets, bitumen road remnants, walkways, garden beds, terracing, and building material scatters. Traces of the roadways of 2/2nd AGH are also visible from the air, in the cane fields east of Frazer Road.
","The Atherton Tableland was chosen as the site of a major concentration of troops and stores during 1943, for a number of reasons. It was close to New Guinea; near a port (Cairns); had a cooler climate yet was suitable for training in jungle warfare; and it was a mostly malaria-free area for the hospitalisation of those suffering from tropical diseases. The physically exhausting terrain and climate of New Guinea meant that Australian troops had to be regularly rested and rehabilitated, preferably close to their theatre of operations.
The largest military hospital in north Queensland during World War II was built at Rocky Creek, between Atherton and Mareeba. Installation of medical infrastructure on the Rocky Creek site, north of Tolga, commenced on 6 October 1942 with the arrival of the 19th Field Ambulance. They were charged with the preparation of a camp for the 5th Australian Camp Hospital (ACH), which arrived from Redbank on 14 October 1942. The Commanding Officer, Lt-Col LA Little (AAMC) and Matron K Cahill, assisted by several nursing sisters and a few male orderlies, established a small camp hospital on the south eastern side of Rocky Creek. The 19th Field Ambulance left Rocky Creek on 17 October 1942.
The first patients were admitted on 20 October 1942. On 2 November the 1st Australian Mobile Laundry Unit arrived, while 20 Voluntary Aid Detachment members (VAD; later Australian Army Medical Women's Service, or AAMWS) commenced duties on 14 November, providing much needed nursing support.
In January 1943 an advance party of 2/2nd Army General Hospital (AGH) AIF arrived at the Rocky Creek Hospital site, replacing the 5th AGH which moved the next day, 5 January 1943, to a new hospital unit established at the North Cairns State School. The 2/2nd AGH, under the command of Colonel Talbert, the Commanding Officer, and Matron, Miss Jean Oddie, launched into the arduous task of expanding the small tent hospital into a large 1200 bed General Hospital. On 20 April 1943 the 2/2nd were joined by the 2/6th AGH AIF, who after serving two years in the Middle East arrived back in Australia.
The 2/2nd AGH's wards were located on the Frazer Road reserve and east of Frazer Road, north of Champion Road, while the 2/6th AGH was located west of Frazer Road, north of Marnane Road and east of Filippo Close. The 2/1st Australian Convalescent Depot was located south of the railway line, west of Frazer Road, with its administrative section and a mobile laundry unit north of the Kennedy Highway, on the east bank of Rocky Creek. The mobile laundry administration, medical stores and Red Cross Field HQ were located north of the highway and the theatre igloo, and the remains of a sewerage treatment works exist at the end of a track north of the stores site, near Rocky Creek. The 132nd General Transport unit was sited north of the curve of the Kennedy Highway, west of Mapee Road.
The 1200 bed 2/2nd AGH was constructed by a local Cairns firm, TJ Watkins PTY Ltd. There were 73 buildings in total, including facilities for the 4th Australian Static Laundry. The theatre Igloo, recreation hut and warehouses were also constructed by Watkin and PR Ayre. The 1200 bed hospital of the 2/6th AGH was built by AH Hodge and Sons of Toowoomba, while the 600 bed 2/1st Convalescent Depot was constructed by Clive Kynaston of Cairns. Patients treated at the Rocky Creek Hospitals usually arrived in Cairns from Papua New Guinea, to be transported to Rocky Creek by the 4th Australian Hospital Ambulance Train, which ran three times a week.
The 2/2nd and the 2/6th Hospitals both employed a similar layout. The two hospitals consisted of 40 wards, offices, stores and other auxiliary buildings. The wards were laid out in pairs, with a service annexe in between, forming a cross-shaped footprint. Most wards were constructed with canvas, and measured 60′ by 20′ (18.3m by 6m). Early wards had earth floors, watered daily to make them firm, and a rattan carpet down the middle isle. Other buildings were constructed from timber and iron. Later wards were set on a concrete slab and had a capacity of approximately 50 patients.
By March 1944 both hospitals had been transformed from tent to hut hospitals and the bed capacity had increased to 1400. However, by September 1944 the daily bed average had increased to 1760. The buildings still had canvas walls but the floors were concrete and each ward had its own amenities, such as a wood stove, kerosene refrigerator, a permanent toilet and an office and dressing room. In October 1944 electricity supply, originally generator powered, switch to mains power.
The concrete ward floors consisted of reinforced concrete slabs varying in thickness. The annexes were bordered and partitioned by concrete wall bases, from which protruded metal wall ties. The concrete wall bases were slightly flanged on either side. Wall sheets of asbestos cement would have been positioned on the flanges.
While the work hours for staff at the Hospital Complex were long, various facilities were provided for their enjoyment in the leisure time available. The complex included an open-air picture show, where bingo was often played before the main feature. There was also a log-cabin recreational room and a tennis court with an ant-bed floor. Others spent their time planting garden beds outside their quarters and the hospital wards. Movies were shown in the theatre igloo, constructed in 1943. A truck, with a projector on the back, would reverse up to the building along the built up driveway, so that the projector pointed towards the screen. Concerts and dances were also held in the building.
The staged closure of the Rocky Creek Hospital Complex began in 1944, and continued through to 1945. The 2/6th AGH was the first to close, in October 1944, followed by the 2/2nd AGH on 30 September 1945. Following the end of the war, military buildings at Rocky Creek were auctioned and either dismantled or relocated.
The Entertainment Igloo was purchased by Frank and Eileen Frazer in 1947. The stage was converted into a family home, in which the Frazers raised their 11 children. Following the death of her husband, Mrs Frazer stayed on at the igloo until 1995, when the igloo and land were donated to the Atherton Shire Council.
In the lead up to the 50th anniversary of victory in the Pacific celebrations in 1995, a War Memorial Park was established on the former site of the Mobile Laundry Administration Area through the efforts of a group of local residents.
","Rocky Creek World War Two Hospital Complex (former), Queensland Heritage Register 601815
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, 286/3. Atherton Tableland Base Area, December 1942 - November 1944.
National Archives of Australia, ST285 Sheet 1, ST285 Sheet 2, ST285 Sheet 3, Rocky Creek 1200 bed hospital 1943.
Australian Army Hospital & Medical Base, Rocky Creek 1942–1946 WWII, and Australian Army 2/1st Convalescent Depot- Rocky Creek, 1943-1946, Site maps compiled by MW Alcock, 1995.
Australian War Memorial Images
Google Maps
" 1355,"Rocky Creek Igloo Theatre Hall",,"Recreation/community","Kennedy Highway",Rocky Creek,4357,Atherton Tablelands,-17.1836357116699,145.456756591797,"The Rocky Creek Hospital Complex was in operation from October 1942 until September 1945, and some 30,000 patients were treated at this facility. Located on the southern side of the Kennedy Highway, almost five kilometres north of Tolga, the site includes a theatre (entertainment) igloo and remnants of part of the 2/2nd Army General Hospital (AGH) on Frazer Road's road reserve.
The main section of the igloo is corrugated iron clad, and has a curved auditorium roof 34 metres long and 17.4m wide. The interior trusses are made of native timber. Along each side of the curved wall there are seven dormer windows with iron sides and skillion roofs, fitted with window panes of Caneite. A gabled stage and backstage area, clad in corrugated asbestos cement sheeting, extends 8.6 metres from the southwest end of the igloo and is 22 metres wide.
Remnants of the 2/2nd AGH are visible either side of Frazer Road, which runs southeast from the igloo. These include ward concrete slabs with drainage and toilet outlets, bitumen road remnants, walkways, garden beds, terracing, and building material scatters. Traces of the roadways of 2/2nd AGH are also visible from the air, in the cane fields east of Frazer Road.
","While the work hours for staff at the Hospital Complex were long, various facilities were provided for their enjoyment in the leisure time available. The complex included an open-air picture show, where bingo was often played before the main feature. There was also a log-cabin recreational room and a tennis court with an ant-bed floor. Others spent their time planting garden beds outside their quarters and the hospital wards. Movies were shown in the theatre igloo, constructed in 1943. A truck, with a projector on the back, would reverse up to the building along the built up driveway, so that the projector pointed towards the screen. Concerts and dances were also held in the building.
The staged closure of the Rocky Creek Hospital Complex began in 1944, and continued through to 1945. The 2/6th AGH was the first to close, in October 1944, followed by the 2/2nd AGH on 30 September 1945. Following the end of the war, military buildings at Rocky Creek were auctioned and either dismantled or relocated.
The Entertainment Igloo was purchased by Frank and Eileen Frazer in 1947. The stage was converted into a family home, in which the Frazers raised their 11 children. Following the death of her husband, Mrs Frazer stayed on at the igloo until 1995, when the igloo and land were donated to the Atherton Shire Council.
","Rocky Creek World War Two Hospital Complex (former), Queensland Heritage Register 601815
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, 286/3. Atherton Tableland Base Area, December 1942-November 1944.
National Archives of Australia, ST285 Sheet 1, ST285 Sheet 2, ST285 Sheet 3, Rocky Creek 1200 bed hospital 1943.
Australian Army Hospital & Medical Base, Rocky Creek 1942–1946 WWII, and Australian Army 2/1st Convalescent Depot- Rocky Creek, 1943-1946, Site maps compiled by MW Alcock, 1995.
Australian War Memorial Images
Google Maps
" 1356,"Camp McClung","US Army Remount Depot","Military camp","Off Flinders Highway towards Mt Elliott",Rocky Springs,4810,Townsville,-17.9472236633301,145.250747680664,"The Remount depot was a facility primarily run by the US Army. It consisted of up to 5000 Australian 'Waler' breed horses by June 1943 and 200 mules. Horses were sourced from properties all over Queensland. The depot also catered for injured horses under Troop A, 251st Quartermaster Remount Squadron. Admissions for disease and injury amounted to over 1000 cases.
The horses and mules were trained as pack animals for operation in New Guinea and the South Pacific. Horses were swapped for mules in the Guadalcanal campaign as they were found to be more suitable.
As a pastoral area Townsville did have its drawbacks with climate and infections, however it did help the animals acclimatise before heading north. Australian and US veterinarians were used to inspect the animals and arrange shipment by sea or rail.
Herbert C Jaffa, a former US Officer recalls driving out to Rocky Springs in 1942 and seeing:
",,"Thousands of them, unsaddled, huddled in clusters or galloping in groups, their shining hides of browns and tans flashing throughout the wide reaches of an immense paddock that seemed to extend to a horizon established by the rising hills of Mt Elliot.
Jill Mather. The Old Campaigners: Commemorating the role of the Waler Horse, Camels, Mules and Donkeys used by the Australians and New Zealanders at War. Bookbound Publishing, 2008.
Herbert C Jaffa. Townsville at War. A Soldier Remembers. Foundation for Australian Literary Studies, English Department, James Cook University of North Queensland, 1992
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1361,"Roseneath Orderly Room "Bunker"","Private residence","Military accommodation","Karema Street",Roseneath,4811,Townsville,-19.3641738891602,146.837768554688,"This reinforced concrete building at Karema Street in Roseneath was constructed in 1942. Commonwealth archives list its function as both an administration hut and an orderly room. The Roseneath railway station was located slightly to the south.
This building was in the vicinity of several Australian and United States facilities which included the 'Shadow Exchange' at Stuart State School, Army Signals Communications Centre Roseneath, No.1 Wireless Unit, US Koala Ordnance Depot, Fifth Division HQ and 52 Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) Barracks.
An October 1946 RAAF disposals map lists this building and other camp huts at the junction of Stuart and Dick's Creeks. This installation was occupied by both No.1 Wireless Unit and No.6 Central Recovery Unit during 1945-46.
The building was converted into a private residence with a second storey added c1955. Several streets at Roseneath were named to commemorate battles in New Guinea during the Pacific War (Nadzab, Madang, Bougainville, Moresby etc).
","Insuffient Information.
","DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Townsville Qld - Roseneath camp- Disposal of surplus assets. A705, 171/106/501 ACT.
" 1365,"11th Australian Engineers Base Depot (Salisbury North Camp)","1st Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineer Stores","Workshop","Evans Road and Standish Street",Salisbury,4107,Brisbane City,-27.5435791015625,153.026763916016,"The 11th Australian Base Workshop and 1st Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineer Stores were located on Compo Road, now Evans Road, during the war. Commonly known as the Salisbury North Camp.
","The location of the workshp and stores was in close proximity to the Rocklea Munitions Works and other shipping and aircraft related industry.
","National Archives of Australia
Brisbane City Council.
" 1366,"Civil Construction Corps (CCC) Staging and Transit Camp",,"Military camp","Hatton Street",Salisbury,4107,Brisbane City,-27.5555057525635,153.032440185547,"Located between Lillian Avenue, and Bidder and Regis Streets at Salisbury, it was one of three Civil Construction Corps camps established in Brisbane in 1942. The Salisbury CCC Camp was completed in early 1943. As it housed Brisbane's CCC Zone Headquarters Offices, the camp had barracks rather than tented accommodation for its civilian labour force. The Salisbury CCC Camp provided the workforce for the construction of Australian and US Army, RAAF and USAAF and Commonwealth defence works across Brisbane's southern suburbs.
","The Commonwealth Government formed the Civil Construction Corps (CCC) on 14 April 1942 for the purpose of organising civilian labour for the construction of defence works. Civilian men could either volunteer or be drafted into the CCC.
During the latter part of 1942, as a result Brisbane being chosen by General Douglas MacArthur to be the headquarters for the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) and it's subsequent development as a major Allied supply base, much building work was undertaken. Most of the projects were under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC) that used a combination of the CCC and private building contractors to undertake each building project. There were three CCC Camps in Brisbane, at Chermside, Bulimba and Salisbury.
The Salisbury CCC Camp was the last to be finished, being completed in early 1943. It accommodated workers employed on local building projects as well as being a staging camp for men enroute to other areas. Unlike the Chermside and Bulimba CCC Camps that housed its workforce in tents, the Salisbury CCC Camp had 30 timber dormitories that had beds for 20 men therefore housing a total of 600 men. It also had two large (120 ft x 23 ft) buildings, timber kitchens each with separate pantries, storerooms and meat-houses. After-hours entertainment were available from a single recreation hut and also from a canteen. All buildings had flyscreens. The reason for the Salisbury CCC Camp having better facilities than the other CCC camps was that it also housed the CCC Zone Headquarters Offices for the Brisbane area. The dormitory accommodation was a requirement for housing the administration staff that worked at the CCC headquarters.
Though not as close to public transport as the Rocklea War Workers Hostels or the Moorooka Cottage Project, the CCC Camp only half a mile walk from the Salisbury railway station, and a little further away from the Salisbury tram terminus.
The civilian workers from the Salisbury CCC Camp were employed on local area projects built for the Australian and US Army, the RAAF and the USAAF and for the Commonwealth Government. These include alterations to Rocklea Munitions Works in 1943; additions to the joint USAAF and RAAF Archerfield air base, the Rocklea Commonwealth Marine Engine Works, the Moorooka RAAF engine overhaul workshops, the US Army's Camp Darra, Camp Freeman (Inala) and Camp Columbia (Wacol).
A 1944 Commonwealth War Expenditure Committee examining the AWC reported on of the conditions under which men of the CCC lived and worked. The Committee recognized that the Armed Forces had placed a severe drain on available manpower and the AWC's labour pool was limited. ""The big majority of the men available had had [sic] no previous experience of, and were totally unaccustomed to, the living conditions associated with the work to be performed. A large number of the men were conscripted from the southern States and separated, in many instances for the first time, from their families. They had to work and live under conditions that were a severe test even to men accustomed to them. The fact that they survived and completed their tasks is to their everlasting credit…"".
","S.J. Butlin & C.B. Schedvin, War Economy 1942–1945, (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1976).
National Australian Archives, File Series: BP262/2, Item: 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland, October 1944.
The Rocklea Munitions Works was one of the largest construction projects undertaken in Queensland in World War Two. It grew in importance as Australia's most northerly ammunition manufacturing plant, particularly after fighting reached Papua and New Guinea. By reconditioning ammunition and overhauling aircraft engine for the Americans, it helped reduce Australia's war debt by providing aid to the USA through Reciprocal Lend Lease. With its purpose-built factory buildings, the RMW provided a vital boost to Brisbane's post-war industrial development.
","The Rocklea Munitions Works was one of the largest construction projects undertaken in Queensland in World War Two. It grew in importance as Australia's most northerly ammunition manufacturing plant, particularly after fighting reached Papua and New Guinea. By reconditioning ammunition and overhauling aircraft engine for the Americans, it helped reduce Australia's war debt by providing aid to the USA through Reciprocal Lend Lease. With its purpose-built factory buildings, the RMW provided a vital boost to Brisbane's post-war industrial development.
","Brisbane City Council Heritage Unit citation
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, April 1941 p. 6, 13, 16
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, May 1941 p. 16.
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, August 1941 p. 4.
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, September 1941 p. 16.
Architecture & Building Journal of Queensland, October 1941 p. 14
NA file Series BP262/2, Item 9178, Joint Parliamentary
" 1370,"Public Cantilever Shelter","Old Sandgate Post Office (grounds)","Civil defence facility","1 Bowser Parade (cnr Rainbow Street)",Sandgate,4107,Brisbane City,-27.3212890625,153.069046020508,,,"BCC list
" 1373,"Combined (Operations) Training Centre, Toorbul Point","7th Amphibious Training Centre and 1st Water Transport Training Centre","Training facility","Bribie Island Road",Sandstone Point,4511,South-East,-27.0764808654785,153.142364501953,"A Combined Training Centre (CTC) was established at Toorbul Point (now Sandstone Point) in mid 1942, in order to train army and navy units in amphibious warfare. A training camp with jetties, slipway, mock ship, workshops, lecture rooms, messes, accommodation and camp sites was established along the shoreline either side of today's bridge to Bribie Island. The CTC was used by both the US and Australian armies and navies, including the 7th Division 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF), Australian 4th Armoured Brigade, US 1st Cavalry Division and the US 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions. After boarding vessels at Toorbul Point, practice landings of men and vehicles were carried out on the beaches of Bribie Island.
Today, little remains of the CTC. The campsite extended along the shoreline of the Pumicestone Passage northwest of the bridge, and north of the Bribie Island Road, as far as the northwest end of The Circuit, while jetties continued along the shoreline past the marina and Kai Ma Kuta Drive. Southeast of the bridge, the camp site continued around the shoreline of Deception Bay about as far as Sunbrite Court. Traces of the camp's internal road remain southeast of the bridge.
","In order to carry out General MacArthur's plans for an Allied amphibious advance from New Guinea to the Philippines, Australian and US forces required training in amphibious landings. Such training in turn required co-operation between the army and the navy and in mid 1942 the First Australian Army under Lieutenant General John Lavarack was considering sites for a Combined (Operations) Training Centre (CTC). The First Army was formed in April 1942 and initially included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 10th Infantry Divisions (Militia), 1st Motor Division (Militia) and the 7th Division 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF), although units were soon reallocated elsewhere.
By late June 1942 Port Stephens in NSW had been chosen as the site for the main CTC (HMAS Assault—established September 1942), while Toorbul Point (now Sandstone Point) in Queensland was chosen as a local centre where the 7th Division 2nd AIF could begin its training. In July 1942 approval was given to construct training equipment, including 'mock-ups' for boats, ships' sides and derricks. The Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) history of 1949 notes that during the war the MRC upgraded the road from Caboolture to Toorbul; constructed a debarkation stage and a catwalk; a slipway, gantry and hatchway of 10 tons capacity to lift boats to a twin log skidway; carried out strengthening and repairs to existing vehicle and personnel jetties; and constructed an additional vehicle loading jetty, a jetty to represent a mock ship, a fuel unloading wharf with pump house, boat pound, four naval accommodation buildings, mooring piles, drainage of the camp area and two signal towers.
Toorbul Point wasn't an ideal site for the navy. Although it provided a sheltered anchorage for landing craft, the area was narrow and ocean-going assault ships could not approach the site; there were sand bars between the site and Bribie island; and there was no sheltered beach close to the camp that was usable at all stages of the tide for training (although there were such beaches on Bribie Island). The intent was to train in a variety of beach environments, including surf, mud and mangroves, and creeks and rivers, with various beach exit types and different hinterland terrain. Bribie Island offered sand and mud environments, but no rocks or cliffs, gravel or shingle, and the only hinterland terrain type was dead flat and covered in thick scrub. As a result of the above shortcomings, and Toorbul Point being unsuitable for actually embarking troops for an expedition or carrying out final rehearsals in comparative secrecy, Port Stephens would be used for advanced training.
Toorbul Point was, however, the best site in South Queensland from the Army's point of view, and it had sufficient space for a training camp, its staff, and camping areas for troops. The camp was located either side of today's bridge to Bribie Island, with most of the jetties (for vehicles and personnel), a jetty with a mock ship, a slipway and a catwalk being located northwest of the bridge/north of Bribie Island Road. Workshops, lecture rooms and messes were also located north of the road, while an officers' mess, officers' huts, hospital, several houses and the army camping area were located south of the road. Accommodation was mainly in tents, and kitchen, ablution and latrine blocks were spread along the shoreline south of the bridge about as far as Sunbrite Court.
By 1st July 1942 a Major Rose had been appointed to the Staff of the CTC at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, to organise and control the army wing of the Toorbul-Bribie Island Combined Training School. The headquarters of the CTC was in the house of Mr Colin Clark. The naval wing, commanded by Sub-Lieutenant (later Lieutenant-Commander) John Morrell Band from October 1942, was to include landing craft and crews, but at early this stage no landing craft were available, and initially training used army folding boats and local motor craft. For example, the passenger ferry SS Koopa was among the larger civilian vessels requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) for use at the CTC.
Eventually, instead of civilian craft towing lines of folding boats full of troops, purpose-built US landing craft became available. In May 1942 Captain Daniel E Barbey of the US Navy was appointed to organise a new Amphibious Warfare Section within the American Navy Department. Promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in December 1942, in January 1943 he assumed command of Amphibious Force, Naval Forces Southwest Pacific. In March 1943 the latter became the Seventh Fleet, and its Amphibious Force became the VII Amphibious Force, which used both the RAN amphibious training centre at Port Stephens and the CTC at Toorbul/Bribie Island (the latter became known as the 7th Amphibious Training Centre). American Army units which trained at Toorbul Point included the US 32nd Infantry Division (at Camp Cable south of Brisbane from July 1942), the 41st Infantry Division (based in Rockhampton from July 1942) and the US 1st Cavalry Division while it was at Camp Strathpine in Queensland (during 1943).
The Australian Army's 4th Armoured Brigade was located at Toorbul by late 1943, and its tanks were carried across to Bribie Island for exercises. AIF infantry divisions also continued to use the training centre. The 3rd Water Transport Group, Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) was formed in 1943, and it established a Water Transport (Small Craft) Training Centre at Toorbul Point. In late 1944 this merged with a landing craft training centre at Victoria Point, Brisbane, to form the 1st Water Transport Training Centre at Toorbul Point. The naval wing of the CTC was also known as RAN Station 5. As well as the army and navy, the RAAF participated in combined operations training, simulating enemy air attacks to make the exercises more realistic.
","""Former Allied Combined Operations Centre"", Reported Place 23889, DERM
Queensland Main Roads Commission, 1949. The History of the Queensland main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Gill, GH, 1968. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 - Navy. ""Volume II -Royal Australian Navy 1942–1945.""
Donald, Ron, 1995. Fort Bribie. The story of wartime Fort Bribie and Toorbul Point. Bribie Island RSL.
National Archives of Australia, 39/401/281. Training Equipment - Combined Operations Training Toorbol Bribie Island. 1942
National Archives of Australia, LS789. Toorbul Point - Detail Survey A.T. Camp, Parish of Toorbul, County of Canning, 1942-43
National Archives of Australia, Folder T Folio 5. Toorbul Point Amphibian Training Ground - Plan [1/T/15] 1944
National Archives of Australia, Folder T Folio 6. Toorbul Point Amphibian Training Ground - Plan [1/T/15] 1944.
Band, John Morrell (1902-1943)
3rd Water Transport Group, Corps of Royal Australian Engineers in Australia during WW2
Australian Army in World War II
4th Armoured Brigade (Australia)
2/4th Armoured Regiment (Australia)
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection
Google Earth
Google Maps
" 1376,"Sarina Public Air Raid Shelter","Council Shed","Civil defence facility","Broad Street",Sarina,4737,Fitzroy-Mackay,-21.4222202301025,149.217147827148,"Located in Broad Street, central Sarina, the WWII era public air raid shelter exists as a reminder of Queensland's war time past in rural areas. Sarina's proximity to Mackay and it's aerodrome meant that there was a credible threat of aerial attack during the war years. The people of Sarina were offered a safe haven by this civil defence facility.
","The air raid shelter is now utilised as a local council storage shed and has a mural painted on the exterior. It is surrounded by mature trees and gardens soften the concrete structure.
","NOTE: This site is an important element of Queensland's war time history. If you have any information, stories or images relating to the air raid shelter, please contact the project.
" 1379,"Sellheim Military Camp",,"Military camp","Flinders Highway",Sellheim,4816,North and Cape York,-20.0032386779785,146.420349121094,"Situated approximatley 17 km east of Charters Towers, the Sellheim Military Camp was one of the largest stationary transit camps in Queensland. Home to many young Australians making there way to or from the fighting in New Guinea, the camp was established by the arrival of the Australian 26th Battalion (Logan and Albert Regiment) in June 1941, under the command of the Australian Army's most highly decorated soldier, Lieutenant-Colonel Harry Murray VC.
","Located on the banks of the Burdekin River, Sellheim establised itself as a major centre for training and possessed its own rifle range, which was located to the north-east at the junction of the Burdekin and Fanning Rivers. It straddled the main Flinders Highway, with the main gate and guard house located oppoiste the Sellheim Rail Station. To acknowledge the existence of the camp, a large memorial was erected on the site of the guard house in 1982.
The larger camp consisted of numerous satelite camps on the northern side of the highway. It contained mess and kitchen facilities, recreation facilities including YMCA and Salvation Army recreation halls, post offices, main camp headquarters, medical facilities and workshops.
The camp contained many Sidney Williams and other style huts for use, but the majority of the troops camped under canvass in tented cities.
Due to the proximity of the rail line and the ease of access to Charters Towers or Townsville to the east, Sellheim was ideally situated.
This site is a significant WWII location and the website would appreciate contributions. If you have any further information or images of Sellheim, please contact us at ww2.historic.places@publicworks.qld.gov.au
","National Archives of Australia
State Library of Queensland.
" 1407,"South Brisbane Dry (Graving) Dock","Queensland Maritime Museum","Naval/port facility","412 Stanley Street",South Brisbane,4101,Brisbane City,-27.4818706512451,153.026504516602,"Opened in 1881, the South Brisbane Dock was Brisbane's only graving dock until 1944. It was a vital piece of infrastructure for the war effort and enabled the Allied naval and merchant fleets and other vessels used various government departments to affect repairs. The engines and boilers of the dock were covered with a bomb-proof shelter in case of enemy air attack.
","As the only facility in Brisbane to be able to enable dry-dock repair, the South Brisbane Dry Dock held a position of particular importance during the early years of the war. The dock remained operational under the supervision of the Department of Harbours and Marine, servicing both naval and merchant vessels of the allied forces. It was the primary naval repair facility for the US Seventh Fleet, it's submarine pack and support ships. A repair yard was constructed adjacent to the dock during the war later became part of the dock infrastructure.
Between June 1942 and June 1943, eighty-eight vessels were docked. These included 28 submarines, 12 RAN vessels, 15 USN vessels, and various merchant ships and government service vessels. Fifty-one submarines in total were repaired there during the war years. The construction of the Cairncross dry dock and its opening in June 1944 relieved some of the pressure on the South Brisbane facility.
","David Jones and Peter Nunan, ""US Subs Down Under, Brisbane 1942–1945"", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 2005
Roger Marks, Brisbane WW2 v Now, Volume 7 'Brisbane River - Upstream from Bretts', 2005
Winifred Davenport, ""Harbours & Marine - Port & Harbour development in Queensland from 1824 to 1985"", Department of Harbours & Marine, Brisbane, 1986.
This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"AWM photgraphic reference
" 1410,"Brisbane Fortress Command HQ","St Laurence's College","Headquarters","82 Stephens Road",South Brisbane,4101,Brisbane City,-27.4860954284668,153.025665283203,"In the defence the city during the war, Fortress Brisbane was an extensive system of fixed defences that included Fort Lytton, Anti-submarine nets, RAN Indicator Loops signals, fixed gun defence, mine watching stations and various headquarters. The Main HQ for Fortress Brisbane was located at St Laurence's College, South Brisbane.
","The school facilities were requisitioned for the war effort, with the staff and students relocated to Nudgee Junior College at Indooroopilly. The HQ had formerly been located in the South Brisbane Municipal Chambers, often referred to as the South Brisbane Town Hall. Colonel G.P.W. Meredith, RAA was the Commander of Brisbane Fixed Defences until July 1943, following which he was replaced by Brigadier E.M. Neyland, RAA.
","Due to its popular Jazz Club, the best-known American Red Cross ('Amcross') facility with Brisbane residents was the 'Dr. Carver Service Club' in the 'Laidlaw's Building' on Grey Street, South Brisbane opposite the Melbourne Street railway station. Due to a colour bar ban placed by the local US military authorities, Black American service personnel (nicknamed GIs as in General Infantry) were not permitted to cross the Brisbane River and access the varied entertainment venues in the City centre. This ban, while not a formal Army regulation, was still stringently enforced by the all-white US military police. One of three American Red Cross facilities built for Black GIs in Queensland, the 'Dr. Carver Service Club' was both the largest and offered the best facilities from 1943-45.
","The Club was named after the famous US botanist Dr. George Washington Carver who had died (age 79) on 7 January 1943. It was run co-jointly by the American Red Cross and the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society. The Director was an Australian, Harry L. Hawkins, an US-ordained Methodist minister who had served in the Middle East campaigns with the Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) and the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA). American George Newton and US boxing champion Alston James ('Big Al') Hoosman were Hawkins' assistants. Initially the Blue Moon Skating Rink was the suggested site for the Club but the owner complained that its exclusive use for Black GIs would only restrict his business that entertained more than 2,000 skaters per week.
The US Army practiced segregation with Black Americans placed in a specific 'coloured' units commanded by white officers. In Brisbane, the Black GIs served in support units such as engineer or transport companies. By the end of 1942, there were 8,025 Black GIs serving across Australia and New Guinea. They comprised 8% of General MacArthur's US forces. This represented a mere 15% of the total of Black American soldiers based outside the USA at this time. The banning of Black GIs from crossing the river caused the need for an American Red Cross services club in the commercial heart of South Brisbane. Brisbane residents were notified of an impending Services Club for Black American service personnel via an article appearing in The Courier Mail on 17 April 1942.
The 'Dr. Carver Service Club' officially opened on Wednesday 5 May, four month's after the death of its namesake. The Club offered similar services as 'Terrica House' across the river but for the exclusive use of 'coloured' GIs. The ground floor of 'Laidlaw's Building' was converted into a hat & coat checkroom, two large lounges furnished with plush, leather chairs, a recreation room (with billiards tables etc), a soda fountain, a snack bar and a reading & writing room with attached library plus a kitchen and dining room that offered a US menu in its 150-seat capacity dining room. The second floor was converted into a dormitory with hot & cold running showers plus the Jazz Club. The club had a specially built dance floor, a band stage with amplifiers and a balcony equipped with cane chairs and painted tables. The 'Big Band Sound', as popularised by Glenn Miller, was also popular and this venue offered entertainment by bands such as the US 5th Air Force Orchestra at it dances. Dances were held twice per week plus there were two movie nights each week.
The US Army authorities in Brisbane expected that local Aboriginal women would volunteer to work (e.g. staff the uniform sewing and mending service on offer) in the Club or provide dance partners for the Black GIs. Black American social workers Geraldine Russell and Rosa Maria Spears advertised for and interviewed for a small paid staff (e.g. a clerk typist) and a larger pool of volunteers. The Club employed 20 women, including six Aboriginal staff, while another 200 women became volunteer staff. Many of the Australian women volunteers were drawn from the YMCA, other social workers or schoolteachers.
While the US Army prohibited 'coloured' troops from entering the white's entertainment establishments on Brisbane's north side, they also prevented white servicemen from entering the 'Dr. Carver Service Club' except upon a formal invitation. Australian servicemen were sometimes invited to attend the Club. The US military regulations could not restrict Brisbane civilian men and women from going to the Club. It was popular with Australians due to its excellent Jazz Club and for its reputation for serving the best steak and eggs meal in Brisbane. Geraldine Russell, also a classical pianist sometimes played for the troops.
The Black Americans based in Brisbane impressed the locals with their large, well-built physiques. Most of troops came from Northern US states and were educated, smartly dressed and as well mannered as their white American counterparts. Their manner derived from being volunteers rather than draftees. Many of them had trade skills such as linesman or heavy equipment operators that impressed the civilian population. Australian women, other than the recognised staff, who visited the Club, were considered to be immoral by the US Army authorities in Brisbane. Ironically the Grey Street site had been chosen as it was hoped that the Club would draw Black GIs away from South Brisbane's many brothels. The official racist view of the type of white women who would socialise with Black GIs was turned on its head, when US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited the 'Dr. Carver Service Club' on the evening of Monday 13 September 1943. This was part of her official itinerary for her inspection tour of the US military sites in Brisbane.
Another prominent visitor to the Club was Kansas Bishop John Andrew Gregg who was the head of the African Methodist Church in the USA. Gregg had arrived as a representative of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to undertake a fact-finding tour of facilities for Black GIs in Australia. He was in Brisbane circa 20 July 1943. In early 1945, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) Walter White conducted a similar inspection in Brisbane.
Sylvester Reeder, a Black American, succeeded Hawkins as Director. 'The Dr. Carver Service Club' closed its South Brisbane premises in January 1945, when it transferred to Manila in the Philippines. After the war, one Laidlaw's Building tenant J.V. Giles sought compensation from the Commonwealth due to financial loss incurred by the American Red Cross requisition of that property. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 ending segregation in the US forces.
","This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"" 1415,"Camp Victoria Park (Base Motor Repair depot)","Victoria Park","Military camp","Boundary Street",South Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2693176269531,146.825164794922,"African-American units of the Base Motor Repair depot were located at Victoria Park during 1942–1944. The park was used for the storage and servicing of military vehicles of all types.
The tyre and battery section of Base Motor Repair moved from the ""Flinders Street Gas Station"" to Victoria Park in April 1944.
Victoria Park is still in existance today, encompassed by Boundary, Bell, Tully and Morey Streets, South Townsville.
",,"Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
" 1417,"Impact site for bombs (first air raid)","Port of Townsville","Incident","Northern side of Ross River, near oil tanks",South Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2556972503662,146.83642578125,"In July 1942, the 2nd Group of 14th Kokutai (Air Group), Japanese Naval Air-Force, under the command of Major Misaburo Koizumi, decided to undertake night raids on harbour facilities and airfields at Townsville. In all, five raids were planned; three actually occurred. After the first two raids, there was to be another attack on the night of 28 July, but this did not proceed and no details were recorded. The aircraft destined to attack Townsville on 31 July experienced difficulties and decided to bomb near Cairns instead.
Later code named by the Allies as ""Emily"", the Kawanishi H8K1 flying boat was an advanced design and regarded as extremely difficult to shoot down. Heavily defended, its armaments comprised dorsal and tail turrets cannons, with machine-guns in two beam blisters, ventral and cockpit hatches and bow turret. Not only did it carry considerable protective armour, its fuel tanks were partially self-sealing and designed that if punctured, fuel was collected and pumped into undamaged tanks. Additionally, the hull tanks carried a carbon-dioxide fire extinguisher system. With a range of 2567 miles, this meant that a fifteen hour flight to a target such as Townsville and returning to base was possible.
","The initial raid on a large Queensland city revealed how well prepared materially Townsville was for air raids in this early stage of the Pacific war. However, at the same time it showed deficiencies in training, communications and aircraft recognition. Prior to the first raid on Townsville, the only other locality which had been attacked in Queensland was Horn Island. That Townsville came under aerial attack before Cairns reflects how highly the Japanese regarded the city as a military target.
Townsville would receive a warning that a raid would soon occur. This clue was unfortunately unheeded by military authorities. For three days prior to the first air raid on the city, Anti Aircraft units (A/A) were on high alert, with yellow alerts and unidentified aircraft reports occurring more frequently than usual.
At 0920 hours on 22 July 1942, unidentified aircraft were seen flying at 25 000 ft over Townsville. At 1000, Y A/A Battery at Mount St. John reported:
""white balloon at 25,000 ft. slowly descending"".
The Japanese were using drop sondes to record wind speed and direction at certain heights and the data collected was radioed back to the aircraft. This information was vital if a raid was to proceed on a target so that aircraft could bomb accurately.
There was probably a drop sonde mission on the afternoon of the raid too, with 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) issuing a yellow alert at 1720 on 25 July when unidentified aircraft were observed high over Magnetic Island.
On the night of 25/26 July 1942, the fears of military strategists and civil authorities were realised when Japanese 'Emily' flying boats attacked the city. At 1618 a RAAF Kana interceptor at No.1 Wireless Unit (1WU) at French Street Pimlico detected a coded transmission from the Rabaul area. Unbeknown to the Japanese, at the very moment the radio operator on the lead aircraft sent this message, it was simultaneously transcribed in Townsville. After a few practice taps on the transmitter/receiver, the Japanese operator sent out the Morse:
""To call sign De call sign, KA N""? (base from aircraft, can you hear me and at what signal strength?)
First thought to be heading for Milne Bay or Port Moresby, it was subsequently discovered that the aircraft was heading towards Townsville with an ETA of 2330.
At 2340, the city received a yellow warning, with two aircraft observed approaching from the north at 8 000 ft. The warning was changed to red at 2348. One aircraft was sighted over Mount St. John at 21 000 ft two minutes later; the second was seen 14 miles south-west of the city at 15 000 ft at 2358. One of the aircraft subsequently conducted reconnaissance, as at 0003 engines were heard to the south of Mount Stuart on a course towards the west of Mount Louisa. At 0008, engine noise was heard between Mount Stuart and Cape Cleveland. At a height upward of 20 000 ft two aircraft were briefly caught in the beam of searchlights. They then flew out to sea in an easterly direction over Cape Cleveland.
Their target was clearly the port and fuel stores. The first bombs were released at 0040, six seen to fall on the eastern side of the harbour. By 0050 the aircraft had banked and were heading NE at ""240 miles an hour"", seaward of Mt. Marlow. On the ground the all-clear signal (white) was given at 0115.
The known pilots of two of the aircraft were Captains Asai and Mizukura, although a Lieutenant Commander Jitusaburo Koizumi has also been mentioned as flight leader. In Mizukura's log, he reported that they arrived over the city at 2330, 10 minutes before the yellow warning. Both Mizukura and Asai also noted in their respective logs bright lights in the city and on the wharves. Even though their bombs failed to hit the target, they recorded the wharves and the presence of three ships. Indeed there were three ships in the harbour that evening: HMAS Swan, SS Burwah, and the Dutch ship SS Bantam.
Only six bombs were counted by those on the ground near the outer harbour; only four craters and one unexploded bomb were eventually discovered in shallow water near the mouth of Ross River. As each aircraft was capable of carrying eight 250 pound bombs where did the other bombs land, or were they just jettisoned at sea? What could have been a significant and serious assault on Townsville's important port facilities, if full precision bombing had taken place in the absence of A/A response, turned out to be a tactical blunder on the part of the Japan.
No. 76 Squadron, with Squadron Leader ""Bluey"" Truscott had departed Townsville's Weir airstrip for Milne Bay barely 24 hours beforehand. They received an order to intercept the flying boats on their way back to Rabaul. Although airborne that morning, no interception was made; they were an hour too late. At around 0715 on 26 July 1WU intercepted the last message from the flying boats, ""RI KU"" [we are landing].
On 3 August, a description of the raid made the front page of The Bangkok Times; it was blatant propaganda:
""Tokyo. It is authoritatively understood that during the first Japanese raid on Townsville on the night of - by a - of the Imperial Jpaanese [sic] Navy Unit many (?) vessels anchored in Port and along the Quay were set on fire. Bombs found their mark on respective (?) objectives. The entire area, it was ascertained by the returning airmen, was reduced to a sea of flames with columns of black smoke shooting to the sky.""
A surprising amount of detail about the area was released:
""Townsville, with a population of about twenty-six thousand is situated approximately three thousand four hundred miles from Tokyo and is an important point forming a huge triangle with Tokyo and Hawaii. Beyond Townsville lies an important part in Queensland with the majority of the commodities produced in the vicinity, are exported to the countries abroad. Since the outbreak of the Great East Asia War, great importance has been attached to Townsville as an intermediary base. Following the construction of a huge airfield about half a mile from the northern extremity of the city, Australia has been sending air reinforcements from the United States to Port Moresby.""
In a handwritten report submitted the morning after the raid, the Intelligence Officer for 3FSHQ
reported:
""the next 3 nights are full moon periods, further raids must be expected as this raid appeared to be in the nature of a try out.""
This view would become realised as Townsville would experience a further two raids before the end of the month.
","The Bangkok Times, 3 August 1942.
Bleakley, Jack, The Eavesdroppers, AGPS Press, Canberra, 1991.
Bradley, Vera, I didn't know that: Cairns and Districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service Personnel and Civilians, Boolarong Press, Moorooka, 1995.
Francillion, Rene J, Japanese Aircraft Of The Pacific War (2nd ed.), Putnam & Company, London, 1979.
Gillison, Douglas, Australia In The War Of 1939–1945: Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1962.
Jenkins, David, Battle Surface: Japans Submarine War Against Australia, Random House
Australia, Milsons Point, 1992.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Piper, Robert, Townsville Under Attack, Unpublished, 1987.
Operations Record Book Fighter Sector [HQ] and Fighter Control [Units] Nos 3, 103-106 and 109-114 February 1942 to January 1949 (Abbrev); AWM series 64, item 11/1.
Reports by intelligence officer - operation of No.3 fighter sector headquarters; ACT series AA 1969/100/445, item 5/7/AIR.
Townsville Coast Artillery [Whole diary - 3 items] (Mar - Jul 1942; Jan - Mar 1943; May 1943 - August 1944); AWM series 52, item 4/19/11.
Townsville Defence Scheme 1942; Vic series MP1587/1, item 218P.
16 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (16 Hvy AA Bty) [Whole diary - 12 items] (Mar 1942 -Nov 1944);
AWM series 52, item 4/16/20.
" 1419,"St Patrick's Catholic Church Bell Tower and Bell",,"Recreation/community","cnr Nelson and Allen Streets",South Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2648601531982,146.829711914062,"Captain Walter J Stillwaggon ( US Navy) was stationed in Townsville during 1942–1943. When attending Mass at St Patrick's Catholic Church in South Townsville, he noticed the church did not have a bell.
Captain Stillwaggon promised the parish that he and his men would donate a bell to St Patrick's when they returned to the US. In 1946, they shipped the bell to Australia.
The bell tower was erected by the St Patrick's community. It was restored in 1999 by the Townsville City Council.
",,"Information provided by St Patrick's Catholic Church, South Townsville.
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 1425,"Southport Seaplane Alighting Area Q",,"Airfield","The Broadwater, Paradise Point",Southport,4215,South-East,-27.9171104431152,153.413421630859,"This location is appropriately featured in the Royal Australian Air Force Publication No. ACD 157.
It is not known whether any particular on-shore installations were constructed as distinct from possibly floating moored pontoon landing structures. Details Sheet in this publication suggests EMERGENCY alighting ground only.
The Southport Broadwater has changed drastically since those times.
Queensland Key Sheet from RAAF Publication ACD 157 Flying Boat Bases and Alighting Grounds, June 1943.
",, 1427,"Cantilever Public Shelters (Two)","Wickham Park (opposite Birley Street)","Civil defence facility","330 Wickham Terrace",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4648609161377,153.021194458008,,, 1432,"Lady Gowrie Childcare Centre","Private Shelter","Civil defence facility","228 St Pauls Terrace",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4577140808105,153.029342651367,"",,"BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 1433,"Royal Australian Air Force No.5 Transport Movements Office","New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company warehouse and Energex Depot","Supply facility","10 and 10A Bowen Bridge Road",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4520092010498,153.028274536133,"Royal Australian Air Force No.5 Transport Movements Office (TMO) was formed in 1942 to oversee the speedy transfer of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Women's Australian Auxiliary Air Force (WAAAF) personnel and supplies through Brisbane. It operated from multiple sites at Albion, Bulimba, Hamilton, Herston and Meeandah. No.5 TMO ceased wartime-related operations in September 1948.
","Royal Australian Air Force No.5 Transport Movements Office was established in Brisbane on 18 November 1942. The initial commander was Flying Officer E.J. Dynon. Squadron Leader R.G. Goodman replaced him on 24 February 1944. Flight Lieutenant J.J. Wright took command on 30 September 1946, followed by Squadron Leader J.B. Fitzgerald on 25 May 1947 and lastly by Flight Lieutenant J.J. Williams on 29 July 1948.
No.5 RAAF Transportation and Movements Office organised the movement orders and travel arrangements large numbers of RAAF and WAAF personnel, as well as the shipment of various quantities of RAAF equipment and supplies from out of Brisbane. No.5 TMO organised air, ship, rail or road transport for the airmen and airwomen and goods for which it was responsible. The Office also provided transportation to US military units occasionally.
No.5 TMO maintained a number of offices throughout Brisbane. Its headquarters was in Crosby Park, on Crosby Road at Albion. It had a detachment at the RAAF Marine Section's No.13 Transit Post in Byron Street, Bulimba near the Brisbane River Across the river at Hamilton; it maintained an office at the RAAF Flying Boat base located near Brett's Wharf. It had another detachment operating from the New Zealand Loan & Mercantile Agency Company warehouse near the Bowen Bridge railway overpass at Herston. This allowed No.5 TMO to access supply stocks from the main RAAF supply depot in Brisbane - No.3 Base Supply Depot (BSD) that located next door in Victoria Park, Spring Hill. It also allowed No.5 TMO to utilise the rail facilities operated by No.3 BSD. A second supply detachment was based at Meeandah at the area's large US Army supply depot.
The RAAF Marine Section sailed a variety of small craft engaged primarily in air-sea rescue. The Section's boats also brought supplies to and refuelled RAAF Catalina flying boats and provided mooring assistance to the flying boats. No.5 TMO and No.3 BSD administered Brisbane's small RAAF Marine Section jointly.
While most of the TMO units in southern states were disbanded in early 1946, the heavy volume of traffic flowing through Brisbane meant that No.5 TMO was not disbanded until 28 September 1948. Of the nine Transportation and Movements Offices established by the RAAF during World War two, No.5 TMO was the last to cease operation.
","Units of the Royal Australian Air Force Vol.6.
" 1439,"Camp Victoria Park (Upper) - Officer's Camp","Base Section 3 and US Army Service of Supply (USASOS) Headquarters","Military camp","454 Gregory Terrace",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4554042816162,153.025619506836,"In 1942, the US Army requisitioned Victoria Park, a large public reserve spread across two Brisbane suburbs for a large administrative and accommodation camp. Camp Victoria Park was the nerve centre for the support services that backed-up US combat troop operations in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA). The camp was important as the headquarters of both the US Army Services Of Supply and its parent command of Base Section 3. American servicemen lived and worked at the camp while Australian civilians also were employed there. In 1944, a few members of the US Women's Army Corps moved into the camp. Although the Pacific War ended on 3 September 1945, the camp continued to function for a further five months.
","With the arrival in Brisbane of the first US forces to Australia on 23 December 1941, a US headquarters was established at Lennon's Hotel, with Colonel Alexander L.P. Johnson appointed supply officer. On 1 January 1942, Lieutenant General Brett transferred the Headquarters of the United States Forces in Australia (USFIA) from Brisbane to Melbourne. On 5 January, Brisbane was designated Base Section No. 3 for the purposes of the US Army. Johnson was the first base commander. Over the next 4 years, he was succeeded by: Colonel Albert L. Sneed, Brigadier General William H. Donaldson Jr., Brigadier General Emer. Yeager, Brigadier General William H. Donaldson Jr. (again), Colonel Walter C. Lattimore, Brigadier General Homer C. Brown, Colonel Clifford J. Mathews, Brigadier General William H. Donaldson Jr. (again), Colonel George C. Sherman, Colonel Francis N, Wilson, Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Schmidt, Lieutenant Colonel Earl N. Hauschultz. Donaldson was awarded the Legion of Merit for his role.
In 1942, the Brisbane City Council offered Victoria Park to the USFIA. The park was both close to the Brisbane CBD and adjacent to the Normanby rail yards. While the railway intersected Victoria Park, soldiers could cross from one side of the camp to another using an existing wooden footbridge in Kalinga Avenue, adjoining the Girls Grammar School. As the site was to be returned to a public park after the war, no permanent structures were permitted. Numerous prefabricated huts and barracks spread throughout the park. The officers were billeted in the Spring Hill section with an entrance off Gregory Terrace. Across the rail line in the Herston section of the park was located the Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and the Other Ranks (ORs) billets with the main entrance off Herston Road. The entrances were gated, had sentry boxes and were marked with the overhanging sign: US ARMY REPRESENTATIVES.
Apart from accommodation barracks, the camp comprised: a Headquarters Area (a complex of office buildings including the Commander's Office & Adjutant General's Office that held the radio & cable room), a dispensary (including a surgery and dentistry), Ordnance and Engineers vehicle parks, Postal Exchange (PX) and separate officers and NCO/ORs clubs. Australian women were employed in these various sections but no females were permitted entry into either barracks areas. Australians also manned a searchlight position that provided support to the camp's Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun emplacement. Council had placed a public air raid shelter to the west of the tram sub-station fronting Bowen Bridge Road.
On 15 February 1943, the US Navy created the 7th Fleet to serve under General MacArthur. While the USN had an independent command (Base 134) in Brisbane, accommodation for the new fleet's administrative tail was scarce. The offices of Commander Service Force Seventh Fleet were temporarily located in Victoria Park, utilising existing Army buildings.
During 1942-43, Base Section 3 controlled all US troops, services and facilities located around Brisbane. After MacArthur relocated his headquarters to Brisbane in July 1942, the organisation was redesignated Sub Base 3 of Australian Base Command. On 26 February 1943, the newly created US 6th Army took control of all US Army combat units allotted to MacArthur. Sub Base 3 was left with control of rear echelon units, largely in the supply and support role. Primary responsibility for organising supply needs fell to the US Army Services of Supply (USASOS). The USASOS developed Brisbane into ""the largest Supply Base in the Western Pacific.""[1] At its peak, Base Section 3 comprised 6,457 military and 19,084 civilian personnel. Camp Victoria Park served MacArthur's GHQ, USFIA, the US Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) command, US 5th Air Force, 5th Air Force Service Command, 14th Anti-Aircraft Command, plus (prior to the 6th Army's creation) the 32nd, 41st and 24th US Infantry Divisions and US 1st Cavalry Division. From 1942-46, Base Section 3 processed 2,290,757 US military personnel. USASOS shipped a total of 45,208,782 tons of supplies from Brisbane.
Camp Victoria Park was the administrative centre of this Brisbane supply base. The USASOS contained offices for the General Property Officer, Port Commander, Disposition Centre, Disposals Officer, Procurement Officer, Finance Officer, Postal Officer, Ordnance and Engineering Officers. For example, the Procurement Office staff ordered the weekly supply of fresh fruit and vegetables from the Roma Street Markets.
In mid-May 1944, the US Women's Army Corps (WACs) first contingent (640) arrived at Camp Yeronga Park. The USASOS was allotted 39 WACs to replace civilians working at Camp Victoria Park. Separate billets were built at the camp for the WACs. Most of the US servicewomen were not trained in clerical work, with USASOS General Campbell complaining: ""The Wacs didn't know one Quartermaster report from another but they quickly caught on: even those who had been riveters showed aptitude for it, and did more and better work than civilians. I never saw a bunch more willing to do a job.""[2]
With US President Roosevelt's death on 12 April 1945, flags at US military establishments, including Camp Victoria Park, flew at half-mast. The Officers' Club was gutted by fire in June 1945. After the War, the US forces gradually withdrew from the camp. As buildings became vacant, Australians occupied them. The Brisbane Telecommunications Unit (RAAF) moved to the camp on 13 December 1945. The US left Camp Victoria Park in February 1946. The only remnants are the Officers' camp flagpole on Gregory Terrace and the OR and NCOs camp flagpole located near the Victoria Park golf clubhouse.
[1] US Army Service of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three - Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: USASOS, February 1946), Introduction.
[2] Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women's Army Corps - United States Army in World War II, (Washington: Center of Military History United States Army, 1991), p. 419.
","Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women's Army Corps - United States Army in World War II, (Washington: Center of Military History United States Army, 1991).
RAAF Historical Section, Units of the Royal Australian Air Force - a concise history, Volume 1: Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organisations, (Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995).
US Army Service of Supply, Headquarters Sub Base Three - Australian Base Command, (Brisbane: USASOS, February 1946).
US Army Special Intelligence Service, S.I.S. Record 1942–1946, (?; SIS Record Association, 1946).
US Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, US Navy Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report, (Washington: USN, 1946).
The University of Queensland was awaiting the construction of its new St Lucia campus when World War Two began. By 1942, the Main and Chemistry Buildings were near completion when the entire site was requisitioned by the Australian Army. From 1 August 1942 to 31 December 1944, the campus was the site of the Advanced Land Headquarters (Adv LHQ) of the South-West Pacific Area theatre of war. General (later Field Marshall Sir) Thomas Blamey who commanded all Allied land forces in the SWPA had followed the theatre commander US General Douglas MacArthur to Brisbane after the SWPA headquarters shifted from Melbourne. The planning of the successful 1942-44 Allied campaigns in Papua and in New Guinea was conducted at the St Lucia site.
","On April 1942, the Joint Chiefs of Staff created the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) led by General Douglas MacArthur. SWPA encompassed Australia and MacArthur appointed Australia's General Thomas Blamey to be Allied Land Forces commander. MacArthur shifted his General Headquarters (GHQ) from Melbourne to Brisbane on 20 July. On 1 August, Blamey established his Advanced Land Headquarters (Adv LHQ) in the two unfinished buildings of the new University of Queensland site at St Lucia.
Blamey did not spend extended periods of time at St Lucia. The demands of his command saw him constantly on the move around Australia and overseas. He was allotted a Hudson bomber as transport and personal pilot Flight Lieutenant W.G.Upjohn. Organising Adv LHQ was left to Blamey's Chief-of-Staff Major General 'Bloody' George Vasey. A popular and experienced officer, Vasey had led 19th Brigade (AIF) against the Germans in Greece and Crete in 1941. American generals got nicknames (e.g. 'Blood & Guts' Patton) to enhance their tough image. Vasey's nickname was derived from his favourite swear word.
Vasey organised the new headquarters site, utilising the functional but incomplete Main (now Forgan Smith) and Chemistry (now Steele) Buildings as well as bringing in demountable army huts placed behind these buildings. The grassed area in front of the Main Building became a parade ground complete with flagstaff and temporary saluting dias. Slit trenches were dug downhill from the Main Building as air raid precautions. The army added a sewerage treatment plant, generator sheds, a vehicular garage, a laundry, showers and latrines.
The existing buildings were modified to fit 200 rooms. Blamey was allotted Room A120. His Chief of Staff was next door in Room 101. There was a large temporary Mess Hut serving 500 men and a smaller hut served the 150 members of the Australian Women's Army Service as the AWAS Mess. As Adv LHO settled into the university site, a barber shop, two plunge baths and three AWAS sleeping huts were added. Male staff, except the generals, slept in tents in what is now the Great Court. Blamey's residence was at 29 Ryans Road, and opposite 'Jerdanefield', a leased 14-room mansion overlooking the river, became the mess. It was located at the corner of Ryans Road and Jerdanefield Street. Blamey and his senior staff were served by staff drawn from Chinese war refugees, including Blamey's personal assistant Ching.
Most of the work conducted by Adv LHQ was planning future operations. High-level meetings were held in Room A99 with its attractive wood panelling. Room A93 located nearby contained a concrete vault used for storing secret documents and maps. Two Chinese officers (naval and army) represented Chiang Kai Chek's Nationalist Government at these meeting. They had offices in the Main Building. Diorama maps demonstrating terrain features were constructed at Adv LHQ for strategic planning. The planning for the Allied successes on the Kokoda Track, at Buna, Gona, Sanananda in Papua and at Wau the Markham Valley, Salamaua, Lae, Finschhaven and Madang in New Guinea was conducted by Adv LHQ at St. Lucia.
Communications was another vital function of Adv LHQ, particularly maintaining contact with the constantly moving Blamey. A total of 174 telephones were installed at the St Lucia site. The army laid secure telephone lines that connected Adv LHQ directly with the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section at Indooroopilly and the AWAS Signals Camp at Long Pocket (now Indooroopilly golf course). A PABX switchboard was installed with a capacity to handle 200 telephones. Adv LHQ also had secured lines to MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ) in the AMP Building in Queen Street, with Australian Army headquarters at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne and with other major Australian Army camps in Australia.
Intelligence gathering was another important role undertaken by Adv LHQ. In August 1942, was the Senior Intelligence Officer (SIO) at St. Lucia. He oversaw the Australian intelligence operations in Brisbane. An inventory, including examples of captured Japanese equipment, was held at Adv LHQ. A Battle Room was placed in the basement of the Main Building. It held topographical maps plus a large wall map in which a daily update of Allied and enemy positions was plotted.
AWAS members operated teleprinters and the switchboard. They sorted messages for delivery by motorcycle despatch riders (known as 'Don Rs'). They were involved in Brisbane's civil defence by working on the plotting table in Searchlights Operations Room and on anti-aircraft operations in the Gun Operations Room. The AWAS were inspected by their Honorary Colonel and wife of the Governor-General Lady Gowrie in May 1943.
Vasey took command of the Kokoda Campaign and he was replaced as Chief-of-Staff in September 1942 by Lieutenant-General Frank Berryman. Except for a short period when Lieutenant-General John Northcott was Chief-of-Staff, Berryman held the position the longest and had the most influence over the running of the St. Lucia site. By War's end, he led a staff of 360. The University of Queensland received £15,000 p.a. from the Commonwealth for lease of the campus site. £43,644 was spent on alterations to the site including providing AWAS accommodation. The main route to Adv LHQ, along the unpaved St. Lucia Road (now Sir Fred Schonell Dr) was improved. Adv LHQ moved to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea in late 1944. Adv LHQ left the St. Lucia site on 31 December 1944.
In 1945, the Australian Army presented the University of Queensland with a plaque commemorating General Blamey's occupation of the campus. This plaque is located at the main entrance to the Forgan Smith Building.
","Brisbane History Group, St Lucia Campus Heritage Tour, (Brisbane: BHG, 1998).
Norman Carolyn, I Remember Blamey, (Melbourne: Sun Books, 1981).
Dudley McCarthy, South-West Pacific Area First Year - Kokoda to Wau, (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1962).
Clive Moore, The Forgan Smith, (Brisbane; University of Queensland Press, 2010).
Peter Brown and Jim Mackenzie, St Lucia History Group
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane, Qld. : 1933-1954), Saturday 1 June 1946, page 4, Trove, NLA.
" 1453,"Stones Corner Public Air Raid Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","286 Logan Road",Stones Corner,4120,Brisbane City,-27.4981632232666,153.043655395508,,"now a cantilever shelter in a park
","BCC list
" 1455,"Stratford Explosives Magazine and Detonator Store","JM Johnston Pty Ltd","Ammunition facility","Magazine Street",Stratford,4870,Cairns,-16.8744354248047,145.737274169922,"The powder magazine and detonator store at Stratford, north of Cairns, were constructed in 1901 for Queensland's Marine Department. From early June 1942 until mid May 1945 the magazine was occupied by the Australian Military Forces, who used the concrete buildings to store explosives. The former magazine is located at Stratford, to the west of Cairns airport, on the north side of Magazine Road (north of the railway line).
The explosives store is a rectangular building with a hipped corrugated iron roof and three square ventilators on the roof's ridge. The walls are of concrete with a concrete render, and have numerous vents, with the longer north and south elevations having a central doorway flanked by three narrow windows to each side. The east and west elevations have three narrow windows, and the south entry has a small timber landing.
The store for detonators is a small square plan building, with a hipped corrugated iron roof with a square ridge ventilator, located to the east of the explosives store. The walls are also concrete with a concrete render, with a door to the south and a single narrow window to each side.
","In early 1942 Townsville became the base for Allied operations in the South West Pacific, but later that year naval base operations focused on Cairns, as this port was less congested. In addition, in late 1942 the Atherton Tableland was chosen as the site of a major concentration of troops and stores during 1943, and Cairns became the port for the ""Atherton Tableland Project""; the main Australian Army base area for the continuing campaign in New Guinea.
A military guard of 19 men was stationed at the Stratford magazine well before the build-up on the Tablelands. The guard was apparently in place by May 1940, when town water was connected to the magazine for their benefit.
For over a century control of all explosives and gunpowder imported into Queensland was the province of the Harbour Master's Department (1860-62), the Department of Ports & Harbours (1862-93), the Marine Department (1894-1928), and the Department of Harbours and Marine (1929-63). In 1964, responsibility was shifted to the Queensland Department of Health. On the goldfields, magazines were initially administered by the Mines Department, as control of magazines outside ports was not vested in the Marine Department until 1907.
The Stratford magazine, built in 1901, was the second government magazine in Cairns. The first government magazine was a barge, 50′ by 16′ (15m by 4.9m), anchored off the east side of Trinity Inlet since October 1884. This was the reason for the naming of Magazine Creek on that shore. In mid-1900, the Cairns magazine was receiving explosives at the rate of 2,716 cases per annum and the amount was increasing rapidly. Explosives were imported to Cairns, stored at the government magazine at a cost, and then sold to the mining companies and merchants on the Atherton tin fields and Chillagoe copper fields. Explosives were also used in the construction of the privately-funded Mareeba to Chillagoe railway, commenced in August 1898. The first stage of this railway was opened in October 1900, opening up new mineral fields and plantations and creating a greater demand for explosives in the process.
In consequence, the Marine Department requested in 1900 that a new magazine be constructed at Cairns. A suitable site of nearly 22 acres at Stratford was proclaimed a provisional Reserve for Explosives Magazine on 30 May 1900. It was five miles from the centre of Cairns, fronted the Cairns-Mareeba Railway, and was in a sparsely populated area.
The contract was let to JC Thomson in November 1900. During construction, mass concrete was substituted for brick walls, in consequence of which costs were reduced. The buildings were completed in mid-July 1901, at a cost of £2471. The magazine provided storage capacity for over 6,000 cases of explosives. Ventilation in the main magazine was supplied by roof ventilators and air holes covered by grates in the thick concrete walls, and the timber floor was built 3′ (.9m) above ground to allow air to circulate beneath. The explosives magazine and detonator store were surrounded by a high fence of galvanised iron, and the reserve was fenced with hardwood posts and rails. In addition, the Railways Department had constructed a loop line and siding to the magazine.
By early 1940 the Government had made the decision to erect new magazine facilities, including caretaker's quarters, at Queerah, on the southern outskirts of Cairns. The Queerah magazine buildings were completed in October 1941, and by March 1942 all explosives from the Stratford magazine had been transferred there.
From mid-1942 until May 1945 the Stratford magazine site was occupied by the Australian Military Forces, who used the concrete buildings to store explosives. During the military occupancy, most of the galvanised iron fence around the magazine buildings was removed.
After the war, the site was utilised as a yard and depot by the Department of Public Works until 1953. The site is currently used for storage by sawmill operators JM Johnston Pty Ltd. The former magazine keeper's cottage has been removed.
","Explosives Magazine and Detonator Store (former), Queensland Heritage Register 600754
Morton, G. March 1984. Cairns (Stratford) Magazine for Explosives. Report for National Trust of Queensland, Cairns.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
" 1459,"Army Signals Communications Centre (Shadow Exchange)","Stuart State School","Radar/signal station","Dwyer Street",Stuart,4810,Townsville,-19.3476257324219,146.844970703125,"Australian Army Signals requisitioned part of the Stuart State School in 1942 as a temporary measure until a new reinforced concrete Signals building was completed in 1943 on the slopes of Mount Stuart near the Charters Towers - Townsville highway.
","The Army Signals Communications Centre contained modern teleprinters, telex, Morse code and radio channels. Cryptographers also transcribed messages into code.
In addition to the Signals Centre, a ""Shadow Exchange"" was built on the site consisting of a structure with large logs and a protective bomb blast wall. The communications equipment inside was identical to that contained in the Flinders Street Post Office. If the Post Office was damaged in an air raid then the Shadow Exchange was to connect to the Southern and Western phone cables that ran nearby and perform as a communications backup.
Plans for a more permanent emergency exchange were drawn up by Government Engineer E T Doig in November 1942. The Department of Interior's Works and Service Branch in the Townsville Customs House were occupied with the preparation of design drawings, specifications and contract supervision for hundreds of defensive structures in North Queensland.
Doig's plan for the emergency exchange detailed construction and excavation of the existing basement of the Commonwealth Bank building in Flinders Street near the Post Office. It is uncertain if the emergency exchange was completed. The former Commonwealth Bank building was vacated by the Townsville City Public Library in c 2001 and has been vacant since.
","Logan, Greg. Schools at war: memories of school days during WW2, Department of Education Queensland, 1995.
Townsville Emergency Telephone exchange, Qld J56, QL550.
" 1461,"Koala Ordnance Service Depot (Igloo Warehouse No.10)","105 Australian Ordnance Vekicle Park/Stuart Cement Works","Workshop","1 Hogan Street",Stuart,4811,Townsville,-19.3417530059814,146.836456298828,"The Japanese advance on the coast of New Guinea towards the mainland of Australia in early 1942 dictated the necessity of preparing Townsville as a reserve base for the storage of large amounts of equipment in case of possible invasion. As the military situation improved after the Battle of the Coral Sea, its role changed to one of supply and repair for forward bases.
The ""Igloo"" warehouse remains as physical evidence of the Nation's wartime mobilisation in what was formerly the largest Allied base in the South West Pacific. As a purpose built Ordnance Igloo, it is the only surviving building of the Townsville Ordnance Depot.
The original design brief that these structures were to be temporary, combined with the ravages of termites, cyclones and high humidity has made them rare. The Igloo also features an attached saw tooth warehouse which was not a common combination.
The Igloo displays the principal characteristics of its type which include engineered timber framing, unlined internal walls, sheeted corrugated iron roof and concrete floor.
Due to the gravity of the military situation, Engineers abandoned traditional construction techniques in favour of a large scale prefabrication programme. The Igloo featured technically innovate construction techniques and are unique to this period.
","The arrival in Townsville of one US Officer and four enlisted men in April 1942 marked the opening of an installation for the supervision and control of Ordnance supplies and activities in Base 2 Northern Region. Troops and large amounts of supplies were scheduled to arrive from the United States direct to the Townsville area.
Captain McCarthy, the first Ordnance officer to arrive, had as his primary mission the selection of scattered sites for ordnance activities; the most important of which were to provide ammunition storage and supply facilities for operational troops. Limited civilian facilities made it an immense project to locate areas for troops to receive, store and issue Ordnance. A site was selected about five miles from the CBD which was designated as ""Townsville Ordnance Depot"".
Ordnance responsibilities included the storage and issue of complete motor vehicles, weapons and weapon parts, cleaning and preserving materials, armament repair and repair of armed forces vehicles and tanks.
In early 1943 igloo type buildings were laid out at the depot and construction commenced. The Igloo is possibly the best known architectural legacy of WWII in Queensland. Although not prefabricated entirely, the truss was often prefabricated on site or delivered pre-cut. Consisting of a light nailed hardwood timber arch construction, they could be assembled quickly and could perform a variety of storage functions. The Australian modifications prepared by the Allied Works Council provided a stronger, more durable building than the original US design, capable of withstanding winds of up to 65 miles per hour.
The Igloo at Stuart was marked as building nine, General Ordnance Depot on a 1944 Commonwealth map of the site. These structures became the standard building solution when spans longer than 20 metres were required.
Included at the depot was one 100 foot x 600 foot warehouse, one of the largest of the Igloo type constructed on the mainland with warehouse supervisors using bicycles as a means of transport. A spur from the Townsville - Charters Towers rail line ran directly alongside this Igloo.
On 16 April 1943 the Townsville Ordnance Depot was designated ""Koala Depot"", as part of the Koala Ordnance Centre. During the second quarter of 1943, Flinders St Depot 1 & 2 were moved to Stuart, which had previously been two civilian motor garages after having been requisitioned in July 1942. All vehicles received were of the crated type and an assembly line worked continuously to issue vehicles to units.
To supplement army personnel, a considerable amount of civilians were hired to perform such duties as guards and depot personnel. Koala became renowned for its ability to repair anything from a wrist watch to a tank. As such a large facility on the outskirts of the town, it also featured a nine piece dance band and movies three times a week which proved a great attraction to the service personnel camped nearby.
The closing of Koala came at the beginning of 1945 due to the need to transfer operations to advanced bases in the Philippines.
Post-war the complex was used for storage by the Australian Army until it was declared surplus and purchased by NACL Cement. In the mid 1990s two nearby igloos were destroyed by fire. The Igloo has since been used for storage by Weinheimer transport. It remains as the only survivor of the complex on its original site. An original no smoking sign and internal lighting remain.
","Bayonet of the North: Base 2 Records Engineers. Vol 3. Held at James Cook University North Queensland Collection, Townsville.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1463,"Stuart Prison (Internees holding camp)","Stuart Creek Correctional facility","Internment/POW facility","Off Southwood Road",Stuart,4811,Townsville,-19.3494815826416,146.844879150391,"During the early stages of the European War with Germany and Italy, Stewart Creek Gaol served as a temporary internment facility for the North Queensland Italian community. Whilst transport to southern internment camps was being organised, up to seven hundred internees were held in a gaol designed for one hundred and fifty. Many of these Italians had resided in North Queensland for a number of years.
","During the July 1942 air raids on Townsville, inmates voiced disapproval that the gaolers were potential 'murderers' keeping them locked in their cells during an air raid. Former Superintendant John Stephenson states in Nor Iron Bars A Cage that warders would have happily exchanged places with the prisoners as the cells were probably the safest shelters in the district.
In 1942, Colonel Patterson, the US Provost Marshal was given approval to use Stewart Creek gaol as an auxiliary to the Garbutt stockade.
The Garbutt stockade held military prisoners that were awaiting execution, court martial or were considered to be violent. Other offenders were at Garbutt before being transferred to Fort Leavenworth's Disciplinary Barracks in the US.
Stephenson states that these military prisoners were usually well behaved in the gaol as they were no longer subject to the harsh military discipline that was enforced on them while at the Garbutt stockade.
","Stephenson, John R. Nor Iron Bars A Cage, Boolarong Publications, Ascot, 1982
Stewart's Creek Gaol (former) Queensland Heritage Register citation no.601250
" 1465,"Camp Tabragalba","1 Australian A.A. Training Regiment Training Depot; Allied Intelligence Bureau Training Camp; Camp X.","Training facility","Tabragalba House Road",Tabragalba,4285,South-East,-28.003849029541,153.066101074219,"Camp Tabragalba was constructed in mid 1942, on the cattle property 'Tabragalba', for the No. 1 Heavy Training Battery, the Anti Aircraft Training Battery and Anti Aircraft Searchlight Training Company. During early 1943 it was used for training four of the 155mm ""Letter"" coastal batteries, batteries 'M','N','O' and 'Q.
From early 1943 it was used by the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) to train Coast Watch operatives, and from late 1943 Tabragalba was home to Filipinos training to infiltrate the Philippines to establish radio networks and organise resistance to the Japanese prior to the MacArthur's return. Other personnel present at Tabragalba were from 'M' Special Unit and 'Z' Special Unit, as well as Dutch intelligence units. In late 1943 the property was purchased by the Mayor of Brisbane, John Beals Chandler, who had established the Chandlers electrical appliance company.
The site of Camp Tabragalba is about 6km east of Beaudesert, on the east side of the Albert River. The camp buildings were located to the north of the homestead site on a rise, and to the east. The entrance driveway used to cross the river at a point to the north of the current crossing. Some World War II buildings remain on the property, along with concrete slabs.
","An Australian Army camp was constructed in mid 1942 on the cattle property 'Tabragalba', established by pioneer pastoralist and politician De Burgh Persse. The camp was located close to the homestead, to the east of the Albert River, and initially nine buildings were erected and the existing dairy, garage, milking shed, stables and fowl house floor slab were converted for military use. The camp was built for 1000 personnel from the No. 1 Heavy Training Battery, the Anti Aircraft Training Battery and Anti Aircraft Searchlight Training Company. For several months from January 1943 the camp was also used for training by four of the 155mm ""Letter"" coastal batteries, Batteries 'M','N','O' and 'Q'.
From around May 1943 the camp was also used by the Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB), established 6 July 1942, which was tasked with intelligence gathering in the South West Pacific Area. The AIB was staffed with personnel from Australia, the US, the UK, the Netherlands East Indies and Asia. Section 'C' of the AIB was the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) Coast Watch organisation, with subsections for the North-East Area (New Guinea and the Solomon islands), the Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies. Members of 'M' Special Unit, 'Z' Special Unit and Dutch intelligence units were present at Tabragalba. 'M' Special Unit (AIB) organised Coast Watchers, while 'Z' Special Unit carried out special operations. At one time 'Z' Special Unit was an administrative holding unit for the Inter-Allied Services Department (ISD) under the control of the AIB, but it later operated under the Services Recognisance Department (SRD), which was largely autonomous from the AIB.
In May 1943 the Philippines subsection of the Section 'C' became the Philippine Regional Section (PRS), tasked with infiltrating the Philippines to establish a radio net and organise resistance to the Japanese occupiers. The Filipinos were drawn from two infantry regiments formed in 1943 from Filipinos resident in the US and Hawaii, with US and Filipino officers. 700 men were selected, with the first group of 400 arriving in Australia in August 1943. Prior to leaving the US these men were trained in radio operation, cryptography and the Japanese language. At ""Camp X"" (probably named after the 'X' secret radio frequency used by the Coast Watchers) at Tabragalba the radio operators plus several hundred men selected for scout duty received special training for their missions. Training was also conducted at the Canungra Jungle Warfare School and at the Fraser Commando School on Fraser Island.
The US 978th Signal Service Company was activated in Brisbane on 1 July 1943, and soon moved to Tabragalba, where it trained the Filipinos in radio operation. In August 1943 it appeared that the New Guinean (North East Area) personnel at Tabragalba might have to relocate elsewhere, but due to objections from Major SS Caporn, Administrative Officer of the AIB and Commanding Officer of 'M' Special Unit, the camp may have been segregated instead.
The camp was officially handed over to the US Army on 1 November 1943. In October 1943 Tabragalba had been purchased from Charles Dudley Persse by John Beals Chandler. Chandler was the Major of Brisbane from 1940 to 1952, and a radio entrepreneur who had founded the Chandlers electrical appliance company. During World War II Chandlers was associated with Amalgamated Wireless Australasia (AWA) Ltd in installing and servicing radio, radar and echo-sounding equipment in ships.
By 11 November 1943 the camp at Tabragalba had 38 buildings, including latrines, kitchens, messes, sleeping quarters, ablutions, showers, a gas chamber, oil store, Quarter Master's store, canteen, power house, butcher shop, pump house, guard house, lime and straw hut, saw bench Regimental Aid Post, laundry, recreation hut, and administration buildings.
The 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion was formed at Tabragalba in November 1943, to train PRS personnel. The last group of Filipino volunteers arrived in March 1944. After infiltrating a number of PRS parties into the Philippines, the 5217th Reconnaissance Battalion disbanded on 20 November 1944, and operations were relocated to Hollandia in Netherlands New Guinea under the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, Special.
After the war the Chandler family continued to live at Tabragalba, which was resumed by the South East Queensland Water Board in 1992. It continues to be used as a pastoral lease, and part of the property is used by the Beaudesert Rifle Club. Several World War II era buildings remain on the property, along with concrete slabs.
","Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Rolley, A. 1996. Australia Remembers 1945-1995: Lest We Forget: the Beaudesert Experience. Beaudesert Shire Council.
Kidd, R and Neal, R. 1998. The 'Letter' Batteries: the history of the 'letter' batteries in World War II. RE Neal, Castlecrag NSW.
Marks, RR, 2005. Brisbane—WW2 v Now, from an American Archives' photo viewpoint. Volume 23, Round Mountain and Tabragalba.
Rottman, GL. 2005. US Special Warfare Units in the Pacific Theater 1941–45: Scouts, Raiders, Rangers and Reconnaissance Units. Osprey Publishing, Oxford.
National Archives of Australia 259/2/643. Construction of Training Camp, Tabragalba, Qld, for A.A. and A.A.S.L. Personnel [Includes 3 plans]. 1942–1944
National Archives of Australia Folder T Folio 73. Tabragalba Camp Hospital - Layout Plan [1/T/296] 1940 [sic-1942]
National Archives of Australia 175/6/109 PART 1. DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Mareeba Qld - Aerodrome - Hiring of site. 1942–1948 [regarding a landowner who was training at 1st Australian AA Training Regiment, Tabragalba in 1942]
National Archives of Australia 155V. AIB [Allied Intelligence Bureau] Planning - General - Sketch Map of Tabragalba & Printed Map of Northern Section, General Headquarters, South West Pacific Area. 1943
Island-hopping in the rainforest: the Signal Corps and the Pacific front
Dunn, P. Camp Tabragalba - Camp ""X"" near Beaudesert
Dunn, P. Allied Intelligence Bureau in Australia in WW2
Dunn, P. 978th Signal Services Company based at Camp Tabragalba near Beaudesert, Qld during WW2
Chandler, Sir John Beals (1887-1962)
Persse, De Burgh Fitzpatrick (1840-1921)
Queensland State Library, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection
Title information, DERM
Google Maps
Google Earth
" 1466,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 19 Replenishment Centre","Talmoi Chemical Warfare Store","Ammunition facility","Talmoi Wool scour siding, Flinders Highway",Talmoi,4740,North-West,-20.7253913879395,142.738800048828,"The Queensland directorate of the Allied Works Council received a requisition for the provision of buildings and services for a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) explosives reserve at Talmoi wool scour west of Richmond in late September 1942. The work was to be supervised by the Main Roads Commission (MRC). At the time, Talmoi wool scour was owned by the firm of Edkins Marsh and Company of Ilfracombe, who owned a number of sheep properties and a string of wool scours throughout central-west Queensland.
The wool scour was located on Molesworth station near Maxwelton, west of Richmond on the Townsville-Mount Isa railway. The area was considered suitable for chemical weapons storage as it provided storage sheds and living facilities with running bore water, on a rail siding a safe distance from the coast and other settlement. The facility was initially designated as RAAF No.4 Central Explosives Reserve, Talmoi.
The work was given top priority with the design and supervision of buildings and services referred to the Department of Works engineers in Townsville. MRC roadworks and earthworks had commenced at the site by December 1942, but it was not until March 1943 that a contract for the erection of 24 buildings and repairs to an existing 11 buildings was awarded to J Hutchison and Sons who were then carrying out work at Cape River meat works, on the Townsville railway.
Today, nine widely-spaced reinforced concrete igloo-shaped explosives stores remain, with several floor slabs of other buildings removed, including a laboratory. The wartime chemical weapons stores now hold cattle fodder. The military camp area, centred around the wool scour site, now comprises concrete floor slabs of the kitchen, mess and ablution blocks and footings of the airmens' quarters.
","Construction of reinforced concrete storage igloos and other buildings at Talmoi was underway by June 1943, when the first of a series of industrial disputes occurred when workers engaged by Hutchison and Sons complained that they were without food and rations. Further disputes and supply difficulties served to delay the opening of the facility which had been redesignated RAAF 19 Replenishment Centre by late 1943.
RAAF 19 Replenishment Centre was established at Marrangaroo near Lithgow in New South Wales in October 1943. The unit was responsible for storing chemical weapons manufactured from a consignment procured in Britain and shipped to Australia.
Talmoi was first occupied in March 1944 by a small detachment from RAAF 19 Replenishment Centre. Chemical weapons from Lithgow began arriving at Talmoi siding by rail in September 1944 and within a week a total of 2550 phosgene bombs had been unloaded. The reinforced concrete igloos were used to store the 250 lb (113 kg) bombs and a corrugated iron shed was used to store mustard gas canisters. Additional building work was requisitioned for Talmoi in mid-1944 by which period the detachment stood at one officer and 43 other ranks.
In May 1945 orders were received to transfer the chemical weapons to Breddan airfield near Charters Towers. However, Breddan was found to be unsuitable for this purpose. After the Japanese surrender, two RAAF officers were sent to Talmoi from Melbourne to supervise the destruction of the chemical weapons by fire and a series of controlled burns were carried out during January 1946, when all of the phosgene bombs and remaining chemicals at Talmoi were declared to have been destroyed. On 19 February 1946, RAAF 19 Replenishment Centre was formally disbanded at Townsville.
By 1948 thousands of phosgene bomb casings at Talmoi, presumed to have been rendered harmless, had been removed by local residents for a variety of purposes including use as house blocks. However, in December that year the McKinlay Shire Council advised the federal government that many bomb casings still contained gas. In response, military command in Melbourne suggested that McKinlay Shire Council should prohibit the use of phosgene bomb casings for building purposes. A small stockpile of chemical weapons was discovered at Maxwelton near Talmoi, as late as 1989.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Brisbane.
Peter Dunn, Australia @ War website, 19 Replenishment Centre RAAF.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1470,"U.S. Army 156th Station Hospital and 102 Aust General Hospital","Ekibin Hospital","Medical facility","cnr Toohey Road and Sexton Street",Tarragindi,4121,Brisbane City,-27.5197238922119,153.044891357422,"Ekibin Hospital appears to have provided supplementary beds for the Holland Park hospital but also had specific wards for treating US service personnel suffering from psychological issues. The Ekibin Hospital was designed by the Office of the Base Engineer, Base Section 3, USASOS. Its construction was of a slightly lower priority than the first section of the Holland Park hospital, though some construction work was concurrent.
","Local contractor RM Hornibrook was responsible for erecting the main buildings of the US Army Hospital at Ekibin during mid-1943. By the end of 1944 there were approximately 90 structures on the site including two large 'Psychopathic' wards and 24 other wards of various configurations. The hospital had capacity for 1250 patients. Officers, nurses and ward staff were also housed on-site with all the necessary related facilities including a theatre and sporting grounds.
The 155th Station Hospital moved from Camp Cable on 28 January 1944, to occupy the Ekibin hospital. A Station report described the hospital as a ""salubrious atmosphere conducive to rapid recovery of patients. Drainage was excellent, the presence of a constant light breeze, coupled with the absence of objectionable smoke stacks or other installations in the area, provided a pleasant setting."" Patients were transferred to the hospital from the 42nd and 105th General Hospitals for care before they were transferred back to the United States.
The 102 Australian General Hospital (102 AGH) occupied the Ekibin Hospital site after it was vacated by the US Army, though that may have been a temporary arrangement. The 102 AGH reportedly moved to Holland Park from Ekibin, and there is some indication that the Royal Navy may have occupied Ekibin for a period.
Nurses from the Australian Army Nursing Service were at Ekibin from February 1945. American troops transferred from Holland Park back to Ekibin Hospital in October 1945, and a number of Queensland war-brides with their babies were quartered there as they awaited transport to the United States. Immediately after the war part of the sit was allocated as a compound for displaced persons operated by the Queensland Housing Commission. The former Ekibin Hospital was demolished around 1955-56.
","NAA: Series BP262/2 9127 PART 2 Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report of work done by AWC Qld to 30 June 1943 barcode 438604.
WW2 US Medical Research Centre
" 1471,"Camp Caves",,"Training facility","Etna Creek, The Caves, Milman",The Caves,4702,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.1727447509766,150.455596923828,"Camp Caves was home to the US 24th Infantry Division, part of the US I Corps, between September 1943 and early 1944. The camp, north of Rockhampton along the Bruce Highway and the North Coast Railway line, stretched from Etna Creek Road to Alligator Creek. Another I Corps Division, the 41st Infantry Division, had arrived at Rockhampton in July 1942 and was accommodated at Camp Rockhampton, between Moores Creek northwards along the Bruce Highway almost to Parkhurst; either side of the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road before the intersection with Artillery Road; and south of Artillery Road between the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road and Sandringham. Other camps in the vicinity of Rockhampton included Camp Nerimbera, Camp Thompson's Point, Camp Keppel Sands, Camp Yeppoon and Camp Wallaroo. The main combat units of the 24th Division included the 19th, 21st and 34th Infantry Regiments, 3rd Engineers Battalion and the 11th, 13th, 52nd and 63rd Field Artillery (FA) Battalions. After moving to Goodenough Island (New Guinea) in January 1944, the 24th Division engaged in an amphibious assault on Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea in April 1944, as part of Operation Reckless.
","Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was the first US division dispatched to Australia, with contingents arriving at Melbourne and Sydney during April and May 1942. After training at Puckapunyal in Victoria, the division, initially called the ""Sunset Division"" and later the ""Jungleers"", was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable (from July 1942 before heading to New Guinea from September 1942). The 32nd had been offered to Australia in return for Australia leaving its experienced 9th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) in the Middle East.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The 24th was originally the Hawaiian Division, and it retained the latter's shoulder sleeve insignia of a taro leaf. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
After arriving at Rockhampton the 41st Division commenced training in jungle warfare, and each battalion in turn was sent down to the Toorbul Point Combined Training Centre near Brisbane, for training in amphibious warfare. Units of the 41st Division fought in New Guinea during 1943 and in April 1944 the Division landed simultaneously at Hollandia (Dutch New Guinea) and Aitape (New Guinea) in Operation Reckless and Operation Persecution, in an attempt to isolate the Japanese 18th Army at Wewak. The 24th Division also landed at Hollandia as part of Operation Reckless, having prepared at Goodenough Island from January 1944.
While at Camp Caves, the 24th Division was spread along the Bruce Highway and the North Coast Railway, north of Rockhampton. Area 'A' (24th Division Medical Battalion) was west of the Bruce Highway, either side of Etna Creek Road; then east of the railway line came areas 'B' (east of Etna Creek siding, 19th Infantry Regiment with 3 battalions) and 'C' (34th Regiment with 3 battalions; plus ""410"" siding with 8 warehouses west of the railway line). Area 'K' (Quartermaster Coy) was west of the Bruce Highway, north of Steiners Road; Area 'J' (724th Ordnance Coy) was north of Auton and Johnsons Road; Area 'D' (21st Infantry Regiment with 3 battalions) was located east of the highway, north of Fourteen Mile Road and along Gunder Road; and Area 'I' (3rd Engineer Battalion) was west of the highway opposite Barmoya Road.
Areas 'H' (24th Division Headquarters, MP Coy, Artillery HQ, 24th Division Reconnaissance, Signal Coy) and 'G' (11th Field Artillery (FA) Battalion) were west of the highway (although part of 'H' was east of the highway). North of Plentiful Creek Road there were ammunition dumps either side of the highway; then Area 'E' (63rd FA Battalion) north of highway; and Area 'F' (13th and 52nd FA Battalions) south of the highway (which used to follow Flood Road to cross Alligator Creek). Area 'L' (two landing strips) was north of Flood Road before Alligator Creek, to the east of Milman Road. Areas 'M' to 'Q' (I Corps Artillery Units) were to the southeast of the main camp, either side of Artillery Road, to the southeast of Sandringham. The American Red Cross used the hall building at The Caves.
Small arms firing ranges for Camp Caves were located east of the North Coast Railway, north of Greenlake Road. Ranges for the artillery units at Rockhampton included the Cawarral, Cobberra, Josekeleigh, Salt Flat, and Sugarloaf artillery ranges.
The Queensland Main Roads Commission apparently started some work on Camp Caves in November 1942, for the 2nd Engineer Special (Amphibious) Brigade, but this work was stopped. Land hiring dates for Camp Caves commenced in July 1943, through November 1943, and the main construction agency was the Public Works Department, along with work by RL Schofield; R Cousins & Sons; R Cousins & Co Pty Ltd; R Coward, and troop labour. Detailed maps of the locations of individual buildings within each area can be accessed in digitised form from the National Archives of Australia website; control symbols MAP 7 to MAP 13. Lists of buildings and contractors can be found at MAP 109 to MAP 114; and units in occupation are listed in the schedules of garbage collection, MAP 144 to MAP 145. All areas of Camp Caves were vacated between January and March 1944.
","Queensland Main Roads Commission, 1949. The history of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia. various items, control symbols: INDEX; MAP 5 to MAP 18; MAP 44 to MAP 59; MAP 60; MAP 62: MAP 63; MAP 77; MAP 79; MAP 81; MAP 83; MAP 102; MAP 109 to MAP 114; MAP 129 to MAP 133; MAP 144; MAP 145; MAP 150.
Dunn, P. Camp Rockhampton Base Area Command No. 2 USASOS Base Section 3, APO 926, Rockhampton, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
Dunn, P. Camp Caves near Rockhampton, Qld
Operations Reckless and Persecution
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Image of 41st Division shoulder patch.
" 1477,"Torres Strait Signals Office","Thursday Island Post Office","Radar/signal station","Douglas Street",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5837898254395,142.220367431641,"The first postmaster Edmonds Leechmere Brown took up his appointment in 1878 in the Court House, until the new post office was built on the current site in 1887. The current building was constructed in 1934, and has only slightly altered since then.
In 1887, the post office was linked with Cape York and Cooktown through an underwater submarine cable laid by the vessel Recorder.
During World War Two, the Torres Strait Signals, Thursday Island used the Post Office as their mail room and switchboard. A vital part of the signallers equipment, was the switchboard, on Thursday Island the Switchboard Universal Call 10 Line was installed which was introduced as field exchanges for forward troops. When a person wanted to make a call, he/she pushed the buzzer, causing the circuit to complete through a relay unit to the switchboard on which his indicator light was activated. Whilst this equipment was fairly sophisticated, it did not cope well with adverse conditions. After the war's conclusion the post office resumed its civilian role.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 1478,"Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Fuel Wharf",,"Naval/port facility","Douglas Street",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5850687026978,142.220474243164,"Research points the construction date of the Naval Wharf and slipway to be the beginning of 1943, coinciding with McArthur's Moultrie Plan and the installation of the Navy Fuel tanks. Up until then, the army wharf (Port Kennedy) across from the Customs house had been used, however with the Moultrie Plan, it was envisaged that larger ships requiring a deeper draft would access the port and need somewhere deeper with access to the Navy's fuel.
The Naval depot consisted of the fuel tanks, slipway, workshop, which house, jetty and all portable gear and fittings. The slipway was 560′ long, constructed of concrete foundations with two sets of rails, and haulage gear, winches and a Ford v. 8 power unit. The capacity of the slipway is approximately 400 tonnes. The timber jetty was 560′ long and ran adjacent to the slipway, in a L shape, the head of which ran in a north easterly direction for 70′, with a 33′ width. The winch house is located at the head of the wharf, slightly to the east and is of corrugated iron construction, while the workshop was to the west of the wharf's head. The workshop was of double corrugated fibre roofing and masonite walls, with a concrete floor and was approximately 150′ x 50′.
On 19 June 1946, after deliberation, the Navy put the depot up for lease, which was taken up by the South Sea Pearling Company in June 1949. Today the wharf and old depot surroundings is owned by Rebel Marine.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 1479,"Green Hill Fort and Wireless Station","Fort Victoria","Radar/signal station","Chester Street",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5838861465454,142.211212158203,"Throughout World War II Thursday Island served as the headquarters for text-transform:uppercase
allied military operations in Torres Strait and Green Hill Fort was used as a signals and wireless station and ammunition store for Australian and US forces. The fort served no further military purpose after World War II. About 1954 a weather station was established within the fort, as part of a national weather reporting system. After the closure of the weather station in 1993, Green Hill Fort was presented to the Torres Shire Council as a public park and tourist attraction. The three six-inch breech-loading guns remain in position, overlooking the approaches to Thursday Island.
","These late-nineteenth century fortifications stand in isolation at the top of Green Hill which forms a dramatic backdrop to Thursday i sland-known to the Kaurareg people as Waibene. The first government resident, Henry Chester, left Somerset on Cape York in 1877 to take up residence on Thursday Island which was then declared a port of entry. However, it was John Douglas, who replaced Chester in 1885, who was responsible for opening the port as a centre for regional commerce. Within a decade Port Kennedy, as the early settlement was known, was the hub of the trepang and pearl-shell fisheries in the Strait and a busy centre servicing passenger and trade vessels passing through.
The fort with its three six-inch breech-loading guns, offers a panoramic view over the harbour and Horn Island to the south-east, the boat channel and Prince of Wales Island to the south-west, Friday and Goods Island to the west, and north over the Aplin Passage and Hammond Island. The gun emplacements are sunk behind protective earth abutment walls. Beneath the fort are the centrally located underground magazines, storage rooms and passages constructed of concrete.
Colonial security became an issue after Queensland's annexation of New Guinea in 1883 and the subsequent claiming of New Guinea territory by Germany and Britain. This was followed in 1885 by an Afghanistan border dispute between Britain and Russia, prompting recognition that securing the coaling stations at King George's Sound in Western Australia and at Thursday Island was fundamental to the defence of Australia. In 1890 the colonies agreed to fund construction of the necessary fortifications and to accept Britain's offer to arm the forts. Clearing and excavating of the site on Green Hill began in August 1891 and the battery, named Fort Victoria, was ready to receive guns by October 1892. Substantial timber barracks for the artillery garrison were completed to the east of the fort by January 1893 and all the guns had been mounted by May that year. Unfortunately, rapid changes in European military and naval technology made the fort obsolete from its inception.
Following Federation in 1901, Green Hill Fort was transferred to the Commonwealth. At the outbreak of World w ar I in August 1914 Thursday Island was placed on full alert. As the German threat in the Indian and Pacific Oceans subsided after 1915, the Thursday Island garrison was removed to active service and Green Hill Fort served as a training ground for Queensland militia until 1918. By 1926 the focus of Australia's northern defence had shifted to Port Darwin and most of the garrison was withdrawn, leaving only a maintenance team. In 1932 the Thursday Island defences were dismantled and the six-inch guns were deactivated. Buildings associated with the fortifications and barracks were removed.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Green Hill Fort Complex, Queensland Heritage Register place ID: 601096, Brisbane.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1482,"Milman Hill Coastal Battery","Milman Hill and Lions Lookout","Fortifications","Milman Hill, Waiben",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5785875320435,142.226699829102,"In a move towards Federation the Australian colonies agreed in 1890 that the defence of naval coaling stations at Thursday Island and Albany (Western Australia) should be undertaken collectively.
In 1891 a colonial defence committee recommended that three 6-inch guns that had been offered by the British government should be emplaced at Green Hill on Thursday Island.
Costs of construction were shared between the colonies with Queensland providing a permanent garrison of 50 men. Clearing and excavating of the site on Green Hill began in August 1891 and the battery, named Fort Victoria, was ready to receive the guns by 1893. In 1897 a 4.7-inch gun was added at Milman Hill.
Rapid changes in European military and naval technology made Fort Victoria obsolete from its inception, but the installation remained operational until the garrison was moved to Darwin in 1932.
Prior to Japan's entry into World War II, it had been recognised by Australian defence authorities that the Torres Strait Islands could provide potential operational bases for foreign forces approaching from the north and in early 1940 it was decided to establish a system of seaward fortifications. In May 1940 the Australian Defence Committee asked for recommendations on the most appropriate site for mounting two 6-inch naval guns for Torres Strait. A recommendation was made to install the guns at Tucker Point on Goods Island from where they could cover the Prince of Wales Channel and Normanby Sound as well as the eastern and western approaches to Thursday Island and the airfield on Horn Island. It was also recommended that the 4.7-inch gun be re-instated at Milman Hill on Thursday Island. The main role of Thursday Island was as an administrative base for Torres Strait Force. The role of the troops on the island was the denial to the Japanese of the sea channels covered by the Milman Battery and the defence of the military installations on the island.
Today the World War II Battery Observation Post (BOP) on top of Milman Hill is fenced within a more recent transmission facility. The BOP is of reinforced concrete with a ground-level observation post and below-ground control centre. Two reinforced concrete searchlight posts-each with its generator shed-are located below, facing towards Horn Island. One is now locally known as Lions Lookout.
","In July 1940, the Australian Defence Committee recommended the emplacement of two 6-inch guns on Goods Island and the reinstatement on Milman Hill, of a 4.7-inch gun then in storage in Brisbane. An advanced party of the Thursday Island Detachment (later renamed the Thursday Island Fixed Defences-Fortress Command) comprising elements of the Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) and Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) arrived in December 1940 to select sites for command posts, engine rooms and gun emplacements on Milman Hill and Goods Island.
The gun for Milman Hill—a Quick Firing 4.7-inch Mark III naval and coast defence gun of the 1890s—was transferred from Victoria Barracks, Brisbane, in November 1940 and emplaced on Thursday Island in December. Two 90cm coast artillery searchlights were also provided and emplaced on the eastern side of Milman Hill, below the gun and BOP. A detachment of RAA personnel arrived on Thursday Island to man the battery during March 1941 after transfer from the Queensland Line of Communication Area. Also during March, Militia troops of the 49th Battalion were posted to Thursday Island and Port Moresby as reinforcements to defend the military installations.
Proof firing of the coast defence guns at Milman and Goods batteries took place during July 1941. Completion of the second gravel runway at Horn Island aerodrome occurred in October and by November the remaining personnel of Milman Battery had arrived on Thursday Island. The battery became operational a month before Japan launched its assault in the Pacific. On 8 and 9 December, all Japanese nationals and residents on Thursday Island were detained to be shipped south to internment camps.
Between March 1942 and June 1943 there were eight raids by Japanese aircraft and 18 alerts over Thursday Island, but the attacks were directed against Horn Island aerodrome installations and shipping. Thursday Island escaped attack by air and no damage was caused to coast artillery fixed defences.
RAA officers inspected locations for additional coast defences in Torres Strait and sites were selected for Turtle Battery on Hammond Island and Endeavour Battery on Entrance Island. The additional batteries were in place by May 1943, when Torres Strait Fixed Defences-Heavy Artillery was renamed Coast Artillery Torres Strait. In September 1943 a Bofors 40mm Light Anti-Aircraft gun was emplaced at each of the batteries, including Milman Hill.
The coast defences of Torres Strait were reviewed by the Defence Committee in September 1944 and as a result it was recommended that only the 6-inch guns of Goods Battery be retained on a permanently manned basis. In October 1944 Milman Battery on Thursday Island, King Section on Horn Island, Turtle Battery on Hammond Island and Endeavour Battery on Entrance Island were placed under care and maintenance before being withdrawn. The men of the disbanded batteries were sent to Brisbane before being reposted to other units for active duty in New Guinea and the islands.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Reg A Ball, Torres Strait Force 1942 to 1945: The defence of Cape York, Torres Strait and Merauke in Dutch New Guinea, Sydney, 1996.
Graham McKenzie Smith, Australia's Forgotten Army, vol 2, ACT, 1995.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Vanessa Seekee, Horn Island 1939–1945: A record of the defence of Horn Island during World War Two, Horn Island 2002.
" 1483,"Naval Fuel Storage Tanks",,"Supply facility","Summers Street",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5788221359253,142.223358154297,"In junction with McArthur's Moultrie Plan for Torres Strait of May 1943, which saw the reinforcement and defence of the area and the northern sea lanes, a proposal was forwarded for three fuel tanks on Thursday Island to cater for increased allied naval traffic. One 2000 ton oil tank for diesel distillate piping to be led to a suitable fuelling point clear of the existing deep water birth, and two 2500 tonne tanks for furnace and marine oil, with separate pipelines going to the main wharf of Port Kennedy. They were located on a Defence Purpose reserve adjacent to Summers Street with pipelines running down Hastings St to the main jetty, with tank 1 being of reinforced concrete and 2500 tonnes, while tanks 2 and 3 were of welded steel construction with 2000 tonnes capacity. All tanks were dug into Milman Hill providing excellent camouflage.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 1484,"Torres Force Headquarters and Commander's residence","Thursday Island Customs House","Headquarters","2 Victoria Parade",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5848817825317,142.220901489258,"Waibene, or Thursday Island, is located in the Torres Strait and was once a gateway to the colony of Queensland. A two-storey masonry and stucco building was constructed here for the Australian Customs Department in 1938. Designed by the Commonwealth Department of Works, it replaced an earlier colonial customs house.
World War II was declared soon after the completion of the new customs house and in 1942, after Japan's entry into the war, the Australian Army took control of it as the residence of the commander of Torres Force for the duration of the war. The building was returned to the Customs Department in 1946 when military control of Thursday Island ended. Since then the Customs House has been used continuously by the Australian Customs Service, although due to the need for increased office space it no longer provides residential accommodation.
","Queensland police magistrate Henry Chester was appointed the sub-collector of customs for Torres Strait in 1877 and a timber customs house had been erected on Thursday Island by 1890. At the end of World War I the local Japanese-controlled pearling industry resumed activity with over 60 luggers working the pearl beds of the Torres Strait.
The importance of the port was acknowledged in 1938 when a new two-storey customs house was erected to replace the earlier building. The new customs house, overlooking the port, became one of the most prominent landmarks on the island. Built of brick and concrete and designed in the classical architectural style favoured by the Commonwealth Department of Works during the inter-war period, its ground floor served as a customs office while the second storey contained the sub-collectors residence.
In February 1941, ten months before Japan's entry into the war, the federal government authorised the reinforcement of Thursday Island with some 160 militia troops of the 49th Battalion who had volunteered for tropical service. The personnel later became part of the Thursday Island Infantry Detachment. As early as December 1940 the Australian Army had suggested that Torres Strait Islanders should be recruited to allow the release of militia troops for garrison service in New Guinea. Government approval for the raising of a company of Torres Strait Islanders was given in May 1941. The Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion became the only indigenous army battalion in Australia's military history. Torres Strait Islander troops were commanded by an officer of 49 Battalion and training for the first intake of 107 Islanders began in late 1941. Battalion headquarters were located on Thursday Island's Milman Hill.
Initially the Islander recruits were deployed in the defence of a number of vital points including Milman battery, the water reservoir and power house on Thursday Island, Goods Island coastal battery and Horn Island airfield. After a second intake of recruits in 1942, the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion contained a full complement of 830 men, including 40 Cape York Aborigines and Torres Strait Malays. As operations of the Torres Strait Fortress were scaled down after November 1944, the men of the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion took over more specialist roles such as the operation of the docks area, port maintenance, transport of supplies, small ship maintenance and marine piloting. When the Battalion was disbanded in 1946, the war became a period referred to as 'Army Time'.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Reg Ball, Torres Strait Force 1942to 1945: The defence of Cape York, Torres Strait and Merauke in Dutch New Guinea, Australian Military History Publications, Sydney, 1996.
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Robert Hall, The Black Diggers: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War, Aboriginal Studies Press Canberra, 1997.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Vanessa Seekee, Horn Island 1939–1945: A record of the defence of Horn Island during World War Two, Vanessa and Arthur Liberty Seekee, Horn Island 2002.
" 1486,"Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion Camp","Battalion Tent Lines","Military camp",,Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.578049659729,142.218719482422,"This building was originally the Residency for the Police Magistrate in charge of the settlement. It later became the Court House for Thursday Island and during World War Two became the Torres Strait Force Headquarters. It was described by the officers as 'the office', and has changed little since 1942. It is a house built up off the ground, with a wide veranda along three sides allowing the breeze off the water to flow, and quite comfortably furnished. One advantage to the officers was that it was far enough away from 'the main show' as they described it to make the officers more or less independent - something they saw as an advantage.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 1490,"Camp Maryborough",,"Training facility","South of Tinana, between Bruce Highway and Tinana Creek",Tinana,4650,Wide Bay-Burnett,-25.5994682312012,152.668685913086,"Camp Maryborough, south of Tinana, was built as a divisional camp for the US Army's 27th Infantry Division, due to arrive in November 1943. Construction was ordered on 31 July 1943, but as Camp Maryborough was only half finished by November, construction continued as a lower priority to the end of January 1944.
However, the 27th Division did not come to Queensland, and the two US Divisions which did arrive in Queensland during 1943, the 1st Cavalry Division and the 24th Infantry Division, were sent to Camp Strathpine near Brisbane (in June-July) and Camp Caves near Rockhampton (in September) respectively. The vacant Camp Maryborough appears to have been used by the RAAF as a bivouac site for No.6 Recruit Depot during 1945.
A camp site for one division was located south of Tinana, between Teddington Road and Tinana Creek, with positions for support units marked out between Woongool Road and Iindah Road East; for artillery units and Tank Destroyers between Iindah Road East and McDonald Road; and for three infantry regiments from McDonald Road south almost to the intersection of Teddington Road and Six Mile Road East. A possible campsite for a second division was indicated on a map west of Teddington Road to the Bruce Highway, with areas for additional troops south of the above camps.
Like Camp Cable (between Logan Village and Tamborine) Camp Maryborough was a tented camp, with more permanent buildings for kitchens, recreation rooms, stores, ablution blocks and the like. The Queensland Main Roads Commission laid down about 25 miles (40km) of gravelled roadway in the area of the camp and the main approaches. Roads and paths were also constructed for a 500 bed hospital.
Some concrete slabs survive, along with pit trench latrines, on private land. At least one camp building, in poor condition, survives on private land.
",,"Queensland Main Roads Commission, 1949. The history of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Government Printer, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, USM53 PART 3. Tamborine Camp - building and facilities, 1943-1946.
National Archives of Australia, 171/54/1 PART 2. DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - RAAF Station - Maryborough Qld - Buildings and services, 1943-1947.
National Archives of Australia, LS1391. Maryborough - proposed divisional camp. 1945 (?)
Information from Lee Deighton.
" 1603,"Australian Army 7th and 9th Division Military Camps","Tinaroo Falls Dam and Lake Tinaroo","Military camp","Tinaroo Falls Dam Road",Tinaroo,4872,Atherton Tablelands,-17.1731052398682,145.542236328125,"Scarce evidence remains of the military camp sites formerly occupied by the 9th and 7th Divisions at Danbulla, due to post-war agricultural clearing and inundation by the waters of the Tinaroo Falls Dam after 1957. However, a few building slabs and army mess fireplaces can still be discovered in the scrub surrounding Lake Tinaroo.
","In October 1942 Prime Minister John Curtin requested that the 9th Division be released from service in North Africa after the siege of Tobruk and the battles of El Alamein, and returned to Australia to be utilized against the Japanese in the Pacific. The Division arrived by sea at Fremantle in February 1943 and welcome-home parades were held in every Australian capital city. In March the Division began regrouping on the Atherton Tableland near the settlements of Kairi, Danbulla and Barrine to begin jungle warfare training before embarking on the New Guinea campaign. By early 1944 the former camp sites of the 9th Division were occupied by units of the 7th Division for recuperation and training on return from the north coast of New Guinea.
The fireplace 100 metres west of the Tinaroo fire station is a particularly large example about 3 metres in height. Constructed of local rocks and cement, it contains a concrete drain as a chimney. 7th Division units occupying this area in mid-1944 included, 2/9 Field Company, 2/25 Field Park Company, 2 Engineer Signal Section and 2/55 Light Armoured Division.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1604,"13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot","Tolga Advanced Ordnance Depot","Supply facility","Tate Road",Tolga,4882,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2194957733154,145.468872070312,"From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland with the main administrative centre around the town of Atherton and the nearby settlement of Tolga. A huge schedule of construction work under the direction of the Allied Works Council commenced, involving the building of tent encampments, hutments, mess kitchens, hospitals and storage sheds.
Stores and equipment had to be provided for troops training on the Tableland, also replacement of lost or worn-out clothing, equipment and weapons for troops of the Australian Imperial Force units of the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions returning from the Middle East and New Guinea. What was to become the largest Australian Army storage and repair centre on the Tableland was established on a hillslope west of Tolga, early in 1943. Known as 13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot (AAOD), the complex consisted of about 150 buildings, including 18 large igloo storage sheds, an attached vehicle park, salvage area and workshops. The centre of the site is located between present Griffin Road and Tate Road, Tolga.
Most buildings were removed after the closure of the depot in 1946 and the area reverted to farm and grazing land. Today the concrete slab floors of eight igloo storage sheds remain, with others having been removed recently to make way for an expanding housing precinct. An early farm house which has been relocated onto a slab, was used during the war as a AAOD officers' quarters.
","Wartime operation of 13 AAOD was undertaken by LHQ 2/1 Australian Advanced Ordnance personnel. It was a large unit commanded by Lt-Col LW Gale with about 1000 personnel including about 200 members of the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS). Many of the men of 13 AAOD had been classed as unfit for active service, having already served in the Middle East and New Guinea.
On 16 August 1943 a unit of 54 Australian Deputy Commander, Royal Engineers (Works), arrived in Tolga to begin erection of 18 large igloo storage sheds for 13 AAOD. The sheds were approximately 60 metres by 18 metres and about 9 metres high, giving each a large unbroken floor area. In addition to the storage sheds, 13 AAOD consisted of the usual officers' and mens' mess huts, kitchens and recreation huts, tents for the men and barrack huts for the women, an open air picture theatre and two tennis courts.
The ordnance was divided into four depots, each having an office, sheds and igloos of various sizes for storing equipment. No.1 Sub Depot had vehicle parts and tyres. No.2 Sub Depot, clothing, and all personal requirements. No.3 Sub Depot, revolvers, light machine guns, heavy artillery and other weapons. A Returned Stores Depot (RSD) was responsible for repairing all stores returned to it including damaged clothing. This was repaired by AWAS seamstresses. Also attached to 13 AAOD was 13 Transport Section, used for general transport around the complex and transporting AWAS members from their barracks to the depot.
Attached also was 7 Australian Ordnance Vehicle Park with hundreds of trucks, jeeps and vehicles of all types. To the north was 1 Australian Advanced Workshop Salvage Unit. Some distance away was 7 Advanced Ammunition Depot.
During removal of ammunition from the Tolga ammunition dump on 26 November 1946, a truck carrying a huge amount of cordite exploded, critically burning three personnel all of whom subsequently died of their injuries and were buried at the Atherton War Cemetery. Those killed were from 1 Advanced Ammunition Depot, 7 Advanced Ammunition Depot and 7 Ordnance Depot.
The Queensland Country Womens' Association 'Haven' hut in the Atherton Hospital grounds was a former 7 Ordnance Depot recreation hut from Griffin Road, Tolga. It was relocated to the hospital in 1946 when the QCWA was reformed having been disbanded during the war years.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1608,"RAAF 220 Radar Station, Bones Knob",,"Radar/signal station","Bones Knob, Bowcock Road",Tolga,4882,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2167263031006,145.444793701172,"RAAF 220 Radar Station at Bones Knob became operational in 1943, and was one of five British-designed Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) radar stations constructed in Queensland during World War II: four being completed (Benowa, Toorbul, Charlie's Hill [Queensland Heritage Register 601716] and Bones Knob) with a fifth not completed (Paluma). The former WWII RAAF 220 Radar Station stands at the summit of a timbered hill called Bones Knob, located about 3km west of Tolga.
Surviving elements at Bones Knob comprise two concrete igloo buildings, a smaller concrete igloo, and concrete and steel footings of one radar tower. The two main semi-circular reinforced concrete igloos are 11.20 metres long by 7 metres wide, and are spaced 55 metres apart in parallel alignment. Attached to one is a small lean-to. Entrances to both igloos are sheltered under recent bow-roof verandahs. A smaller reinforced concrete igloo, probably for a generator, is located about 250 metres south of the transmitter and receiver igloos.
A timber tower over 40m high was originally located alongside each igloo. Only the base of the northern tower was visible in 2007. The tower footings comprise four 1 metre square concrete foundations, each containing two steel members about 1.5 metres in height.
","Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 220 Radar Station, a unit of RAAF 42 Radar Wing, was located at Bones Knob near Tolga on the Atherton Tableland. It became operational in September 1943 and played a role in the protection of the large concentration of ammunition, ordnance and stores depots established on the Atherton Tableland as part of the assembly and training of Australian troops for the final phase of the New Guinea and island campaigns. Operation of the Radar Station at Bones Knob ceased in December 1944 as the South West Pacific frontline moved further north.
The delays that Australia experienced in acquiring British radar equipment spurred an innovative period of radar development by Australian scientists from late 1941. By the time the British Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) radar system was installed at Bones Knob, features of its design, especially its two conspicuous timber towers, had already been superseded by the Australian designed Light Weight Air Warning (LW/AW) radar.
One tower in ACO stations was for transmitting and the other was for receiving radar signals. The towers were spaced about 100 metres apart to ensure that radio pulses were received as echoes and not confused with transmissions. The towers did not rotate like those commonly used in other radar models. The ACO radar installation consisted of 14 switches on the receiver tower and more on the transmitter. These had to be constantly relayed from on to off, lower to higher, and between different directions.
The igloos were built to house the radar electronics and two tonne consoles for the transmitter and receiver. The reinforced concrete igloos could be covered with earth, and were designed with a small tower at one end which was equipped with a ladder and served as a ventilator and escape passage. However, the ACO igloos used in Australia were not buried. Entrance doorways at the other end were large enough to accommodate the radar consoles.
The ACO electronics were the second generation of the British CH (Chain Home) type of radar, a 'floodlit' system operating on the VHF band. The transmitter was a British MB3 model which put out 250 Kw of power at 42.5 MHz. The transmitter aerial system was in two parts set at different heights (at 37.2 and 14.3 metres high) to enable height finding using the floodlit system. Each part had four elements to cover four sectors of 120 degrees.
The receiver was a British RF7 (receiver fixed location) built in four vertical racks held in a frame of 2 x 2 x 0.6 metres. The receiver detected radio echoes from all directions simultaneously, and compared the strength of an echo from within a radius to identify the direction from which the signal was originating. The receiver had two parts on the tower (at 40.2 and 14.3 metres high) plus crossed dipoles used for the height finding of an aircraft by comparing the echoes from the higher and lower sections of the tower.
Nine British ACO radar stations were completed in Australia by the end of 1943, (while others were built but were never made operational). Four were completed in Queensland. As well as Bones Knob, there were ACO stations at RAAF 209 at Benowa (since demolished); RAAF 210 at Toorbul; and RAAF 211 at Charlie's Hill (near Home Hill). An ACO station was started at Paluma, and concrete igloos were built that still exist on Lennox Crescent, but the towers were never built as the ACO program was cancelled in late 1943.
RAAF 220 Radar Station was formed at Camden, New South Wales, on 7 July 1943. The unit arrived at Tolga on 23 September, moving to Bones Knob the following day. The initial strength of the radar station was two officers and 34 airmen. A site plan for the installation at Bones Knob had been prepared by the Department of the Interior, Townsville, on 2 September 1942. Therefore, work may have already begun on construction of two concrete transmitter/receiver igloos, a smaller concrete igloo power house and two transmitter/receiver towers, together with a camp area and water storage tanks. The timber towers for 220 Radar Station were prefabricated by the Civil Construction Corps in Sydney from Australian oak.
During the early months of 1943 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland was transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland. Units of the 6, 7 and 9 Divisions, AIF, were encamped on the Atherton Tableland at various times between early 1943 and 1944, at locations such as Kairi, Tinaroo, Danbulla, Wongabel, Wondecla, Ravenshoe and Millstream. The radar station at Bones Knob could detect hostile aircraft approaching from the north towards the Atherton district.
War-time radar operators played a significant role in saving the lives of airmen, but manning a remote radar station in northern Queensland was a routine and mostly uneventful task. To alleviate the boredom, the men of 220 Radar Station regularly travelled to Tolga, Atherton and Mareeba to the picture shows. A tennis court was constructed at the station during 1944 and cricket matches and table tennis tournaments between RAAF and Army units also helped to pass the time.
Operation of 220 Radar Station ceased on 7 December 1944 and the unit completed the move to Townsville on 18 January 1945, being disbanded on 13 February 1945.
","WWII RAAF 220 Radar Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602741
Radar Station, Charlie's Hill. Queensland Heritage Register 601716
Smith, N and Simmonds, E, (eds), 2007. Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
""No 202 Radar Station, Victor Harbour"", Twentieth Century Heritage Survey, Stage Two (1928-1945)
WWII RAAF Radar Station 208 (former), NSW Heritage Register
Walding, R. Defences of Moreton Bay—Toorbul Radar Station Unit 210RS
" 1612,"Toogoolawah Airfield","Watts Bridge airfield","Airfield","Mount-Beppo Road",Toogoolawah,4313,South-East,-27.1035652160645,152.433380126953,"Known during the war years as Toogoolawah this pair of intersecting strips survives albeit with foreshortened runways today under the name of Watts Bridge (Memorial) Airfield. It doesn't appear to have been so named during the war years, although the Military Survey Mapping dated 1943 shows a nearby bridge over the Brisbane River as Watts Bridge. The site was chosen primarily as a base for an RAAF Army Cooperation Squadron activity. Indeed No.5 Squadron did occupy the airfield for some months prior to moving to North Queensland and beyond.
No substantial buildings appear to have been constructed during war service, although records do suggest remnants of a CCC camp remained at site for some time.
Significantly, the natural earth at this site suggested to the designers a cost saving opportunity by way of employing, then early technology, cement stabilisation. While the intention was good the authority eventually opted for traditional importation and construction of gravelled pavements. The fact that good care was taken to install drainage for the main 120deg runway has proven an important factor in the present day use. Bitumen sealing was never carried out here and with significant period of low use the gravelled pavement became well grassed over.
The Watts Bridge Memorial Airfield is well used by private recreational flying organisations and a degree of take-up by leases of air chalet allotments has occurred. Money is always a problem and hence the road and drainage infrastructure is still troubled through periods of high traffic such as the traditional last weekend in August when the Queensland Vintage Aeroplane Group - Australian Flying Museum mounts its Festival of Flight.
",,"Roger Marks
" 1613,"RAAF 210 Radar Station, Toorbul",,"Radar/signal station","1295 Pumicestone Road",Toorbul,4510,South-East,-27.0396881103516,153.051559448242,"RAAF 210 at Toorbul became operational in early 1944, and was one of five British-designed Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) radar stations constructed in Queensland during World War II: four being completed (Benowa, Toorbul, Bones Knob and Charlie's Hill) with a fifth not completed (Paluma). Two large concrete igloos are visible about 100m to the east of Volz Road, about half a kilometre south of Pumicestone Road.
The igloos, which are about 55m apart, measure about 10m long by 7m wide, Each has a large doorway at the west end, and a tower to the east. About 10m to the north of the northern igloo, and 10 metres to the south of the southern igloo, are the concrete footings for the timber receiving and transmitting towers, which were over 40m high. The footings are approximately 1.5 m x 1.5 m with remnant steel supports. There is a circular concrete feature within the northern tower footings, and there are several square concrete holes around the site.
Two smaller concrete igloos, orientated north-south and measuring about 5m long by 4m wide, are located about 15m into the trees west of Volz road. These contained the diesel-powered generators for the station. The southern generator igloo is level with a line about half way between the two large radar igloos.
","In order to protect Brisbane from enemy aircraft the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) constructed RAAF 210 Radar Station at Toorbul, north of Brisbane, in late 1943. Its sister radar station, RAAF 209, was located south of Brisbane at Benowa, near Southport.
The delays that Australia experienced in acquiring British radar equipment spurred an innovative period of radar development by Australian scientists from late 1941. By the time the British Advanced Chain Overseas (ACO) radar system was installed at Toorbul, features of its design, especially its two conspicuous tall timber towers, had already been superseded by the Australian designed Light Weight Air Warning (LW/AW) radar.
One tower in ACO stations was for transmitting and the other was for receiving radar signals. The towers were spaced about 100 metres apart to ensure that radio pulses were received as echoes and not confused with transmissions. The towers did not rotate like those commonly used in other radar models. The ACO radar installation consisted of 14 switches on the receiver tower and more on the transmitter. These had to be constantly relayed from on to off, lower to higher, and between different directions. At Toorbul the two timber towers, which were assembled in kit form, were over 40m high.
The igloos, built of reinforced concrete with 300mm thick walls, were constructed to house the radar electronics and two tonne consoles for the transmitter and receiver. At Toorbul the northern igloo housed the receiving equipment whilst the southern igloo housed the transmitting equipment. The igloos could be covered with earth, and were designed with a small tower at one end which was equipped with a ladder and served as a ventilator and escape passage. However, the ACO igloos used in Australia were not buried. Entrance doorways at the other end were large enough to accommodate the radar consoles. Steel rods sticking out of the igloos were meant to secure camouflage netting, but were never used.
The ACO electronics were the second generation of the British CH (Chain Home) type of radar, a 'floodlit' system operating on the VHF band. The transmitter was a British MB3 model which put out 250 kW of power at 42.5 MHz. The transmitter aerial system was in two parts set at different heights to enable height finding using the floodlit system. Each part had four elements to cover four sectors of 120 degrees.
The receiver was a British RF7 (receiver fixed location) built in four vertical racks held in a frame of 2 x 2 x 0.6 metres. The receiver detected radio echoes from all directions simultaneously, and compared the strength of an echo from within a radius to identify the direction from which the signal was originating. The receiver had two parts on the tower plus crossed dipoles used for the height finding of an aircraft by comparing the echoes from the higher and lower sections on the tower.
It took several months to construct and calibrate an ACO radar system and the sheer size of the transmitter and receiver towers made them difficult to camouflage. The Toorbul Station was constructed by men from the Civil Constructional Corps (a division of the Allied Works Council). Specialist RAAF and British RAF personnel installed and calibrated electrical and radar equipment.
Nine British ACO radar stations were completed in Australia by the end of 1943 (while others were built but were never made operational). Four were completed in Queensland. As well as RAAF 210 at Toorbul, there was RAAF 209 at Benowa (since demolished); RAAF 211 at Charlie's Hill; and RAAF 220 at Bones Knob, Tolga. An ACO station was started at Paluma, and concrete igloos were built that still exist on Lennox Crescent, but the towers were never built as the ACO program was cancelled in late 1943.
The Toorbul unit was formed at Sandgate on 20 September 1943 and moved to its radar site at Toorbul on 27 October 1943. RAAF 210’s towers and igloos were sited on flat cleared farmland adjacent to a swamp. The campsite was located west of Volz Road, across from the radar station amongst the trees.
The property owner was World War I serviceman Captain Uvedale Edward Parry-Okeden MC, MID, a Gallipoli veteran who greatly enjoyed the 'intrusion'. Servicemen, both Australian and later American, would be invited to the Parry-Okeden house for afternoon tea and sometimes dinner. Eggs were a rarity in a serviceman's diet so Mrs ""May"" Parry-Okeden's curried eggs were a particular favourite. Parry-Okeden's house (Ningi) was about 190 metres south of the campsite, and its site is today marked by a large mango tree.
The radar equipment had arrived at the site on 7th October 1943 and on the 18th of that month the 1RIMU installation party arrived. By November 1943 Toorbul Radar Station No. 210 was still incomplete and heavy rain which rendered both camp and the radar station very boggy. In November 1943 it was planned to have 9 RAAF men and 22 Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) women but this never came to pass, as WAAAF staffing was conditional on suitable accommodation being provided. Installation of equipment was complete by 15th January 1944 and the Station became operational at 1100 hours on 4th March 1944 with a staff of 1 officer and 31 other ranks (ORs).
ACO radar units were usually small, numbering around 35 personnel. The station was operated for 24-hours a day. Each shift comprised three-four people - one operator calling out the bearing and distance of the aircraft, one recording the plots, one working on the plotting table, and a fourth person to communicate by telephone to the local Fighter Sector (later Fighter Control Unit) headquarters. The average daily number of aircraft plots at Toorbul 210 Radar Station was 433 for the busy month of September 1944 with one heavy day reaching 540 plots.
RAAF 210 was off air from 4th to 11th February 1945 for maintenance. The unit's strength had been reduced to 1 officer and 16 ORs by June 1945, and operations ceased on 31 August 1945 on a care and maintenance basis. The unit closed on 13th February 1946 and was disbanded on 21st February 1946. The timber towers were demolished that year.
","Radar Station, Charlie's Hill. Queensland Heritage Register 601716
WWII RAAF 220 Radar Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602741
Smith, N and Simmonds, E, (eds), 2007. Radar Yarns. Radar Returns, Hampton, Victoria.
National Archives of Australia, 231/9/1636 PART 1. Establishment, No 210 Radar Station, 1943-1945.
National Archives of Australia, 231/9/1636 PART 1 ATTACHMENT. Establishment, No 210 Radar Station, 1943-1945.
Walding, R. Defences of Moreton Bay—Toorbul Radar Station Unit 210RS
Dunn, P. Toorbul Radar Bunkers No 210 Radar Station RAAF
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 1619,"United States Army 42nd General Hospital","Stuartholme School","Medical facility","Stuartholme Road",Toowong,4066,Greater Brisbane,-27.4690170288086,152.973739624023,"The US Army requisitioned 'Stuartholme' in late 1942. It was used by the 42nd General Hospital with new buildings for wards and barracks added to the site. The hospital specalised in malaria cases then prevalent amongst the US forces serving in the Papua and New Guinea Campaigns. In August 1943, all of the US Army nurses serving in Brisbane's military hospitals were relocated for accommodation purposes to the convent. The site was returned to the nuns after the war ended.
","'Stuartholme' opened as a convent and school run by the Catholic Church's Sacred Heart Order of nuns in 1920. By 1940, enrolments had reached 36 students. On 15 July 1942, a survey of the site and facilities of 'Stuartholme' was conducted by Surveying and Property Officer J.B. Payne of the Commonwealth Government's Department of the Interior's Survey & Property Section's Works & Services Branch (Qld). The survey revealed that a site contained a large, brick convent, a gazebo, 3 tennis courts, a sports ground, 3 cultivated fields and a small cemetery, that was to be requisitioned by the US Army Medical Corps.
The nuns/teachers and the girls boarding at 'Stuartholme' were transferred to a small country hotel at Canungra near the jungle slopes of Mount Tamborine. There 'Stuartholme' school was temporarily re-established with the study room being the former hotel public bar. After the US Army established Camp Cable near Mt Tamborine for its 32nd (National Guard) Division, the nuns and their students moved again. The school relocated to the Grand Hotel at Southport where it remained until the end of 1944.
The US Army established its 42nd General Hospital at 'Stuartholme's' Toowong site. US Army engineers added new buildings to the site. The main brick convent building was given a timber extension to accommodate surgical wards. To facilitate the movement of stretcher cases, the US Army installed an elevator beside the new wards. The elevator tower was designed so that it did not overshadow the parapet of the original school/convent building. Two temporary buildings with Red Crosses painted on their roofs were constructed nearby. The one closest to the surgical wards and the tennis courts was the officers' quarters.
When the US Liberty Ship Rufus King sank on 7 July 1942, some of her cargo was US medical stores that were taken to the tennis courts at 'Stuartholme' for drying. US nurses worked at the hospital and were provided with special onsite facilities such as a hospital beauty parlour. American nurses hosted dances at 'Stuartholme'. Such dances (e.g. one held on 28 December 1942) were Officers-Only affairs. The 42nd General Hospital ran an Ear, Eye, Nose & Throat Clinic at 'Stuartholme'. The school's grounds, particularly its tennis courts and bushland settings and the wide verandahs were conducive to patient convalescence. Commanding Officer of the 42nd General Hospital's convalescent section was Captain Muller. On 25 December 1942, the 42nd General Hospital had three US Army generals as convalescing patients. They were Brigadier Generals Albert H. Waldron, Hanford MacNider and Cloves E Byers of the 32nd Division. All had been wounded in the vicious fighting at Buna in Papua.
Circa 1 April 1943, the 6th Army HQ ordered that all of its various Portable Hospital units (like a M.A.S.H. unit) were to be detached and to operate independently. The US 3rd Portable Surgical Hospital (3 PSH) was then assigned to its parent organization the 42nd General Hospital. The portable hospital was trucked from Camp Cable to Brisbane and reached 'Stuartholme' on 2 April 1943. At 'Stuartholme', the 3 PSH was occupied with hospital ward duty for the officers and hospital training for the enlisted personnel. In mid-May almost the entire personnel of 3 PSH were hospitalised with malaria. Unsurprisingly, the 42nd General Hospital's newspaper Stethoscope of 19 May 1943 noted that its Malaria Section had the most patients. The 3 PSH began transferring to Townsville on 3 June 1943.
It was found that the hospital facilities at 'Stuartholme' were inadequate to deal with the number of patients being sent there. Larger hospitals were established at the US 6th Army's HQ at Camp Columbia, Wacol and along Nursery Road at Holland Park. By June 1943, most of the 42nd General Hospital's staff had moved to Holland Park. As it had been a convent, all US Army nurses were transferred to accommodation at 'Stuartholme' in August 1943. Approximately 50 US Army nurses were housed at 'Stuartholme' with the gazebo being a popular spot.
On 12 September 1944, US submarines sank the Japanese prison ships Kachidoki Maru and Rakuyo Maru. Eighty-six Australian survivors were delivered to Brisbane on the US minelayer Monadnock on 18 October. The ex-POWs were bussed to 'Stuartholme' where they spent two weeks recuperating. Major R.E. Steele, who on 4 June 1943, had led the only successful escape from a Japanese POW camp, supervised the men. The survivors were placed under close military guard to prevent them talking to the media, though they underwent intense military interrogation while at the convent. They provided very important information on Japanese treatment of POWs.
","BCC Heriatge Citations
Joan & Clay Blair, Return from the River Kwai, (London: Futura Books, 1979).
Peter Dunn - Oz @ War - ""U.S. ARMY 42ND GENERAL HOSPITAL IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2"", website
Roger R. Marks - Brisbane WW2 V Now Number.12 - ""Nudgee Jnr & Stuartholme""
" 1657,"Toowoomba Railway Station Air Raid Shelters","Public and Railway Employee Shelters","Civil defence facility","Toowoomba Railway Station, Railway Street",Toowoomba,4350,Darling Downs,-27.5572757720947,151.951431274414,"The Toowoomba railway station's public air raid shelter, constructed of brick and concrete, is located on the west side of the car park outside the railway station building. There is also a smaller concrete shelter located on the northern platform near the honour board, which was designed for the use of railway employees.
","In the Protection of Persons and Property Order No.1, gazetted 23 December 1941, Queensland's Premier William Forgan Smith, with powers conferred by Regulation 35a, ordered the Brisbane City Council to construct 200 public surface shelters in the city area (235 were built). Another 24 local governments in Queensland's coastal areas were ordered to produce surface or trench shelters for the public (135 non-trench shelters were built). A large number of businesses also built air raid shelters, as the owners of any building in the coastal areas where over 30 people would normally be present at any one time were required to build shelters either within the building, or adjacent to it.
On 2 March 1942 a memorandum from the Undersecretary of the Department of Public Works reported that Queensland Railways had already built shelters for its employees at some of the larger train stations, and it recommended that a further 28 full size public surface shelters, three half size shelters, and three sets of trenches, be built outside Brisbane.
In Australia the process of building public air raid shelters at railway stations during World War II seems to have been unique to Queensland. In addition to Toowoomba, railway station air raid shelters survive at Shorncliffe in Brisbane; as well as in Landsborough and Maryborough.
","Toowoomba Railway Station, Honour Board and Railway Yard Structures, Queensland Heritage Register 600872
Maryborough Railway Station Complex and Air Raid Shelter, Queensland Heritage Register 600702
Public Air Raid Shelter, Landsborough Railway Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602709.
" 1661,"United States of America Air Force Aerodrome, Torrens Creek","Torrens Creek Airfield","Airfield","Flinders Highway",Torrens Creek,4816,Central-West,-20.7836990356445,145.005294799805,"Construction of a dispersed bomber field between Hughenden and Charters Towers was called for early in 1942 and a suitable site was selected at Torrens Creek on the Townsville-Mount Isa railway, where work began in March 1942. Personnel of the US 46th Engineer General Service Regiment cleared and levelled the Torrens Creek runways each 7000 feet (2133 metres) in length for the use of heavy bombers. On the main runway, running parallel with the railway, a pieced steel plank (PSP) mat was placed over the middle section to ensure the airfield was capable of all-weather use. This use of PSP appears to be the first of importance in the South-West Pacific Area. The matting was removed as the war effort moved on. Torrens Creek airfield was visited by US congressman, and future American president, Lyndon Johnson, in June 1942, while on a brief tour of the South-West Pacific Area. Johnson noted that the main runway was made of steel mat. While returning from Port Moresby, a faulty compass adjustment caused the congressional party's aircraft to make an unscheduled landing at Carisbrooke station south of Winton.
","During mid March 1942, the United States 46th Engineers and men and equipment of the Main Roads Commission commenced construction of US combat airfields at Woodstock, Reid River and Torrens Creek, west of Townsville. The 46th Engineers arrived at Torrens Creek on 22 March and began work immediately clearing and grubbing three runways and blowing up stumps with gelignite. The PSP mat arrived within days and was quickly installed on the main east-west runway, although probably not needed as the airfield was on hard sandy soil. A section 2500 feet (762 metres) long was laid ready for use in five days, setting a new record for US Army engineers laying pieced steel plank. A total of 4000 feet (1219 metres) of steel mat, 100 feet (30 metres) in width, was eventually laid. With the confrontation building in the Coral Sea, the steel mat underlined the importance of Torrens Creek to US Forces in Australia, as an all-weather bomber strip and a reserve ordnance depot.
By late May 1942, Torrens Creek was complete except for sealing and camouflage works. The 46th Engineers pulled out in June to take up airfield construction at Iron Range and the Main Roads Commission completed a number of works still outstanding.
Elements of the USAAF 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) with B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and full combat crews were posted to Torrens Creek in the latter half of August 1942. They included the 63rd and 65th Squadrons and ground crews, but within weeks most of the 63rd Squadron had been posted to Townsville and Mareeba to train with the 19th Bombardment Group.
During September 1942 the US Command in Australia requisitioned for construction of additional buildings at Torrens Creek. However, with the departure of the 43rd Bombardment Group, operation of the airfield was scaled back considerably. During early 1943 the large ordnance dump 16 kilometres south of the airfield was transferred to the US Kangaroo Ordnance Depot, at Kurukan north of Townsville. By mid 1944, Torrens Creek airfield was unoccupied, the steel mat had been removed and all buildings and facilities had been dismantled for reuse by US Forces.
During September 1942 the US Command in Australia requisitioned for construction of additional buildings at Torrens Creek. However, with the departure of the 43rd Bombardment Group, operation of the airfield was scaled back considerably. During early 1943 the large ordnance dump 16 kilometres south of the airfield was transferred to the US Kangaroo Ordnance Depot, at Kurukan north of Townsville. By mid 1944, Torrens Creek airfield was unoccupied, the steel mat had been removed and all buildings and facilities had been dismantled for reuse by US Forces.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1662,"Torrens Creek Ordnance Ammunition Depot","US 636th Ordnance Ammunition Company and US 577th Ordnance Ammunition Company camp","Ammunition facility","Aramac-Torrens Creek Road",Torrens Creek,4816,Central-West,-20.9036750793457,145.0205078125,"The Torrens Creek Ordnance Ammunition Depot was established to support the war in New Guinea and domestic requirements for northern Australia, in the case of invasion further north. The Kangaroo Ordnance Depot, became the main depot north of Townsville, as Torrens Creek never became fully operational. The airfield was used few air missions and supported some trans-shipments of aircrafts.
By late May 1942, Torrens Creek Aerodrome was complete except for sealing and camouflage works. The 46th Engineers pulled out in June to take up airfield construction at Iron Range and the Main Roads Commission completed a number of works still outstanding.
","Elements of the USAAF 43rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) with B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and full combat crews were posted to Torrens Creek in the latter half of August 1942. They included the 63rd and 65th Squadrons and ground crews, but within weeks most of the 63rd Squadron had been posted to Townsville and Mareeba to train with the 19th Bombardment Group.
During September 1942 the US Command in Australia requisitioned for construction of additional buildings at Torrens Creek. However, with the departure of the 43rd Bombardment Group, operation of the airfield was scaled back considerably. During early 1943 the large ordnance dump 16 kilometres south of the airfield was transferred to the US Kangaroo Ordnance Depot, at Kurukan north of Townsville. By mid 1944, Torrens Creek airfield was unoccupied, the steel mat had been removed and all buildings and facilities had been dismantled for reuse by US Forces.
In July 1943, the US 577th Ordnance Ammunition Company was sent to Torrens Creek to replace a detachment of the 636th Ordnance Ammunition Company. The Detachment was responsible for the further development of the depot. The bombs were stockpiled and firebreaks were built to prevent regular bushfires from igniting ordnance. The major works were in reaction to an accident which occurred in October 1942, a bush fire managed to enter the Ammo Depot area and the result was 12 major explosions. Some of the craters were up to 8 metres deep.
Members of the military unit and the local Civil Construction Corps were recognised for their bravery.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra.
Main Roads Commission, The History of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II 1939–1945, Government Printer, Brisbane, 1949.
Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1663,"3rd United States Medical Supply Unit","O'Shea & Dyer Solicitors and Subway","Supply facility","227 Flinders Street East",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2578639984131,146.818954467773,"On 25 February 1943, the Optical Repair section of the 3rd Medical Supply Depot was located here for the manufacture and repair of spectacles. The Base Surgeon records noted that;
This organization, consisting of one officer and twelve enlisted men, supplied a service, without which, personnel with refractive errors would have been severely handicapped.
",,"Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 2. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
" 1664,"US Base Section 2 Head Quarters (Bayview Private Hospital)",,"Military accommodation","2 Victoria Street, Stanton Hill",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2556438446045,146.812744140625,"Bayview Private Hospital was located near the corner of Hale and Murray Streets on Stanton Hill.
","The 208th Coastal Artillery Anti Aircraft Regiment (208th CA A/A) arrived in Townsville from the United States via Brisbane in March 1942. Battery's A - H were located in various Townsville locations which included Oonoonba,, Magazine Island, Pallarenda, Cape Cleveland and Stanton Hill.
The Bayview Private Hospital was hired by US forces on 15 April 1942 from Doctor (Major O'Neil) while he was serving in the military. Battery D of the 208th CA AA soon moved into Bayview as the strategic vantage point of Our Lady's Mount Christian Brother School was nearby. Four three-inch anti-aircraft guns were located within its grounds overlooking Cleveland Bay and the Townsville Port.
By January 1943 the Director of Hiring's reported that the 208th were no longer in occupation and that Bayview now accommodated the Women's National Emergency League (WNEL). These women were employed by United States forces as staff car drivers.
Units and town houses now cover the site of both the Christian Brothers College and Bayview Private Hospital.
","Base Two 1944 phone directory (collection of Ray Holyoak).
Catholic education in Queensland, Vol VI, Chapter 7.
Townsville Stanton Hill ""Bayview Private Hospital"" Serial 755, B985, Q/7/68, Melbourne.
Photo album of Private Merle E Warner (collection of Ray Holyoak).
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 1666,"Royal Australian Air Force - Central Sick Quarters, 3 Medical Receiving Station and 20 Medical Clearing Station","""Currajong"" (former Ferguson familys' residence)","Medical facility","Fulham Road",Pimlico,4810,Townsville,-19.2880611419678,146.787353515625,"'Currajong', the private residence of Mr and Mrs Ferguson was contributed to the war effort voluntarily to accommodate refugee children from England in 1939. However, at the commencement of the Pacific War the homestead was handed over to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In 1942, it was converted as Central Sick Quarters and then later, taken over by
No.3 Medical Receiving Station (3MRS).
","Built in 1888 as a gentleman's residence, ""Currajong' was originally set in acres of well kept gardens facing Fulham Road in Pimlico. When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, the owners of the property (Mr and Mrs Ferguson) decided to contribute to the war effort. They offered their house and grounds to the Anglican Parish of St Matthew as a home for refugee children from England whose cities were besieged by German bombing.
Tragically, the ship carrying the children to Australia was torpedoed en-route.
At the commencement of the Pacific War in December 1941, the Ferguson's handed 'Currajong' to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). In March 1942, it was converted for service as Central Sick Quarters for squadrons based at Garbutt Airfield.
The rooms at the rear of the house, originally a bedroom and sitting room, were altered to form an operating theatre. Various modifications at this time meant that two large wards extended on either side of the hallway and were used to accommodate dangerously ill patients. The verandah was also enclosed with fly screening and blinds to accommodate patients. The office for the medical officer was in a room screened by louvers at the corner of the front verandah. The gardens outside the house disappeared under rows of 'wards', which consisted of prefabricated tents with wooden flooring. Another building was erected closer to Fulham Road to house a venereal disease ward. Huts for nursing personnel, a mess hut, ablutions blocks and a morgue also surrounded the main building.
'Currajong' was the centre of a major and vital facility. On 9 July 1942 the hospital was taken over by No.3 Medical Receiving Station (3MRS) commanded by Wing Commander J.C.Fulton, with Dr S.F.M. Yeates as medical officer. Dr Yeates recalled that the first patients received were evacuees from the Battle at Milne Bay.
Despite the three air raids on Townsville in late July 1942, Townsville remained unscathed. By October 1942 the tide of the war in New Guinea was turning and 3MRS were posted to Port Moresby.
Central Sick Quarters No.20 (later renamed No.20 Medical Clearing Station) was formed at 'Currajong' in July 1943. In April 1944 3MRS returned to 'Currajong' and the two units were united. 'Currajong' continued in use as a hospital until October 1944 and later served as accommodation for the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF).
In 1978 the Sisters of Mercy, who had been using the building as a convent in conjunction with the nearby Mater Hospital, donated 'Currajong' to the Townsville Branch of the National Trust of Queensland. It was then moved to its present site at the Heritage Centre, Castling Street West End.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
Dr Dorothy Gibson-Wilde.
Townsville Branch of the National Trust of Queensland.
" 1671,"'Y' Station, 16 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery, Mount St John",,"Fortifications","695 Ingham Road, Mount St John",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2566165924072,146.743667602539,"The 3.7-Inch Heavy Anti Aircraft (HAA) gun station on the summit of Mount St John was constructed in early 1942 to protect the nearby Garbutt Aerodrome. Designated as No. 2 Station (later 'Y' Station) of the 16 HAA Battery, it fired at Japanese aircraft over Townsville on 1 May 1942 and 28 July 1942.
Mount St John is located about 2.3km due west of the Garbutt main north-south runway. 'Y' Station is located on private land north of the Bruce Highway (Ingham Road), west of the road to the Townsville City Council's sewerage treatment plant.
There is evidence of a former service road winding up the southern side of Mount St John. Four hexagonal concrete gun platforms are located west and north of a semi-underground concrete command post, in an arc covering about 100 degrees. All the gun platforms still have the metal mounting rods for the guns in place. Two single-room concrete magazines are located west of the guns, and two more are located to the east. All were once covered in soil, but two of the magazines are now exposed.
A fifth gun platform, for a light AA gun, is located just east of the command post, and the camp site for the battery was located to the southeast of the summit.
","After the attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941 and the air raid on Darwin in February 1942, it was feared that Townsville would also be attacked. By mid-1942 Horn Island Airfield in the Torres Strait had already been bombed several times, and Townsville was the largest Allied staging, supply and repair base in the South West Pacific Theatre.
The 16 HAA Battery was stationed in Townsville, with two separate units defending Garbutt aerodrome and its approaches. No.1 Station, at Rowe's Bay adjacent to Pallarenda, was operational by 9 March 1942 with four guns in position. Construction of No.2 Station at Mount St John, located directly west of the Garbutt main north-south runway, commenced in February 1942 and was completed towards the end of April 1942. The site contained four concrete ammunition bunkers, four 3.7"" guns on static mounts, and a semi-underground command post and plotting room.
The 3.7-Inch (94mm) QF heavy anti-aircraft gun was designed and first produced in the United Kingdom in 1937. Australian 3.7-inch guns were manufactured at the Government Ordnance Factory, Maribyrnong, Victoria from May 1940. Gun weight was over 9 tonnes; with a barrel length 4.7 metres and a maximum ceiling range of about 9,000 metres.
'Y' Station's function was to observe all aircraft movements around Garbutt aerodrome and make sure that all aircraft followed the correct lane of entry. Any aircraft following an incorrect lane was to be fired on. 'Y' Station was connected by phone to No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters at Stuart as well as various other installations and was staffed 24 hours a day. All four guns were in place by 11 March, however open sights, enabling the guns to be fired accurately, would not be fitted till 22 March 1942.
The names of the batteries were changed, with No.1 Station becoming 'X' Station at Rowe's Bay, and No.2 Station becoming 'Y' Station at Mount St John. The first time both these stations would fire on an enemy aircraft would be on the morning of 1 May 1942. Reconnaissance planes were sighted by 'X' Station at a height of approximately 24,000 feet, heading directly towards the aerodrome at Garbutt. 'X' Station immediately went into action and with the first salvo caused the planes to change direction and climb steeply to 29,000 feet and out of range of the guns. 'Y' Station at Mt. St John also went into action at this stage. In all 33 rounds were fired 25 from 'X' Station and 8 from 'Y' Station.
Mount St John's 'Y' Station would be involved in more action. Townsville was attacked three times during late July 1942, by the 2nd Group of 14 Kokutai (Air Group) Japanese Naval Air Force, using Kawanishi H8K (Emily) four-engine flying boats based at Rabaul. On the night of 25/26th July two Emilys dropped bombs in the sea off Townsville's wharves. However, 'Y' Station did not fire until a second raid early in the morning of 28 July. At 0220 that day searchlights at Rowe's Bay picked up a lone Emily at 10 000 feet (3048m). After 20 rounds were fired from 'Y' Station an explosion close to the nose of the aircraft occurred, causing it to drop its bomb load in an uninhabited area of nearby Many Peaks Range. During the third raid on the morning of 29 July 1942 an Emily dropped seven bombs in Cleveland Bay, and one on a paddock at Oonoonba.
Since the end of World War II, the Mount St John gun station has been sold and it is now owned by a private company.
","Mount St John Anti Aircraft Battery, Queensland Heritage Register 602084
6 (390) Australian Anti-Aircraft Battery (Hemmant, Brisbane) Queensland Heritage Register 601353
Mareeba Airfield and HAA Gun Stations 448 and 449. Queensland Heritage Register Reported Place 602740
Oonoonba Bomb Crater. Queensland Heritage Register Reported Place 29313
Holyoak, R. 1998. The North Queensland Line: The defence of Townsville in 1942. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Air Raids on Australia 1942–1943
Dunn, P. The First Japanese Air Raid on Townsville
Dunn, P. The Second Japanese Air Raid on Townsville
Dunn, P. The Third Japanese Air Raid on Townsville
" 1672,"114th Light Anti Aircraft Artillery Gun Emplacement","Western Breakwater","Fortifications","Western Breakwater of Townsville Port",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2489929199219,146.830017089844,"605 Troop (6 guns) of the 165 Battery, 114th L
ight Anti Aircraft Artillery Regiment manned the gun emplacement at the Breakwater near Townsville Harbour in 1943.
","Several light anti aircraft guns of the 40 mm 'Bofors' types were placed on the Townsville Port breakwater. Large timber and steel platforms that straddled the breakwater were constructed on the breakwater that is now connected to the Townsville Casino.
The guns protected the shipping and harbour from enemy air attack and it is likely that they fired on the Japanese 'Emily' aircraft that bombed Townsville in late July 1942.
The mounting blocks for these gun platforms can still be seen on the breakwater in 2011.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. 1998 Thesis by Ray Holyoak held at James Cook University Library North Queensland Collection.
" 1673,"11th Brigade Headquarters","Requisitioned building","Headquarters","Wills Street (cnr Walker Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.256067276001,146.815338134766,"The inter-war style house on the corner of Denham and Wills streets that was used by the 11th Brigade as Army Head Quarters (c 2010).
","In 1943 Z Force Commando Sam Carey and his unit conducted a mock raid on Townsville harbour at night. Dummy limpet mines were placed on shipping as part of a secretive training exercise. This was essentially a practice for a raid on Japanese held at Rabaul that did not eventuate. Unfortunately for Carey, the authorities were not informed and a ship that had been unloading had risen higher in the water revealing the mines. Other ships were checked and every ship in the port, including those outside were found to be mined in what was a glaring security breach. Carey was found by Military Police sleeping at the Queen's Hotel and arrested for this 'stunt'.
Former AWAS (Australian Women's Army Service) stenographer Norma Smith (nee Freeman) recalled seeing Captain Carey marched by Military Police into this 11th Brigade HQ (Head Quarters) address (also known as Army HQ) building to report to the Townsville Commander, Colonel North.
","Townsville Bulletin Weekend Extra, 7 August 2010.
" 1674,"Former Military Building",,"Military accommodation","16 Harold Street",West End,4810,Townsville,-19.2614345550537,146.791580200195,"This house is reported to have been a former military building that was converted into a residence post war. Aerial imagery prior to the Pacific War show the block vacant however the building was on site by 1952. At present it is unknown where 16 Harold Street may have originated from.
","Former military barracks, administration and hospital buildings were converted into housing post-war and many survive in altered form today. Building supplies after WW2 were limited and Commonwealth and US disposal auctions sold entire buildings and surplus materials to the public. Queensland's Department of Public Works also purchased prefabricated military buildings and transformed them into attractive low-cost housing for service families and new migrants.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 1676,"Ross River Coastal Artillery Anti Aircraft Gun Emplacement",,"Fortifications","Mouth of Ross River (southern side)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2681980133057,146.847229003906,"The Ross River Coastal Artillery Anti Aircraft site (at the mouth of Ross River) was used by both the United States (US) 208th Coastal Artillery Anti Aircraft Regiment and an Australian Anti Aircraft unit during 1943-1945. The site was chosen due to its proximity to the port and the tendency for enemy planes to use large rivers as navigation aids.
","The 208th Coastal Artillery Anti Aircraft Regiment (208th CA A/A) arrived in Townsville from the United States via Brisbane in March 1942. Battery's A - H were located in various Townsville locations which included Oonoonba, Magazine Island, Pallarenda, Cape Cleveland, South Townsville and Stanton Hill. Colonel Horton L Chandler was their Commander.
All these separate battery's were involved in action during the July 1942 air raids on the city.
On Stanton Hill, the vantage point of Our Lady's Mount Christian Brother's School was chosen to place one battery consisting of four three-inch anti-aircraft guns. This site overlooked Cleveland Bay, North Ward, the port, and the town itself.
US Anti Aircraft positions in Townsville were non-permanent and consisted of mobile guns, sandbagged positions and timber semi-underground revetments to store ammunition. When the 208th CA A/A left Townsville towards the end of 1942, most of these sites were replaced with Australian A/A units. These were upgraded with reinforced concrete gun emplacements, shell stores and command posts during the 1943 year.
The US 208th battery at Cape Cleveland had searchlights and .50 calibre machine guns to protect the lighthouse and the RAAF's 26 Radar Station. The battery was located at the small beach to the west of the lighthouse.
Intelligence documents reveal that Cape Cleveland lighthouse was used by the Japanese flying boats as a reference point when they began their bombing runs on Townsville. This was due to it remaining lit for the entirety of all three raids. Ironically, the lighting mechanism had been 'liberated' from a German lighthouse in New Guinea during WW1 and had been re-installed at the Cape Cleveland lighthouse in 1926.
On 30 Sept 1943 the War Diary for the Townsville A/A Group noted that concrete works for the 4th gun at Ross River were proceeding. Completion of the command post had been delayed due to strike action undertaken by Civil Construction Corp workers. Only two separate shell stores were constructed instead of the standard four.
The Ross River Battery was largely destroyed with demolition charges c1969 by the Australian Army. One of the two shell stores remains intact to the south of the main site.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
Photo album of Private Merle E Warner (collection of Ray Holyoak).
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/2
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage, Anti Aircraft Guns and Machine Gun Posts, 15 April 1942, AWM 54, 161/3/27
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
The Brisbane Courier, New Light for Cape Cleveland, 17 June 1926.
" 1679,"3 Fighter Sector Headquarters","3FSHQ, Fighter Control","Headquarters","Off Stuart Drive (behind Police Station)",Wulguru,4810,Townsville,-19.3349056243896,146.824615478516,"The Operations and Signals building of 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters was constructed between 1942 and 1944. In January 1945 the site became the RAAF Air Defence Headquarters. The timber camp buildings (not extant) north of the two storey reinforced concrete Operations building were later used for migrant accommodation and as student accommodation. The Operations building, measuring about 18m by 13m, is located at the base of Mount Stuart, and is approached from the northeast by a track from Stuart Drive (Flinders Highway) at Wulguru, south of Townsville. The main interior space is two-stories in height, with internal support pillars, and retains evidence of the destroyed mezzanine floor, air-conditioning ducts and toilets. The skillion-roofline section to the north contains a single storey (roofless) guard room on the east side, a former stairwell and four rooms on two levels. Access to the (roofless) upper and lower rooms (air-conditioning room and engine room respectively) at the centre of the front elevation was from the stairwell; access to the upper and lower rooms at the western end was from the interior. To either side of the Operations building are two circular structures, possibly bases for communication aerials or anchors for the camouflage net for the building. To the northwest and the northeast of the Operations building are a number of concrete slabs, concrete steps and scatters of building material; remnants of the other structures of the headquarters camp.
","In late 1942 Townsville was the principle port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign, and Cleveland Bay between Magnetic Island and Townsville was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army Airforce (USAAF).
There was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) station at Garbutt, and a number of air bases used by Australian and US aircraft were established between Townsville and Charters Towers, and west to Cloncurry. Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) was first established in temporary accommodation at Townsville Grammar School on 25 February 1942. 3FSHQ was connected by telephone and radio to Voluntary Air Observer Corps (VAOC) posts, anti-aircraft guns and searchlights, and with Radio Direction Finding (RDF or radar) stations and High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF) stations in the Townsville and Charters Towers area. The headquarters thus activated air raid warnings, coordinated anti-aircraft defences, controlled fighter squadron operations, maintained radio watches for bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, and provided position plots for courier and civil aircraft operating between Brisbane and New Guinea. The station was also linked by telephone to RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne.
Planning for the construction of a permanent Fighter Sector Headquarters began in 1942. The new complex was constructed on the lower, eastern slopes of Mt Stuart on 68 acres of land requisitioned by the Commonwealth in August 1942. The site was regarded as ideal as it was some distance from the main airfields and the public eye, but still close enough to the various other installations it liaised with.
Construction of the complex began in late 1942 with the Operations and Signals building (also referred to as an Operations and Signals Room) finished in mid 1943. Associated radio facilities were erected on Mt Stuart. However, by November 1943 the Operations Building, identified as a semi-underground building because all cabling was laid underground, was not yet occupied because associated accommodation facilities had not been completed. Eventually the site became operational in December 1944; by which time 3FSHQ had been renamed 103FSHQ and then 103 Fighter Control Unit.
The building itself was fully air-conditioned and housed its own power plant. The interior had a steel mezzanine floor splitting it into two levels and was divided into rooms and passage ways by caneite partitions. Located within the building were the Operations Room, Engine Room, RDF Filter Room, VAOC Liaison Room, Main Operations Room Dais, Aircraft Movements Section, RDF Supervisors Room, Signal Officers Room, W/T Workshop and PMG Switch Room.
The Administration Section was also moved to the Stuart site and commenced functioning on 29 December 1944. On 25 January 1945 the Royal Australian Airforce established their Air Defence Headquarters in the Stuart complex; from where they operated until 1947.
A 1945 plan of the site shows that accommodation huts, latrines and kitchen/mess buildings were located northwest and northeast of the Operations building, in a camp orientated northeast to southwest from the Flinders Highway. The camp, except for the Operations building, was utilised from 1950 to 1956 as a migrant Holding Centre, and additional huts were placed on the site to provide more accommodation for post war migrants. A 1950 plan of the Holding Centre shows that additional buildings included seven more sleeping huts at the west end of the complex, plus a recreation building and canteen northwest of the two kitchen/mess buildings. The capacity at Stuart was about 500 persons.
In 1961 James Cook University of North Queensland purchased the site for student accommodation while the residential halls at Douglas were under construction. The Operations building was still partially furnished at the time the property was purchased by the university. There was a large mapping table in the main room complete with maps and maps on the wall still had marker pins in them. The switchboards and other communication equipment were still largely intact. Soon after, in 1962 or 1963, the interior of the Operations building was destroyed by fire, leaving only an open two storey void within the main space, plus some rooms at the front of the building. There are remnants of its external camouflage colour scheme, chosen to blend with the pink granite of the hill. In the early 1970s the headquarters site was vacated and the barracks either demolished or removed. Only the odd concrete slab remains of the accommodation complex.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
Operations and Signals Bunker (former), Queensland Heritage Register 601708
Commonwealth Acetate of Lime Factory (former) Queensland Heritage Register 602465
Holyoak, R. 1998. The North Queensland Line: The defence of Townsville in 1942. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Joint Committee on War Expenditure, Seventh Progress Report, Defence Construction in Queensland and Northern Territory, 27 November 1944. Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra 1944.
National Archives of Australia, QTA2037. Stuart Migrant Holding Centre Site
Plan 1950.
National Archives of Australia. ET140. Electrical Drawing 3 FS HG Townsville
Light, Power & Clocks, 1943.
Dunn, P. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters in Australia during WWII
James Cook University photographic collection.
" 1686,"Air Raid Shelter (Townsville Railway Station)","Hanlon's Hideouts","Civil defence facility","Flinders Street West",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2634391784668,146.813842773438,"Known as 'Hanlon's Hideout's, (after Civil Defence Minister Ned Hanlon) this type was not located in the suburbs as residents were expected to construct their own shelter or slit trench for protection against air attack.
The air raid shelter built at the Townsville Railway Station was constructed in front of the carpark beside the road.
","Fifteen reinforced concrete civilian air raid shelters of this 'pill box' type were constructed in the CBD. They could accommodate fifty persons and were constructed by the Public Works Department.
The air raids on Townsville occurred over three nights between 25 and 29 July 1942 when Kawanishi flying boats attacked the city. A plan that involved up to seven Rabaul-based aircraft, each flying a return distance of some 3000 miles, would yield little more than propaganda for the Japanese. The actual damage Townsville received from these three raids was one dead rock wallaby at Many Peaks Range and a damaged coconut tree at Oonoonba.
A fortnight after the three Japanese air raids on Townsville, Berlin Radio falsely claimed that the Townsville Railway Station had been ""completely destroyed"".
In January 1943 the US Intelligence service in Townsville began an investigation into several stolen bags of official mail that were discovered in this shelter. The empty envelopes of two US Naval communications marked ""Secret"" and ""Confidential"" were discovered with contents missing.
","Imperial Japanese Navy Combat Evaluation Sheets for 25 July, 27/28 July, 28 July, 28/29 July, 30/31 July 1942.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Air Raid Precaution Report in Townsville 1942, ACT A816/1, 49/301/217.
The Argus (Melbourne), Tuesday 11 August 1942.
" 1690,"American Officer's Club","Queens Hotel/Telecasters North Queensland Ltd Building","Recreation/community","The Strand (cnr Wickham Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2558498382568,146.822479248047,"The Queens Hotel was both a billet and club for US Officers and visiting dignitaries. It was also popular with the press.
","Acclaimed Time-Life magazine War Correspondent and Investigative Journalist Robert Sherrod based himself here during April-May 1942. Sherrod wrote several articles at the Queens Hotel on the war situation and US presence in Townsville. These included the mention of an armed 'mutiny' by the US 96th Engineers at Upper Ross River whilst they were constructing an airfield during May. This unit consisted of over 1000 African American serviceman.
Sherrod recalled that he stayed up all night typing this report at the Queens Hotel to hand to Senator (later President) Lyndon B Johnson who was due to leave Townsville the following morning. Senator Johnson was that night staying at Buchanan's Hotel in Sturt Street. In a discussion with Sherrod, Johnson had stated he would pass the report on to Sherrod's editors at Time thus bypassing the wartime censors. Somewhat naively, Sherrod hoped the investigative report would inform his editors of the true situation in Australia, as opposed to the overly optimistic material he was required to write during this critical period for the Allies. He did not intend for it to be published though, stating that the 96th Engineers mutiny was:
One of the biggest stories of the war which can't be written-and which shouldn't be written, of course.
After reading Sherrod's report on the journey home to the US, Johnson spoke with Sherrod and stated that he had destroyed it as it was so 'hot'. However the report was not destroyed, and a copy remains today in the LBJ Presidential Library.
This full story of little know event in Townsville's history will be presented as an article in the Queensland Historical Society Journal in 2011.
","Townsville records - Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library in Texas, United States.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Potts, E Daniel & Potts, Annette. Yanks Down Under, 1941 - 1945: the American impact on Australia, Melbourne Oxford University Press, 1985.
HQS Base Section Two Telephone Directory, May 1944, Restricted. Author collection.
" 1691,"United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Base Section Two Headquarters","AML & F Building - Australian Mercantile Land and Finance Company","Headquarters","120 Denham Street (cnr Walker Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2567844390869,146.816345214844,"The first building in the Townsville area and probably Northern Queensland hired for the United States forces was the ground floor of the AML&F building on 9 January 1942. This became US Army Air Corps Headquarters and for a short time was the centre of all US Army activities.
","The AML&F building was completed in 1925 by local Architect C V Rees with construction by R C Schrock & Son Builders.
Owing to the rapid advance of the Japanese throughout the Islands of the West and Southwest Pacific in December 1941, it was obvious that Northern Australia would be the main operational area to halt this advance.
During November 1941, a convoy of troop transports sailed from the USA towards the Philippines, to reinforce the garrisons stationed there. During the voyage, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December necessitated the diverting of this convoy from its original destination.
The first United States personnel to arrive in Townsville were a small group of Army Air Force Officers, headed by General Henry B. Clagett, on 5 January 1942. Headquarters (HQ) for this group was in the AML&F building, and this was to be HQ for the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) until the end of 1944.
By 16 January 1942, Townsville had been chosen as the location for a US air base and erection facility for aircraft. Townsville soon began to receive units of air support. On 19 February, the first nine US B17 heavy bombers of the 19th Bombardment Group landed at Townsville. Their first bombing mission out of Australia left Garbutt aerodrome on 22/23 February to attack Rabaul.
The Base Section Headquarters, consisting of four officers and two non-enlisted men, was located on the ground floor of the AML&F Building. Initially, the major portion of time was spent in procurement of urgently needed supplies. The first floor of the building was occupied by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Seargent's Mess; however this was vacated by 5 April 1942 with US Base Two Finance section taking over this floor.
An original dispatch riders map from approximately March 1942 clearly shows the site marked as HQ. Additionally a May 1944 restricted telephone directory for Base Two lists the building as headquarters and Command section.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, p.1. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Architectural and Building Journal Queensland 1927
HQS Base Section Two Telephone Directory, May 1944, Restricted. Author collection.
1942 dispatch riders map showing locations of US and Australian installations. Author collection.
" 1693,"American Red Cross Nurses Club","Watermark Restaurant and Bar","Recreation/community","72-74 The Strand",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2478885650635,146.812728881836,"The American Red Cross Nurses Club was located on the Strand in a converted civilian house. A previous club location had been inadequate, but the new one situated on the ocean front was found to have, ""pleasant surroundings and an atmosphere conducive for rest and recreation"".
","The large verandah of the house was utilised for sleeping accommodation. It housed not only nurses but Red Cross workers as well. There was a nearby tennis court and beach swimming was opposite. Birthdays and farewells of American Red Cross staff were also held here. In 1943 it was planned to construct an adjoining building for additional sleeping quarters and bathrooms.
The house, located where the current Watermark Restaurant and Bar is situated, was demolished post-war.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
" 1699,"US Army Base Section Two (Intelligence Section) and ABC headquarters during WW2","Australian Mutual Provident Society Building (former)","Headquarters","416-418 Flinders Street (cnr Stanley Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2614593505859,146.815933227539,"The Australian Australian Mutual Provident Society building, completed in 1938, was requisitioned for use under Commonwealth security regulations in early 1942.
","In December 1941, the need to requisition commercial buildings and private homes for military purposes was viewed as essential due to the rapid advance of the Japanese and the lack of materials and labour available to the Allies. Modern buildings located in the city centre were close to telecommunication facilities and essential services and many US and Australian military units were based there.
A section of US Forces Intelligence occupied two rooms of this building from February 1942. A few of the principal functions of this office included:
The RAAF recruiting unit occupied the basement of the AMP building from 28 January 1942. The second floor was hired by the RAAF Dental clinic between October 1943 and September 1945. In 1943 the Australian Broadcasting Commission also had its Townsville headquarters there.
The building is marked as ""No.9"" on an early 1942 military dispatch riders street map of Townsville.
","Hiring of room 3 AMP building, hiring of rooms 5 and 6, ACT A705/1, item 171/19/123.
Base Two Records, Intelligence Section. James Cook University Library North Queensland Collection.
Holyoak, Ray. The North Queensland Line: the Defence of Townsville in 1942. James Cook University Thesis, 1998.
1942 military dispatch riders' street map of Townsville. (Holyoak collection)
" 1700,"Australian Officer's Club","Seaview Hotel","Recreation/community","The Strand (cnr Gregory Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2500038146973,146.815032958984,"The Seaview Hotel on the Strand was the wartime home of the Australian Officer's Club. Personnel from the Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) staffed the club. In a Report on civilian morale, the picture was painted that the Officer's Club was the scene of regular ""drunken debauches"" and ""depraved orgies"". The report details several supposed incidents which gave the Officer's Club this reputation.
",,"Department of Defence Correspondence files Report on Civilian morale in North Queensland ACT A816, 37/301/199.
HQS Base Section Two Telephone Directory, May 1944, Restricted. Author collection.
" 1703,"US Army Section Base Two, Signal Section",,"Radar/signal station","336 Flinders Street (cnr Stoke Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.259952545166,146.817138671875,"In December 1941, the need to requisition commercial buildings and private homes for military purposes was viewed as essential due to the rapid advance of the Japanese and the lack of materials and labour available to the Allies. Modern buildings located in the city centre were close to telecommunication facilities and essential services and many US and Australian military units were based there.
Located on the corner of Flinders and Stokes Street, 'Beak House', a two storied building, had been remodeled as two separate buildings in c1938. The left half became the Townsville branch of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney. It was given a new façade and modernised with Art Deco motifs. The remaining half on the right retained its original appearance.
","The first requisition for hiring of property accepted direct from US Army Offices in Denham Street was in respect to locating the Signal Offices to Beak House in Flinders Street. This requisition was accepted on 23 April 1942 and possession was undertaken immediately. Within a fortnight the Base Chemical Officer was set up in the same building. Teletype services for the US Army were also located in the building during 1942–1945. A code and cryptographic also operated on the second floor of the building including a training school for Signals staff.
An emergency signals room was located in the base of the building as a backup.
At around 9.30 am the teletype machines in the building would begin printing out intelligence summaries and bombing target information for proposed raids on enemy positions for the following day. These were then collected by military dispatch riders and delivered to Officers at Garbutt field with bomber crews being briefed about their respective missions.
A Base Section Two Telephone Directory for May 1944 also lists Beak House as a Military Police (MP) Station.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 2 p.2. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
HQS Base Section Two Telephone Directory, May 1944, Restricted. Ray Holyoak, private collection.
Interview with Mr Peter Armati May 2010. Information provided by former US Intelligence Officer during Coral Sea '92 Commemorations in Townsville 1992.
" 1704,"The Strand Anti-Aircraft Gun Station","Strand Park","Fortifications","The Strand",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2466297149658,146.810424804688,"Known as a 'class A gun station', The Strand AA contained four 3.7 inch guns, manufactured in Australia.
In total there were four emplacements, four shell stores and a command post. All were built of reinforced concrete. The guns were controlled by the centrally located command post. Sightings of suspicious aircraft were relayed to the post for action by Fighter Sector Headquarters which communicated with observer units.
","When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941, Australia's focus in the war turned to the Pacific. After the raid on Darwin in February 1942, many felt that as Townsville was the second largest city in Queensland, it could be the next to experience a large scale raid by the Japanese. Townsville was already designated as a staging point, with a significant United States build-up underway and the best port facilities in North Queensland.
Due to Townsville's distance from the front line, it could not be raided by the land-based bombers that had added to the devastation in Darwin. Any air raid would be restricted to carrier-based aircraft or long range flying boats. Between March and July the Japanese conducted regular reconnaissance missions over Townsville using long range aircraft.
In May 1942, the Department of the Army provided 3000 Pounds to construct eight anti-aircraft (AA) emplacements for guns at Charters Towers. This work ceased in July 1942 after the Townsville air raids. All eight guns were then diverted to Townsville. Four were sent to Aitkenvale to protect Hubert's Well power station on Ross River Road. The remaining four were installed at a Townsville City Council public reserve on The Strand.
Two factors decided this change. Aircraft carrier losses in the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway meant Japan could no longer fulfil its objective of launching a carrier-based raid against Townsville. Secondly, Charters Towers would decline in importance as an operational base by July as the need to disperse aircraft to the west of Townsville was no longer necessary due to Japanese naval losses. By late July 1942 the 14th Kokutai based in Rabaul set out to attack Townsville with long range flying boats over five nights, with three raids actually occurring. Even after recent defeats, the Japanese were still capable of striking far from their operational bases.
Prior to July 1942, elements of the United States 208th Coastal Artillery AA unit were based in the reserve with mobile AA guns. This unit was later transferred to New Guinea.
Known as a 'class A gun station', The Strand AA contained four 3.7 inch guns, manufactured in Australia. These were developed shortly before World War Two and were the standard medium anti-aircraft gun for the British Army from 1938 to 1956. Effective range was around 9100 metres. The octagon-shaped emplacements with surrounding shell store housed a sandbagged entry point with more bags placed on the roof. Rooms contained rifle racks and anti gas equipment and 280 rounds of ammunition for the AA gun.
In total there were four emplacements, four shell stores and a command post. All were built of reinforced concrete. The guns were controlled by the centrally located command post. Sightings of suspicious aircraft were relayed to the post for action by Fighter Sector Headquarters which communicated with observer units.
The Strand reserve AA was later named 395 Australian Heavy Gun Station which was part of 16 Heavy AA group based in Townsville.
The site was manned by both Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) and Volunteer Defence Corp (VDC) personnel from mid 1943. By March 1944 there were twenty-four 3.7"" guns in Townsville consisting of six separate AA stations. In late 1944 a review of Townsville's AA sites recommended a reduction of one third.
In 2011 this reserve is known as the 'Strand Park'. Given the example of other comparable AA sites across Townsville, it is likely that partially demolished sections of the AA station remain underneath.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. 1998 Thesis by Ray Holyoak held at James Cook University Library North Queensland Collection.
Coast and anti-aircraft defences - Townsville and Cairns: Agendum Number - 65/1944: Date of meeting - 12 April 1944 ACT.
Scale of manning coast and AA [anti-aircraft] defences - Townsville and Cairns [1 map 'The Southern Pacific Area'. Illustrates ranges of enemy land-based bomber and fighter aircraft, November 1943 and March 1944][sub-item] MP729/6. 16/401/671 VIC.
[Camouflage - methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54 161/3/2.
[Camouflage - methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54 422/7/7.
[Camouflage - methods:] Camouflage Works, Volume 4, Anti-Aircraft Aerial Survey [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54 161/3/4.
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage, Anti Aircraft Guns and Machine Gun Posts, 15 April 1942, AWM 54, 161/3/27.
Army Coastal Fortification - Townsville (Kissing Point), SP 110/6, 88 ACT.
" 1705,"Private Air Raid Shelter","The Rocks Guesthouse","Civil defence facility","20 Cleveland Terrace",Melton Hill,4810,Townsville,-19.2550106048584,146.819107055664,"What is now The Rocks Guesthouse was a private hospital prior to World War II. Although it has been rumored as being requisitioned by US forces during 1942–1945, no evidence of this has come to light during searches in the Australian Archives. Additionally it is not listed in the HQS Base Section Two Telephone Directory, May 1944, Restricted.
An above ground reinforced concrete air raid shelter still remains in the back yard of the property. Builders advertised in the Townsville Bulletin for the construction of private air raid shelters however only the wealthy could afford the cost. Additionally many citizens evacuated to southern cities to escape the perceived threat of a Japanese invasion or heavy air raids. Most suburban shelters were either of the slit trench type or improvised with sand bags and corrugated iron.
",,"The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. 1998 Thesis by Ray Holyoak held at James Cook University Library North Queensland Collection.
HQS Base Section Two Telephone Directory, May 1944, Restricted (Ray Holyoak collection).
" 1707,"Bundock Street Bunker","Former quarry","Civil defence facility","Bundock Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2484951019287,146.792388916016,"The Bundock Street quarry was in the vicinity of Rowes Bay and was a high point overlooking the Bay. Rumors of a 'bunker' near this quarry may refer to this 1941 VDC emplacement. The former quarry is now the site of apartments.
","On 29 December 1941, three weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Australia prepared to defend itself. In Townsville, the 16th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) prepared a document entitled, Suggested Plan for Beach Defence of Townsville. This secret document listed where counter attacks would originate if the Japanese were to land on Rowes Bay and The Strand. It is the earliest document discovered regarding Townsville's Pacific War defence plans.
Among descriptions of where trenches, tank traps and fuel stores were located, it mentions of an 'emplacement' in the locality of Rowes Bay, to be built of stone from QUARRY and faced on inside and top with sandbags.
","Volunteer Defence Corps - Defence roles (including reports) operational role and plan, appreciation of the situation, Charters Towers, Townsville, Mt Isa - 1941–1943. 54, 1008/2/48 VIC.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1712,"Cape Pallarenda Coastal Battery",,"Fortifications","The Esplanade, Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park",Pallarenda,4810,Townsville,-19.1894416809082,146.773742675781,"The two gun 4.7-Inch coastal battery at Cape Pallarenda was built in 1943, to defend the northern entrance into Cleveland Bay, between the mainland and Magnetic Island. The battery elements are currently located on the lower slopes of Mount Marlow, and are reached by following Cape Pallarenda Road and then The Esplanade north past the former Townsville Quarantine Station, before walking into the Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park.
The two gun emplacements are constructed of reinforced concrete, each with a cantilevered concrete roof, and a shell store and cartridge store at the rear. A reinforced concrete two-level Battery Observation Post (BOP) is located southwest of (above) the guns, and two reinforced concrete searchlight emplacements are located closer to the shoreline to the northwest and southeast of the gun emplacements. There is also an open stone Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun emplacement west of the BOP and an MG pit north of the BOP.
There are numerous concrete slabs in the accommodation area, between the BOP and the track to its south, drainage systems along the paths and a substantial piece of curbing and guttering along the track to the gun emplacements. A levelled area below the BOP is surrounded by a stone pitched wall and steps, and the remains of a tennis court are located southwest of the BOP.
","In late 1942 Townsville was the principle port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign and Cleveland Bay between Magnetic Island and Townsville was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army Airforce (USAAF). Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
Townsville was heavily defended from air attack, with searchlights, anti-aircraft guns and radar, while its coastal defences were initially located at two 19th century forts: Kissing Point and Magazine Island. The Kissing Point Battery, constructed in 1890-1891, defended the northwest approaches to Townsville's harbour. The battery's ordnance originally consisted of two 6-inch Mark V guns, plus two 64 pounders. The 6-inch guns were replaced with two Quick Firing (QF) 4.7-inch Mk IV guns by 1940, and in 1943 these 4.7-inch guns were moved to Cape Pallarenda.
The other 19th century gun battery at Magazine Island (now levelled and joined to the mainland by land reclamation) was constructed in 1891-1892 to cover the northeast approaches to the harbour, between Magnetic Island and Cape Cleveland. The Magazine Battery was armed with 6-inch guns to 1896, and then with 4.7-inch guns from 1901-02. During World War II two 155mm guns were stationed at this battery. The fort, which was located at the Port of Townsville, southeast of the intersection of Lennon Drive and Jetty Road, was demolished in the 1980s.
To supplement Kissing Point and Magazine Island, new coastal defences were constructed at Cape Pallarenda and Magnetic Island, to cover the northwest and northeast entrances into Cleveland Bay respectively. The Cape Pallarenda Battery was armed with two 4.7-inch Mk IV guns, while the armament of the Magnetic Island Battery, built 1942-43, consisted of two 155mm guns on circular concrete mounts.
The Cape Pallarenda battery was built in 1942-43, and included two reinforced concrete gun emplacements for the 4.7-inch guns moved from Kissing Point; a two-level Battery Observation Post; two searchlight emplacements; a Bofors AA gun emplacement, two machine gun posts; officer's quarters and latrines; tennis court; artillery store; general mess; kitchen; recreation hall; Quarter Master's store and AWAS quarters. The complex was probably constructed by the Main Roads Commission which, as the principal agent of the Allied Works Council, was the senior construction authority in Queensland for wartime installations such as roads, airstrips and coastal defence fortifications.
To the south of the battery was the Townsville Quarantine Station, established in 1915-16 using buildings relocated from West Point on Magnetic Island, where a Quarantine station had been constructed in the mid 1880s. The Quarantine Station at Pallarenda was used as part of a military hospital (2/14 Army General Hospital) in World War II, which mostly consisted of tents spread along the foreshore at Pallarenda.
","Northern Region Office, Environmental Protection Agency (Townsville Quarantine Station), Queensland Heritage Register 602133.
Holyoak, R. 1998. The North Queensland Line: The defence of Townsville in 1942. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Lawrence, D; Scott, B; Cutler, B, 1989. Report on the early fortifications of Townsville. Material Culture Unit, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville.
Horner, D. 1995. The Gunners: A history of Australian artillery. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards NSW.
Lawrence, DR; Brown, R; McFee, E; and Slaughter, E. 2006.11.01. ""Coastal Fortifications of Townsville"", in Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 4(1): pp. 53-87. Brisbane.
""QF 4.7 Inch Gun MK I-IV"", Wikipedia.
""Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park"", Wikipedia
National Archives of Australia, ST256. Cape Pallarenda - Position of guns, heavy battery. 1943
Gun Position. National Archives of Australia, T560A. Proposed Coastal Artillery, Pallarenda Point. October 1942.
" 1716,"United States (US) Anti-aircraft gun workshop and Royal Australian Air Force Warehouse and Offices","Dalgety & Co. Building and Sun Skill House","Headquarters","1-13 Sturt Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2574272155762,146.817260742188,"The Dalgety Offices and motor showrooms were used as an assembly line for Anti-Aircraft (A/A) guns, predictors and sighting equipment during 1942–1943.
The Mt St John and Three Mile Creek A/A gun components were assembled here prior to June 1942.
",,"Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 1. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1718,"American Red Cross Canteen and Recreation Centre","former Australian Workers Union (AWU) building (demolished)","Recreation/community","115 Denham Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2564754486084,146.816314697266,"On 15 April 1942, the US Base Surgeon office located on the second floor of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) building.
A Red Cross cafeteria and dormitory were also located on the ground floor which included a dance floor.
The building was situated where a carpark now faces Denham Street, directly in front of Walker Street.
",,"Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 2.[Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
" 1725,"United States Army Post Office (APO922) - E.S.& A Bank building (English, Scottish & Australian Bank)","Henlein & Co spirit merchants (now Best & Less)","Supply facility","408-410 Flinders Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2611694335938,146.815902709961,"The English Scottish & Australian Bank building in Flinders Street was requisitioned in April 1942 as US Army Post Office (APO 922). APO 922 was the number designated for postage originating from the Townsville area. The old teller's window was revamped to make a cage for the money order and stamp clerk.
In July 1944, the APO 922 moved from here to the site of the US 13th Station Hospital at Hatchett Street, Aitkenvale.
","In December 1941, the need to requisition commercial buildings and private homes for military purposes was viewed as essential due to the rapid advance of the Japanese and the lack of materials and labour available to the Allies. Buildings located in the city centre were close to telecommunication facilities and essential services and many US and Australian military units were based there.
In 2007 the basement of the building still contained the bank vault from when the building served as the E S & A Bank. WW2 era cartoon strips were pasted on the walls in several places as well as signage near the vault door indicating that it may have served as a dark room for photography during this period.
","Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 3 Postmaster APO 922. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1729,"Jimmy's Lookout Anti-aircraft Gun & Search Light Battery","X Battery, No.1 Gun Station, 394 Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery Rowes Bay","Fortifications","Old Common Road, Rowes Bay",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2436676025391,146.782211303711,"This Anti-Aircraft Battery was one of Townsville's first fully operational positions at the beginning of 1942. Situated close to a small hill at the end of the main runway, its role was to protect Garbutt aerodrome from attack. Additionally it would fire warning shots at any aircraft which did not observe the correct 'lane of entry' on landing approach.
","Each A/A Battery was required to keep a daily diary of training and occurrences. Few of these have survived the passage of years however this battery's diary remains preserved at the Australian War Memorial. This gives a unique insight into the life of personnel that were required to keep these guns ready to fire on a 24 hour basis.
Although the July 1942 air raids on Townsville have been recorded in several publications, the Japanese reconnaissance over the city in the months prior to the Battle of the Coral Sea in late April and early May 1942 have not been mentioned. These intelligence missions were the pre-cursor for a planned raid on Townsville on a similar scale of the February 1942 attack on Darwin.
Alex Trotter was a dispatch clerk at the Vacuum Oil Company, near the wharfs. He remembered seeing;
Four motored flying boats, they made reconnaissance flights over Townsville in daylight on two occasions. I saw them high above the city around noon, much too high for AA fire or fighter aircraft to reach. The sun would glint off them, attracting your attention. My vantage point was the No. 11 tank at the Vacuum Oil terminal.
Noon was the ideal time for photographic intelligence as there were no shadows to distort building outlines.
The main AA diary for Townsville noted on Friday, 1 May 1942;
At approximately 0945 hrs. 16 A.A. Bty. opened fire on enemy Recce aircraft flying at a great height. At approximately 1220 hrs. U.S. A.A. Bty. opened fire on hostile aircraft which made out to sea.
When consulting single unit diaries a more detailed description of what happened on 1 May emerged;
Planes were sighted by X Station at Palleranda [sic] at a height of approximately 24,000 feet, heading directly towards the aerodrome at Garbutt. X Station immediately went into action and with the first salvo caused the planes to change direction and climb steeply to 29,000 feet and out of range of the guns. Y Station at Mt. St. John also went into action at this stage. In all 33 rounds were fired, 25 from the station at Palleranda [sic] and 8 from the station at Mt. St. John.
According to the unit diary, these two aircraft returned at 1140, releasing a balloon over Garbutt aerodrome at 25 -30, 000 ft. The balloon descended and blew out to sea, the diary remarking that: ""tactics proved they were enemy aircraft"".
What did the balloon signify? The balloon was a dropsonde, and was used to collect low level weather data. The instrument was ejected from an aircraft and measured wind speed and direction at varying heights and the data transmitted back to the aircraft. This was vital information for a planned bombing raid.
The aircraft were Japanese H6K1 Kawanishi 'Mavis' flying boats and were likely to originate from the 14th Kokutai at Rabaul harbour.
Either in the latter part of April/early May 1942, Japan planned to launch an air raid on Townsville from the aircraft carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku which were capable of carrying 84 aircraft each. These were Navy ""Zero"" fighters, ""Val"" dive bombers and ""Kate"" torpedo bombers. These carriers were under the command of Rear-Admiral Chuichi Hara in Zuikaku.
Hara's primary mission was to protect the invasion force in the assault on Port Moresby. If no enemy carriers were discovered in the area, he was to cross the Coral Sea at high speed and launch an attack on Townsville. This attack would also proceed if an enemy force was discovered and subsequently destroyed. The Commanding Officer for the entire operation was Admiral Shigeyoshi Inouye, who issued on 23 April the ""South Seas Force Order No. 13"", which included mention of the proposed Townsville raid. It also told of other North Queensland towns that would receive a strike, these being Coen, Cooktown, and Horn Island which all had military airfields.
The order was sent to Truk where Hara was waiting with the carriers. Unbeknown to the Japanese, their signal had been intercepted by Allied Intelligence in Australia. Townsville Coast Artillery received a decoded message on 26 April which stated:
At 0345hrs the following message was received from U.S. H.Q. Melbourne - air raid by carrier based aircraft in force against East Coast of Australia by 2nd. May, 1942.
On receiving orders, Hara disagreed with the strike on the East Coast, arguing that he would probably be detected and attacked by aircraft from Townsville. There was also the problem of reefs in the area, and if this was planned to be a high speed dash across the Coral Sea, he had been assigned only one fleet oiler, which was far too slow to keep up with the Strike Force. Tokyo's response to this logic was to replace Hara with Rear Admiral Takagi on 27 April.
On 30 April, Japanese intelligence officers presented a report on fighter strength in Townsville. This stated that the Americans had available some 200 front-line fighters which were concentrated in the Townsville and Darwin areas.
On the same day, Admiral Yamamoto made the final decision on the matter and ordered the attacks not to go ahead. This message was again intercepted and decoded by Allied Intelligence. However, due to an incomplete understanding of the code groups, Intelligence thought the strike was being ordered rather than being cancelled. All Allied stations were put on high alert due to this misread intercept.
By 1 May Australian time, the Kawanishi Mavis's had already left Rabaul and were on their way to conduct another reconnaissance mission over Townsville.
","Anon. Operational History of Japanese Naval Communications December 1941 - August 1945: A Japanese Operational Monograph Written by Former Officers of The Japanese General Staff and War Ministry, Aegean Park Press, Laguna Hills, 1985.
[Engagement of Enemy Aircraft - 16 Anti - Aircraft Battery 1 May 1942]; AWM series 60, item 1948/42.
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage Works, Volume 2, Townsville Fort Areas [Photo album] [Oversize item] AWM 54, 161/3/2.
[Camouflage - Methods] Camouflage, Anti Aircraft Guns and Machine Gun Posts, 15 April 1942, AWM 54, 161/3/27.
Townsville Coast Artillery [Whole diary - 3 items] (Mar - Jul 1942; Jan - Mar 1943; May 1943 - Aug 1944); AWM series 52, item 4/19/11.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
" 1730,"United States (US) 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron","Cheviot Flats","Workshop","630 Sturt Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2668724060059,146.80744934082,"The United States (US) 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron used these flats as a photographic development laboratory from early May, 1942.
","The 8th Squadron were equipped with F4 P-38 Lighting aircraft. These were essentially fighter aircraft that had their guns removed and replaced with cameras for taking images of enemy positions. Information gained from these dangerous flyover missions was processed by Intelligence Officers with air attacks subsequently ordered on enemy positions. This Squadron was credited with heavy contributions in photographic intelligence regarding the Japanese fleet before the resulting battle of the Coral Sea.
Although the Squadron was based near Port Moresby, they regularly visited Townsville for photographic missions and aircraft servicing at nearby Garbutt airfield.
","John Stanaway & Bob Rocker. The Eight Ballers: Eyes of the Fifth Air Force: The 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in World War II, Shiffer Military History, Atglen PA 1999.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 1731,"Machine Gun positions above Tobruk Baths",,"Fortifications","near Cleveland Terrace, Melton Hill",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2537879943848,146.819732666016,"Unconfirmed oral history states that machine gun positions were placed on a cliff (Melton Hill) above Tobruk Memorial Baths during WW2.
Though no archival material has been discovered to confirm this, it is likely positions were placed here due to the commanding view of The Strand beach.
On 29 December 1941, three weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Australia prepared to defend itself.
In Townsville, the 16th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC) prepared a document entitled, Suggested Plan for Beach Defence of Townsville.
This secret document listed where counter attacks would originate if the Japanese were to land on Rowes Bay and The Strand.
It is the earliest document discovered regarding Townsville's Pacific War defence plans.
Being close to the CBD, there were numerous military installations nearby which required protection.
These included:
Townsville Daily Bulletin Supplement, 16 July 1980
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Volunteer Defence Corps - Defence roles (including reports) operational role and plan, appreciation of the situation, Charters Towers, Townsville, Mt Isa - 1941–1943. 54, 1008/2/48 VIC.
WWII North Queensland. A Cultural Heritage Overview of Significant Places in the defence of North Queensland in WW II. Queensland Government Environmental Protection Agency, 2009.
" 1733,"Mount Louisa Anti-Aircraft Gun Emplacements",,"Fortifications","Mount Louisa",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2787990570068,146.74267578125,"In early 1942, two heavy 50 calibre machine gun emplacements were constructed on the summit of Mount Louisa to the north of Townsville. These were to protect an entry 'lane' for allied aircraft preparing to land at Garbutt aerodrome. Each emplacement consisted of approximately fifteen sand filled 44 gallon drums placed in a semi circle with an overhead camouflage cover. Commencing in May 1942, Australians of 26 Battery 11 Brigade manned this position.
","On 26 June 1942 Lieutenant R J Watts (15th Platoon, 26 Battery, 11th Brigade) was Commanding Officer at this site when a Wirraway aircraft approached from the direction of Castle Hill. A Court of Enquiry recorded Lt Watts's eyewitness account of the following event:
The aircraft at the time was climbing and at about 450 feet. The aircraft continued on a Westerly course for a short distance, then turned right, banking very steeply, ending up in the opposite direction. During this turn he lost quite a considerable amount of height and at about 50 feet he appeared to attempt to flatten out but continued to splurge into the trees. I heard several loud reports and shortly afterwards, dense smoke and flames.
Killed instantly were Pilot Officer Thomas Frederick Gledhill and Sergeant Clifford Roy Gould from No.24 Squadron. The Court of Inquiry found that whilst conducting formation flying and aerobatics, misuse of the controls had resulted in a steep turn. Due to a stalled condition and loss of control, Wirraway A20-84 subsequently crashed into Mt Louisa.
No.24 Squadron had moved to Townsville in June 1940 to undertake maritime reconnaissance and training duties. Equipped with Australian built Wirraway aircraft, this single engined monoplane fighter was based on an American training aircraft and carried a pilot plus an observer/rear gunner.
","North Eastern Area Headquarters - Court of Inquiry - Crash of Wirraway A20-84 at Mount Louisa on 26/6/1942 [1cm]. A11083, 906/79/P1 ACT.
{Routine Orders - Infantry (Including Bde HQ, Ind, Coys, Machine Gun, Pioneer and Paratroops:] AMF Routine Orders - Part 1, 11th Australian Infantry Brigade, 28 November 1941 to 11 May 1946, AWM54, 707/7/12
Australian War Memorial Wirraway aircraft image description, AWM 000713.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1742,"Project 81: Operations and Signals Building, RAAF North East Area Command","State Emergency Services Centre","Radar/signal station","Green Street, West End",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2580413818359,146.793701171875,"Project 81 was constructed in 1942 as an Operations and Signals building for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), North East Area Command, in association with the RAAF Base at Garbutt several kilometres to the west. The building survives on Green Street, on the southwest side of Castle Hill in Townsville.
The place comprises two main sections: a large Operations building constructed of reinforced concrete; and a house which was constructed on top as a form of camouflage. Internally, the Operations building has a central corridor running roughly southeast to northwest lengthways, with rooms opening off the corridor. The section remains largely in its original form with only minor alterations. The upper section is a typical timber house, apart from a strong room located in the north-east section of the house.
A concrete fan room still exists to the northwest of the Operations building, and the concrete slab of the former latrines is located near the southwest corner of the Operations building. The former Photographic Intelligence Section building, a low set hut with a combination of a gabled roof and skillion roof disguising the size of its single internal space, is located behind the Operations building and is used as a recreation room by the State Emergency Service (SES). Project 81 was constructed in 1942 as an Operations and Signals building for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), North East Area Command, in association with the RAAF Base at Garbutt several kilometres to the west. The building survives on Green Street, on the southwest side of Castle Hill in Townsville.
The place comprises two main sections: a large Operations building constructed of reinforced concrete; and a house which was constructed on top as a form of camouflage. Internally, the Operations building has a central corridor running roughly southeast to northwest lengthways, with rooms opening off the corridor. The section remains largely in its original form with only minor alterations. The upper section is a typical timber house, apart from a strong room located in the north-east section of the house.
A concrete fan room still exists to the northwest of the Operations building, and the concrete slab of the former latrines is located near the southwest corner of the Operations building. The former Photographic Intelligence Section building, a low set hut with a combination of a gabled roof and skillion roof disguising the size of its single internal space, is located behind the Operations building and is used as a recreation room by the State Emergency Service (SES).
","In late 1942 Townsville was the principle port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign and Cleveland Bay between Magnetic Island and Townsville was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army Airforce (USAAF).
There was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) station at Garbutt, and a number of air bases used by Australian and US aircraft were established between Townsville and Charters Towers, and west to Cloncurry. Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
The Operations building at Green Street was constructed in early 1942 as part of the rapid development of the Garbutt air base. Drawings for the building were prepared by engineers in the Department of the Interior, and it is likely that the building was constructed by the Allied Works Council (AWC), the organisation established to coordinate the construction of wartime buildings in Australia. AWC records indicate that a reinforced concrete operational control building in Townsville had been completed by June 1942. Its construction had been designated an 'A1' priority, and its total cost was £30,000.
The Operations building functioned as the communications centre for the RAAF North East Area Command. The movements of Australian aircraft within this strategic area were controlled from this building. Flight operations were planned and monitored from here, and briefing and debriefing sessions with pilots were carried out.
Internally, the reinforced concrete Operations building contained a crew room; operations room; a signals office with adjacent cypher room and strong room; receiving room; meteorological room; rooms for intelligence, navigations, signals and meteorological officers; an emergency power plant; men's lavatories; and a telephone exchange.
A 'traverse' or protective wall, three metres high, was also shown on wartime drawings, constructed around the perimeter of the Operations building. A fan room and a condenser room for air conditioning (set within the traverse) were located in a concrete structure (still extant) outside the west end of the Operations building. A latrine block was set at the southwest corner of the traverse, but only the concrete slab survives.
To disguise the concrete Operations building from the air, a timber house was constructed on one end of the flat roof. An L-shaped structure, the house contained rooms for a commanding officer, adjutant, orderlies, a warrant officer and an engineer officer, as well as another strong room. There were no internal links between the buildings, the timber building being accessed by timber staircases to the ground. A flower box, shrubs and an artificial tree were placed around the building to emphasise its domestic appearance. The house also had a verandah, which covered the walkway between the western end of the Operations building and the traverse. On plans the latter was to be painted with stumps and a timber valance to make it look like the understorey of the house. Further camouflage work was undertaken on the remaining section of the Operation building's roof, in the form of garnished netting. In aerial photographs at the time, only the timber house was obvious.
Other structures which existed near the Operations building in 1944 included a guard room and guard house, Photographic and Intelligence Section, Airman's quarters, store room, canteen, WAAF mess room and Airman's mess room, general offices, three aerial masts supporting a triangle of wires over the Operations building, another latrine, and two sheds. The office building and Photographic and Intelligence Section building both had fake stove recesses to help disguise the nature of the site. A 25 yard pistol range existed to the north west of the Operations building. Of the above structures, only the Photographic Intelligence Section building survives, to the rear of the former Operations building.
The RAAF was located at the Green Street site until the late 1960s, when the State Emergency Service (SES) in Townsville occupied the building. The Townsville City Council has owned the site since 2001.
","RAAF Operations Building Site (former). Queensland Heritage Register 602260
Holyoak, R. 1998. The North Queensland Line: The defence of Townsville in 1942. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
National Australian Archives, AT43/44/390. RAAF Project Number 81, Sidney Street. 1944
Dunn, P. Project 81, the Green Street Bunker
" 1743,"Air Raid Precautions (ARP) Civil Defence Headquarters","State Government Offices, (former) Public Curators Offices","Headquarters","419 Flinders Street (cnr Stanley Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2616539001465,146.815216064453,"The Headquarters for Townsville's Air Raid Wardens was located in the basement of this substantial building built by the Queensland Public Works Department in 1928. James Charles Butler was the Chief Air Raid Warden for Townsville during WWII. He attended the site at Oonoonba where the eighth Japanese bomb impacted and kept a fragment of the bomb as a souvenir.
",,"""The Butler Family"". Townsville Bulletin 20 March 2007.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1744,"Queens Park Bunker",,"Civil defence facility","Paxton Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2528133392334,146.807113647461,"Although no plans exist for a Queens Park ""bunker"" in Commonwealth records, a clue to what may have been there exists in Welch's report. Details include the number of air raid shelters in the city and what type they were (pill box or slit trench). It also states that Townsville possessed a good level of protection for its citizens in case of air attack and that emergency orginisations were well prepared and trained. Lastly it states;
fifty covered trenches were constructed in various parks and along the bus routes which accommodated twenty persons.
","The sporting fields adjacent to Queens Park accommodated several Australian and US encampments which included the 800th US MP stockade.
In June 1942 A W Welch, Acting Secretary for the Department of Home Security visited Townsville to report on the city's level of preparedness in the event of an air raid. One month later the city would be attacked by long range Kawanishi flying boats of the 14th Kokutai (Naval Air Squadron) from Japanese held Rabaul.
","Air Raid Precaution Report in Townsville 1942, A816/1, 49/301,217 ACT.
Photo album of Private Merle E Warner (collection of Ray Holyoak)
" 1756,"Stokes Street air raid shelter","Hanlons hideout","Civil defence facility","Stokes Street (between Flinders & Sturt Streets)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2594394683838,146.816345214844,"The large reinforced concrete civilian air raid shelters known as 'Hanlon's Hideout's (after Civil Defence Minister Ned Hanlon) were concentrated in the CBD where approximately fifteen were sited for workers and shoppers. These were not located in the suburbs as residents were expected to construct their own shelter or slit trench for protection against air attack.
These civilian shelters were demolished in 1946 and were not reused as bus shelters as were ones in Brisbane. Enterprising citizens re-used some small broken concrete sections as pavers in their garden.
","In July 1942, the 2nd Group of 14th Kokutai (Air Group), Japanese Naval Air-Force, under the command of Major Misaburo Koizumi, decided to undertake night raids on harbour facilities and airfields at Townsville. In all, five raids were planned; three actually occurred.
The air raids on Townsville occurred over three nights between 25 and 29 July 1942 when Kawanishi flying boats attacked the city. A plan that involved up to seven Rabaul-based aircraft, each flying a return distance of some 3000 miles, would yield little more than propaganda for the Japanese. The actual damage Townsville received from these three raids was one dead rock wallaby at Many Peaks Range and a damaged coconut tree at Oonoonba.
","Imperial Japanese Navy Combat Evaluation Sheets for 25 July, 27/28 July, 28 July, 28/29 July, 30/31 July 1942.
Piper, Robert, Townsville Under Attack, Unpublished, 1987.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1757,"North American Service Club","American Red Cross (for African American soldiers)","Recreation/community","380 Flinders Street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2609577178955,146.816131591797,"On 22 August 1942, an undercover investigation was made into African-American serviceman in Townsville. A 'colored' agent was assigned to the 92nd Quartermaster Company as there had been disturbances between African-American and white serviceman in Townsville.
It was discovered that considerable trouble had been caused by businesses in the city refusing service to African-Americans. The outcome of this investigation was the recommendation of a service club for African-American troops. This opened in late 1942 and reductions in 'disturbances' were noted by the Intelligence services.
","On 12 September 1943, Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady of the United States visited Townsville for three hours after arriving with her official party in a B24 Liberator bomber at Garbutt aerodrome. After being welcomed by Townsville's Mayor J.G.Gill, she toured the base and a station hospital.
At the North American Service (Red Cross) Club at 380 Flinders Street, Mrs Roosevelt spoke with African-American serviceman and nurses and was given a tour of the club and its facilities. It was reported that this was the first time she had met with 'colored' soldiers during her Australian tour.
The club continued until August 1944 when all African American troops were transferred from Townsville to forward bases.
In 2011, 380 Flinders Street is where 'Barkins' fashion store is located.
","Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Volume 4. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
Base Two Restricted Telephone Book, July 1943. Author's collection.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton,) 13 September 1943.
The West Australian (Perth), 13 September 1943.
" 1770,"US No.1 Depot Store and Flinders No. 1 Depot","Lion Brewery, Playpen Nightclub","Supply facility","719-41 Flinders Street (cnr Knapp Street)",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2668170928955,146.809387207031,"The building was originally built as the Lion Brewery. In 1941 it was occupied by E G Eager & Son as a civilian automotive spare parts warehouse and garage.
The US 86th Quartermaster Company hired this building in early 1942 for the storage and issue of complete motor vehicles and parts and the repair of armed forces vehicles
","The Japanese advance on the coast of New Guinea towards the mainland of Australia dictated the necessity of preparing Townsville as a reserve base for the storage of large amounts of equipment and ammunition.
Initially known as US No 1 Depot Store, it changed names in July 1942 to Flinders Depot No.1.
","The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942. 1998 Thesis by Ray Holyoak held at James Cook University Library North Queensland Collection.
Base Two, The Bayonet of Australia, Volume One, Notes from American War Records of World War Two, Vol 3. [Typescript held in North Queensland Collection, James Cook University].
" 1774,"United States Army Air Force Officers Quarters",,"Military accommodation","23 Hale street",Townsville,4810,Townsville,-19.2564296722412,146.813186645508,"This large Federation style Queenslander house was commandeered by United States forces early in 1942.
","Due to the gravity of the military situation at the time, private houses could be requisitioned by the military authorities. Although the Armati family owned the house they were asked to leave, however they were granted permission to live in a structure at the rear of the house. Twenty four hours later, this was connected with water and electricity by the Allied Works Council with personnel of the US Army Air Forces occupying the main house.
US pilots would use 'The 'Palms' as a place of rest and recreation after conducting bombing and reconnaissance missions in New Guinea and the Islands. Peter recalls that when they arrived at the Palms they would be so exhausted they would sleep for the first two days.
Later during the war it was also used as a billet for US and Australian Nurses and women of the WNEL (Women's National Emergency League) with a Mrs Savage as the housekeeper.
","Interview with Mr Peter Armati, May 2010.
Townsville HQS Base Section Two APO922 Telephone Directory May 1944 (authors collection).
" 1780,"False Cape Coastal Battery","'H' Battery, then 'S' Battery, Coastal Artillery","Fortifications","False Cape",East Trinity,4871,Cairns,-16.8722743988037,145.849166870117,"The two gun 155mm coastal battery at False Cape was established in early 1943 to defend the port of Cairns. Access is via Yarrabah Road and then to the end of the Esplanade (past Second Bay), followed by a 45 minute walk north past Sunny Bay to the tip of False Cape.
Two concrete gun emplacements survive at the tip of the cape. Each has a circular (incomplete circle) concrete mount, with a cantilevered roof and magazine areas to the rear. In addition, a separate concrete magazine is located to the south, with a corridor around three sides of two rooms. A steel anti-aircraft gun mount is located above the magazine.
A two-level concrete Command Post (CP) is situated on the ridge southeast of the gun emplacements and magazine. Above the access road on the west side of the cape is the cutting where supplies were once winched up to the CP, and below the road there is a pathway to the site of the stone jetty.
Evidence of the camp site at Sunny Bay, where huts were located to the north and south of Sunny Creek, include some concrete slabs and a concrete road culvert over Sunny Creek. A concrete rainwater tank is located on the ridge midway between the former camp site and the cape.
","In early 1942 Townsville became the base for Allied operations in the South West Pacific, but later that year naval base operations focused on Cairns, as this port was less congested. In addition, in late 1942 the Atherton Tableland was chosen as the site of a major concentration of troops and stores during 1943, and Cairns became the port for the ""Atherton Tableland Project""; the main Australian Army base area for the continuing campaign in New Guinea. False Cape is situated at the entrance to Cairns Harbour and overlooks Grafton Passage.
After his arrival in Australia in March 1942 General Douglas Macarthur upgraded the coastal defence of selected Australian ports and naval bases, requesting the delivery of 155mm field guns, Sperry searchlights and fire control equipment from the United States. During 1942–1943 nineteen batteries using M1917A1 155mm guns (designated by alphabetic letters and hence known as 'Letter batteries') were established and allocated to coastal defence in Australia and New Guinea. All but one Letter battery ('U') had two guns each.
The 155mm guns were designed by the French in World War I and were manufactured in the United States as the M1917 or M1918. In the coastal artillery role in Australia they were set on concrete mounts, where the gun's wheels were supported on a central round concrete pillar (or 'cheese'), and the gun's trails were traversed around a steel ring set in a concrete outer circle. Although these were called ""Panama mounts"" in Australia, actual Panama mounts were of a steel cruciform type. Sites in Queensland where Letter batteries were emplaced on circular concrete mounts included Skirmish Point on Bribie island; Rous battery on the east side of Moreton Island; Magnetic Island in Townsville; False Cape near Cairns; and Turtle battery on Hammond Island in the Torres Strait.
On 25 December 1942, 'H' Australian Heavy Battery arrived in Cairns, and tents were erected at False Cape in early January. During January and February 1943 the guns were put in place, a temporary war shelter was built near the guns, plus base end stations (used to triangulate ship positions) were built at False Cape and Bessie Point. A plotting room and a temporary Command Post (CP) were also constructed. The guns' circular concrete mounts and searchlight platforms were begun in April 1943. A permanent CP (also called the Battery Observation Post, or BOP) and Port War Signal Station were being built in September 1943.
Supporting 'H' Battery at False Cape was the 105 Coastal Artillery Searchlight Section, comprising about 13 men of the Royal Australian Engineers. They operated two 150cm Sperry searchlights, one of which may have been located near the jetty at Sunny Bay, and the other on the eastern side of the cape.
Between March and September 1943 a permanent camp was erected by the local Civil Construction Corps next to a small freshwater stream emptying into Sunny Bay, about 500 yards south of the guns. It included living quarters, a battery office, quarter master's store, officers' mess and kitchen, gunners' mess and kitchen, canteen and recreation room, latrines and ablution blocks, and a small battery charging room to supply the camp with electricity. As many trees were left standing as possible, to maximise camouflage. About 150 yards north of the camp a workshop was erected, and further north a hospital and splinter-proof Regimental Aid Post (RAP) shelter were built.
There was no road from Cairns to the camp, which had to be supplied via boat (the unit had its own two-masted vessel, the Eulalie). A timber jetty was constructed at Sunny Bay near the camp site, and closer to the cape a stone and concrete ramp was built for a landing barge. A single Blitz truck was landed to provide local transport. Pigs were raised, chooks provided eggs, and fish traps also helped to supplement rations. Poddy calves were also raised by the men, to lift morale.
The creek at Sunny Bay flowed only during the wet season, so a small pumping station was established further south at the creek emptying into Brown's Bay. A rough road was cut from Sunny Bay to False Cape, just above the foreshore, and a cutting was made for a small trolley line which was used to winch supplies and equipment from the road to the CP at the top of the ridge. Duty personnel quarters, probably of timber construction, were erected adjacent to the CP. An anti-aircraft machine gun was mounted above the main magazine, and a Bofors 40mm anti-aircraft gun was sited above the main gun emplacements. The concrete gun emplacements were occupied, and the CP/BOP was manned, in December 1943.
The same month the Royal Australian Navy occupied their Port War Signal Station, shifting personnel from the war signal station at Archer Point. They may have shared the CP with the army, as at Magnetic Island, although a 1944 plan of the area indicates navy accommodation in a separate structure at the crest of the hill. The signal station closed at the end of June 1945.
'H' Battery remained at False Cape until February/March 1944, when they were moved to Townsville. They were replaced by 'S' Battery, which had been formed in Sydney in September 1943, trained in Brisbane, then moved to False Cape. In August 1944 'S' Battery was reorganised as Coastal Artillery Cairns, and is thought to have remained at False Cape until the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific in August 1945. After the war a number of small weekend/fishermen's shacks were erected in the area, and the remains of a more substantial, stone-walled c.1950s or 1960s weekender survive on the beach at Sunny Bay.
","False Cape Second World War Defence Facility. Queensland Heritage Register 600975
Turtle Battery, Queensland Heritage Register Reported Place, 29630
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Spethman, D.W, 1997. The garrison guns of Australia 1788-1960. D.W. Spethman, Bald Hills.
Kidd, R and Neal, R. 1998. The 'Letter' Batteries: the history of the 'letter' batteries in World War II. RE Neal, Castlecrag NSW.
Seekee, Vanessa, 2006.11.01. ""Artillery in Torres Strait 1891-1945: the silent forgotten sentinels of the north"", Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series 4(1), pp 107-123. Brisbane.
Spethman, D.W; Miller, R.G; Lynas, H (ed), 2008. Fortress Brisbane: a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Bay islands. R.H. Mortensen, Inala.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane. (An April 1943 plan of the building previously called the BOP is referred to as the CP. Both CP and BOP may have been in the same building).
National Archives of Australia, ST471. Sunny Bay area, False Cape, North
Queensland - Australian Army artillery position 1944.
Dunn, P. False Cape Gun Emplacements near Cairns, Qld during WW2
Canon de 155mm GPF, Wikipedia
Panama Mount, Wikipedia
Australian War Memorial, Photographic Collection.
" 1781,"6th Australian Camp Hospital",,"Military camp","Douglas Street",Thursday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5816717147827,142.225311279297,"Due to an influx of troops and airmen into Queensland and the establishment of their camps in 1942–1943, some thirteen smaller camp hospitals were constructed. They were much more primitive than the larger general hospitals, though Thursday Island certainly had the advantage as they took over the use of the existing civilian hospital. During October 1941, the Army began investigating the usage of the Thursday Island hospital to house defence force personnel, however the existing hospital required urgent upgrades to existing equipment and extensions to allow extra beds. It was seen to be more economical to update the existing hospital and not build an entirely new one. A new ward and operating theatre were constructed between Feb and March 1942, bringing the capacity of the hospital to 67 beds. Two civilian nurses at the hospital joined the service and became nursing sisters, joined by seven others from south to constitute the nursing staff of the 6 Australian Camp Hospital.
",,"Vanessa Seekee Torres Strait Heritage
" 1786,"Camp Columbia (United States Army 1943-44)","US 6th Army Headquarters/42 US General Hospital/28th Surgical Hospital/91st Station Hospital/13th Medical General Dispensary/99th Signal Battalion and 3rd USAFIA and Officer's Candidate School","Military camp","907 Boundary Road",Wacol,4077,Greater Brisbane,-27.5837230682373,152.938079833984,"Camp Columbia was a US camp based in Wacol from October 1942 until July 1944. Following the US 6th Army departure to Hollandia, New Guinea, the site was taken over by the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile and facilitated the encampment of Dutch troops.
","The camp straddled the current Ipswich Road and was extensive, being divided into multiple areas. The camp site held a general hospital, other medical faciklities and Officer Candidate's School, which existed between 1942 and 1945. After the war, the site was taken over by the Australian Army and used well into the latter part of the 20th century.
","National Archives of Australia.
Brisbane City Council.
" 1787,"Camp Columbia (Dutch Forces 1944-45)","NEI Government-in-Exile/NICA/NEFIS/NIGIS Headquarters","Military camp","Ipswich Road",Wacol,4077,Greater Brisbane,-27.5866661071777,152.932907104492,"Established at the former US Army Camp Columbia at Wacol in July 1944, the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) Government-in-Exile is the only foreign government to be established on Australian soil. Other agencies - the Netherlands East-indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS), the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA) and the Netherlands Indies Government Information Service (NIGIS) moved from Melbourne to support their administration. A NEI transport unit maintained and flew Dakota aircraft at Archerfield.
","On 7 March 1942, just prior to the fall of Java to the Japanese, the NEI Lieutenant-Governor Herbert Van Mook and 14 officials flew to Australia to establish an NEI administration to continue the struggle. Van Mook was recalled to London but on 8 April, he established the NEI Commission for Australia and New Zealand. Based in Melbourne, the Commission worked with the Netherlands Ambassador Van Aerssen Beyeren in Canberra.
On 14 September 1944, the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, residing temporarily in London, decreed the formation of a NEI Government-in-Exile led by Van Mook. To prepare for Van Mook's return, the NEI Commission and various Dutch/NEI military headquarters had begun to move to Brisbane from July 1944. The NEI Government-in-Exile was quartered in Camp Columbia. It had been built in October1942 for the US Army. In April 1943 it became the headquarters of the US 6th Army. That headquarters moved onto a new base at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea by June 1944. Situated across Ipswich Road from the Wacol railway station, Camp Columbia comprised existing offices, barracks, accommodation huts and an internal road network.
The Dutch refurbishment of Camp Columbia began in June 1944. All building work needed the approval of the Australian Department of War Organization and Industry Works' priorities sub-committee. The NEI Labour Battalion brought from Casino, NSW, was tasked with improving the camp. This battalion, comprising Indonesians led by Dutch and Indonesian officers constructed new office buildings, club facilities and a laundry while showers and toilets were added to the accommodation huts. After taking advice from US authorities, the Australian Government took the unusual step of not charging the Dutch for the lease of the site under a Reciprocal Lend-Lease arrangement.
The NEI Government-in-Exile comprised seven departments, whose directors along with Van Mook constituted the Legislative Council. This Council could, if the need arose, be expanded to include 8 extraordinary members drawn from any Dutch or Indonesians then available. Van Mook appointed the 7 directors on 12 April 1944. They were Charles Van der Plas for the Department of the Interior and Chairman of the Board of Departmental Heads; Dr N.S. Blom for the Justice Department; Dr R.E. Smits for the Finance Department; P.A. Kerstens for the Education Department; P.H.W. Sitsen for the Public Works Department; General Van Oyen as Head of the Department of War and Emil Van Hoogstraten for the Economic Affairs Department and as acting General Secretary of the Government. The directors held their first meeting in Melbourne on 23 May 1944. They had nine more meetings before reconvening at Camp Columbia on 23 August. On 3 November 1944, Van Aerssen Beyeren informed the Commonwealth of the formal closure of the NEI Commission.
Dutch military units moved to Brisbane to serve the NEI Government-in-Exile. A Women's Army Corps lived at Wacol but trained at Yeronga Park. The Commonwealth provided a special train for NEFIS to shift its staff and files from Melbourne. NEFIS leased offices for its headquarters in the New Zealand Insurance Building at 334-338 Queen Street, the CBD. The NEI Army Air Corps (Militaire Luchtvaart or ML-KNIL) leased fourth floor offices in the Courier Building at 240 Queen Street, the CBD as headquarters. The Hotel Mornington housed Dutch aircrew who flew air transport for Camp Columbia. By June 1944 there were 16 Dutch Dakota aircraft concentrated at Archerfield aerodrome. A NEI Personnel & Equipment Pool section under Captain P. Schelling serviced the planes. It later became No.19 NEI Squadron. The NEI Commission had rented the Pacific Private Hotel at 421 Brunswick Street, Fortitude Valley since 26 November 1942 for use as a hotel or canteen for Dutch military personnel. On 12 October 1943, the Brisbane City Council approved owner F.J. Boustead's request to add a temporary recreation building to the hotel's rear. Two small warehouses No.23 and No.24 were allotted to the Dutch at the US supply base of Camp Meeandah at Pinkenba. All sites were chosen as they had transport links to Camp Columbia. Archerfield, then Brisbane's domestic airport, was close to Wacol. Pinkenba, Fortitude Valley and the CBD were connected to Wacol by rail.
The Bank voor Nederlandsche Indie NV (NEI Bank Ltd) that controlled the currency supply for the liberated parts of the NEI shifted to Camp Columbia. The Bank oversaw the NEI Government-in-Exile's new economic agencies. These were the Nederlandsche Indische Escompto Maatschappij NV (NEI Discount Co Ltd), the Nederlandsche Indische Handelsbank NV (NEI Commercial Bank Ltd) and the Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij NV (Dutch Trading Company Ltd). NIGIS led by H.B. Quispel along with its Film and Photographic Unit relocated to the Camp. The NICA headquarters went to Wacol. NICA's role was to follow behind the Allied invasion of the NEI and restore the Dutch colonial administration in the re-occupied areas. NICA units were militarized. They brought civil relief and rehabilitation plus defended the local population from Japanese raids. Eventually, nearly 2,000 personnel from various Dutch or NEI organisations would be based at Camp Columbia.
The NEI Government-in-Exile undertook important work at Camp Columbia. It negotiated the acquisition of civil relief supplies with the Australian Government and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. It sought Commonwealth permission for the basing in Australia of a 30,000-strong liberation army being raised in the Netherlands. It signed the Principles Governing Arrangements for Civil Administration and Jurisdiction in Netherlands Territory in the Southwest Pacific Area agreement with General Douglas MacArthur on 10 December 1944. Its administration of liberated parts of the NEI was studied at the Institute of Pacific Relations conference held at Hot Springs, Virginia in January 1945. It supplied members to the Dutch delegation to the UN Plenary Conference held in San Francisco (25 April to 26 June 1945).
The Dutch planned to stay at Camp Columbia until the liberation of sizeable town in the NEI that could provide relief to their acute staff shortage. As no such large population centre was liberated, the NEI Government-in-Exile remained at Wacol until War's end in September 1945.
","Dr. Jonathan (Jack) Ford, Allies in a Bind - Australia and Netherlands East Indies relations in the Second World War, (Loganholme: NESWA, 1996).
" 1790,"3 Advanced Ordnance Depot (3 AOD)","1 Australian Ammunition Depot (1AAD) - New South Wales","Ammunition facility","Army Avenue",Wallangarra,4383,South-East,-28.9137344360352,151.930511474609,"Currently known as the Northern Logistic Group - Wallangarra (NLG-W), this defence site has been in existence since January 1942, when it was known as the 3 Advanced Ordnance Depot (3 AOD). Due to the proximity of intersate rail links with respective terminuses and the isolation of the area for defence, the Wallangarra site was in fact one of two site on either side of the Queensland and New South Wales border that dealt with ammunition, ordnance and troop training and movements.
","The 3 AOD was built at Wallangarra, a state border crossing by the Queensland Main Roads Commission and completed by March 1944. Due the different guage rail lines within Qld and NSW, all supplies, equipment, personnel and vehicles had to be unloaded and reloaded to continue the journey north or south.
During the war, thousands of troops and tonnes of resources passed through Wallangarra. The staff at the depot and rail head were advised no earlier than two hours prior to the arrival of a train, due to the secrecy and significance of the site.
Built in conjunction with the Tenterfield Shire Council, the NSW site was the 1 Australian Ammunition Depot (1AAD), situated south-east of the 3 AOD in a heavily wooded area. Trees were maintained for protection against aerial reconnaissance. Five semi-underground ammunition shelters were initially constructed and later ten timber structures and seventy Williams huts were erected.
At the 3AOD site, the rail line was extended and transhipment facilities developed to assist with the transferr of ordnance. To facilitate the smooth running of the site, the 2 Advanced Ordnance Vehicle Park was established with a wide variety of vehicles. It was run by the 2/1 Base AEME Workshop. In addition, there was a AWAS camp, an Employment Company utilising Japanese and German POWs, and a Garrison Battalion for security.
At peak periods in 1944, anywhere up to up to 28 trains from NSW, and up to 30 trains from Qld, arrived at Wallangarra each day. The amount of Ammunition equated to about 9000 ton per day. It was unloaded by hand, by the 'Employment Company', and moved by the two Sections of 'Horse Transport' (horse and wagon) from the Jennings Railway Siding to the Ammunition Depot. 1 Australian Army Troops were trained and supported within the Wallangarra Support Area from 1943 to 1945. The Unit had its own Power generating plant, and its own water supply.
Contributions of further information or images would be appreciated, contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","Australian War Memorial
State Library of Queensland
National Archives of Australia - Series, J56, J1018, J3024, BP378/1, J2774
Dunn, P., Australia @ War
" 1799,"3rd Australian Detention Barracks","Warwick Detention Camp","Internment/POW facility","New England Highway (cnr Flitcroft Street)",Warwick,4370,Darling Downs,-28.2331104278564,152.017562866211,"The site of the Australian Army's Detention Barracks at Warwick is located on the south side of Warwick, east of the New England Highway and north of Flitcroft Street. Quinn Street and Carmody Street run across the site of the compound and exercise yard, which has been subdivided and developed since World War II.
","During late 1943 action was taken to court martial ""certain warrant-officers, NCOs, and soldiers on charges of maltreatment"" of prisoners at the Warwick Detention Barracks, but the men were acquitted. In March 1944 a Medical Officer (MO) who was suspended due to allegations against him was reappointed to his part-time position as MO at Warwick. The Detention Barracks at Warwick were also reputedly the scene of violent riots during the war.
","National Archives of Australia LS539. Warwick - Detail Survey of Detention Camp, Parish of Warwick, County of Merivale. 1943
National Archives of Australia, Folder U to Z Folio 33. Warwick Detention Camp - Site Plan [1/W/13] 1943
National Archives of Australia 369. [Personal Papers of Prime Minister Curtin] Correspondence 'H' [A B Harrison - J L Hewitt, includes representations from Hon E J Harrison (Deputy Leader of the Opposition), J J Healy re Warwick Detention Barracks allegations] 14 Oct 1943 - 27 Jun 1944
""Charges of Maltreatment of Soldiers"", the Argus, Friday 26 November 1943, p.12
Dunn, P. Warwick Detention Barracks Warwick, Qld used by the military during WW2
" 1802,"Waterford Airstrip",,"Airfield","West of Loganlea Road (in the vicinity of Kingston Road)",Waterford West,4133,South-East,-27.6886653900147,153.133346557617,"Constructed for the RAAF and used by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) from mid 1942, Waterford airfield was not utilised to any significant extent. It consisted of one 70 degree, 1.28km long, graded, rolled and grassed airstrip. A camouflaged arch type hideout, suitable for fighters, appears to have been the only structure built.
The east end of the airstrip terminated at the west side of Loganlea road. Its western end, which crossed Kingston Road and caused a deviation which is now Beutel Road, terminated between today's Beutel street and Alford Street. The formation of the airstrip is no longer visible in aerial photographs.
","The arrival of US forces in Queensland from late December 1941 led to an increased demand for airfields to accommodate US aircraft. Existing RAAF airfields were used, and new fields were also constructed. Five airfields were established near Kingston south of Brisbane: Loganlea and Waterford, plus the Kingston airstrips A-10, A-11 and A-12.
Waterford airfield consisted of a single natural surface airstrip, angled at 70 degrees (roughly east-northeast), with a length of 4194 feet (1.28km). The location of the airstrip caused a diversion of Kingston Road to the southwest, at the west end of the strip, and this diversion is now Beutel Street.
A July 10 1942 report claimed that Waterford airfield had been commenced under RAAF supervision, but had been handed over to the Americans along with Archerfield Airfield (1 July 1942). At this time a dispersal scheme was under construction.
By June 1943 the airfield consisted of a single graded, grassed strip which was used by US trainer aircraft, but which could not carry aircraft during the summer rainfall period. A single arch type hideout suitable for fighter aircraft was located south of Kingston road. This hideout was probably built by the contracting firm MR Hornibrook, which was reported in Allied Works Council (AWC) minutes as being directly engaged by the Americans in camouflage work at both the Loganlea and Waterford airstrips.
Some local residents were reputedly fortunate enough to be taken up for flights by the Americans. The area has been developed since the war and no remnant of the airstrip is visible.
","Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Pullar, M. July 1997. Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland. Report for the National Trust of Queensland.
Buchanan, Robyn, c.1999-2000. Logan—rich in history, young in spirit. Logan City Council
National Archives of Australia 764. RAAF Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intelligence Section - Loganlea, Queensland, 1943.
Dunn, P. Waterford Airfield, Waterford Qld during WW2
Howells, M. ""World War II emergency landing fields"", unpublished document.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection
National Library of Australia RAAF Official Aerials.
" 1804,"2/2nd Australian General Hospital","Afton Downs Station","Military camp","Watten Siding, Hughenden-Winton Road",Watten,4821,Atherton Tablelands,-21.4394016265869,144.270645141602,"After returning from service in Egypt with the Australian Imperial Force, the personnel of the 2/2 Australian General Hospital were transferred to a new tent hospital at the remote Watten railway siding south of Hughenden.
The hot, humid, dusty conditions made living and nursing difficult. Selection of the hospital site on an area of soft, boggy black soil had been criticised by the building surveyor, who asked for confirmation of his instructions, saying that if the hospital were built there 'it would be the joke of the district'. However, the Department of Interior confirmed that it was to be built on the site selected for strategic reasons, the location having been chosen by senior Army officials.
In late 1942, some months after the arrival of the 2/2 AGH, the hospital was devastated by a cyclonic storm and was abandoned after tents were blown down and the whole area flooded. Rows of concrete floor slabs and gravelled roads now mark the extent of the Watten general hospital site.
","After travelling from Brisbane to Hughenden by rail the personnel of 2/2 AGH reached Watten railway siding early in July 1942 and set up a temporary tent hospital at the Afton Downs homestead turn off, 18 kilometres down the Winton road. The facility was at first referred to as the 'Hughenden Hospital at Watten siding'. Within days a military convoy arrived with patients for admission. The first hospital death was recorded on 28 August, when a soldier of 26 Battalion CMF, died and was later buried at Hughenden Cemetery.
During late July, work commenced on construction of a permanent hospital at Watten under the supervision of the Townsville office of the federal Department of Public Works. An inscription in concrete still visible on a mess floor slab, reads 'Watton 28/8/1942'. However, construction proceeded slowly because of the isolation of the location and difficulties in obtaining building materials and competent workmen. In November the department agreed to demands for establishment of a worker's canteen because of the isolation of the place.
Shortly before the destruction of 2/2 AGH in a cyclonic storm, complaints were sent regarding the delay in completing the work. Eventually the Army decided not to complete the whole of Watten hospital, only the southern section providing 800 beds. The northern section was to be made weatherproof only. However, the wet season weather intervened.
Personnel of 2/2 AGH moved from their flooded hospital site at Watten to occupy the recently completed Australian Army hospital at Rocky Creek near Atherton on 5 January 1943. Watten hospital was abandoned.
","Allied Works Council (Queensland), AWC Minutes 1942–1945, BP1/1, National Archives of Australia, Canberra. Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 19.
" 1806,"Royal Australian Navy War Signals Station","RAN Naval installation","Radar/signal station",,Wednesday Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5295432680395,142.309985160828,,,"Map reference 435381.
Item details for: MP151/1, 622/203/2122 Request copy
Title Wednesday Island - Queensland Naval Installation - disposal
Contents date range 1947 - 1948
Series number MP151/1
Click to see which government agency or person created this item.
Control symbol 622/203/2122
Item barcode 6014359
Location Melbourne
Access status Not yet examined
Physical format PAPER FILES AND DOCUMENTS (allocated at series level)
Extent 19 folios
Date registered 12 Feb 2003
" 1808,"United States Naval Anti-Aircraft Training School (Wellington Point)","US Navy Gunnery School, Wellington Point","Military camp","Main Road",Wellington Point,4160,South-East,-27.4658184051514,153.240219116211,"The United States Navy (USN) operated an Anti-Aircraft (A-A) gunnery school at Wellington Point during 1943 and 1944. A detail survey of the Wellington Point reserve, a popular recreational area, was made in late March 1943, and this shows the existing reserve buildings, including a kiosk, shelter sheds and jetty. Although locals were not allowed on the site during the USN occupation, they could still use the jetty.
In April 1943 17 huts were requested from the Allied Works Council, to be built by Hancock and Gore for the USN at Wellington Point. A series of gun pits were also built along the north east shoreline.
During gunnery practice, aircraft towed large silk drogue targets over the area. These were dropped into the sea after the practice shoots, and a number of local women apparently obtained some much sought after silk as a result.
",,"Pullar, M. 1997. Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland. A Report for the National Trust of Queensland
National Archives of Australia, LS690. Wellington Point - Detail Survey, Parish of Capalaba, County of Stanley, 1943.
Wellington Point Settlement to 2000
Dunn, P. US Navy Gunnery School Wellington Point, near Brisbane, Qld during WW2
" 1810,"Air raid shelters","Echlin St drain","Civil defence facility","Echlin Street",West End,4810,Townsville,-19.2668399810791,146.79621887207,"In the early 1930s, Townsville City Council constructed a series of drainage works across the city to alleviate wet season flooding and erosion. The suburb of West End received a major storm water drain to alleviate runoff from Castle Hill. This runs through properties in Echlin Street, beneath Ingham Road and the Show Grounds and empties into a nearby canal.
The Echlin Street drain would fulfill an additional role that city engineers never envisaged. West End residents took full advantage of both the Northern dry season and their solid construction, using them as unofficial air raid shelters on at least three occasions.
In July 1942, the 2nd Group of 14th Kokutai (Air Group), Japanese Naval Air-Force, under the command of Major Misaburo Koizumi, decided to undertake night raids on harbour facilities and airfields at Townsville. In all, five raids were planned; three actually occurred.
","The air raids on Townsville occurred over three nights between 25 and 29 July 1942 when Kawanishi flying boats attacked the city. A plan that involved up to seven Rabaul-based aircraft, each flying a return distance of some 3000 miles, would yield little more than propaganda for the Japanese. The actual damage Townsville received from these three raids was one dead rock wallaby at Many Peaks Range and a damaged coconut tree at Oonoonba.
On hearing the warning siren, West End residents descended into the deep covered storm drain in Echlin Street for protection. As July is the North's dry season, it was free of water and provided far better cover against bombs and shrapnel than Council approved slit trenches. Kerosene lamps, chairs and even a guitar were brought along to make the wait until the 'all clear' siren sounded more comfortable.
The large reinforced concrete civilian air raid shelters known as 'Hanlon's Hideout's (after Civil Defence Minister Ned Hanlon) were concentrated in the CBD where approximately fifteen were sited for workers and shoppers. These were not located in the suburbs as residents were expected to construct their own shelter or slit trench for protection against air attack.
","Imperial Japanese Navy Combat Evaluation Sheets for 25 July, 27/28 July, 28 July, 28/29 July, 30/31 July 1942.
Piper, Robert, Townsville Under Attack, Unpublished, 1987.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
Image - Echlin Street drain, covered in 2010.
" 1821,"Temporary Signals Office Townsville",,"Radar/signal station","Scully and Francis Streets",West End,4810,Townsville,-19.2629165649414,146.787139892578,"A Temporary Signals office for the Allied Air Force was located in Francis Street West End in mid 1943. The suburb of West End in Townsville was the location of many hired dwellings by the Australian and US military. Commonwealth documents also reveal plans of several underground air raid shelters and command posts/operations rooms in this suburb. These architectural plans do not indicate how many were actually completed.
This facility was connected to the RAAF at Garbutt airfield, the No.2 US Air Command Operations and Signals centre at Ramsay Street Garbutt, a Remote Receiving station in Stagpole Street and the RAAF Intelligence and Signals Building in Green and Sidney Streets. These highly secretive installations have left little in the way of documentation in the archives to reveal how they operated. However they were not only responsible for Allied communications, but also the interpretation of intercepted Japanese transmissions.
The location of the temporary signals was ninety-six yards from the corner of Henry and Francis Street on the left towards Tufley Street. This drawing indicates it may have been located at the rear of a house in Francis Street.
",,"Telephone Facilities - temporary signals office for Francis Street - Townsville for Allied Air Force [item includes drawings]. MP721/1, W343/201 Melbourne.
The North Queensland Line: The Defence of Townsville in 1942"". Ray Holyoak unpublished
Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville 1998.
" 1824,"Thomas Dixon Boot Factory","private shelter","Civil defence facility","406 Montague Road",West End,4101,Brisbane City,-27.4861526489258,153.001922607422,"Geoff Hughes states under a verandah at back of building
",,"PWD conservation plan
" 1838,"USN Submarine Supply Centre","Windsor State School","Supply facility","Windsor State School, 290 Lutwyche Road",Windsor,4030,Brisbane City,-27.4313278198242,153.030517578125,"The United States Navy began building storage warehouses at Windsor in November 1942. By early 1943, there were five USN warehouses at Windsor but located on two separate sites. In February 1943, the USN requisitioned Windsor State School for it to become the main Submarine Supply Centre servicing the USN submarine base at New Farm. The Centre administered all of the storage warehouses located across Brisbane until August 1944. The Centre followed the USN north on MacArthur's drive on the Philippines. The site then became a USN receiving station until the Americans closed all the Windsor facilities during September and October 1945.
","The Windsor State Primary School acquired a modern brick classroom building in 1915. The school was serviced by the Lutwyche Road tramline. Following the arrival at New Farm of the submarine tender USS Griiffin and 5 submarines in April 1942, the US Navy created a naval base in Brisbane. It was designated US Navy Base 134. While the main facilities were at New Farm, the USN built facilities in other Brisbane suburbs. At Windsor, Warehouses S1, S2 and S3 were built on open land bounded by Northey and Swan Streets and Swan Terrace (now Victory Park). The USN leased the park from the Brisbane City Council from 1 November 1942. This was followed on 7 December by an USN lease of Windsor Park in Blackmore Street. Warehouses W1 and W2 were constructed at Windsor Park. The three warehouses in Swan Street were designated USN Swan Hill while the other two warehouses were known as USN Windsor Park.
During 1943, as more submarines arrived, the Americans sought to expand the Base 134. New buildings were constructed for or by the USN, or existing Brisbane buildings were requisitioned for military use. The United States Navy built and used more covered storage space in Brisbane than in any other naval base established in the Southwest Pacific Area. Most of the warehouses were 100 feet by 200 feet frame structures covered with Fibrolite. In many cases two or more 100 feet by 200 feet units were joined into a single building to increase the storage capacity.
As Windsor, already had five USN warehouses, it was an ideal location for a navy supply facility. After negations between the Australian and the Queensland Governments, the USN leased the entire Windsor School site for a submarine supply centre. The lease agreement was organised through the Australian Army Hiring Service offices at Victoria Barracks. The USN moved into the school grounds on 10 February 1943.
Apart from the existing school building and other on-site facilities, the USN had to construct a number of new buildings, specifically barracks and a mess hall for sailors that were to be based at the Submarine Supply Centre, as well as Warehouse C1 to hold submarine supplies and stores. A Seabee Construction Battalion built Warehouse C-1 facing Lutwyche Road, Windsor. The Centre also had an administration office, a carpenters shop, barbers shop, Excelsior store, oil and drum storage and an open storage shed. No ordnance (e.g. mines or torpedoes) was stored at the Windsor School. Such items were kept at the USN Ordnance Depot at Mt Coot-tha.
As the Submarine Supply Centre was designated as a separate unit within the USN base operations in Brisbane, it had its own administrative offices at Windsor. In early 1945, the unit transferred to the USN Advance Base in the Philippines. The US Naval Supply Depot unit took over the Windsor State School. The site then became an USN storage and receiving station. During part of the USN lease (22 July 1944 - 4 June 1945) of the McWhirters Storage Building in Fortitude Valley, the Submarine Supply Centre used this building. The USN ended its lease of USN Windsor Park on 13 September 1945; of USN Swan Hill on 23 October 1945; and of the Windsor School site on the next day. All three properties were returned to Australian Army Hiring Service. The Windsor Park warehouses were next allotted to the Australian Army (AIF). The Swan Hill warehouses were allotted to the RAN. The Windsor School site was allotted to the Australian Military Forces (AMF or the militia) use.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation.
United States Navy Bureau of Yards and Docks Section, Defense Aid - Reciprocal and Review Board Report US Naval Base, Navy 134, Brisbane, (1946).
Brisbane City Council Minutes
" 1934,"Longland's Gap Jungle Warfare Training Area","Longland's Pocket Jungle Training Area","Training facility","east off Kennedy Highway (north of Longlands Gap Road)",Wondecla,4887,Atherton Tablelands,-17.4557476043701,145.479019165039,"On arrival home from the Middle East and North Africa the volunteer troops of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) who were skilled in desert warfare, had to adapt to the new challenges of jungle fighting in tropical conditions similar to those found in New Guinea and the Pacific islands.
This hilltop area of Longland Pocket State Forest was used in training during long route marches and jungle warfare exercises. It contains a system of foxholes with inter-connecting trenches.
During World War II this area of rainforest was situated between large military encampments at Wondecla, Ravenshoe, Wongabel and Kairi that were occupied at various times by units of the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions, AIF.
Today the area is on a recent transmission tower access track about 500 metres east of the Kennedy Highway and is hidden in a remnant patch of rainforest south of Mount Hypipamee National Park.
","Before the Atherton Tableland was developed as a military region, the Mount Spec district north of Townsville served as a useful jungle training area in north Queensland. Troops from the south as well as the first units of the Second AIF and their commanders, fresh from the Middle East were able to acclimatize and become used to combat in the close confines of the rainforest.
Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions began arriving on the Tableland in January 1943 and started occupying tent encampments around the settlements of Wongabel, Wondecla and Ravenshoe. The 9th Division returned to Australia from the Middle East during February and in April began reforming at camps around Kairi, Tinaroo and Danbulla. Jungle warfare training took place in rainforest country near Tully Falls, and at Longland Pocket, Danbulla State Forest, Mount Edith, Mount Bartle Frere and on Rainy Mountain in the Kuranda Range.
Cairns replaced Townsville during 1943 as the main port of embarkation for Australian troops engaged in the New Guinea campaigns. Amphibious landing exercises were carried out in Trinity Inlet and on the northern beaches. Following the capture of Buna and the end of the Kokoda campaign, Australian operations on the north coast of New Guinea continued with the advance towards Salamaua, the capture of Lae, the subsequent advance up the Markham and Ramu River valleys, the landing at Finschhafen, and the taking of Sattelberg.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 1939,"Wondecla Army Entertainment Hall","Wondecla Army Camp Theatre","Recreation/community","Longlands Gap Road (cnr Wieland Road)",Wondecla,4887,Atherton Tablelands,-17.4298725128174,145.413116455078,"A large timber truss igloo theatre was erected on the main Herberton-Evelyn Road (today the Longlands Gap Road) for the troops of the 6th Division. Like similar military camp theatres on the Tableland at Rocky Creek and Danbulla, the Wondecla theatre was about 42 metres in length and 22 metres wide and stood 7.5 metres in height. It was clad in corrugated iron and combined two structural elements-an igloo auditorium with an attached stage area. The igloo was built on a concrete floor slab with two external drains running each side of the building and concrete footings to support the trusses which span the interior space. Each truss is composed of two curved half-trusses which are pinned at the footings and at the apex where they meet. The trusses are made entirely of light pieces of hardwood nailed together and clad with corrugated iron. The stage area is a more conventional timber-frame weatherboard building with a gable roof about 9 metres in height.
From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland was transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland, with the main administrative centre around the town of Atherton. Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions began arriving on the Tableland in early 1943 and started occupying encampments around the settlements of Wondecla and Ravenshoe. By February and March 1943 a huge schedule of construction work under the direction of the Allied Works Council was underway involving the building of tent encampments, hutments, stores, bakeries, mess kitchens and hospitals.
Apart from the camp theatre, the only other buildings at the camp were the officers' messes, the store, a canteen, and corrugated iron sheds for the kitchens. The majority of the encampment was set out under canvas tents. The first picnic race meeting was held in April setting the pattern for many more to follow.
","Units of the 6th Division established their encampments near Wondecla railway siding south of Herberton during the early months of 1943. The 6th Division of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2/AIF) had served in the Middle East, North African and Greek campaigns; and the New Guinea campaign including the crucial battles of the Kokoda Track and Buna-Gona, before returning to Australia for recuperation and regrouping.
The encampments were located near the Herberton golfcourse and racecourse with the main concentration centred around the Divisional theatre igloo south-east of Wondecla railway siding. Divisional headquarters were at the southern entrance to the camp, nearer the present Kennedy Highway junction. Other units of the 6th Division were camped at Wongabel railway siding closer to Atherton.
Units of the 6th Division began returning to Wondecla from the Salamaua and Wau, New Guinea campaigns in September and October 1943. During late 1943 and early 1944 three squadrons of the 2/6 Australian Cavalry Commando Regiment arrived at Wondecla for jungle warfare training with the 6th Division. A Jungle Range Course was constructed at Opossum Creek near Longland Gap. The range consisted of courses for Bren light machine guns, rifles, and sub-machine guns.
Due to rapid development of the Pacific war and strategic uncertainty over the role of Australian forces in the region the Division remained at Wondecla for about a year. For the men of all 2/AIF Divisions training endlessly in north Queensland, 1944 was the most frustrating year of the war. From October to December 1944 the units of the 6th Division left Wondecla to embark at Cairns for the Aitape-Wewak campaign to relieve the infantry regiments of the US 43rd Division, destined for the assault on the Philippines.
The Wondecla camp theatre, used for both church services and concerts, was left empty but intact on the departure of the Australian Army from the Atherton Tableland after 1946. During the 1990s the hall was occupied and partly refurbished as a residence. The stage structure received substantial damage during Cyclone Larry in 2006.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 1940,"Wondecla Military Camps","6th Australian Division Camp Site","Military camp","Longlands Gap-Herberton Road",Wondecla,4887,Atherton Tablelands,-17.4298305511475,145.409042358398,"Units of the 6th Division established their encampments near Wondecla railway siding south of Herberton during the early months of 1943. The 6th Division of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2/AIF) had served in the Middle East, North African and Greek campaigns; and the New Guinea campaign including the crucial battles of the Kokoda Track and Buna-Gona, before returning to Australia for recuperation and regrouping.
From December 1942 the headquarters of the Australian Army in north Queensland was transferred from Townsville to the Atherton Tableland, with the main administrative centre around the town of Atherton. Units of the Australian 6th and 7th Divisions began arriving on the Tableland in early 1943 and started occupying encampments around the settlements of Wondecla and Ravenshoe. By February and March 1943 a huge schedule of construction work under the direction of the Allied Works Council was underway involving the building of tent encampments, hutments, stores, bakeries, mess kitchens and hospitals.
","The encampments were located near the Herberton golfcourse and racecourse with the main concentration centred around the Divisional theatre igloo south-east of Wondecla railway siding. Divisional headquarters were at the southern entrance to the camp, nearer the present Kennedy Highway junction. Other units of the 6th Division were camped at Wongabel railway siding closer to Atherton.
Units of the 6th Division began returning to Wondecla from the Salamaua and Wau, New Guinea campaigns in September and October 1943. During late 1943 and early 1944 three squadrons of the 2/6 Australian Cavalry Commando Regiment arrived at Wondecla for jungle warfare training with the 6th Division. A Jungle Range Course was constructed at Opossum Creek near Longland Gap. The range consisted of courses for Bren light machine guns, rifles, and sub-machine guns.
Due to rapid development of the Pacific war and strategic uncertainty over the role of Australian forces in the region the Division remained at Wondecla for about a year. For the men of all 2/AIF Divisions training endlessly in north Queensland, 1944 was the most frustrating year of the war. From October to December 1944 the units of the 6th Division left Wondecla to embark at Cairns for the Aitape-Wewak campaign to relieve the infantry regiments of the United States (US) 43rd Division, destined for the assault on the Philippines.
The brigades of the 6th Division came together at Wondecla to train as a jungle establishment. Under this establishment battalion sizes were reduced to about 800 men. However, it was a year before all the sick and wounded returned to the ranks and other reinforcements were received from Militia units. Along with training there was time for recreation including swimming carnivals, boxing tournaments and a 6th Division rugby league championship in which the 2/3 Battalion were victorious.
In late 1944 the 6th Division returned to New Guinea to contain Japanese troops in the Aitape-Wewak district. Wewak was captured in May 1945 and the Japanese surrendered in August of that year.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Bibliography: Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale.
" 1941,"Wondoola Station Airfield",,"Airfield","via Burke Development Road",Wondoola Station,4823,North-West,-18.5718860626221,140.893020629883,"Nestled in the base of Cape York on Wondoola Creek, a tributary of the Saxby River, itself a tributary of the mighty Flinders River, Wondoola was, and still is, a significant cattle raising area. It has long been serviced by light air traffic both private and via regional services of the day.
","It was a landing ground (DCA LG #362 revised 4/41) made known to RAAF pilots using the area and it is likely landings occurred from time to time. It does not appear that any RAAF unit as such was ever domiciled in this vicinity.
","Roger and Jenny Marks - 'Queensland Airfields WW2 - 50 Years On'.
" 1977,"Woodstock Airfields",,"Airfield","Flinders Highway",Woodstock,4816,Townsville,-19.6004390716553,146.842926025391,"The United States (US) 46th Engineer Regiment probably shared work start dates at Woodstock with a part of their unit active a few kilometres northward at Antil Plains. Certainly P-39 Airacobras are recorded using the 104 degrees (most northerly) strip at Woodstock in their transit northward around April 1942.
Woodstock also had an attractive wide road reserve which was the Charters Towers road and like Antil this strip may have been sited with the object of it masquerading as part of the road. Equally as was the case at Antil, this strip became less used in favour of the southernmost strip bearing approximately 70 degrees magnetic.
Systematic RAAF airfield record photography over this airfield shows B-25 Mitchell Bombers of the US 345th BG (Air Apaches) on the ground at the eastern end of this strip. Several photos abound pre-dating this mid 1943 photography, showing B-26 aircraft and facilities such as mess buildings.
Currently an airstrip named Donnington Airpark exists, in what used to be the WWII dispersal areas. The wartime 104 degrees strip was integrated into the highway roadwork shortly after WWII.
The US 46th Engineers boast a detailed history of their activities in this area which includes a classic photograph of a dance evening within the then CWA hall at Woodstock. During research for Queensland Airfields (QAWW2) Roger Marks was fortunate to find that hall not just still in existence but also featuring the photo portrait which figured in the dance photo of May 1942.
",,"Roger Marks, Queensland Airfields WW2: 50 years on, Brisbane, 1994
" 1986,"Woolloongabba Air Raid Shelter","Buranda","Civil defence facility","34 Flower Street",Woolloongabba,4102,Brisbane City,-27.4939556121826,153.043060302734,,,"BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 1988,"17th Australian Personnel Staging Camp (APSC)","Kalinga Park","Military camp","Bertha, Henry and Kalinga Streets",Wooloowin,4030,Brisbane City,-27.406982421875,153.052215576172,"Brisbane City Council's Kalinga Park was selected as the site for a large Commonwealth Military Forces staging camp for use by troops moving between postings or when on leave. It was pre-war park containing Anzac Memorial Gates and a World War One Memorial Digger's Rest drive running beside Kedron Brook.
","The erection of the large camp, the 17th Australian Personnel Staging Camp, necessitated the removal of the park's bandstand, and the installation of significant accommodation and services for troops. These included and administration block, barracks, ablutions and shower facilities, messes for officers, sergeants and other ranks, wet and dry canteens, stores, a theatre, YMCA hall, butcher shop, pay office, regimental aid post and a post office.
The Australian 8th Mobile Ambulance Company was also based at Kalinga Park.
The former Post Office building is the only one which remains on site. After the War it was moved to the western end of the park and was been modified for use by a local Scout group.
","BP378/1 FOLDER I TO L FOLIO 35, Kalinga Staging Camp - Site Plan [1/K/8], NAA
BCC Heritage Unit files
" 1991,"Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Station 4 and Fort Skirmish",,"Fortifications","North Street",Woorim,4507,South-East,-27.0578289031982,153.199630737305,"Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Station 4 co-ordinated the naval defences of Moreton Bay and also monitored anti-submarine indicator loops set between Woorim and Comboyuro Point (Bulwer) on Moreton Island, while Fort Skirmish was a two gun 155mm coastal battery at Woorim. Both sites were operational between 1942 and 1944.
RAN 4's three surviving concrete buildings are located near the car park at the north end of North Street in Woorim. The concrete Control Post/Indicator Loop and Harbour Defence ASDIC (HDA) Control Hut is located southeast of the car park at the crest of the first sand dune. There are five main rooms plus two toilets, with entry from the west.
The single room northern concrete Engine Room is located in the undergrowth north of the car park, while the identical southern concrete Engine Room is located in a park opposite Eighth Avenue.
The only surviving element of Fort Skirmish is its northern Flank Observation Post (FOP), located next to the beach about 4.6km north of the car park next to RAN 4, accessible by 4WD with a beach permit. The FOP was originally positioned on tall timber stumps, but the concrete structure now rests on its side. Concrete footings are located nearby to the south.
","Prior to the emplacement of two 6-inch guns at Cowan Cowan on the West side of Moreton Island in 1937, the coastal defence of the Moreton Bay region was based at the mouth of the Brisbane River at Fort Lytton, constructed in the 1880s.
The above defences were supplemented after the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, when two 6-inch Mk XI guns were positioned at Fort Bribie at the north end of Bribie Island in early 1940. In late 1942 two American 155mm field guns were positioned at Skirmish Point (Fort Skirmish) at the south end of Bribie Island, and in 1943 a similar battery was sited at Rous, on the east side of Moreton Island. The 155mm guns were designed by the French in World War I and were manufactured in the United States as the M1917 or M1918. In the coastal artillery role in Australia they were set on concrete mounts, where the gun's wheels were supported on a central round concrete pillar (or 'cheese'), and the gun's trails were traversed around a steel ring set in a concrete outer circle. Although these were called ""Panama mounts"" in Australia, actual Panama mounts were of a steel cruciform type.
During 1942–1943 nineteen batteries using M1917A1 155mm guns (designated by alphabetic letters and hence known as 'Letter batteries') were established and allocated to coastal defence in Australia and New Guinea. Sites in Queensland where Letter batteries were emplaced on circular concrete mounts included Skirmish Point; Rous battery; Magnetic Island in Townsville; False Cape near Cairns; and Turtle battery on Hammond Island in the Torres Strait.
Fort Skirmish was manned by 'D' Battery from September 1942 to May 1943, the guns arriving at Woorim on 14 September. Other batteries that were formed at Skirmish Point before moving north to Townsville included: 'E' Battery (formed October 1942, to Townsville that month); 'B' Battery (combined to form 'D' battery, then separated out as 'F' battery, sent to Townsville in October 1942, and renamed 'B' again in January 1943); 'L' Battery (formed October 1942, to Townsville December 1942); and 'G' Battery (raised November 1942, to Townsville in December). 'P' Battery was formed in November 1943, as a combined battery for Fort Skirmish and Rous.
The concrete gun emplacements (the circular concrete mounts were built atop large concrete magazines) were completed by 27 November 1943, but were not yet occupied due to modifications. By 15 Feb 1944 the base end stations (used to triangulate ship positions, and located north and south of Woorim), plotting room, gun mountings, Battery Observation Post (BOP) and Signals Operations Room (SOR) were completed. The guns were set on their new mountings on 4 and 17 March 1944, and a permanent Command Post (CP) was operational that month, but 'P' battery was wound up in late October 1944.
Fort Skirmish's gun emplacements, less than a kilometre south of RAN 4, were undermined by beach erosion and were demolished in the early 1970s. The gun emplacements, BOP and the plotting room west of the guns were apparently located near the corner of North Street and Fourth Avenue. The only structure to survive is the battery's concrete Flank Observation Post (FOP), which used to stand on timber supports, but which now lies on its side near the beach about 4.6 km north of the car park at the end of North Street in Woorim. There was apparently another FOP (or possibly the southern base end station) south of Woorim, and its remains are buried under the sand.
During World War II Moreton Bay was also protected by Royal Australian Navy (RAN) stations numbers 1 through 10. RAN 1 was a Port War Signal Station at Wickham Point, Caloundra (moved from Cowan Cowan in 1942) and RAN 2 was a Controlled Mining and Guard Loop Station which was initially located at Fort Bribie in early 1942, before it was moved to Tangalooma on Moreton Island in September 1943. RAN 3 was a Controlled Mining and Guard Loop Station at Cowan Cowan, and RAN 4 was the Indicator Loop and Harbour Defence ASDIC (anti-submarine detection sonar) Station at Woorim on Bribie Island. RAN 5 was the Combined Training Centre (Naval Wing), at Toorbul; RAN 6 was an Advanced Fairmile Base (AFMB) at Bongaree, Bribie Island; and RAN 7 was an Indicator Loop and Harbour Defence ASDIC Station at Bulwer on Moreton Island. On the Brisbane River, RAN 8 was the Boom Defence Facility, an Anti-submarine Boom across the Brisbane River between Lytton and Bulwer Island; RAN 9 was the Indicator Loop and Photo-electric Beam Station, Myrtletown; and RAN 10 was a Naval Store at Pinkenba.
RAN 4 was established in late 1942 and included a concrete Control Post, built by October, which acted as the main control position for Moreton Bay's naval defences. It also monitored three of the four indicator loops laid between Woorim and Comboyuro Point (RAN 7) on Moreton Island, as well as two of three Harbour Defence Asdics (HDAs) south of the loops. RAN 7 controlled the remainder. Indicator loops were used to detect the presence of any submerged submarines. An indicator loop relies on the production of an induced current in a stationary loop of wire when a magnet moves overhead. If no vessel could be observed on the surface, the object detected was potentially a submarine, and a vessel could be despatched to drop depth charges. The HDAs were mounted on the seabed, and detected submarines using sonar. The indicator loops were laid between August and October 1942, and the HDAs in November and December 1942. RAN 4 was fully operational by mid November 1942, with 43 men.
There were also two concrete Engine Rooms at RAN 4, to house diesel engines to power electrical generators, and one also housed a pump. Other buildings at the site included a wardroom with officers cubicles and kitchen and shower/latrine annexes; store room; mess hut with kitchen, laundry and garage; two sleeping huts; combined bathroom and latrines; two kitchens and a shower block.
In June 1944 it was ordered that all indicator loops and other harbour defences outside the Brisbane River be removed, as the threat of Japanese attack was by now minimal, and naval defences should cease on 3 August. RAN 4 was briefly used by the Army between September and November 1944, and the Department of the Interior later auctioned off the buildings in June 1945. The timber buildings were sold, as was the Command Post, which was used as a weekender on a special lease until 1970. The building has since been restored.
","Bribie Island Second World War Fortifications, Queensland Heritage Register 601143
RAN Station 9, Pinkenba (Myrtletown), Queensland Heritage Register 601448
Fort Cowan Cowan (Cowan Cowan Battery). Queensland Heritage Register 602559
Donald, Ron, 1995. Fort Bribie. The story of wartime Fort Bribie and Toorbul Point. Bribie Island RSL.
Donald, Ron, 2005. Moreton Bay Queensland in World War II, Ron Donald, Bribie Island.
Kidd, R and Neal, R. 1998. The 'Letter' Batteries: the history of the 'letter' batteries in World War II. RE Neal, Castlecrag NSW.
National Archives of Australia, Bribie Island Seaward Defences, Navy Depot 1944-1945, 60/1/1367
Walding, R. Skirmish Battery
Walding, R. Indicator Loops of the Royal Australian Navy at Bribie Island
Walding, R. Indicator Loops and Harbour Defence Asdics (HDAs)
Walding, R. Indicator Loops and Coastal Army Fortifications at Moreton Island
Dunn, P. Skirmish Battery Woorim, Bribie Island, Qld during WW2
" 1996,"Operations and Signals Building, 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters","103 Fighter Control Unit, RAAF Air Defence Headquarters","Radar/signal station","Stuart Drive (Flinders Highway)",Wulguru,4811,Townsville,-19.3349208831787,146.824615478516,"The Operations and Signals building of 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters was constructed between 1942 and 1944. In January 1945 the site became the RAAF Air Defence Headquarters. The timber camp buildings (not extant) north of the two storey reinforced concrete Operations building were later used for migrant accommodation and as student accommodation.
The Operations building, measuring about 18m by 13m, is located at the base of Mount Stuart, and is approached from the northeast by a track from Stuart Drive (Flinders Highway) at Wulguru, south of Townsville.
The main interior space is two-stories in height, with internal support pillars, and retains evidence of the destroyed mezzanine floor, air-conditioning ducts and toilets. The skillion-roofline section to the north contains a single storey (roofless) guard room on the east side, a former stairwell and four rooms on two levels. Access to the (roofless) upper and lower rooms (air-conditioning room and engine room respectively) at the centre of the front elevation was from the stairwell; access to the upper and lower rooms at the western end was from the interior.
To either side of the Operations building are two circular structures, possibly bases for communication aerials or anchors for the camouflage net for the building. To the northwest and the northeast of the Operations building are a number of concrete slabs, concrete steps and scatters of building material; remnants of the other structures of the headquarters camp.
","In late 1942 Townsville was the principle port for those Allied troops serving in the New Guinea campaign, and Cleveland Bay between Magnetic Island and Townsville was an important assembly point for shipping. The Australian forces chose Townsville as the Area Combined Headquarters for the North East Area, while the American forces used Townsville as the headquarters of the United States Army Base Section Two and the Fourth Air Depot of the United States Army Airforce (USAAF).
There was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) station at Garbutt, and a number of air bases used by Australian and US aircraft were established between Townsville and Charters Towers, and west to Cloncurry. Between 1942 and 1945 the Townsville and Charters Towers region became one of the largest concentrations of airfields, stores, ammunition depots and port operations in the South West Pacific Theatre.
3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ) was first established in temporary accommodation at Townsville Grammar School on 25 February 1942. 3FSHQ was connected by telephone and radio to Voluntary Air Observer Corps (VAOC) posts, anti-aircraft guns and searchlights, and with Radio Direction Finding (RDF or radar) stations and High Frequency Direction Finding (HF/DF) stations in the Townsville and Charters Towers area. The headquarters thus activated air raid warnings, coordinated anti-aircraft defences, controlled fighter squadron operations, maintained radio watches for bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, and provided position plots for courier and civil aircraft operating between Brisbane and New Guinea. The station was also linked by telephone to RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne.
Planning for the construction of a permanent Fighter Sector Headquarters began in 1942. The new complex was constructed on the lower, eastern slopes of Mt Stuart on 68 acres of land requisitioned by the Commonwealth in August 1942. The site was regarded as ideal as it was some distance from the main airfields and the public eye, but still close enough to the various other installations it liaised with.
Construction of the complex began in late 1942 with the Operations and Signals building (also referred to as an Operations and Signals Room) finished in mid 1943. Associated radio facilities were erected on Mt Stuart. However, by November 1943 the Operations Building, identified as a semi-underground building because all cabling was laid underground, was not yet occupied because associated accommodation facilities had not been completed. Eventually the site became operational in December 1944; by which time 3FSHQ had been renamed 103FSHQ and then 103 Fighter Control Unit.
The building itself was fully air-conditioned and housed its own power plant. The interior had a steel mezzanine floor splitting it into two levels and was divided into rooms and passage ways by caneite partitions. Located within the building were the Operations Room, Engine Room, RDF Filter Room, VAOC Liaison Room, Main Operations Room Dais, Aircraft Movements Section, RDF Supervisors Room, Signal Officers Room, W/T Workshop and PMG Switch Room.
The Administration Section was also moved to the Stuart site and commenced functioning on 29 December 1944. On 25 January 1945 the Royal Australian Airforce established their Air Defence Headquarters in the Stuart complex; from where they operated until 1947.
A 1945 plan of the site shows that accommodation huts, latrines and kitchen/mess buildings were located northwest and northeast of the Operations building, in a camp orientated northeast to southwest from the Flinders Highway. The camp, except for the Operations building, was utilised from 1950 to 1956 as a migrant Holding Centre, and additional huts were placed on the site to provide more accommodation for post war migrants. A 1950 plan of the Holding Centre shows that additional buildings included seven more sleeping huts at the west end of the complex, plus a recreation building and canteen northwest of the two kitchen/mess buildings. The capacity at Stuart was about 500 persons.
In 1961 James Cook University of North Queensland purchased the site for student accommodation while the residential halls at Douglas were under construction. The Operations building was still partially furnished at the time the property was purchased by the university. There was a large mapping table in the main room complete with maps and maps on the wall still had marker pins in them. The switchboards and other communication equipment were still largely intact. Soon after, in 1962 or 1963, the interior of the Operations building was destroyed by fire, leaving only an open two storey void within the main space, plus some rooms at the front of the building. There are remnants of its external camouflage colour scheme, chosen to blend with the pink granite of the hill. In the early 1970s the headquarters site was vacated and the barracks either demolished or removed. Only the odd concrete slab remains of the accommodation complex.
","Operations and Signals Bunker (former), Queensland Heritage Register 601708
Commonwealth Acetate of Lime Factory (former) Queensland Heritage Register 602465
Holyoak, R. 1998. The North Queensland Line: The defence of Townsville in 1942. Unpublished Honours Thesis, James Cook University, Townsville.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Joint Committee on War Expenditure, Seventh Progress Report, Defence Construction in Queensland and Northern Territory, 27 November 1944. Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra 1944.
National Archives of Australia, QTA2037. Stuart Migrant Holding Centre Site
Plan 1950.
National Archives of Australia. ET140. Electrical Drawing 3 FS HG Townsville
Light, Power & Clocks, 1943.
Dunn, P. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters in Australia during WWII
James Cook University photographic collection.
" 1997,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Bombing Range","""Wyaralong"" Bombing and Gunnery Range","Training facility","Beaudesert-Boonah Road",Wyaralong,4310,South-East,-27.9390964508057,152.814605712891,"In 1940 a RAAF bombing range was established on Wyaralong Station, south of the Beaudesert-Boonah Road, just west of Lower Sandy Creek.
This would have initially been used to train pilots under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), most likely pilots from the No. 3 Service Flying training School (SFTS) at Amberley, about 34km to the northwest.
",,"National Archives of Australia, NEG10072. Wyaralong Station - RAAF Bombing Range on Wyaralong Station, County of Ward, Parish of Dugandan, 1940
Dunn, P. Wyaralong Bombing and Gunnery range Wyaralong, Qld, used during WW2
" 1999,"Public Bus Shelter",,"Civil defence facility","Florence Street (Cnr Bay Terrace)",Wynnum,4178,Brisbane City,-27.4436683654785,153.173614501953,,,"BCC list
" 2000,"VDC Coast Observation Post",,"Civil defence facility","Darling Point",Wynnum,4178,Brisbane City,-27.4471893310547,153.187255859375,,, 2003,"RAAF 21 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot",,"Supply facility","Millar Street (west of former Yarraman Railway Station)",Yarraman,4614,Darling Downs,-26.8353080749512,151.990753173828,"The RAAF 21 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD) was built by the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) in 1942, as part of a plan to store aviation fuel away from the coastline and possible enemy air attack. Four tanks are built into the side of the hill to the west of the former railway station, on the east side of Yarraman.
The former depot is surrounded by a ruined security fence, and includes four tanks of welded steel plate set within reinforced concrete walls, floors and rooves. The tanks are accessible through concrete lined tunnels. One of the two northern tanks has been used as the base of a house.
There is also a semi-underground concrete building at the base of the hill, between the northern and southern tanks, possibly the pump house. Two associated pits, one lined with concrete and the other lined with corrugated sheeting, access underground storage.
","During 1942–1943 a series of Inland Aircraft Fuel Depots (IAFD) were built for the RAAF, for bulk storage of fuel in tanks, plus storage of drums of T.E.L (tetra ethyl lead) spirit to boost the octane level of the fuel. Trains delivered the fuel to the depots, from where it could be trucked to nearby airfields. The depots were built on inland railway lines, as it was thought that the North Coast railway line was vulnerable to enemy air attack. Six such depots were built in Queensland: 7 IAFD Toowoomba, 8 IAFD at Gayndah, 9 IAFD at Charters Towers, 21 IAFD at Yarraman; 22 IAFD at Roma and 23 IAFD at Cloncurry.
Yarraman was built at the end of the Brisbane Valley Branch railway line, and like the depots at Gayndah and Charters Towers, Yarraman was also on the Inland Defence Road between Ipswich and Charters Towers. The latter was built or upgraded (sections pre-dated the war) in 1942–1943 by the Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) and the New South Wales Department of Main Roads (Duaringa to Charters Towers section). The Inland Defence Road ran north via Esk, Blackbutt, Nanango, Goomeri, Gayndah, Eidsvold, Banana, Duaringa and Clermont, and was designed as an alternative route for military supplies should the coast route be cut by enemy action.
The depot at Yarraman was constructed by the Queensland MRC and consisted of four steel tanks - three of 200,000 Imperial Gallons (909,218 litres) and one of 54,000 gallons (245,488 litres) - built into the side of a rocky hill. The rock was excavated, a reinforced concrete base was poured, and the steel plates, delivered without handling holes and without being shaped, were set by hand. Upon completion of the bottom and first row around the sides, the section of plates was water tested. The rest of the plates were then placed, welded and tested. After the steel sides were in place, concrete sidewalls a minimum of 8"" (20.3cm) thick were built, along with a 12"" (30.5cm) concrete roof supported on four steel-cased concrete columns. Manholes were included in the rooves of the tanks.
A well ventilated semi-underground concrete structure at the base of the hill between the two northern tanks and the two southern tanks was probably the pump house. Two pits nearby lead to underground storage, probably for the drums of T.E.L spirit.
The depot is currently derelict, although one of the tanks has been used as the base for a house. The adjacent railway station is also abandoned, although the Station Master's house and camping quarters survive east of the railway line.
","Yarraman Railway Complex, Reported Place 2452, DERM
Buchanan Architects, 2002. ""QR Heritage Survey, Brisbane Valley Line"", Volume 5, Brisbane to Toowoomba
Queensland Main Roads Commission, 1949. The history of the Queensland Main Roads Commission during World War II, 1939–1945. Brisbane, Government Printer.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia LS239A, Yarraman Oil Depot - Pipeline Bore to Elevated Tank, 1942.
National Archives of Australia LS150A, Yarraman - rail station [terminus of Brisbane Valley Railway, Queensland, plan of yard layout] 1942
Dunn, P. RAAF No.21 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot Yarraman, Yarraman Qld during WW2
Survey Plans, DERM.
" 2007,"United States Army 3rd & 8th Medical Laboratories and Quartermaster Morgue","Animal Research Institute, University of Queensland School of Veterinary Science","Scientific facility","Fairfield Road",Yeerongpilly,4105,Brisbane City,-27.5246658325195,153.012481689453,"The Animal Research Institute began as a state government Stock Experiment Station in 1909. Just prior to World War II, it was utilised by the School of Veterinary Science of the University of Queensland that was then based at Garden's Point in the City. After the university had added modern laboratories to the site, the US Army's 3rd Medical Laboratory (3rd Med. Lab.) requisitioned it in June 1942. This unit researched the treatment of tropical diseases, especially malaria. When 3rd Med. Lab. left the Yeerongpilly laboratories in August 1943, the 8th Medical Laboratory (8th Med. Lab.) replaced it. The 8th Med. Lab. ran an officers' Malaria Control School and conducted laboratory tests including veterinary work. The unit left Yeerongpilly in October 1944.
","In 1909, the Queensland Government's Department of Agriculture and Stock (later Primary Industries) opened a Stock Experiment Station at Yeerongpilly. Its building held offices and laboratories. It was renamed the Animal Health Facility in 1932. The University of Queensland's Faculty of Veterinary Science moved to the Fairfield Road site in 1936. During 1938-40, the University added a second building containing three laboratories, a library, classrooms and an equine operating room.
Later, the US Army requisitioned the site. The 3rd Medical Laboratory unit (with assigned veterinary laboratory officers and technicians) disembarked at Brisbane on 18 June 1942. Led by Major Francis E. Council, it was the first Laboratory unit to be deployed to the South-West Pacific Area. Initially it was quartered at Camp Ascot Park with its crated equipment stored at Brisbane's 'Social Service Institute'. Soon it was allotted the Yeerongpilly laboratories. The unit operated as a Laboratory and Malaria School for the US Army's Base Section 3 (Brisbane). The 3rd Med Lab served both Army and Navy personnel, including Base Section 3's soldiers but it did not treat any patients. It conducted lab tests and undertook research. Medical supplies were satisfactory except that microscopes and certain dehydrated media (for growing bacterial cultures) were unprocurable.
The main laboratory was established in the University's new building. Officers were quartered in an old house within the grounds. Enlisted men were accommodated in temporary wooden barracks nearby. The mess hall was located in another wooden structure and shower facilities, with hot and cold water, were available. Water was obtained from the Brisbane municipal supply. The unit reported that sanitation facilities were very satisfactory, food was sufficient and of good quality. On 17 January 1943, Detachment, ""F"" Company, 135th Medical Regiment (1 officer, 31 enlisted men) reinforced 3rd Med. Lab. Tents had to be erected near the existing barracks to house the new troops.
On 30 January 1943, Headquarters, 3rd Medical Laboratory was redesignated Stationary Section, 3rd Medical Laboratory with a new commander. Major G.T. Crout replaced, the now, Lieutenant Colonel Council. On 21 March 21 1943, Major J. H. Parker succeeded Crout. During February 1943, a stool survey was undertaken across the US 32nd Infantry Division. The division had been badly affected by topical diseases in the Buna Campaign and had been repatriated from Papua to Camp Cable at Logan in January. Within 950 stools examined, 6.95% contained hookworm while most of the intestinal parasites found were also hookworms. Beginning 1 March 1943 the Laboratory began examining malaria smears taken from those 32nd Division's soldiers who suffered recurring attacks. Examining 1,000 smears, the unit's laboratory found that 51% were positive. Starting in March, a general malaria survey targeted the 126th Infantry Regiment (32nd Division) to follow-up the anti-malarial treatment it received after its return from Papua. Of the 1,534 men examined, 2.5% were still positive.
Other unit tasks included routine water analysis, special serological, bacteriological, pathological, parasitological, food products and chemical examinations, investigations of epidemics or increased prevalence of diseases and distribution of special laboratory supplies. Pathologist Captain Austin J. Corbett reported on his findings on Scrub Typhus. Major James H. Park published a report on immunological reactions to Typhus vaccinations in US troops. On 1 July 1943, Major Park took temporary command of the unit. Colonel Francis E. Council was re-assigned to lead the unit on 12 August 1943. The operation of the Stationary Section ceased on 26 August 1943, when Headquarters, 8th Medical Laboratory replaced it at Yeerongpilly. The Stationary Section shipped to Port Moresby and resumed its headquarters role in the 3rd Med. Lab.
The 8th Med. Lab., including veterinary officers, reached Australia on 15 August 1943. A Malaria Control Training School run by the unit's Headquarters detachment was organized at Brisbane. Classes began in September with two sessions held each week, one for line officers and one for medical officers. An average of 15 to 20 officers were in each class so a total of 1,500 to 2,000 men attended the School during nearly a year of operation. 8th Med. Lab. conducted an average monthly total of 82 bacteriological, 158 chemical and 101 physical tests or examinations on locally procured food products, including canned meats. Veterinarians ran the laboratory's Animal Section (including up to 900 animals), rendered routine analysis of all water samples plus prepared biological tests for theatre-wide distribution. Outbreaks of food-borne infections were also investigated. Veterinary officers assisted in isolating and studying human influenza viruses plus the purification of a test antigen for the diagnosis of filariasis in troops. The 8th Med. Lab. transferred to Biak Island, Dutch New Guinea in October 1944.
","US Army Telephone Dirctory Oct. 1943
CHIMS, Qld Heritage Register citation No.602598 - Animal Research Institute
3rd Medical Laboratory Unit History: http://med-dept.com/unit_histories/3_med_lab.php#australia.
http://history.amedd.army.mil/booksdocs/wwii/Malaria/chapterX.htm.
" 2008,"Camp Tennyson - 1 Australian Staging Camp","Yeerongpilly Golf Course/Queensland Tennis Centre","Military camp","Tennyson Memorial Avenue",Yeerongpilly,4105,Greater Brisbane,-27.5265846252441,153.007781982422,"The 1 Australian Personnel Staging Camp at Tennyson was located on the northern and southern sides of Tennyson Memorial Avenue. Utilised as a camp for the transfer of troops north to other training centres, or south to home bases and/or rest camps, the existence of the camp is thought to have been on the locations of the current Queensland Tennis Centre and the Brisbane Golf Club, known as Yeerongpilly Golf Links during WW2.
","The staging camp was broken into company areas and utilised wooden huts for accomodation of the troops, the site was sewered and planned in arrangement, indicating a semi-permanent arrangement for the duration of the war. Unlike other transient camps throughout Queensland, the No.1 Staging Camp would have serviced a large number of men during the time.
Huts were arranged around central headquarters and a parade ground. As a staginf camp there were quaertmaster stores and recreation facilities. The presence of a sotckade or compound also indicates the permanency of the site for the duration.
This site is historically significant to Brisbane and Queensland's war time heritage. If you have images of or information relating to the 1 Australian Personnel Staging Camp, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","Camp Yeppoon was located at Lammermoor Beach, between Ivey Street to the south, Chrisney Street to the north, and Taranganba Road and Gregory Street to the west. The land was acquired in December 1942, and was used by the 1st Training Centre for the rehabilitation of sick and injured US personnel.
","Buildings at the camp included 5 mess kitchens, 7 bathhouses, 10 latrines, 5 headquarters and supply buildings, an infirmary, recreation room, administration building, post exchange, and store, plus 212 concrete tent floors. Five wells by the beach provided water to three tanks. Construction was undertaken by RL Schofield, R Coward, R Cousins & Co, the Public Works Department and troop labour. The site was vacated in May 1944.
Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable from July 1942.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
","McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, various items, control symbols MAP 46, MAP 47, MAP 48, MAP 77, MAP 130, MAP 131 and MAP 150.
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
" 2012,"'Ryndarra', No.2 Australian Army Women's Service Hospital","2nd AWAS Hospital and 27th AWAS Barracks","Medical facility","23 Riverview Place and 7 and 20 Heritage Close",Yeronga,4104,Brisbane City,-27.515043258667,153.004867553711,"The Australian Army leased the large nineteenth century home 'Rhyndarra' from 1942-46. During 1942-43, it was used as a barracks, training centre and transit camp by the 27th Australian Army Women's Service (AWAS) unit. In late-1943, construction began on a women's military hospital in the grounds surrounding 'Rhyndarra'. Completed by June 1944, the complex of buildings became No. 2 AWAS Hospital. The hospital remained in operation until after the war and was utilised for the processing and demobilising of Australian servicewomen in 1945-46.
","'Rhyndarra' was completed in 1889 as businessman William Williams' residence. In 1897, the Salvation Army leased 'Rhyndarra' for its Yeronga Girls Industrial School. In 1907, the Salvation Army bought the property and continued to operate the orphanage until 1942. The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) requisitioned 'Rhyndarra' for a training facility and staging camp for personnel on transfer. It was designated 27th AWAS barracks. AWAS had been formed in mid-1941 to release manpower for recruitment into the fighting units. Recruiting began in early 1942. By 1944, there were over 20,000 AWAS personnel who could either serve with the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) units or with the Australian Military Forces (AMF or the militia) units.
In 1943, the Allied Works Council approached the
Commonwealth Department of Public Works to build a women's military hospital in the grounds of 'Rhyndarra'. Designing the hospital wards was completed by 16 August 1943. Designated the 2nd Australian Women's Army Service Hospital (No.2 AWASH), the complex was finished by June 1944. The hospital was placed to the northeast of 'Rhyndarra'. The hospital accommodated 160 patients. The complex comprised fibrous cement and weatherboard wards (including a separate Officers' ward), kitchens, an operating theatre and an Admissions Building/Regimental Aid Post (RAP) linked by covered walkways. 'Rhyndarra' was utilised for administration offices, officer's quarters and for nurses' recreation rooms. Minor alterations were made to the house while the old stable was converted to a quartermaster's store (Q store). There were also outer buildings housing a morgue, a pathological laboratory, general recreation hut, a linen & blanket store, 3 boiler houses, showers, latrines and a sewerage treatment plant. Separate to all of these structures were an Isolation Ward and a V.D. Ward. An Australian Army Medical Women's Service (AAMWS) barracks comprising small huts were located along the northeast boundary. The Nurses Quarters were placed to the southwest.
The Army defined No.2 AWASH as a base hospital. These hospital types were established in capital cities or within rural base camps. Unlike the temporary but mobile nature of tented casualty clearing stations that were established in combat zones, base hospitals had more permanent timber, fibrous cement sheet and/or corrugated iron structures. A base hospital could also be established in an existing large building (e.g. 'Rhyndarra') requisitioned by the Commonwealth. All women's military hospitals were base hospitals and 26 were built. No.2 AWASH operated as both a base hospital and an AAMWS training facility.
The Australian Army Medical Women's Service developed from the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VAD). The Australian Red Cross trained civilian women as VADs to assist hospital nurses. The VADs were unpaid and they performed essential work in camp or base hospitals. In 1941, VADs were brought under the Army's jurisdiction, volunteering for full-time service and were granted the rank of private. But the VADs were still administered by the Red Cross and so in December 1942, the Australian army established the AAMWS to enable control of all VADs serving in military hospitals. The AAMWS performed basic medical procedures and assisted the work of the trained Army nurses of the Australian Army's Nursing Service (AANS). During the war, the AAMWS had 8,500 serving members.
Before shifting to Yeronga, No.2 AWASH had been formed at the Redbank Army Camp and was linked to the AIF's 2/4th Australian General Hospital (AGH). Only three specialist women's military hospitals were established in Australia during World War II: No.1 AWASH at Claremont in Western Australia, No.2 AWASH at Yeronga and No.3 AWASH at Concord in Sydney. The AAMWS personnel trained at Yeronga served in Brisbane's military hospitals: 2nd Australian Camp Hospital at Chermside, 3rd Australian Camp Hospital at Enoggera, 4th Australian Camp Hospital at the EKKA Grounds, 10th Australian Camp Hospital at Coorparoo, 102nd Australian General Hospital at Ekbin and then Holland Park, the 112th Australian General Hospital at Greenslopes, as well at Yeronga's No.2 AWASH. Other AAMWS staff trained at Yeronga served interstate and overseas.
At War's end in September 1945, the AAMWS was demobilised with No.2 AWASH caring for recuperating patients and for holding the medical checks required before women were demobbed. The Commonwealth retained No.2 AWASH and purchased the site in 1946.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
NAA Resources
Allan S Walker. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 5 - Medical - Volume I - Clinical Problems of War (1962 reprint)
" 2013,"Camp Yeronga Park (US)","Yeronga Park","Military camp","78A Park Road",Yeronga,4104,Brisbane City,-27.5197086334229,153.023941040039,"With its extensive pre-war recreation facilities, the US Army chose Yeronga Park for a military camp in 1942. Camp Yeronga Park housed a variety of units including, military police, signallers, USASOS enlisted men and WACs. The Australian Army placed an oil depot in an undesirable and low-lying section of the park. In July 1944, the WACs were joined in training at the camp by Dutch servicewomen. The US Army remained at Yeronga Park until the end World War Two. It took another two years, to restore the park for the use of the Brisbane public.
","Yeronga Park was gazetted as public parkland by the local authority the Stephens Shire Council in 1888. Arbor Day tree plantings began in 1890. By 1942, Yeronga Park was well developed with fencing (1889), a bandstand (1903), toilets (1906), concrete and turf cricket pitches (1910+), Queensland Blind Cricketers Association hall (1920s), tennis courts and shed (1921), croquet clubhouse and lawn (1925), Annerley Bowling Clubhouse and green (1929), shale rock wall along Ipswich Road (early 1930s), concrete drafts board (1935) and a scout den (1941). There were shelter sheds, seats and paths of differing vintage. The park's most significant structure was its 1921 Anzac Memorial. It comprised a tree-lined road (Honour Avenue) running from Park Road to a domed Memorial Pavilion before existing at Ipswich Road. Brick Memorial Gates were placed at the park entrance on both roads but were built and opened separately. The 96 trees planted along Honour Avenue had a metal shield with the name of an individual from the Stephens Shire who had died in the Great War.
Due to its facilities plus its access to the tramline on Ipswich Road, Yeronga Park was chosen by the US Army to be a military camp in early 1943. Construction of the large camp, including a formed parade ground with a flagpole, postal exchange (PX), open-air cinema, recreation hut, mess halls, orderly room and white-painted stone-lined camp paths was completed by US Army engineers by 23 May 1943. The troops slept in 3-man, fibrolite demountable huts. A private telephone line was laid connecting the camp directly to the US supply docks at Brett's Wharf, Hamilton. Existing timber fencing was reinforced with barbed wire. Because of the air-raid blackout, vehicle lights were dimmed and so tree stumps were painted to aid night driving. Unfortunately the Americans used the trees along Honour Avenue for bayonet practice. The US troops played checkers on the drafts board. US Army bands utilised the bandstand including a performance by world-famous Hungarian-born US conductor Eugene Ormondy and his wife on 14 August 1944.
Among the initial units at the camp was Detachment 3 of the 833rd Service Signal Company that was detached to the US Army Service of Supply (USASOS). During 1943-44, Camp Yeronga Park remained an USASOS enlisted men's camp. By May 1944, the headquarters company of Base Section 3 (the US Army's designation for its Brisbane base) led by Lt. G.S. Reed was quartered at Camp Yeronga Park, as was the 799th Military Police Battalion, (led by Major W.H. Oesch) consisting of three companies of MPs. The MPs performed patrol duty in leave centres such as the City and on wharves used by the Americans. Their radio-controlled patrol cars were based at the camp. The members of General Douglas MacArthur's personal guard detail were also drawn from the MPs at this camp.
The park was also used for Australian military purposes. In 1942, the new scout hut became the venue for sewing camouflage nets by the local women volunteers. The Australian Army requisitioned the nearby Yeronga Infants School as a BIPOD base with a fuel and oil dump placed in the lower reaches of the park. Brisbane City Council dug park slit trenches beside the bowling green. In 1943, the Army began holding recreational cricket matches on the turf wickets. The Army requisitioned the Yeronga State School's playground in 1945.
Soon after 12 May 1944, the first US Women's Army Corps (WAC) members reached Camp Yeronga Park by bus from Sydney where they had just disembarked.
WACs were typists, switchboard operators, chief clerks, mess Sergeants, Personnel and Transportation Officers, Executive Officers, and Assistants to Adjutants General. They could drive heavy vehicles; handle stock reports, censor mail. The 640 women were divided for service in the USASOS or the US Army Forces in the Far East (USFFE) headquarters command. The WACs rode trams from Yeronga to their various assignments around Brisbane. All the WACs found:
The lack of heat in some offices and part of the quarters, customary as it was to Australians, caused a, high incidence of minor pulmonary disorders, seldom disabling in character. Barracks were somewhat more primitive than those in the United States, with bucket latrines, outside showers, and limited laundry facilities, but were in general superior to those of male troops in the area. Wacs enjoyed city recreational facilities, and stated that they had plenty of Australian fruit and green vegetables and more than plenty of Australian mutton.
Almost immediately, one WAC went absent without leave (AWOL). She was arrested in the City after engaging in 'conspicuous misconduct' that came to the notice of the US Consul via some locals. She was promptly shipped back to the States. The USAFFE servicewomen remained at Yeronga for two weeks before 118 WACs proceeded onto Port Moresby. Two more groups of WACs sailed to Brisbane, 385 arriving on 26 June and 379 (led by Captain Ida M. Ross) on 10 July 1944. Commander of the WACs was Lieutenant Colonel Mary-Agnes Brown with Captain Charlee L. Kelly and Lieutenant Vera Mankinen as her aides. US forces began transferring their SWPA base to Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea that month. The WACs started moving to Hollandia in August with a Farewell Dance held in the camp recreation hall on 14 August. By October 1944, there were few WACs left in Brisbane.
Dutch members of the Women's KNIL Corps joined the WACs at Camp Yeronga Park in September 1944. The Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indische Leger (KNIL) was the Netherlands East Indies army. The Women's KNIL Corps was established in Melbourne on 5 March 1944. It provided drivers, typists, and nurses or for military administrative positions to relieve Dutch or Indonesian males for combat duty. Initially the unit mustered 26 women led by a male officer. They trained at Yeronga but were accommodated at the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile at Camp Columbia, Wacol. The WACs hosted a Welcome Lunch for the Women's KNIL Corps members in their WACs Mess on 26 September 1944.
US troops occupied Yeronga Park until soon after the war's end in September 1945. Restoration of the wartime damage to the park was completed in 1947. That year, two ex-US Army huts were relocated within the park to create a new scout den. Part of the existing Girl Guides' hall at the northern end of the park is all that remains of these two huts. In 1996, the American Legion erected a memorial stone commemorating the US Army's wartime use of the park.
","Yeronga Park citation, Queensland Heritage Register 402462.
Jonathan (Jack) Ford, Allies in a Bind, (Loganholme: NESWA, 1996).
Rod Fisher, Yeronga Park Timeline, (Brisbane: Fisher, 21 May 2010).
Roger Marks, Brisbane City Council WW2 v Now, Volume 10 ""Camp Yeronga"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
E. Treadwell, The Women's Army Corps - United States Army in World War II, (Washington: Center of Military History United States Army, 1991)
" 2017,"Yungaburra Sawmill","Cairns Plywood Sawmill","Factory site/industry","25-33 Eacham Road",Yungaburra,4884,Atherton Tablelands,-17.2699546813965,145.584106445312,"During World War II the Yungaburra sawmill was used in the production of timber veneer for the local manufacture of everything from bunk beds and prefabricated huts to barges, landing craft and aircraft propellers.
Cairns had long been the centre of north Queensland's timber milling industry. From mid-1942, the town's sawmills and furniture factories operated full-time on defence works. A timber product in great demand was three-ply veneer, manufactured in sheets cut from large kauri pine logs from the Tableland.
Fire destroyed the main sawmill shed in December 1987. However, surviving items of the early steam powered plant include a rare Stirling boiler and a timber veneer lathe.
","Albert and Frederick Williamson established the sawmill in 1911 soon after the railway from Cairns reached Yungaburra. Cedar had been cut from the nearby rainforest for about 30 years, but until the arrival of the railway the only way to transport the logs to the port of Cairns was by chute down the range or by floating them down the Barron River. Both methods were unreliable and wasteful, so the railway ensured a timber boom for the Tablelands. In 1926 the Gillies Highway was opened between Gordonvale and Atherton providing the first trafficable road to the Tablelands and Yungaburra became the gateway to the natural attractions of the region.
In 1933 George Gummow, who owned the mill at the time, installed a large lathe from the United States for veneer peeling and the business became Cairns Plywood Limited in 1940. During World War II Yungaburra sawmill was taken over and operated by army personal of 17 Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps, many of whom were engaged in their pre-war occupation as sawmillers.
The Cairns Plywood mill at Yungaburra was purchased by the Rankine family in 1963 and the peeling of timber veneer continued as its main operation until the 1980s. The mill was closed after the declaration of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area prevented further milling of north Queensland rainforest timber.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Cairns Plywood Sawmill, Queensland Heritage Register place 600481, Brisbane, 2009.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
" 2018,"RAAF Remote Receiving Station","Cabbage Tree Creek Remote Receiving Station","Radar/signal station","441 Beams Road",Zillmere,4034,Brisbane City,-27.3484058380127,153.033599853516,"The Zillmere Remote Receiving Station was built in late 1942 for the RAAF. The station was operational by 30 June 1943 and staffed by combination of RAAF and WAAAF personnel.
","On 9 July 1942, the Australian Government requisitioned a Zillmere horse paddock of 78 acres, 3 roods and 10 perches from the carrying firm of Messrs R. Jackson Pty Ltd. of Eagle Street, Brisbane. This was for the construction of a RAAF remote receiving station. The government offered Jackson £640 for the site but the cartage firm was not interested in selling. On 18 September 1942, a National Security Regulation took control of the site for the Commonwealth, paying Jackson £3/9/- rent per month.
By September 1942, the Australian Chiefs of Staff gave construction of the Zillmere Remote Receiving Station, also known as the Cabbage Tree Creek Remote Receiving Station, the status of a priority A1 project. It cost £10,232 to build, using Civil Construction Corps workers under the direction of Mr. G. Major of Hendra. Delays in having petrol tanks installed meant that the station only became operational sometime after 30 June 1943.
The Zillmere Remote Receiving station monitored radio traffic using nine large, steel aerials radiating from a semi-underground concrete receiving room. This operations bunker housed two 9 KVA 3 phase generating sets, a 1,000 gallon underground fuel storage tank and fuel storage pump. Two oil tanks were placed outside of the bunker. The bunker was staffed 24 hours a day by three RAAF personnel, who lived in barracks on the site. Eight masonite sleeping huts were erected around the receiving room/bunker. A cookhouse, shower and two lavatories completed the above ground facilities. Female personnel were employed at the site as one of the lavatories and two of the huts were designated for the Womens' Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) use. A fence with a 100 feet clearance surrounded the receiving room/bunker, while 68 coils of barbed wire were used to surround the site.
The station was camouflaged to thwart aerial surveillance. Loam was used to surface the receiving station's road to make it appear as yet another farm track. Zillmere dairy farmers were encouraged to contribute to the military's efforts to disguise the receiving station's visibility from the air. The Federal Government decided:
that the immediate vicinity of the [operations] building should be fenced and cattle allowed to graze in the balance of the area. This should cut down the area to be acquired and contribute to the camouflage of the whole location.
A restricted area was declared within a two-mile radius of the station and no civilians had access to the station. Local resident Hugh Carseldine remembered seeing the radio aerials on his daily trips along the North Coast rail line but it remained a mystery to the passengers:
We could see those big radio masts sticking up…Everyone speculated on what it was and no-one knew what went on there. Obviously being a radio place, it was some sort of transmission thing but nobody knew if it was for planes or ships or what it was.
Hugh estimated that the radio masts were nearly 150 feet high and that they were nearly hit twice by aircraft during the war. He said that an US B-17 Flying Fortress bomber almost flew into a mast during a cyclonic rainstorm in February 1943. Another local, Mick Werda remembered that the site was well guarded that gave it an aura of a ""hush-hush affair"".
At war's end in September 1945, the site was abandoned and not inspected again until 1948.
","BCC Heritage Citations
National Archives of Australia
" 2020,"Air Raid Shelter (opposite Lady Bowen Club (demolished)",,"Civil defence facility","Wickham Terrace (opposite Bradley Street)",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4619007110596,153.020568847656,"This public air raid shelter is located opposite the Lady Bowen Club that has been demolished. It is now a shade shelter for the park.
",,"BCC Heritage Unit citation & BCC list
" 2021,"Public Air Raid Shelters (Wickham Park)",,"Civil defence facility","Corner Wickham Terrace and Albert Street",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4648323059082,153.021087646484,"Twin public air raid shelters side by side in Wickham Park, Spring Hill. Both basic structures are currently utilised as shade shelters for the park.
",,"BCC Heritage Unit citation & BCC list
" 2022,"Lady Bowen Services Hostel","12th Australian Defence Canteen Services Hostel","Civil defence facility","497-535 Wickham Terrace",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4614944458008,153.020034790039,"Albert Park, as the largest park closest to the City, became an important rest and recreation spot for wartime Brisbane. In early 1941, the Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret was built in or near the park to provide accommodation and entertainment for Australian troops on leave. As a large tree-lined space, Albert Park was an ideal location for siting City air raid facilities. One twin shelter, a single shelter and a huge open slit trench were positioned in the park.
","In late 1940, it was decided to build recreation facilities based around Albert Park for service personnel visiting Brisbane. The Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret was completed and opened by April 1941. It comprised a Club located in an old lady Bowen Hospital building at 497-485 Wickham Terrace and a separate cabaret building on the Wickham Terrace side of Albert Park. Army engineers of 1st Australian Civil and Electrical Works Company did both the hospital building's renovation and the Cabaret building construction.
The Lady Bowen Club was a hostel for servicemen on leave. Troops slept in 16-bed dormitories containing double-bunk beds. Lounges were provided for reading, writing letters or listening to the wireless. Extensive use of Cane-ite was made in the renovation for soundproofing and tropical heat absorption purposes. The lounges had fireplaces for winter.
The Cabaret or Recreation Centre was built immediately across from the Club on a slope located at the top of Albert Park. Three exterior walls and roof were of corrugated asbestos (fibro). The fourth side was oval-shaped and fully casement-windowed to provide sweeping views of the Park, the City and the Brisbane River. The Cabaret featured a polished Queensland hardwood dance floor to accommodate 150 people, electric ceiling fans plus a snack and milk bar finished in silver ash veneer. The snack and milk bar's tables could be removed to provide further space for dancers. The Cabaret's basement was a Games Room containing billiards and ping-pong tables. The Cabaret's ceilings were of Cane-ite. Building suppliers James Campbell & Sons, Barker & Co. and Brett & Co. provided 40,000 square feet of Cane-ite for the Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret buildings.
The Brisbane City Council's Works Department placed air raid protection structures in Albert Park due to its heavy public usage. Near the Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret, a twin Cantilever design, concrete air raid shelter was constructed on Wickham Terrace across from Birley Street. This shelter could comfortably fit 140 people. A single Cantilever design, concrete air raid shelter was constructed on Wickham Terrace across from Lilley Street. This shelter could comfortably hold 70 people. The Council dug one of its largest (1,000 feet long) public slit trenches in the Park. Post-war, the trench was filled-in and the air raid shelters converted to bus shelters.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation.
" 2023,"Balmoral Fire Station Pill Box Shelter","Balmoral Fire Station","Civil defence facility","105 Pashen Street",Morningside,4170,Brisbane City,-27.4646778106689,153.069030761719,,, 2025,"Camp Darra","McEwan Park","Ammunition facility","Archerfield Road",Inala,4077,Greater Brisbane,-27.5909061431885,152.96076965332,"In early 1942 Richlands became host to one of the largest U.S. Army Ordnance Depots in the South West Pacific. The Depot was constructed off Archerfield Rd, and to accommodate the personnel a camp was established in the vicinity of what is now known as McEwan Park.
","Within the camp were four large wooden huts, fifty bell tents, a parade ground and an open air picture theatre. The Darra Ordnance Depot was manned predominately by units composed of African-American soldiers under the direction of white officers. There were several other U.S camps in the vicinity; these were Camp Freeman, Camp Columbia at Wacol, Camp Oxley and Redbank.
The Richlands residents were permitted to attend the open-air cinema held on Saturday nights in the camp. This not only helped with good relations between the Americans and locals but was also believed to boost morale in the soldiers. From the accounts of several Richlands residents relations between the Americans and locals were amicable. One of the main concerns expressed by locals during the war years was the harsh treatment given to the black soldiers by the white officers. Several accounts of excessive force and cruelty used by the officers on Camp Darra personnel exist. This treatment, coupled with the strict rules of segregation, contributed to a growing feeling of resentment within the African-American units. Occasional outbreaks of violence were quickly quelled by military police.
","US Army Centre of military History website: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/beachhd_btlefrnt/ChapterIV.html
U.S. Army Ordnance Corps online.
E. Daniel Potts and Annette Potts, Yanks Downunder 1941–1945: The American Impact on Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1985.
Kay Saunders, ""Racial Conflict in Brisbane in WWII: The Imposition of Patterns of Segregation upon Black American Servicemen"", Brisbane at War, Brisbane History Group Papers, No. 4, p 29-34.
Kay Saunders, War on the Homefront: State Intervention in Queensland, 1938-1948, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1993.
Vicki Mynott, World War Two Stories From Brisbane's South West: Richlands, Darra, Wacol, Goodna and Oxley, Richlands, Inala and Suburbs History Group Inc, 2006.
BCC Heritage Unit files
" 2026,"Chemical Warfare Centre Impregnation Facility","Allan Border Field","Workshop","1 Bogan Street",Albion,4010,Brisbane City,-27.4350242614746,153.046203613281,"Crosby Park, in the centre of a populous Brisbane suburb, was one of a number of local parks leased by the US Army. Despite its proximity to a large population base this park was designated as a Chemical Warfare Centre, and was operated by the 62nd Chemical Depot Company, aided by elements of the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company, and the 105th Chemical Processing Company. The Crosby Park site included a large 371′ x 104′ 'igloo' style warehouse with ancillary buildings including a 96′ x 48′ motor maintenance shed, and a gas mask repair shop of similar dimensions. Another large 'igloo' housed a clothing impregnation centre established by the 105th Chemical Processing Company.
","The primary mission of the Chemical Processing Company was to keep available to theater chemical officers a supply of permeable protective clothing adequately and recently impregnated with chlorinating compounds so as to protect the wearer from the effects of vesicant vapor or droplets.[1] The US Chemical Warfare Service provided an issue of protective clothing for troops in case of enemy chemical attack. As part of that protection one set of kahki cotton or woollen uniform was impregnated to make it resistant to chemical damage. These uniforms were held in forward storage facilities for quick issue for troops if necessary.
The 105th Chemical Processing Company trained at Edgewood Arsenal Camp Sibert during 1942. In May 1943 it left New York, arriving in Brisbane in June. It was initially established at Camp Doomben where it aided the Chemical Warfare Depot and base section headquarters until its impregnation plants arrived from the United States. The Processing companies were generally located near chemical depots, and consisted of two platoons totalling 146 men. Not long after arriving in Brisbane the 105th's first platoon was sent to Sydney to aid the 62nd Chemical Depot Company based there to get an impregnation plant working. The platoon remained in Sydney until mid-February 1944 in an effort to provide a reserve of 70,000 protective uniforms for the US Army in the South West Pacific.
The Brisbane-based platoons continued aiding the Base 3 Chemical Officer, while another detachment was sent to Columboola to store and supervise 29000 mustard-gas bombs held there. In January 1944 an M1 type processing plant (using acetylene tetrachloride as a solvent) arrived in Brisbane and a building was constructed to house it. The M1 plant of 'two 400-gallon solution tanks, a predryer, two final dryers, and an impregnator, recognizably related to laundry-type drying and washing machines respectively, solvent recovery apparatus, a steam generator unit, complete with boiler and oil burner, an electric generator unit, a fuel tank, a water pump, and such auxiliary items as work tables, tool kits, and
spare parts. It weighed over 50 tons, and required a floor space of approximately 3600 square feet and a reinforced concrete floor. The return of the first platoon from Sydney aided the process and the plant was in operation at Crosby Park before the end of March 1944. First platoon was detached not long after and sent to Milne Bay in New Guinea.
The platoons each had three sections which could provide a continuous 8-hour operation of the plant, and second platoon was left to run the Brisbane plant. It continued to process protective clothing 24 hours a day until the beginning of October 1944, also dying the clothing a jungle green at the same time. Due to the chemical processes involved it was found that the clothing only lasted six months in storage before it became unserviceable.
Operation of the processing plant ceased in October 1944, and the 105th undertook work with the 62d Chemical Service Company and the Coopers Plains ordnance service centre while it awaited orders to move. The first platoon in Milne Bay was diverted to laundry and dry-cleaning operations there. It was not until mid-June 1945 that the 105th Chemical Processing Company left Brisbane to move to Luzon in the Phillipines.
[1] B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
","NAA
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
" 2027,"Chemical Warfare Centre Gas mask repair facility","Crosby Park","Workshop","Crosby Park, Royal and Crosby Roads",Albion,4010,Brisbane City,-27.4342746734619,153.046722412109,"The role of the US Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) in the South West Pacific Area was complicated by the fact that its task to develop, repair and issue protective and offensive items was shared with the US Army Quartermaster service. Thus for example, while the CWS was responsible for the storage of chemical grenades from September 1943, the storage of chemical and incendiary bombs was the province of Ordnance. The CWS however was responsible for the inspection and servicing of those munitions. Other elements of the Service were responsible for the provision of chemical warfare training to rear-echlon troops and for those advancing through Base 3 (Brisbane) to active theatres of war.
","Crosby Park, in the centre of a populous Brisbane suburb, was one of a number of local parks leased by the US Army. Despite its proximity to a large population base this park was designated as a Chemical Warfare Centre, and stored quantities of poisonous chemicals and gases during its time of occupation. Construction of the Centre commenced in early 1943, and by October its operation was in the hands of 62nd Chemical Depot Company, aided by elements of the 105th Chemical Processing Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company. Included on the site was a gas mask repair shop of approximately 96′ x 48′, used by the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company. There the Company repaired and provided waterproof seals for gas mask canisters.
The 10th Chemical Maintenance Company trained at Edgewood Arsenal and arrived in Australia in April 1942 and moved to Brisbane as part of Base Section 3 to repair the gas masks or respirators, and assist the operations of the 62nd Chemical Depot Company and the Chemical Warfare Centre. It was one of only two Chemical Maintenance companies to operate in the South West Pacific. Maintenance companies were also intended to function as salvage and repair centres holding skilled mechanics for the latter task. The company strength varied from 123 in 1942 to 93 in November 1944.
The failure of the chemical-based M1A1 portable flame-thrower during the New Guinea campaign left the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company tasked with a major repair project. Throughout 1943 it tested the weapon and overhauled all units in the South West Pacific Area. Heat and humidity was causing the corrosion of the nitrogen, hydrogen, and fuel cylinders used on the flame-throwers, and deterioration of the batteries. The 10th developed a test kit for soldiers in the field to be able to quickly identify defective cylinders, which were then sent back for repair. The weapon was also waterproofed so that it could be totally immersed and still work, overcoming a significant problem that had beset the use of flamethrowers in the tropics. Many of the flame-thrower units arriving from the United States were found to be faulty and required repair before issue. The work undertaken by the 10th proved the weapon could be made reliable and the US Sixth Army re-equipped its infantry divisions to take advantage of the tactical advantage the weapon gave in combat operations. This in turn required the l0th Chemical Maintenance Company to run operators classes for flame-throwers at the Chemical Warfare Centre.
By early 1944 the requirement for specific chemical warfare tasks slowed and the unit began to undertake general garrison duties. In August 1944 the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company was withdrawn from Brisbane and sent to New Guinea.
","G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
R Marks, Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Vol 5, Crosby Park…chemical w'fare depot.
" 2028,"Rocklea Munitions Works Pill Box ShelterBCC Heritage Unit citation
Roger Marks. WWII Brisbane vs Now, Volume 9 - 'Rocklea Munitions Works and Camp Moorooka'
" 2029,"Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre","Chemical Warfare School Accommodation Quarters","Military accommodation","59 Bonney Avenue",Clayfield,4007,Greater Brisbane,-27.4247665405273,153.047286987305,"In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Rd was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, 'these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.'
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Ave as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Ave, 59 Bonney Ave, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Ave and Victoria Rd. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory St, Clayfield.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
R Marks, Brisbane—WW2 v Now Vol 13, Houses of Bonney Avenue.
" 2031,"Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre","Chemical Warfare School Accommodation Quarters","Military accommodation","119 Bonney Avenue",Clayfield,4007,Greater Brisbane,-27.4215106964111,153.047500610352,"In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Rd was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, 'these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.'
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Ave as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Ave, 59 Bonney Ave, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Ave and Victoria Rd. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory St, Clayfield.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
R Marks, Brisbane—WW2 v Now Vol 13, Houses of Bonney Avenue.
" 2032,"US Army 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company Mess Hall","Land and Property Office, US Army Engineers","Supply facility","Bonney Avenue and Victoria Road",Clayfield,4077,Greater Brisbane,-27.4211235046387,153.047012329102,"In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Road was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, ""these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.""
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Avenue as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Avenue, 59 Bonney Avenue, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Avenue and Victoria Road. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory Street, Clayfield.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
R Marks, Brisbane – WW2 v Now Vol 13, Houses of Bonney Avenue.
" 2033,"6 (385th) Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery","Caltex Oil Refinery","Fortifications","Caltex Oil Refinery, South Street",Lytton,4178,Greater Brisbane,-27.4131336212158,153.153747558594,"When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941, Australia's focus in the war turned to the Pacific. After the raid on Darwin in February 1942, many felt that as Brisbane was the largest city in Queensland, it would be the next to experience a large-scale raid by the Japanese.
The city was already designated as a staging point, with a significant US build-up underway, and the best port facilities in Queensland. Between March and July 1942 the Japanese conducted regular reconnaissance missions over Cairns and Townsville using long range twin-engine aircraft. Townsville was actually bombed three times in late July and the town of Mossman once. While the Japanese were able to penetrate Australia's defences on these occasions, the May Battle of the Coral Sea prevented Japan from completing its objective of achieving large scale carrier based raids along the Queensland coast.
","The 6 [385th] Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (or 6 HAA Group) was constructed in 1942, in an effort to monitor and prevent aircraft entering Brisbane airspace, using the Brisbane River as a navigational aid, and to provide protection for nearby Australian and US naval facilities located along the river. The 6 HAA Group was a collection of ""A class"" (four static guns) defensive positions. These included; Colmslie [385] (which became Lytton), Victoria Park [386] Balmoral [387], Pinkenba [388], Hendra [389], Hemmant [390], Amberley [391], and Archerfield [392].
The 6 HAA Group site retains four gun emplacements complete with magazines, and the control room which is characteristic of Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft Batteries built in Brisbane and elsewhere in the state. The position was armed with four 3.7-inch static AA guns, the standard medium British anti-aircraft gun. A gun crew usually consisted of 10-12 men.
The reinforced concrete and cinder block gun emplacements at Lytton are octagonally shaped. The surrounding magazine/store rooms originally housed a sandbagged entry point with more bags placed on the magazine roof. Rooms contained rifle racks and anti gas equipment, 280 rounds of ammunition for the AA gun and canvas flap doors for the perimeter entrances. Hidden from aerial view, three separate underground magazines provided cool storage for high explosive rounds (since demolished).
The guns were controlled by a centrally located, semi-underground command post/plotting room. This contained instruments such as the spotter's telescope, a height/range finder (Lytton used a No.3 Mark IV Type UB7 Rangefinder), and a predictor. Essentially an early computer, it was manually programmed to follow a target and took into account its course and speed as well as the projectile's direction and velocity, with the object of predicting a future position where the two would meet. This information was relayed automatically to the gunlayers in each emplacement so that all guns were trained on the target area.
Personnel at the site consisted of both 6th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft and Volunteer Defence Corp (VDC) personnel from mid 1943. Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) were involved in operating instruments such as range finding and spotting, but generally not in the firing of the guns. In 1944 personnel on the battery had diminished to a care and maintenance role and for training purposes. By January 1945, 385th Australian HAA was listed as 'Scale C' Manning, with Lytton being disbanded. In August 1945 all HAA sites in Brisbane were disarmed and abandoned.
","BCC Heritage citation.
" 2034,"Horn Island Heavy Anti Aircraft Gun Stations 442 and 443","Aircraft Defences","Fortifications","Double Hill (GS 442) and King Point Road (GS 443)",Horn Island,4875,North and Cape York,-10.5928297042847,142.277420043945,"The RAAF's Horn Island Advanced Operational Base (AOB) was constructed between late 1939 and 1941 and was upgraded during 1942. The airfield, located at the northeast corner of Horn Island, was an important staging base for Allied air missions against the Japanese, and a stop-over for fighter aircraft heading to New Guinea. The two wartime runways (136 and 81 degrees) have since been upgraded as the Horn Island Airport's runways number 32 and 26 respectively. Surviving elements include some concrete-lined trenches and bunkers located east of the southern section of runway 136; and the aircraft dispersal area extending north-eastward from runway 136, which consists of two taxiway loops with dispersal bays, some protected with earth mounds. Two concrete Bofors gun pits are located on a ridge (known as Bofors Ridge) a kilometre east of the east end of runway 81. The bitumen surface of a wartime runway extension to the west of runway 81 remains intact. The area southwest of the intersection of the two runways contains a section of taxiway and five surviving dispersal bays, a series of concrete lined trenches and four bunkers intended for airfield defence and runway demolition (Strong Point No.1); several light machine gun pits, and 18 identifiable Japanese bomb craters. The site of the Operational Base Unit (OBU) camp is located in bushland immediately south of the airport manager's house and fuel tanks. Airport Road follows the route of most of the taxiway west of the OBU camp. Aircraft wrecks/components near the airfield include two B-17s on the coastline northeast of runway 136; a B-17 east of the east end of runway 81; and a P-47 Thunderbolt near a dispersal bay further to the east. Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Station 442 occupies the summit of the north-eastern of two small hills that form Double Hill, off Quarry Road, partly on a recent residential allotment. Surviving concrete elements of the gun station comprise a central command post/plotting room (CP); four in-ground octagonal gun emplacements; and three magazines. The fourth magazine has recently been incorporated into the interior of a house. The CP has been adapted as a swimming pool, and the underground plotting room has been sealed. The camp area for Gun Station 442 is located on the hillside 250 metres south-east of the battery. Gun Station 443, approximately 4.8km northeast of GS 442 as the crow flies, occupies an area off King Point Road near the coast of King Point. Surviving concrete elements of the gun station comprise a central CP; four in-ground octagonal gun emplacements, and three magazines. An unidentified building containing a concrete floor slab and underground room forms part of the group. Two of three reinforced concrete magazines are earth covered. The third magazine has been adapted as a dwelling and is occupied. The camp kitchen site for Gun Station 443 is located about 100 metres north-east of the control room.
","During the 19th century colonial defence planners had recognised that the Torres Strait was strategically and commercially important, and Thursday Island was fortified in the early 1890s. Concerns about Japan's intentions, even before that country entered World War II on 7 December 1941, led to additional coastal artillery defences in the Torres Strait, and in addition Horn Island (Ngurapai) was chosen as the site of a RAAF Advanced Operational Base (AOB).
The RAAF undertook aerial surveys over north Queensland during 1938 in response to a plan for the establishment of an AOB network in the region as the likelihood of war with Japan increased. A decision was made to develop an airfield on Horn Island despite the twin difficulties of poor water supply and the lack of adequate wharf facilities. Approval for construction of an all weather landing ground with limited facilities for RAAF supplies was announced on 31 August 1939, three days before the commencement of World War II in Europe. The Queensland Main Roads Commission (MRC) was made responsible for the construction of the airstrip.
Ships carrying MRC engineers and surveyors began arriving at Horn Island in late 1939 and early 1940. Assisting the MRC were Torres Strait Islanders employed on the project. By May 1940 clearing of the north-south 136 degree runway (today known as Runway 32) had been completed and earthworks and grading were proceeding. Runway 136 was completed and ready for use as a gravel runway by February 1941 and clearing had begun on the east-west 81 degree runway (today known as Runway 26), which was ready for use by late 1941. The two runways were each over 1200 metres long. The first dispersal points were constructed in November 1941, along with bomb dumps, machine gun posts and petrol storage installations. After Japan entered the war the MRC also built aerodrome obstructions and splinter-proof traverse walls around key buildings, including the wireless receiving and transmitting huts.
The strategic importance of Horn Island was emphasised in January 1942 when the Japanese captured Rabaul and made it their main South West Pacific base. On 14 March 1942 Horn Island Airfield received its first Japanese air raid; from March 1942 until June 1943 eight bombing raids were made on Horn Island Airfield, which became the only military installation in Queensland to be regularly targeted by the Japanese. One soldier was killed during the third air raid on 30 April 1942. As a result of the raids a dispersal field for Horn Island was cleared on the tip of Cape York at Jacky Jacky Creek in late 1942, and was later named Higgins Airfield.
Responsibility for the overall administration and operation of Horn Island as an AOB was performed by RAAF No.28 Operational Base Unit (OBU), formed in May 1942. The OBU was responsible for rearming, refuelling and wireless telegraphy communications. Both RAAF and USAAF aircraft used the airfield as a stopover for fighters flying to Port Moresby, and as a staging strip for refuelling and rearming in preparation for raids on targets further north. Some squadrons were based at Horn Island, while others flew in, stayed overnight and then flew out the next day to complete their mission. The Consolidated Catalina flying boats of RAAF 11 and 20 Squadrons also used Horn Island for refuelling and repairs.
The Allied Works Council (AWC) was formed in February 1942 to step up construction of defence works and ensure a coordinated national approach to projects. The Civil Constructional Corps (CCC) was established in April 1942 to provide the manpower, while the AWC organised the heavy equipment and contractors. Works were supervised by the MRC or commercial building contractors. During June 1942 a requisition was made to the AWC for substantial improvements to Horn Island AOB. Company 'A' of the US Army's 46th Engineer General Service Regiment arrived at Horn Island on 24 June 1942 to work on a western extension to runway 81, which was lengthened to 7000 feet, or 2134m. During August the United States Army Services of Supply (USASOS) organisation requested the AWC to complete the sealing of both runways at Horn Island as an urgent priority. Runway 81 was sealed by December 1942. However, by September 1942, as the threat of invasion lessened, airfield demolition works at Horn Island were cancelled. By this period one demolition tunnel had been constructed part way under the intersection of the runways and other tunnels had been commenced.
In June 1942 the first moves had been made to provide anti-aircraft defence for the airfield when A and B batteries of the US 104th Coastal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft) were deployed to the island. However, the gun crews were only equipped with light .50 calibre machine guns which were ineffective against high flying bombers. On 23 June 1942, detachments of the US 94th CA (A.A), equipped with searchlights and 3-inch guns, were moved to Horn Island.
The anti-aircraft defence of Horn Island was augmented by the 34th Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery, which arrived at Thursday Island on 14 October 1942. The 34th HAA was accompanied by the 157th Australian Light Anti-Aircraft (LAA) Battery, equipped with 40mm Bofors guns to provide low level protection. The men of 34th HAA Battery commenced unloading guns, equipment and camp stores at Horn Island jetty on 15 October 1942.
On Horn Island the 34th HAA Battery was split into 'A' and 'B' Sections each forming a 'Class A' Heavy Anti-Aircraft Gun Station (GS) of four Quick Firing (QF) 3.7-inch guns and one QF 40mm Bofors gun for close air defence. The first camp was formed on Double Hill, west of the airfield, which was initially known as Section 'A' and subsequently became GS 442. On 16 October the men began excavation of gun emplacements and the construction of kitchens, stores, ablutions and latrines. A supply of drinking water was another early problem faced by the unit. By November 1942, with the wet season approaching, priority was given to the completion of the reinforced concrete structures for the gun stations.
Each gun station would consist of four 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns on static mounts within in-ground gun emplacements of octagonal shape. The interior walls of each gun emplacement contained recesses where ready ammunition for each gun was stored. The guns were arranged around a reinforced concrete semi-underground Command Post (CP). The standard CP design included a roofed plotting room plus open concrete pits outside for a height finder and predictor (a mechanical computing machine that predicted the future position of a target). Nearby were four magazines of reinforced concrete.
By 10 December GS 442, along with Section 'B' GS 443 at King Point north-east of the airfield, were operational and ready for action except that no ammunition had arrived. The 3.7-inch ammunition finally arrived at Horn Island on the last day of December 1942. The guns at GS 443 were successfully proof fired on 2 January 1943 and at GS 442 on the next day. All ammunition was stored on site under cover, until construction of permanent concrete magazines (which occurred by the end of May 1943). On 30 January 1943 the battery took delivery of an AA No.1 Mk II short range anti-aircraft radar transmitter and receiver (also known as GL 2 or AA Mk2 Radar) for GS 443. By the end of June 1943 camouflaging of GS 442 was well underway. Gun emplacements for GS 443 were completed during July and camouflaging commenced.
In late 1943 the 34th HAA Battery was reformed as 131 Australian HAA Battery, 51 Australian Anti-Aircraft Regiment (Composite), Royal Australian Artillery. The redesignation combined the 34th Australian HAA Battery, 157th LAA Battery and 74th Searchlight Battery together into one composite unit.
Meanwhile, work on the airfield had continued. After the US 46th Engineers moved on to Port Moresby in December 1942 the RAAF's 4 Works Maintenance Unit was directed to complete stump clearance and drainage works, and consolidation of the aircraft hardstands ahead of the approaching wet season. Heavy rain during January 1943 led to the failure of a timber log drainage channel and a bridge which carried the western extension of runway 81 over a creek. Failure of this extension put paid to plans for operation of a heavy bomber squadron from Horn Island and underscored efforts on the mainland to complete Higgins Airfield on the tip of Cape York. However, 5000 feet (1524m) of runway 81 remained serviceable.
By January 1943 detached units of RAAF 7 and 75 Squadrons (Beauforts and P-40 Kittyhawks respectively) were based on Horn island. RAAF 6 Squadron, with Lockheed Hudsons, had been present in late 1942. Other squadrons based on Horn Island included RAAF 32 (Lockheed Hudsons) during 1942 and RAAF 23 (Vultee Vengeance dive bombers) during 1944.
USAAF units which spent some time based at Horn Island included the 71st and 405th squadrons of the 38th (Medium) Bombardment Group in late 1942. Most aircraft of the US 5th Air Force passed through Horn island at some point.
Water storage remained critical on Horn Island and a dam was high on the list of works to be completed. The first successful bore was sunk on Horn Island during July 1943. A second successful bore was sunk during November 1943 and a 13 million gallon dam was finally completed by the 17th Field Company in late 1943. Although recently supplemented by a much larger dam, the wartime Army Dam still provides water for Horn Island residents.
By July 1943 the need for splinter proofing of aircraft dispersal bays was receding and Horn Island and Higgins were the only AOBs in Queensland where this remained a priority. At Horn island, 18 splinter proof pens were constructed in late 1943. Almost every type of aircraft then in service used the base, and thousands of aircraft used Horn Island AOB at its busiest between early 1942 and late 1943.
The phasing down of Horn Island AOB in favour of Higgins Airfield was underway by early 1944. However, in March 1944 the island still hosted a number of RAAF units including 28 OBU, 36 Radar Station, 112 Mobile Fighter Sector Headquarters, 84 Squadron (P-40 Kittyhawks, previously Boomerangs), 75 Wing Headquarters, 1 Repair & Salvage Unit (detachment) and 7 Squadron (detachment).
131 HAA Battery departed from Horn Island in October 1944 and was disbanded in Melbourne the following month. In October 1944 a decision was made to transfer the radio transmitter and aerial from Horn Island to Higgins. On 15 December 1944, 28 OBU on Horn Island was disbanded.
By August 1945 Horn Island Airfield was being used by the RAAF for the aerial survey of Cape York. The airfield was taken over by the Department of Transport and maintained as the gateway to Thursday Island and the Torres Strait. Terminal facilities were upgraded during the early 1990s and in June 1995 the Torres Shire Council took over ownership of the facilities from the Commonwealth. The airfield is now known as Horn Island (Ngurapai) Airport.
","Horn Island Airfield and HAA Gun Stations 442 and 443. Reported Place 30497, DERM.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Wilson, PD 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942–1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Horner, D. 1995. The Gunners: A history of Australian artillery. Allen and Unwin, St Leonards NSW.
Seekee, V, 2002. Horn Island: In their steps 1939–1945. Vanessa and Arthur Liberty Seekee, Horn Island.
Davies, D. ""Horn Island Artillery 1942–1998"", p.6, Radar Returns, Volume 8 No 3, 2003.
National Archives of Australia, NY25/029 W, Horn Island, Queensland 1940
National Archives of Australia. 24/48/AIR PART 2. North Eastern Area Headquarters - Reports on Operational Base - Horn Island, 1942-43
National Archives of Australia, NY25/022 W. Horn Island - Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] camps and installations 1944
National Archives of Australia ST613, Horn Island - 28 OBU camp and aerodrome installations 1944.
Dunn, P. 34th Australian anti-aircraft battery Kings Point, Horn Island, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Dunn, P. 104th Coast Artillery (AA Separate) Battalion, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
" 2035,"Mareeba Airfield Heavy Anti-Aircraft Gun Station 448","Mareeba Air Defences","Fortifications","Bounded by Cater, Mc Iver and Ray Roads",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-17.0377998352051,145.424987792969,"The reinforced concrete elements of Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Station 448, the northernmost of two HAA gun stations at Mareeba, are spread over a number of properties south of McIvor Road to the west of Ray Road. There is a single room underground Command Post (CP); two octagonal in-ground gun emplacements (of four that were laid out in an arc west and north of the CP); and four semi-underground magazines. The magazines are covered with earth mounds, and each has two entrances with stairs down to a central corridor, with a doorway to a single room.
HAA Gun Station 449 is located on farm land south of the airport, west of the Kennedy Highway. The four gun emplacements were laid out in a square, but only three are evident. Each has been filled to varying depths. It is probable that the missing fourth gun emplacement and underground CP are also buried. Four ammunition storage magazines are located nearby.
","Mareeba Airfield was constructed between May 1942 and early 1943 and was used by both RAAF and USAAF units. The southernmost runway, which runs roughly east-west, is located about 6km south of Mareeba on the Kennedy Highway and now functions as Mareeba airport. To the north of the airport, west of Ray Road, are the remnants of a second runway, which runs roughly north-south. Curving wartime dispersal taxiways are still evident in the farmland between the runways.
Although Mareeba was a base for bombing raids on the Japanese, it also required protection against Japanese attack. Early anti-aircraft defence of Mareeba Airfield was provided by the US 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment (equipped with 3-inch guns and .50 machine guns) and the Australian 33rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery (LAA), and Anti-Aircraft emplacements of earth, stone and gravel were constructed around the airfield.
Mareeba received further anti-aircraft defences against high flying Japanese bombers during September 1942, with two Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) gun stations were then established—'A' Section Gun Station 448 was positioned near the northern end of the north-south runway and 'B' Section Gun Station 449 was positioned about 7 km south near the eastern end of the east-west runway.
Both gun stations consisted of four 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns on static mounts within in-ground concrete gun emplacements of octagonal shape. The interior walls of each gun emplacement contained recesses where ready ammunition for each gun was stored on timber racks, and the bases of the emplacements contained a circle of steel bolts to fasten the gun mounts. The guns were arranged around a reinforced concrete semi-underground Command Post (CP). Nearby were four semi-underground magazines of reinforced concrete. The standard CP design included a roofed plotting room plus open concrete pits outside for a height finder and predictor (a mechanical computing machine that predicted the future position of a target). Only the plotting room is evident at Gun Station 448's CP, while Gun Station 449's CP has been totally buried.
","Mareeba Airfield and HAA Gun Stations 448 and 449. Queensland Heritage Register reported place 602740.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Wilson, PD 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942–1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Simpson, B, ""Mareeba's Anti Aircraft Batteries"", Heritage Bulletin, Number 7, November 2007, Mareeba Historic Society Inc.
Fowler, SR, November 2007. Plans and photographs of elements of northern Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery site.
National Archives of Australia 175/6/109 PART 1, DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Mareeba Qld - Aerodrome - Hiring of site, 1942–1948.
National Archives of Australia 823, Mareeba 1942
Dunn, P. Mareeba Airfield also known as Hoevet Airfield Mareeba, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Australian War Memorial photographic collection
State Library Queensland, John Oxley Library photographic collection.
" 2036,"Royal Australian Naval Station No.5","Combined Training Centre (Naval Wing)","Fortifications","The Esplanade, Toorbul Point",Toorbul,4511,South-East,-27.0345649719238,153.103210449219,"This is an important local WW2 historic place. If you have information or images, modern or contemporary, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
",,"National Archives of Australia reference.
" 2037,"Air Raid Shelter (former Castlemaine Perkins brewery)","McDonald Printing Group Pty Ltd","Civil defence facility","93-99 Mort Street",Toowoomba,4350,Darling Downs,-27.5523891448975,151.949905395508,"A concrete air raid shelter survives off Mort Street, Toowoomba, south of the former Castlemaine Perkins Limited brewery which is now a printing business. An entrance towards the street has been bricked up, but the size and shape of the structure is typical of the public air raid shelters built in early 1942. Ventilation holes are still visible at intervals along the top of the wall facing the street.
","In the Protection of Persons and Property Order No.1, gazetted 23 December 1941, Queensland's Premier William Forgan Smith, with powers conferred by Regulation 35a, ordered the Brisbane City Council to construct 200 public surface shelters in the city area (235 were built). Another 24 local governments in Queensland's coastal areas were ordered to produce surface or trench shelters for the public (135 non-trench shelters were built).
A large number of businesses also built air raid shelters, as the owners of any building in the coastal areas where over 30 people would normally be present at any one time were required to build shelters either within the building, or adjacent to it. As the brewery would have had a large number of employees, it would have required an air raid shelter. Toowoomba was also the headquarters of the Australian First Army, formed under Lieutenant General J.D. Lavarack in April 1942.
","Maryborough Railway Station Complex and Air Raid Shelter, Queensland Heritage Register 600702
Public Air Raid Shelter, Landsborough Railway Station. Queensland Heritage Register 602709
McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Title Deeds, DERM.
" 2038,"Camp Thompson's Point",,"Training facility","Broadmount Road",Thompsons Point,4702,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.488676071167,150.739898681641,"A small camp for American troops was located at Thompson's Point, on land acquired in December 1942. This site, located east of Thompsons Point Road, between Broadmount Road and the north bank of the Fitzroy River, included 3 kitchens, 4 bath houses, 10 latrines, a 10,000 gallon water tank and a pump house, all constructed by the Public Works Department.
","Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland During World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable from July 1942.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
To the east of Camp Thompson's Point, and apparently associated with it, was a Chemical Warfare Training Area (Gas) of 659 acres at Broadmount, located at the end of the former Broadmount Railway. This land was acquired in October 1943, was used by I Corps, and was vacated in February 1944.
","McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, various items, control symbols MAP 49, MAP 50, MAP 59, MAP 132.
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
" 2039,"Chemical Warfare Training Area",,"Scientific facility","(end of) Broadmount Rail Line",Thompsons Point,4702,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.5017471313477,150.817962646484,"Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland during World War II. The 41st Division, a National Guard unit, was sent to Rockhampton in July 1942, where it was accommodated in Camp Rockhampton.
The US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, under Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, arrived in Rockhampton in August. At this time I Corps included the 41st Division and the 32nd ""Red Arrow"" Division (also a National Guard unit), which had arrived in Adelaide in May 1942. However, the 32nd did not go to Rockhampton, instead camping south of Brisbane at Camp Cable from July 1942.
The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves.
Another small camp for American troops was located at Thompson's Point, on land acquired in December 1942. This site, located east of Thompsons Point Road, between Broadmount Road and the north bank of the Fitzroy River, included 3 kitchens, 4 bath houses, 10 latrines, a 10,000 gallon water tank and a pump house, all constructed by the Public Works Department.
To the east of Camp Thompson's Point, and apparently associated with it, was a Chemical Warfare Training Area (Gas) of 659 acres at Broadmount, located at the end of the former Broadmount Railway. This land was acquired in October 1943, was used by I Corps, and was vacated in February 1944.
",,"McCarthy, D. 1959. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume V - South-West Pacific Area - First Year: Kokoda to Wau.""
Dexter, D. 1961. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 - Army. ""Volume VI - The New Guinea Offensives.""
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
National Archives of Australia, various items, control symbols MAP 44, MAP 45, and MAP 129.
Dunn, P. 41st Infantry Division, I Corps, US Army in Australia during WW2
41st Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Division History, 41st Infantry Division
24th Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
Division history, 24th Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Division (United States), Wikipedia.
" 2040,"Mareeba Airfield Heavy Anti-Aircraft Gun Station 449","Mareeba Air Defences","Fortifications","West of the Kennedy Highway (east of Beaufort Road)",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-17.0824375152588,145.432312011719,"Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Station 449 is located on farm land south of the airport, west of the Kennedy Highway. The four gun emplacements were laid out in a square, but only three are evident. Each has been filled to varying depths. It is probable that the missing fourth gun emplacement and underground CP are also buried. Four ammunition storage magazines are located nearby. The reinforced concrete elements of Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Gun Station 448, the northernmost of two HAA gun stations at Mareeba, are spread over a number of properties south of McIvor Road to the west of Ray Road. There is a single room underground Command Post (CP); two octagonal in-ground gun emplacements (of four that were laid out in an arc west and north of the CP); and four semi-underground magazines. The magazines are covered with earth mounds, and each has two entrances with stairs down to a central corridor, with a doorway to a single room.
",,"Mareeba Airfield and HAA Gun Stations 448 and 449. Queensland Heritage Register reported place 602740.
Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
Wilson, PD 1988. North Queensland WWII 1942–1945. Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane.
Marks, RR. 1994. Queensland Airfields WW2—50 Years On, R and J Marks, Brisbane.
Bradley, Vera, 1995. I didn't know that: Cairns and districts, Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, service personnel and civilians. Boolarong, Moorooka.
Simpson, B, ""Mareeba's Anti Aircraft Batteries"", Heritage Bulletin, Number 7, November 2007, Mareeba Historic Society Inc.
Fowler, SR, November 2007. Plans and photographs of elements of northern Heavy Anti Aircraft Battery site.
National Archives of Australia 175/6/109 PART 1, DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Mareeba Qld - Aerodrome - Hiring of site, 1942–1948.
National Archives of Australia 823, Mareeba 1942
Dunn, P. Mareeba Airfield also known as Hoevet Airfield Mareeba, Qld during WW2
Dunn, P. 94th Coast Artillery (AA) Regiment, 40th Anti-Aircraft Brigade in Australia during WW2
Australian War Memorial photographic collection
State Library Queensland, John Oxley Library photographic collection.
" 2041,"3rd Australian Field Bakery Unit","Atherton Showgrounds","Supply facility","Louise Street",Atherton,4883,Atherton Tablelands,-17.267936706543,145.482040405273,"The military took over the Atherton Showground in 1942. Bake houses (3rd Australian Field Bakery Unit) were built on the western side of the show ring and supplied fresh bread for all the forces in the area.
",,"Pearce, Howard. January 2009. WWII-NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. EPA, Brisbane.
Pullar, M. 1997. Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland. A Report for the National Trust of Queensland.
National Archives of Australia, 286/3. Atherton Tableland Base Area, December 1942-November 1944.
Australian War Memorial Images.
" 2043,"Dunk Island Airfield",,,"Dunk Island township",Dunk Island,4852,North and Cape York,-17.9371757507324,146.142379760742,"Long known as a Barrier Reef island of beauty, Dunk Island featured a grass surfaced strip back in the mid 1930s. (DCA LANDING GROUND #601 )
This strip was restricted in length and in no way deemed necessary for Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) normal service use. However the opportunity for it to provide aerial access for maintenance and communication, suited the establishment of a much needed radar station on the island.
","Referred to as Radar Station # 27, it was not difficult to camouflage the structure. Indeed, RAAF inspecting officers had real difficulty seeing it from the air. The ORB (Operations Record Book) for the unit mentions several new orchid species being found among the natural camouflage. It quotes the island's famous beachcomber/author, E J Banfield as writing ""This is veritably an orchid grower's paradise"".
Today, the island and its resort still boasts this natural beauty and comparative tourist privacy. Like all Barrier Reef locations it is subject to periodic cyclone activity.
","Marks, Roger (contributing author).
" 2044,"Elliot Airfield","Elliot Airstrip","Airfield","Adjacent to old Telegraph line (near Elliot Creek)",Elliott,4874,North and Cape York,-11.2444610595703,142.38151550293,"The existence and exact location of Elliot Airstrip is a 'mystery' as outlined by Roger Marks in 'Queensland Airfields WW2'. All that is known is in July 1950, the RAAF 87 (Photo Recon) Squadron, flying probably a DeHavilland Mosquito aircraft, took a direct vertical showing clear evidence of two cross strips with further clearing near the junction. As was the recording procedure of the day, a Flight Diagram (FD) was drawn, based on available mapping. A photo located in an obscure part of the National Library of Australia's (NLA) extensive print library, was 'filed' with a similar photo edge marked ""Austin Air Strip"" (sic), taken the day before.
Upon further investigation at AUSLIG, (now read Geoscience Australia) in Belconnen, ACT, a senior officer presented a number of FDs which had gravitated to them from the RAAF's Central Photographic Establishment (CPE) Laverton Vic. Amongst these were FDs for both Elliot and Austin, which turned out to be Snake Bay on Melville Is near Darwin, NT.
While research is on-going, at present it appears possible Elliot was cleared during WW2 but with no further advanced, allowing it to return to nature.
","During WW2 large numbers of military aircraft were ferried northwards along the Queensland coast to New Guinea and beyond. Many such flights were interrupted by bad weather or mechanical difficulties and so there was a need to offer pilots information on available ELGs - Emergency Landing Grounds. It is possible Elliot was one such ELG though it seems strange no such record has surfaced.
After WW2, extensive mineral exploration work was carried out through much of Cape York and possibly Elliot sprang from that activity. Roger Marks' research in the early 1990s, gave him access to civilians involved in such clearing and associated earth moving for both mineral exploration and pastoral development ventures. While several 'possible WW2 ELG sites' were considered in that context, Elliot remains a mystery.
To summarise, it's obvious an RAAF photo recon mission (#74 - see 'Index No' at base of FD) was tasked to overfly Austin on 21 July 1950 and next day to include an over-flight of Elliot, on probably a south-bound transit through Garbutt, Townsville. It's likely only two frames were exposed over Austin (5045-5046) and the one over Elliot (5048). It was a 'tasked mission' - no chance sighting was involved.
","In response to orders, the Base 3 Section Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) officers in Brisbane initiated basic CWS training courses for US Army personnel. Initially, with the aid of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company, several courses on chemical warfare defence were conducted at the University of Queensland. This commenced a process that continued well into the war.
","In July 1942 an officer arrived in Brisbane to establish a CWS school for all US personnel. The residence at 107 Windermere Rd was acquired as a school, and classes had begun there even before the school was officially approved in August as part of the Chemical Warfare Service Training Centre. Officers of the 62nd depot company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company assisted with course instruction. The school also co-operated with the Australian Anti-gas school in Toowoomba.
Thirty two-week courses were run in 1943 from which almost 1000 participants graduated. Four mobile instructional teams were also established to ensure US personnel in outlying camps, which included at various times the US Army 41st and 32nd Divisions, were able to receive some training. According to the Service history, ""these training teams demonstrated chemical warfare defensive and decontaminating equipment and tested procedures in which live toxic agents were used.""
Officers of the 42nd Chemical Laboratory Company and the 10th Chemical Maintenance Company resided close to the School in houses in Highclere Avenue, Clayfield. The 42nd used a residence at 90 Bonney Ave as HQ and as a laboratory. Enlisted quarters for the 42nd were at 119 Bonney Ave, 59 Bonney Ave, and the mess hall was on the corner of Bonney Ave and Victoria Rd. Enlisted personnel of the 62nd resided at 22 Gregory St, Clayfield.
","B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
G Plunkett, Chemical Warfare in Australia, Australian Military History Publications, Loftus, 2007
R Marks, Brisbane—WW2 v Now Vol 13, Houses of Bonney Avenue.
" 2047,"United States (US) 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment Camp","Gordonvale Parachute Training Camp","Military camp","Alley Creek, Gillies Highway",Gordonvale,4865,Cairns,-17.1028594970703,145.776809692383,"Some 3500 men of the United State (US) 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, including the 501st Parachute Battalion and 'A' Company of the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion, arrived somewhat unexpectedly in north Queensland after a long voyage across the Pacific, disembarking in Cairns on 2 December 1942. At Cairns the troops and their gear were loaded onto trucks and taken to an undeveloped camp area on the Gillies Highway south-west of Gordonvale. Their camp extended on both sides of the road near Alley Creek in the Riverstone area.
","One of the main training jump sites in the district was Green Hill at Kamma, north of Gordonvale. General MacArthur and General Blamey inspected the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Gordonvale in June 1943 and witnessed a jump by the Regiment at Green Hill.
After completion of training the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment left Gordonvale for Cairns in August 1943, bound for Port Moresby. On the morning of 5 September the paratroopers were loaded into 82 C-47 transport aircraft assembled at eight airstrips in the Port Moresby area. Five aircraft carrying Australian gunners from the 2/4 Field Regiment accompanied the air armada over the Owen Stanley Range for the parachute assault on Japanese forces around Nadzab in the Markham River valley. They secured the Nadzab area for the construction of an airstrip from where the Australian 7th Division could be flown in to attack Lae from the landward side, while the 9th Division carried out an assault from the sea. Lae and Salamaua were taken by mid-September.
","Vera Bradley. I Didn't Know That: Cairns and districts Tully to Cape York, 1939–1946, Service personnel and civilians, Boolarong Press, Brisbane, 1995.
HC Morton, Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletins 13-15, ca.1982.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
PD Wilson. North Queensland: WWII 1942–1945, Department of Geographic Information, Brisbane, 1988.
" 2048,"Royal Australian Air Force 44/56 Radar Station Camp",,"Military camp","Hope Street, Grassy Hill",Cooktown,4895,North and Cape York,-15.4635133743286,145.255569458008,"In mid-November 1942 the personnel of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 44 Radar Station arrived at Cooktown aboard a coastal vessel to install an Australian AW Mk I set. The radar unit was formed in Townsville in August 1942. The radio direction finding (RDF or radar) station was located on top of Grassy Hill, overlooking Cooktown, and alongside the early lighthouse erected in 1886.
","On arrival the unit found that work on the transmitter and camp had not started due to confusion regarding building approvals by the Main Roads Commission which was the constructing authority. A disused house at the base of the hill was pressed into service as a temporary mess, store and orderly room. As usual sleeping accommodation was in tents. The unit personnel themselves completed the radar transmitter and operations building and installed most of the technical equipment. After further delays awaiting valves for the equipment, it was the end of January 1943 before the radar station was finally operational. Even then the permanent camp, constructed on a steep spur half-way up Grassy Hill, was still unfinished, only one building being completed and this was used as an orderly room and wireless telephone room.
As with most other RAAF radar stations in north Queensland it is presumed the Cooktown unit ceased operations and was disbanded after Japan's surrender in August 1945. All serviceable and salvageable equipment was dismantled and removed and the only evidence of the radar station today is a plaque atop Grassy Hill on the site of the operations building and tower. Several concrete slabs hidden in scrub on the west side of the hill, identify the camp area.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Don Sinclair, Cooktown at War: A record of activities in Cooktown during World War Two, Cooktown and District Historical Society, 1997.
" 2049,"RAAF Command Headquarters",,"Headquarters","Victoria Park Road",Kelvin Grove,4059,Brisbane City,-27.4525489807129,153.016952514648,,, 2050,"The Lady Bowen Club, No. 12 Service Club","Australian Army Canteens Service Recreation Centre","Recreation/community","Albert Park, Wickham Terrace",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4620265960693,153.020172119141,"Albert Park, as the largest park closest to the City, became an important rest and recreation spot for wartime Brisbane. In early 1941, the Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret was built in or near the park to provide accommodation and entertainment for Australian troops on leave. As a large tree-lined space, Albert Park was an ideal location for siting City air raid facilities. One twin shelter, a single shelter and a huge open slit trench were positioned in the park.
","In late 1940, it was decided to build recreation facilities based around Albert Park for service personnel visiting Brisbane. The Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret was completed and opened by April 1941. It comprised a Club located in an old lady Bowen Hospital building at 497-485 Wickham Terrace and a separate cabaret building on the Wickham Terrace side of Albert Park. Army engineers of 1st Australian Civil and Electrical Works Company did both the hospital building's renovation and the Cabaret building construction.
The Lady Bowen Club was a hostel for servicemen on leave. Troops slept in 16-bed dormitories containing double-bunk beds. Lounges were provided for reading, writing letters or listening to the wireless. Extensive use of Cane-ite was made in the renovation for soundproofing and tropical heat absorption purposes. The lounges had fireplaces for winter.
The Cabaret or Recreation Centre was built immediately across from the Club on a slope located at the top of Albert Park. Three exterior walls and roof were of corrugated asbestos (fibro). The fourth side was oval-shaped and fully casement-windowed to provide sweeping views of the Park, the City and the Brisbane River. The Cabaret featured a polished Queensland hardwood dance floor to accommodate 150 people, electric ceiling fans plus a snack and milk bar finished in silver ash veneer. The snack and milk bar's tables could be removed to provide further space for dancers. The Cabaret's basement was a Games Room containing billiards and ping-pong tables. The Cabaret's ceilings were of Cane-ite. Building suppliers James Campbell & Sons, Barker & Co. and Brett & Co. provided 40,000 square feet of Cane-ite for the Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret buildings.
The Brisbane City Council's Works Department placed air raid protection structures in Albert Park due to its heavy public usage. Near the Lady Bowen Club and Cabaret, a twin Cantilever design, concrete air raid shelter was constructed on Wickham Terrace across from Birley Street. This shelter could comfortably fit 140 people. A single Cantilever design, concrete air raid shelter was constructed on Wickham Terrace across from Lilley Street. This shelter could comfortably hold 70 people. The Council dug one of its largest (1,000 feet long) public slit trenches in the Park. Post-war, the trench was filled-in and the air raid shelters converted to bus shelters.
","BCC Heritage Unit citation
" 2051,"Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Station 1 accommodation building",,"Military camp","41 Victoria Terrace",Caloundra,4551,South-East,-26.8019390106201,153.149124145508,"Royal Austrralian Navy (RAN) Station 1, a Port War Signal Station (PWSS), was constructed at Caloundra Head sometime after March 1941. A timber signal station accommodation building was located west of the signal tower, at what is now 41 Victoria Terrace. This one storey timber structure on stumps, served as the Whitecliff private hospital for some time, from 1948. It has since been demolished.
","Further information required. Contact the website to assist.
","RAN Station 9, Pinkenba (Myrtletown), Queensland Heritage Register 602448
Signal Station (former), Queensland Heritage Register 601097 [refers to Signal station at Cowan Cowan]
Groves, J; Groves, J; Wensley, A, 2009. Caloundra during WWII: how World War II changed the town of Caloundra, John and Janice Groves and Anne Wensley, Caloundra.
National Archives of Australia 23/402/153. Bribie Island Fortress 1939–1944.
National Archives of Australia LS1944. Caloundra - Position of Tower at Port War Signal Station, 1948.
Dunn, P. ""RAN Station 1—Port War Signal Station initially at Cowan Cowan, Moreton Is. then ""Buena Vista"", Moffat Head, Caloundra then Wickham Point, Caloundra"".
Timeline of the Caloundra District, Sunshine Coast Libraries Photographic Collection
" 2052,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) No.3 Base Stores Depot (BSD)","Energex Depot site","Supply facility","10 and 10A Bowen Bridge Road",Spring Hill,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4522151947021,153.027359008789,"Formed six months prior to the outbreak of the Pacific War, No.3 Base Stores Depot (BSD) was the main supply depot for RAAF units based in Brisbane. After 1942, the increasing number of such units led to an expansion of No.3 BSD from its original site behind Victoria Park into sites at Eagle Farm, Hendra, Breakfast Creek, Fortitude Valley, New Farm and Lang Park.
","On 2 June 1941, the RAAF formed No.3 Base Stores Depot (BSD) led by Squadron Leader Ivor Watkins. Originally intended for Brisbane's Exhibition Grounds, an advance party led by Squadron Leader Jack Watkins surveyed suitable sites on 20 May 1941. The 1941 'Ekka' would have been severely disrupted by the showgrounds use by the RAAF so Watkins chose another site just across the road. No.3 BSD was established at the Brisbane City Council Electricity Supply Depot warehouse located to the rear of Bowen Bridge Road corner of Victoria Park. The site was located close to a major roads and the Normanby rail line. Unit personnel lived nearby in requisitioned homes on Gregory Terrace—'Grangehill' for the men and 'Wybernia' for the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAFs). The first stores arrived by truck at the depot on 17 June.
Due to expanding commitments, No. 3 BSD required more storage areas. On 10 September 1941, the Austral Motors building in Wesley Street, New Farm was requisitioned. It was used as clothing storerooms. In January 1942, part of the Ford factory at Eagle Farm was leased for the construction of temporary stores buildings and offices. In response to the threat of the Japanese bombing of Queensland's coastal cities, part of No.3 BSD was used to form a new No.7 BSD based inland at Drayton, near Toowoomba.
In August 1943, the complexity in the type of supplies required by the RAAF led to a new policy. No.3 BSD would handle non-technical supplies while technical supplies would go to no.7 BSD. So No.3 BSD transferred more staff to Drayton. Also in 1943, No.3 BSD did the nurse staffing and patient admissions administrative work for those RAAF personnel sent to the 126th Australian Special Hospital at Kangaroo Point or the Greenslopes Military Hospital.
1944 saw a major expansion of the facilities required by No.3 BSD. In May, two new warehouses were constructed at the Spring Hill depot site. Two wool stores off Nudgee Road at Hendra were requisitioned as stores warehouses on 21 June. In August, the unit's Motor Transport Repair Section was formed at Lang Park sportsgrounds at Milton. The Overland Building in Ann Street, Fortitude Valley was taken over in September. On 1 November, Wing Commander Les Holten was posted to Brisbane as the unit's new commander. He met his future wife at the welcoming party held in his honour.
As the United States (US) Air Force headed to the Philippines and relinquished its leases, No.3 BSD expanded further into Fortitude Valley. At the end of January 1945, the headquarters of No.3 BSD moved into the John McGrath Motors Building in Wickham Street. The building was formerly occupied by the US 81st Air Depot Group's supply store. A Central Purchasing Office soon joined the No.3 BSD H.Q. at the John McGrath Building. That same month, the clothing store moved from New Farm to the Hendra wool stores. Despite this dispersal of No.3 BSD across Brisbane's northern suburbs, a full unit parade was held every Tuesday morning at the Spring Hill depot site.
After the war ended in September 1945, No.3 BSD transferred many of its sub-units to former US Army motor pool and depot sites at Cannon Hill and Eagle Farm. The unit finally left the Brisbane City Council Electricity Supply Depot at Spring Hill on 17 June 1947.
","Woff M.D. Moore, 'History of the Early RAAF Stores Depots and Other Equipment Units, Part 2"", RAAF SUPPLY, pp.41-44.
National Archives of Australia
" 2053,"Rheem Drum Manufacturing Plant","Bulimba Barrel Plant","Factory site/industry","Addison Ave and Ferry Lane",Bulimba,4171,Brisbane City,-27.4511337280273,153.053894042969,"As a result of the war effort there was a massive requirement for steel drums of all types for military and civilian uses. This appears to have been a rare project where much needed production facilities for a commercial company were constructed by government.
","At the request of the Commonwealth's Department of Supply and Shipping, the Allied Works Council let contracts for the construction of a drum manufacturing plant to be operated by Rheem. It was apparently known as the Bulimba Barrel Plant.
The plant was built on reclaimed land along the riverbank at Hawthorne. The plant included its own electricity sub-station and water supply. The substantial factory was of steel-framed, brick construction, with concrete floors. It had an administration building and a stores building as well as a cafeteria, mess and change rooms.
","NAA: BP262/2, 9178, Joint Parliamentary War Expenditure Advisory Committee visit to Queensland and Northern Territory, barcode 1830009
" 2054,"Rosemount Hospital",,,"189 Lutwyche Road",Windsor,4030,Greater Brisbane,-27.4368667602539,153.031539916992,"The Jones family leased Rosemount to the Department of Defence circa 1916 for use as a military hospital during World War I. The Department soon acquired the site with an additional 3 acres of land and planned to build more structures in order to meet the needs of a wartime hospital. No 1 Auxiliary Hospital had 13 wards, a theatre block and staff quarters by 1919. The Repatriation Department took over the site as a repatriation hospital in 1921, and expanded the facility.
","After the outbreak of war in 1939, the Department of the Interior approved construction of additional wards at the hospital to meet anticipated requirements. Ultimately an extra 82 beds were created with associated facilities for staff and patients. Patients at the hospital appear to have been principally used for service personnel who had contracted tuberculosis.
Repatriation patients were transferred to the Greenslopes Hospital in 1947 and it ceased to be associated with military patients by the 1950s. The Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital became the principal acute care facility and as a consequence the Rosemount complex was transferred to the Brisbane and South Coast Hospitals Board in the early 1950s.
","Queensland Heritage Register citation
Allied Works Council Queensland - Annual Report of work done by AWC Qld to 30 June 1943. Series BP262/2, Barcode 438604.
" 2055,"Ipswich War Cemetery","Ipswich General Cemetery - War Graves Plot and individual graves","Cemetery","Corner Warwick Road and Cemetery Road",Ipswich,4305,South-East,-27.6304473876953,152.759628295898,"The Ipswich War Cemetery and the wider General Cemetery contain 100 'official' graves of World War I and II. There are 88 Second World War burials, with the majority contained in the war plot.
","The War Cemetery is located within Ipswich General Cemetery, on the corner of Cemetery and Warwick Roads, the triangular plot, containing 68 burials, is delineated on two sides by shrubs. A Cross of Sacrifice stands in one of the triangular points.
During WWII a number of Australian units were stationed in the Brisbane-Ipswich area. Many of the casualties resulted from air training accidents at the No. 6 Aircraft Depot at Oakey and the Air Base at Amberley.
","Commonwealth War Graves Commission
" 2056,"Camp Hugh Street (United States Army)","Air Transport Command","Military camp","Hugh Street and Harold Street",West End,4810,Townsville,-19.2570400238037,146.786224365234,"Several Australian and United States (US) units were located in the suburb of West End utilising
both prefabricated and requisitioned buildings. Camp Hugh Street was established as an US Army Camp.
","In August 1943, ""Camp Hugh Street"" was constructed by the Allied Works Council for the American Army at the junction of Harold and Hugh Streets (near the present Harold Phillips Park). A November 1944 plan of the site mentions all buildings were constructed of fibro cement and were occupied by Air Transport Command. An April 1946 site plan lists 15 separate buildings as sleeping quarters. Others included mess and recreation huts, ablutions and barracks.
By February 1945 the US had vacated and the camp was being used as accommodation for RAAF transport squadrons.
In 1946 Camp Hugh Street and other ex-military buildings in Francis Street were listed for disposal as surplus assets. Former military barracks, administration and hospital buildings were converted into housing post-war and many survive in altered form today. Building supplies after WW2 were limited and Commonwealth and US disposal auctions sold entire buildings and surplus materials to the public. Queensland's Department of Public Works also purchased prefabricated military buildings and transformed them into attractive low-cost housing for service families and new migrants.
Aerial imagery reveals that all buildings at Camp Hugh Street had been removed by 1952 with only the semi-circular graveled road still visible.
","DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Townsville Qld - Camp buildings - Hugh Street - West End - Disposal of surplus assets, A705, 171/106/486 ACT.
Ray Holyoak (contributing author).
" 2057,"Camp Strathpine","Area 1 (Head Quarters and Support units)","Military camp","One Mile Creek, Samsonvale Road, Forgan Road and Protheroe Road",Joyner,4500,South-East,-27.2786655426025,152.93293762207,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).
","Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the US 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek. However, the actual camp sites for units consisted of six main areas. Area 1 was located in Joyner, west of One Mile Creek, north of Samsonvale Road (then called Swift Drive), east of Forgan Road (then called Pershing Drive) and south of Protheroe Road (then called Scenic Drive). Units in this area included the 8th Engineer Squadron, 1st Medical Squadron, 27th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company, and the 1st Signals Troop. The HQ was roughly where Ribblesdale Court is now located.
See also Camp Strathpine (Main page)
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp- Strathpine, 1943-45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 2058,"Camp Strathpine","Area 2 (Support, Mechanised and Armoured units)","Military camp","Samsonvale Road, Kremzow Road, Old North Road and One Mile Creek",Cashmere,4500,South-East,-27.2981338500977,152.940383911133,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).
Most of the camp area has been developed for housing, but a few remnants still existed in 2009, most on private land. These include tent line mounds and a couple of concrete slabs in Area 1, east of Forgan Road, to north of Samsonvale Road; some concrete slabs in Area 2, located west of Ira Buckby Road and east of Kurrajong Drive; a deep trench latrine and concrete slabs in Area 3, south of Kremzow Road; a bread oven in Starling Street Park, Warner; and concrete slabs and a culvert in the northeast part of Area 4, either side of Kremzow Road.
","Area 2 (Support, Mechanised and Armoured units) was located in Cashmere and Warner, bounded by Samsonvale Road, Kremzow Road, the Old North Road and One Mile Creek.
Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the US 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek.
This camp area was based around three wartime roads which no longer exist: Howze Road, Stuart Road and Pleasanton Road. The units camped here were most likely the Military Police Platoon; the 302nd Reconnaissance Troop (Mechanised); the 603rd Light (later Medium) Tank Company; and the 16th Quartermaster Squadron. The 302nd and the 603rd were created in December 1943 out of the 7th Reconnaissance Squadron. The 302nd included a unique radio unit with Lakota and Dakota Indians (The Code Talkers"") who used the Sioux language to thwart Japanese attempts to listen in on US radio communications.
See also - Camp Strathpine (Main page)
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp- Strathpine, 1943-45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 2059,"Camp Strathpine","Area 3 (United States 1st Cavalry Brigade)","Military camp","Kremzow Road, Brisbane Road and Four Mile Creek",Warner,4500,South-East,-27.3081245422363,152.948547363281,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).
Area 3 (1st Cavalry Brigade) was located in Warner to the north and south of Kremzow road, bounded by Brisbane Road and Four Mile Creek on the west, and a tributary of Four Mile Creek on the east.
","Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the United States (US) 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek. However, the actual camp sites for units consisted of six main areas. The area was based around the no-longer extant Sheridan Road, which ran northeast-southwest. This was the campsite of the 1st Cavalry Brigade, made up of the 5th and 12th Calvary Regiments.
In addition to the camp sites, training facilities included two grenade ranges in Cashmere: one east of Four Mile Creek adjacent to Area 3 (west of Lilley Road) and one north of Winn Road. There were also two mortar ranges in Cashmere: one near One Mile Creek, south of Ira Buckby Road West; and another astride Winn Road.
The 1st Cavalry departed for Oro Bay in New Guinea between late December 1943 and late February 1944, to prepare for landing in the Admiralty Island Group as part of Operation Cartwheel—a campaign of 10 separate operations conducted during the second half of 1943 and early 1944 as part of General MacArthur's plan to neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul. Troops from both MacArthur's South West Pacific Area and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas command participated in this twin-axis advance.
After the departure of the 1st Cavalry, Camp Strathpine was used by Australian forces, including the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). Before heading to New Guinea in late 1942 the 7th Division had been based in Woodford, with its 18th brigade in Kilcoy, 21st Brigade in Woombye, and 25th Brigade at Caboolture; during early 1943 the division trained on the Atherton Tableland before returning to New Guinea, and in 1944 the division trained at Strathpine. Other Australian units which spent time at Strathpine included the 26, 31/51, and 55/53 Infantry Battalions of the 11th Brigade (Militia); the 36th Infantry Battalion (Militia); the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion; the 2/2 and 2/3 Anti-Aircraft Regiments and the 17th Advanced Ordnance Depot.
Since the end of World War II most of the campsites of Camp Strathpine have been developed for housing, and some fringes of the larger camp area have been submerged by Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah. Over the years a number of artefacts have been recovered from Area 3 prior to development, and these have included items such as: live and expended ammunition (9mm, .303, .45, .50, 37mm); cutlery, US First Aid packets, bottles and jars, buttons, Australian coins and home made dog tags, Australian hat badges and shoulder bars, metal belt loops from webbing, fob watch parts, anti-gas ointment tubes, a rifle cleaning brush, rifle oil bottles, a piece of US uniform and a 1st Cavalry Division shoulder patch. Some finds have been donated to the Pine Rivers Museum at Old Petrie Town.
See also - Camp Strathpine (Main page)
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp- Strathpine, 1943-45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 2060,"Camp Strathpine","Area 4 (2nd United States Cavalry Brigade)","Military camp","Kremzow Road, Warner Road West, and Wilson Road",Cashmere,4500,South-East,-27.3158740997314,152.950286865234,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).
Area 4 (2nd Cavalry Brigade) was located mostly between Kremzow Road and Warner Road West, between Area 3 and Wilson Road (no longer extant) to the east.
","Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the US 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek. However, the actual camp sites for units consisted of six main areas.
Most of the camp area has been developed for housing, but a few remnants still existed in 2009, most on private land. These include tent line mounds and a couple of concrete slabs in Area 1, east of Forgan Road, to north of Samsonvale Road; some concrete slabs in Area 2, located west of Ira Buckby Road and east of Kurrajong Drive; a deep trench latrine and concrete slabs in Area 3, south of Kremzow Road; a bread oven in Starling Street Park, Warner; and concrete slabs and a culvert in the northeast part of Area 4, either side of Kremzow Road.
Area 4 was located mostly south of Kremzow Road, and north of Warner Road West (then Hueco Road), between Area 3 to the west and Wilson Road (no longer extant) to the east. The area was based around the no-longer extant Armstrong Road, Wainwright Circle and Custer Road, and was the campsite of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and its 7th and 8th Cavalry Regiments.
In addition to the camp sites, training facilities included two grenade ranges in Cashmere: one east of Four Mile Creek adjacent to Area 3 (west of Lilley Road) and one north of Winn Road. There were also two mortar ranges in Cashmere: one near One Mile Creek, south of Ira Buckby Road West; and another astride Winn Road.
The 1st Cavalry departed for Oro Bay in New Guinea between late December 1943 and late February 1944, to prepare for landing in the Admiralty Island Group as part of Operation Cartwheel—a campaign of 10 separate operations conducted during the second half of 1943 and early 1944 as part of General MacArthur's plan to neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul. Troops from both MacArthur's South West Pacific Area and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas command participated in this twin-axis advance.
After the departure of the 1st Cavalry, Camp Strathpine was used by Australian forces, including the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). Before heading to New Guinea in late 1942 the 7th Division had been based in Woodford, with its 18th brigade in Kilcoy, 21st Brigade in Woombye, and 25th Brigade at Caboolture; during early 1943 the division trained on the Atherton Tableland before returning to New Guinea, and in 1944 the division trained at Strathpine. Other Australian units which spent time at Strathpine included the 26, 31/51, and 55/53 Infantry Battalions of the 11th Brigade (Militia); the 36th Infantry Battalion (Militia); the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion; the 2/2 and 2/3 Anti-Aircraft Regiments and the 17th Advanced Ordnance Depot.
Since the end of World War II most of the campsites of Camp Strathpine have been developed for housing, and some fringes of the larger camp area have been submerged by Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah. Over the years a number of artefacts have been recovered from Area 3 prior to development, and these have included items such as: live and expended ammunition (9mm, .303, .45, .50, 37mm); cutlery, US First Aid packets, bottles and jars, buttons, Australian coins and home made dog tags, Australian hat badges and shoulder bars, metal belt loops from webbing, fob watch parts, anti-gas ointment tubes, a rifle cleaning brush, rifle oil bottles, a piece of US uniform and a 1st Cavalry Division shoulder patch. Some finds have been donated to the Pine Rivers Museum at Old Petrie Town.
See also - Camp Strathpine (Main page)
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp- Strathpine, 1943-45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 2061,"Camp Strathpine","Area 5 (Artillery units)","Military camp","North Coast Railway, Dayboro Road, Sidling Creek, and Lyons Road",Petrie,4500,South-East,-27.2536907196045,152.964965820313,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).
Area 5 was the Divisional Artillery area, in Petrie. This was bounded by the North Coast Railway, Dayboro Road, Sidling Creek, and Lyons Road.
","Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the US 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek. However, the actual camp sites for units consisted of six main areas.
Area 5 was the artillery area in Petrie. This was bounded by the North Coast Railway to the east, Dayboro Road to the south, Sidling Creek to the west, and around the area of Lyons Road in the north. It was based around Frenchs Road (then called Juarez Street), Bellview Road (then called Plaza Del Toros), Torrens Road (then called Mayo Street), and the no longer extant Comancho Street, Quione Street and Pancho Villa Street. The Field Artillery (FA) Battalions camped here included the 61st, 82nd, 99th, and after October 1943, the 271st. Eventually, each battalion received 105mm guns. The artillery units had a firing range at Flinders, Clear Mountain (to the west of Camp Strathpine), and the ""Grasshopper"" spotter aircraft of the division's artillery used, among other places, the Strathpine A1 and A3 airstrips (at Lawnton and Brendale respectively).
In addition to the camp sites, training facilities included two grenade ranges in Cashmere: one east of Four Mile Creek adjacent to Area 3 (west of Lilley Road) and one north of Winn Road. There were also two mortar ranges in Cashmere: one near One Mile Creek, south of Ira Buckby Road West; and another astride Winn Road.
The 1st Cavalry departed for Oro Bay in New Guinea between late December 1943 and late February 1944, to prepare for landing in the Admiralty Island Group as part of Operation Cartwheel—a campaign of 10 separate operations conducted during the second half of 1943 and early 1944 as part of General MacArthur's plan to neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul. Troops from both MacArthur's South West Pacific Area and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas command participated in this twin-axis advance.
After the departure of the 1st Cavalry, Camp Strathpine was used by Australian forces, including the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). Before heading to New Guinea in late 1942 the 7th Division had been based in Woodford, with its 18th brigade in Kilcoy, 21st Brigade in Woombye, and 25th Brigade at Caboolture; during early 1943 the division trained on the Atherton Tableland before returning to New Guinea, and in 1944 the division trained at Strathpine. Other Australian units which spent time at Strathpine included the 26, 31/51, and 55/53 Infantry Battalions of the 11th Brigade (Militia); the 36th Infantry Battalion (Militia); the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion; the 2/2 and 2/3 Anti-Aircraft Regiments and the 17th Advanced Ordnance Depot.
Since the end of World War II most of the campsites of Camp Strathpine have been developed for housing, and some fringes of the larger camp area have been submerged by Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah. Over the years a number of artefacts have been recovered from Area 3 prior to development, and these have included items such as: live and expended ammunition (9mm, .303, .45, .50, 37mm); cutlery, US First Aid packets, bottles and jars, buttons, Australian coins and home made dog tags, Australian hat badges and shoulder bars, metal belt loops from webbing, fob watch parts, anti-gas ointment tubes, a rifle cleaning brush, rifle oil bottles, a piece of US uniform and a 1st Cavalry Division shoulder patch. Some finds have been donated to the Pine Rivers Museum at Old Petrie Town.
A few larger remnants still existed in 2009, mostly on private land. These include tent line mounds and a couple of concrete slabs in Area 1, east of Forgan Road, to north of Samsonvale Road; some concrete slabs in Area 2, located west of Ira Buckby Road and east of Kurrajong Drive; a deep trench latrine and concrete slabs in Area 3, south of Kremzow Road; a bread oven in Starling Street Park, Warner; and concrete slabs and a culvert in the northeast part of Area 4, either side of Kremzow Road.
See also Camp Strathpine (Main page)
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp- Strathpine, 1943-45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 2062,"Camp Strathpine","Area 6 (Civilian Constructional Corps Camp and Pumping Station)","Military camp","Young's Crossing Road",Petrie,4500,South-East,-27.2662315368652,152.951629638672,"Camp Strathpine was occupied by the US 1st Cavalry Division from mid 1943 to early 1944, and the camp was subsequently used by the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial force (2nd AIF).
Area 6 (pumping station and Civilian Constructional Corps camp) was located west of Young's Crossing Road, on the south bank of the North Pine River. A large concrete tank remains there today.
","Camp Strathpine was built between December 1942 and July 1943 to accommodate the US 1st Cavalry Division, one of the four US Divisions (also including the 24th, 32nd and 41st Divisions) which trained in Queensland before being sent to New Guinea. The main body of the 1st Cavalry Division arrived in Brisbane on 26th July 1943 on the troopships USS George Washington and USS Monterey, an advanced echelon having arrived in late June on board the USS Maui. The 1st Cavalry, under Major General Innis P. Swift, was shipped as a Light Infantry division of 15,000 men equipped with vehicles instead of horses, and was assigned to the US Sixth Army.
Camp Strathpine was constructed by US troopers and Australian civilians, and the area's forests, undergrowth, streams and ravines were used for jungle training. The men of the division also received amphibious warfare training at Toorbul Point, with practice landings on Bribie Island, while some trained at Port Stephens in NSW. Accommodation for most of the men was in tents, although the camp had plenty of buildings, including latrines, ablutions, shower enclosures, kitchens, canteens, recreation huts, water and power supply buildings, mess sheds and shelters, warehouses, various huts and store buildings, offices (at the HQ), picture theatres, and a prison stockade. Some log cabins were also built as mess halls.
Although the original design of the camp intended to make maximum use of natural cover, the felling of trees to erect rows of tents negated this plan. Tented areas had pathways gravelled with log edges, with logs also laid around the tents, while trees and stumps were painted white to 4′ (1.2m) high, to assist night navigation around the camp. The main fresh water pumping plant for the camp was at Gordon's Crossing, with another pumping station at Young's Crossing.
The site of Camp Strathpine stretched from Lakeside Road near Dakabin Station in the north to just south of the South Pine River at Albany Creek. However, the actual camp sites for units consisted of six main areas.
Area 6, located west of Young's Crossing Road (then called El Paso Ave), on the south bank of the North Pine River, included a pumping station and buildings for the Civilian Constructional Corps (CCC) workers who had helped build the camp.
In addition to the camp sites, training facilities included two grenade ranges in Cashmere: one east of Four Mile Creek adjacent to Area 3 (west of Lilley Road) and one north of Winn Road. There were also two mortar ranges in Cashmere: one near One Mile Creek, south of Ira Buckby Road West; and another astride Winn Road.
The 1st Cavalry departed for Oro Bay in New Guinea between late December 1943 and late February 1944, to prepare for landing in the Admiralty Island Group as part of Operation Cartwheel—a campaign of 10 separate operations conducted during the second half of 1943 and early 1944 as part of General MacArthur's plan to neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul. Troops from both MacArthur's South West Pacific Area and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's Pacific Ocean Areas command participated in this twin-axis advance.
After the departure of the 1st Cavalry, Camp Strathpine was used by Australian forces, including the 7th Division, 2nd Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). Before heading to New Guinea in late 1942 the 7th Division had been based in Woodford, with its 18th brigade in Kilcoy, 21st Brigade in Woombye, and 25th Brigade at Caboolture; during early 1943 the division trained on the Atherton Tableland before returning to New Guinea, and in 1944 the division trained at Strathpine. Other Australian units which spent time at Strathpine included the 26, 31/51, and 55/53 Infantry Battalions of the 11th Brigade (Militia); the 36th Infantry Battalion (Militia); the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion; the 2/2 and 2/3 Anti-Aircraft Regiments and the 17th Advanced Ordnance Depot.
Since the end of World War II most of the campsites of Camp Strathpine have been developed for housing, and some fringes of the larger camp area have been submerged by Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah. Over the years a number of artefacts have been recovered from Area 3 prior to development, and these have included items such as: live and expended ammunition (9mm, .303, .45, .50, 37mm); cutlery, US First Aid packets, bottles and jars, buttons, Australian coins and home made dog tags, Australian hat badges and shoulder bars, metal belt loops from webbing, fob watch parts, anti-gas ointment tubes, a rifle cleaning brush, rifle oil bottles, a piece of US uniform and a 1st Cavalry Division shoulder patch. Some finds have been donated to the Pine Rivers Museum at Old Petrie Town.
A few larger remnants still existed in 2009, most on private land. These include tent line mounds and a couple of concrete slabs in Area 1, east of Forgan Road, to north of Samsonvale Road; some concrete slabs in Area 2, located west of Ira Buckby Road and east of Kurrajong Drive; a deep trench latrine and concrete slabs in Area 3, south of Kremzow Road; a bread oven in Starling Street Park, Warner; and concrete slabs and a culvert in the northeast part of Area 4, either side of Kremzow Road.
See also Camp Strathpine (Main page)
","Spethman, DW; Miller, RG; Deighton, LJ, October 2000. Divisional Camp- Strathpine, 1943-45. US 1st Cavalry Division, Australian 7th Division (2nd AIF). Fort Lytton Historical Association Inc.
Charlton, P. 1991. South Queensland WWII 1941–45, Boolarong, Brisbane.
Boudreau, WH. 2002. 1st Cavalry Division—a spur ride through the 20th Century, from horses to the digital battlefield. Turner Publishing Company, Paducah, KY.
Casey, Hugh J., ed. 1951, ""Volume VI: Airfield and Base Development"", Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Washington, D.C, United States Department of the Army.
National Archives of Australia, Folder O to S Folio 63. Strathpine Camp Military Area - Roads and Facilities of Unit Areas - Site Plan [1/S/40]. 1945
National Archives of Australia LS705. Strathpine camp area 1942.
Dunn, P. Camp Strathpine in Brisbane
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
1st Cavalry Division Association
31/51st Battalion (Kennedy/ Far North Queensland Regiment)
36th Battalion (St George's English Rifle Regiment)
DERM archaeological site reconnaissance 1 October 2009.
Australian War Memorial Photographic Collection.
State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library Photographic Collection.
Strathpine Library, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Photographic Collection.
" 2063,"Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Brisbane Medical Unit","British Medical Union, 'Austral House'","Headquarters","31 Adelaide Street",Brisbane,4000,Brisbane City,-27.4698162078857,153.023498535156,"A small administrative control unit, the Brisbane Medical Unit operated from 'Austral House' from July 1944 to September 1945.
","Now known as 'Blake House', this building was built in 1913 for the Queensland Branch of the British Medical Association (forerunner of the Australian Medical Association).
The RAAF formed the Brisbane Medical Unit on 15 July 1944. Squadron Leader C.A. Frew was appointed the unit commander on 16 August 1944. It leased office space in 'Austral House'. It was a small administrative unit that dealt with any medical personnel or supply issues that affected RAAF units around Brisbane.
On 1 November 1944, the Sick Quarters from both the RAAF Station Archerfield and the RAAF Station Amberley became the responsibility of the Brisbane Medical Unit. The Sick Quarters organised the air evacuation of patients and the cared for patients staging through either airfield. In January 1945, the RAAF Malaria Control Training Unit was added to the responsibilities of the Brisbane Medical Unit. The BMU disbanded on 28 September 1945.
","RAAF Historical Section, Units of the Royal Australian Air Force—a concise history, Volume 9 Ancillary Units (Canberra: AGPS, 1995)
" 2064,"Toowong Cemetery","Brisbane General Cemetery Portion 10: Soldier's Reservation","Cemetery","304 Birdwood Terrace",Toowong,4066,Greater Brisbane,-27.4766445159912,152.984222412109,"Toowong Cemetery opened in 1871 replacing the Milton/Paddington Cemetery (now the Lang Park site) that had, in turn, earlier replaced Brisbane's first cemetery, the Moreton Bay Penal Cemetery located near Skew Street in the City. Toowong Cemetery's Portion 10 developed into a military graves section. During the 1920-30s, ex-servicemen who came home but subsequently died from World War One-related injuries or illnesses, were given Commonwealth Government headstones at Portion 10.
In the early part of World War II, from March 1940 to December 1942, the graves of 79 servicemen who died while on active service in Brisbane were placed at Toowong. As Portion 10 drew close to capacity, military burials were shifted to Lutwyche Cemetery at the start of 1943. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has, so far, identified 379 Graves of war-related casualties scattered throughout Toowong Cemetery. Of these, over 100 are World War II casualties with the majority of these graves located in Portion 10.
","After World War I, some returned servicemen who had died due to the lingering effects of wounds, gas attack or the 1918-19 'Spanish Flu' Pandemic were interred in Portion 10 of Toowong Cemetery. This was not a designated War Graves Section as it already contained a few civilian graves. But during the 1920s, as Portion 10 began to fill with military headstones it became known as the Soldiers Corner. Chaplain Lieutenant-Colonel David John Garland inaugurated an ANZAC Day service at the cemetery in 1920. He saw a small crowd placing flowers on soldiers' graves and gathered them around him to conduct a simple service. He was instrumental in raising the funds for the construction of the Cross of Sacrifice and Stone of Remembrance that were unveiled on ANZAC Day, 1924. The area set apart for military graves within Portion 10 was extended in 1934. Canon Garland led the ANZAC Day service annually until 1938 (he died in 1939). He started the custom of conducting ANZAC Day services in Brisbane cemeteries. The Toowong services continued after Garland's death but were later moved to Toowong Memorial Park off Sylvan Road.
On 3 September 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland, Britain declared war and Australia gave its immediate support. Brisbane became a garrison city with its main role to recruit and then provide basic training to men and women who enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the Army (2nd Australian Imperial Force - the AIF, or the Australian Military Force - the militia) or the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The first Brisbane-based serviceman to be buried at Toowong was Private Charles Douglas Nash. He died on 3 March 1940 while serving with the militia's 1st Garrison Battalion. He was one of four such burials during 1940. There were nine burials during 1941, including the first RAAF grave that was for Leading Aircraftsman George James Manson who died on 4 March 1941.
With the outbreak of the Pacific War on 8 December 1941, Brisbane's role soon changed. The arrival at New Farm of the first US troops sent to Australia on 22 December 1941 was the beginning of using Brisbane as an Allied forward base. When General MacArthur transferred the headquarters of his South-West Pacific Area command from Melbourne to Brisbane on 23 July 1942, Brisbane became a major strategic planning and supply base. As large numbers of troops poured into Brisbane, the number of military burials at Toowong increased. No Americans were buried at Toowong. A US War Graves Section was created at Lutwyche Cemetery, before all US graves were transferred to Ipswich in June 1942.
Another 66 graves were added to Portion 10 in 1942. Among the burials was Private Edward Sidney Webster (2/2nd Anti-Tank Regiment), the only fatality from the infamous ""Battle of Brisbane"". He died on 26 November 1942. The three RAN sailors who were killed in the 'Tamar Incident' (Moreton Bay, 4 March 1942) are also buried in Portion 10. Able Seaman Archibald Edward Bartsch and Warrant Officer Henry Theeman died on that day. Able Seaman Eric Ross Harrison died of wounds the next day at the new Greenslopes Military Hospital. All were members of the RAN Volunteer Reserve (RANVR). To cover-up this incident, the RAN buried the sailors almost immediately. Harrison's mother did not receive official notification of her son's death until after his funeral. Having previously lost two sons in World War I, Mrs. Harrison was so incensed at Eric's death that she refused a Commonwealth headstone. Instead, she paid to have a private headstone placed at his gravesite.
With 79 graves added to Portion 10 due to World War II fatalities, the Brisbane City Council's Health Committee declared that Portion 10 was nearly full. On 28 November 1942, the Council announced that military burials would cease at Toowong and that a new, official Commonwealth War Graves Section would be opened at Lutwyche Cemetery situated off Gympie Road. The Council stressed that since 1915, a total of 1,836 soldiers had already been buried at Toowong Cemetery. Most of these graves are located in private plots elsewhere from Portion 10. The last wartime military burial in Portion 10 was Stoker 2nd Class Victor Cyril Button (RANVR). He was just 18 years old when he died on Christmas Day 1942.
The Council's decision did not prevent private memorials to wartime casualties from being placed in Portion 10. Three memorials were erected for deaths that had occurred in 1943. A further four headstones were placed in Portion 10 during 1944 and 1945. It is thought that these may be empty graves, as it is known that at least two of the bodies are buried outside of Brisbane. After 1942, the burial of wartime casualties continued in Toowong Cemetery's other sections where the grave became part of a private family plot. For example, Able Seaman Francis George Allen, who died on 30 June 1944 while serving in the Merchant Navy, was buried in Portion 30.
","Brisbane became a hub of military activity during the war, with major transit camps established throughout the area by United States forces from 1941 until 1945. Approximately one million Americans were quartered at these camps, at one time or another, either waiting to move north into the war zones, returning on R and R from the battles or performing support roles.
","Following the development of Camp Ascot at Eagle Farm Racecoursse, the US Army established Camp Doomben. The second of Brisbane's racecourses in the vicinity, Doomben was opposite Camp Ascot, across busy Nudgee Road, and was taken over by hundreds of tents, which covered the racecourse and buildings and grandstands were converted into offices.
Due to the rapid expansion of Camp Doomben, the area expanded to cross Raceview Avenue, north of the racecourse and the vacant land of the quiet Hendra suburb became Camp Raceview. Nothing remains to indicate that the Americans occupied the position, but some Commonwealth Land in the area is still vacant. Today, the Gateway Motorway cuts through the eastern section of the area.
","Clarke, R.W. ""Racecourses and GIs: Australia WW2—The American Invasion"", Sabretache Vol XL No. 3 — September 2009, Page 1. The Military Historical Society of Australia Sabretache) Journal.
" 2066,"Camp Ascot Park (United States Army)","Special Intelligence Service accommodation / Eagle Farm Race Course","Military camp","Member's Car Park, Eagle Farm Race Course",Ascot,4007,Greater Brisbane,-27.430196762085,153.063049316406,"Camp Ascot was the first US Army camp established in Australia, following the arrival of the 'Pensacola' Convoy on 22 December 1941. It was located in the Ascot Racecourse due to its close location to the major Brett's Wharf at Hamilton. The Americans were not permitted to damage the racetracks so it was largely a tented camp containing only a few, temporary, pre-fabricated buildings. Until War's end in 1945, it remained a delivery and transit camp for various US Army and Navy units upon their arrival in Brisbane.
Camp Ascot Park was an extension of the camp and provided accommodation for the Special Intelligence Service, who were employed at nearby ""Nyrambla"" at 21 Henry Street, Ascot.
","On 22 December 1941, the 'Pensacola' Convoy reached Brisbane's Brett's Wharf at Hamilton, bringing the first US Army troops to Australia. Upon disembarking, the troops marched up Racecourse Road and entered Ascot Park Racecourse to establish a tented camp. The units comprised the 147th Artillery Regiment, 131st and 148th Artillery Battalions, motor transport units, US Army Services of Supply (USASOS) personnel plus pilots, ground crews and aircraft for P-40E fighter and A-24 dive-bomber squadrons. On 28 December, the convoy's combat units departed for Darwin and Java on Holbrook and Bloemfontein. The remaining troops stayed at the new US Army Camp Ascot Park.
The camp was built within the grounds of the Ascot Park (now Eagle Farm) Racecourse. Because the racecourse was an important Brisbane existing sporting and recreation facility, the Americans were not permitted to alter its buildings or damage its three concentric racetracks. The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) initially provided personal items, such as writing paper, library books and magazines for the Americans.
By May 1942, when the 648th US Engineer Regiment reached Brisbane, the unit described the Camp as ""a big fancy racetrack"" though they found the facilities poor. The Regiment's kitchen comprised a makeshift tin shack with coal stoves, an open hearth with primitive utensils. US troops had to chop wood daily to supply the kitchen's fireplace. They shared this small shack with the 69th US Engineer Regiment, the 707th and 708th Regiments and a Base Communications unit. Only open-air showers were available and there was no hot water available except by boiling. A tin horse trough was used as a shaving basin. The latrines were corrugated iron sheds containing unfamiliar timber 'dunnies' supplied with sawdust instead of toilet paper. The American soldiers referred to the latrine as 'the Can'. There were no lights except in the Mess Hall. The men slept on the wooden floors of their tents. Two US Army and two Australian army sentries guarded Ascot Park's main gates.
In May 1943, the 837th Signal Service Detachment was deactivated and renamed the Special Intelligence Service (SIS) commanded by Colonel Harold Doud. In 1944, SIS was relocated into 'permanent' quarters at Camp Ascot Park. The camp had become a tent city, packed with US Army 'Bell Tents' and divided into camps 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'. A temporary movie theatre was placed in the main grandstand. Ascot Racecourse's flowerbeds were beautifully maintained to aid camp morale. A baseball diamond was marked in the racetrack's grass field centre. Two warehouses including a Mess Hall, complete with a Day-Room (Reading Room) was placed in the members' car park. Prefabricated demountable huts (20 to 40) were placed around Camp Ascot but outside the fenced racing circle. A tramline that ran from outside the racecourse and into Brisbane City, where most amenities for troops on leave were located, serviced the camp.
SIS expanded and was allotted Oriel Park (just four streets away from Camp Ascot Park) as as site to place temporary additional facilities. Americans from the Womens' Army Corps (WAC), Australians from the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) as well as Canadians were based at Oriel Park. In June 1944, SIS sent an Advanced Headquarters to the new Allied base at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. By 1 August 1945, the entire SIS had left Camp Ascot Park and the unit was concentrated at San Miguel in the Philippines.
","SIS in the Far East 1942-46 Clarke, R.W. ""Racecourses and GIs: Australia WW2—The American Invasion"", Sabretache Vol XL No. 3 — September 2009, Page 1. The Military Historical Society of Australia Sabretache) Journal.
" 2067,"Grovely Army Camp","1st Australian Motor Transport Training Depot","Training facility","Madsen Street",Keperra,4054,Greater Brisbane,-27.407039642334,152.956466674805,"By February 1943, the 1st Australian Motor Transport Training Depot at the Grovely Camp, in what is now the Brisbane suburb of Keperra, was the largest of its kind in the Commonwealth. The training facility offered courses to military drivers, both men and women, and was churning out more than 120 trained drivers per week.
The camp and depot straddled the rail line at Grovely and bordered the Keperra Golf Course. Consisting of instructional huts and facilities, there were also workshops, and YMCA and Salvation Army huts, servicing the troops.
","Training courses included motor cycles, trucks and Bren-gun carriers. Courses equipped the graduate with both theoretical and practical knowledge and experience to handle most vehicles.
In addition to the practical driving component, thorough instruction was provided in mechanisation and maintenance. Proficiency was essential and not all participants made the grade. Those who failed to meet the requirements were sent back to their units.
Commanded by a Middle East veteran, Captain Duncan Russell, a pre-war car sales manager, the unit had a single duty to produce qualified technicians. The studnets were lectured in discipline maintenance, map reading and full mechanics. Captain Russell, in a 'Courier Mail' article on the 17 February 1943, indicated:
Motor transport is the life line of the army. If a M.T. driver fails through lack of direction, faulty motor or unskilful handling of his vehicle, that negligence might mean a battle lost or the lives of his comrades.
Many Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) service personnel attended the courses at the camp and reports indicated that they performed extremely well. AWAS were mostly trained for town and ordinary road driving, but were required to undertake the same mechanical instruction.
","National Archives of Australia - Series BP378/1 and J1018
Australian War Memorial Collection
Ann and Ross Brett (Daughter of Captain Duncan Russell, CO, 1st AMTTD).
" 2068,"38 (386th) Australian Heavy Anti-Aircraft (HAA) Battery","Victoria Park Golf Course","Fortifications","Victoria Park Golf Course, Gilcrest Avenue",Herston,4006,Brisbane City,-27.4545783996582,153.019592285156,"Primarily, it was Australian units with 24 Heavy AA guns, 12 Light AA guns and 33 searchlights that defended Brisbane. The Heavy AA guns were in fixed emplacements while the Light AA guns and searchlights were mobile and could be quickly relocated with the aid of army trucks. The three Heavy AA batteries were emplaced in six Brisbane suburbs. The two Light AA Regiments had single guns spread across Brisbane. The three Searchlight Companies occupied various positions in 18 different suburbs. The US Army also manned a small number of AA positions in Brisbane.
","The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 led to a fear of air attack on Brisbane, most likely launched from Japanese aircraft carriers. The siting of the AA guns was designed to protect Brisbane's port facilities and the US New Farm submarine base and to cover the Eagle Farm and Archerfield airfields. The anti-aircraft (AA) gun shortage in Australia caused delays so that Brisbane had still not received its full allotment of 3.7 inch AA guns by May 1942. The guns had to be brought by convoy from Britain. By 28 May, the first 16 guns were despatched on trains from Melbourne. The guns were incomplete as only four came with their cruciform platforms and these were allocated to Archerfield. The scarcity of steel meant that no more platforms could be sent and on 9 June, the Army decided that the remaining guns would not be portable, but instead would be put into fixed emplacements.
There were 6 Heavy AA batteries armed with the Australian-manufactured 3.7 inch gun. Three batteries were located in Brisbane's north and three in the south. They were put into fixed emplacements at Bannister Park at Windsor Park, Windsor; east of Eagle Farm airfield at Pinkenba; in Victoria Park at Spring Hill; on the hill above the Balmoral Cemetery off Wynnum Road, Morningside; on a farm at 214 Fleming Road, Hemmant and close to Fort Lytton in South Street, Lytton. On 29 August 1942, the Army HQ at Victoria Barracks, Petrie Terrace ordered the cessation of work at Windsor and the guns relocated to a site off Gerler Road, Hendra. The Hendra, Pinkenba and Lytton batteries had hexagonal cinder block gun emplacements. The Eagle Farm, Balmoral and Spring Hill emplacements were constructed with reinforced concrete. A Heavy AA battery of four guns was positioned at Archerfield aerodrome. All emplacements were built under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC). The AWC also requested that an emplacement be built atop Mt.Gravatt.
A Heavy AA battery comprised 4 guns spaced from 90 to 100 feet apart. Each battery had its own central concrete command post. This post included separate concrete pits to house a predictor and a height finder. Each of the four guns had to be within view of the predictor which itself could not be placed either 10 feet below or above any of the guns. The interior of the gun emplacements were lined with steel mesh or scabbing plates designed to contain any flying concrete splinters that were blown off during an air raid from injuring the gun crews. Some of the batteries had enough open space to fit sleeping quarters near the emplacements for the gun crews.
All AA batteries were connected by telephone cable to the Brisbane Central Command Post (14th AA Command) located with MacArthur's headquarters in the AMP Building at 229 Queen Street. This central command was also linked to Brisbane's early warning system that controlled observation posts and later radar units. The 6th, 38th and 2/5th Heavy AA batteries, the components of the 2/2nd HAA Regiment (AIF) manned the guns. From 1943, the six Heavy AA batteries experienced gun crews were replaced by gunners drawn from the Australia Women's Army Service (AWAS) and 'C' Company, 4th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).
The Light AA defences were armed with the locally made QF (quick firing) 40 mm Bofors gun. Twelve Bofors were allotted to Brisbane, belonging to the Australian 113th and the 114th Light AA Regiments. The guns were sited in individual locations. They were mobile guns hauled by Bedford light trucks (referred to as gun tractors). At various times between 1942 and 1945, Bofors guns were located at near the old cotton mill at Whinstanes; at 'Cloudland' in Bowen Hills; near the mouth of Breakfast Creek in Newstead Park; on a Myrtletown farm; at Kangaroo Point and Henda; near the old Appollo Candleworks and at the end of Quay Street in Bulimba; near the Colmslie Oil Storage Tanks; near Thomas Borwick & Sons Colmslie meatworks and elsewhere. A Heavy AA Battery had initially been emplaced near the Colmslie Oil Tanks. In August 1942, this battery relocated to Lytton. A Bofors gun temporarily replaced it at Colmslie. The Australian Army established an AA Training School and Air Defence Centre at the 'Blackheath Home' in Oxley. The VDC and AWAS began to train on the guns by June 1943.
Newstead Park's Bofors was dug-in on the point near where the US/Australian War Memorial (built 1951) stands. Established on 22 August 1942 by 115th Battery, 113th Light AA Regiment, the emplacement was handed to 605 Troop, 114th Light AA Regiment in June 1943. The 651st Light AA Regiment replaced 605 Troop and operated the gun until war's end. The gunners used the nearby Band Rotunda as a wet weather barracks.
Dummy wooden guns were also placed around Brisbane to deceive enemy aerial reconnaissance or spies. These mock-ups were manufactured at a Brisbane City Council Tramways wood machine shop on Coronation Drive, Milton. The guns were made as realistic as possible. Metal brackets allowed windage and elevation. They were painted in approved army colour schemes.
By December 1943, 14th AA Command was known as Brisbane AA Group. It oversaw the supply and operations of 6th Heavy AA Battery, 39th Heavy AA Battery, 56th SL (searchlight) Battery, 68th SL Battery, 651st Light AA Battery and the Brisbane AA Operations Room. Brisbane AA Group was linked to the Brisbane Fortress HQ at St Laurence's College, South Brisbane, the 8th Fighter Section and the HQ of 'A' Group (Brisbane) of the VDC.
The US Army aided Brisbane's AA defences. Among the first arrivals on the Pensacola Convoy on 22 December 1941 were the 102nd and 197th Coastal Artillery Regiments that included AA weapons in its equipment. In April 1942, the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment mounted four .30 calibre heavy machine guns with two searchlights as an AA position at Newstead Park. In July 1943, the US Brisbane Coast Artillery and Brisbane AA Group were placed under a single commander Brigadier E.M. Neyland. Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Thomson followed him in December 1944. The US Army had an AA gun sandbagged emplacement on Ovals No.1 and 2 of Windsor Park (presumably on the previous site of the Australian 3.7 inch guns). The US military had requested Brisbane City Council permission to demolish the park's grandstand to improve the guns' field of fire. A sandbag emplacement was located beside the Brisbane River at the end of Quay Street, Bulimba. Members of the 40th AA Brigade from the 94th Coastal Artillery Regiment manned .50 calibre heavy machine guns. Australians drawn from the 114th Light AA Regiment later replaced these Americans. US AA guns were placed in Fleetway Street, Morningside to protect Camp Carina.
The US Navy operated an Anti-Aircraft Training Centre camp at Wellington Point, about 20 miles from Brisbane. The site chosen for the camp was in a public park on the peninsular jutting into Waterloo Bay, considered ideal for AA training.
","Australian War Memorial file, AWM 54, Item: 709/20/50, Brisbane AA Group, Standing Operational Orders, 19 December 1943.
Australian War Memorial file, AWM 60, Item: 9/476/42, Brisbane AA guns allotment and emplacement correspondence, 18 May-10 September 1942.
D.W. Spethman & R.G. Miller, Fortress Brisbane - a guide to historic fixed defence sites of Brisbane and the Moreton Islands, (Brisbane: Spethman & Miller, 1998).
Brisbane City Council newsletter Between Ourselves, Volume 1, No.16, June 1980.
Marks, Roger R., Brisbane—WW2 v Now, Book 1 ""Newstead House"", (Brisbane: Marks, 2005).
BCC Archives file BCA1344 Windsor Memorial Park, Windsor lease of 1942.
" 2069,"1 Australian Garrison Battalion (Militia) Camp, Mount Gravatt","3 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot","Military camp","Mains Road",Macgregor,4109,Brisbane City,-27.5583763122559,153.068725585938,"The 1st Australian Garrison Battalion, a unit of Militia or Home Guard, was alotted the task of security and defence of the the 3 and 4 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depots. The camp was located north of the depot, in the vicinity of Omeo Street, Macgregor. The camp was basic and consisted of a tented area, ablutions blocks and a recreation hut. The task of ensuring the safety and security of the vehicle depots meant that battalion members stayed on site and security detail required a short walk to the depot, slightly south of the camp.
The area of the camp is now a housing estate and not signs of occupation survive.
","Established as a motor transport repair and storage facility in 1943, the Mt Gravatt vehicle park was operated by the Australian Army's 3rd Advanced Ordnance Depot and from 1944 by the 4th Advanced Ordnance Depot. The vehicle park with its repair facilities was located at the intersection of Kessels and Main Roads, near the Bulimba Creek Bridge. Kitchen, toilet and shower facilities were placed on the other side of Mains Road in an unused section of the Mt Gravatt Cemetery Reserve. The Australian Women's Army Service undertook some of the work. At war's end, the site stored the army vehicles that were ready for private sale.
","National Archives of Australia - Series BP378/1.
Brisbane City Council Aerial Imagery 1946.
" 2070,"Camp Hugh Street","United States Army Camp","Military Accommodation","Hugh Street (cnr Harold Street)",West End,4810,Townsville,-19.257022857666,146.786193847656,"In August 1943, ""Camp Hugh Street"" was constructed by the Allied Works Council for the American Army at the junction of Harold and Hugh Streets (near the present Harold Phillips Park). A November 1944 plan of the site mentions all buildings were constructed of fibro cement and were occupied by Air Transport Command. An April 1946 site plan lists 15 separate buildings as sleeping quarters. Others included mess and recreation huts, ablutions and barracks.
","Several Australian and United States (US) units were located in the suburb of West End utilising both prefabricated and requisitioned buildings. US Officers Quarters were located at Cutharinga Park and Leigh, Ralston, Francis and Stagpole Streets housed Signals, Air Force, Intelligence and Radar units during 1942–1945.
By February 1945 the US had vacated and the camp was being used as accommodation for Royal Australian Air Force transport squadrons.
In 1946 Camp Hugh Street and other ex-military buildings in Francis Street were listed for disposal as surplus assets.
Aerial imagery reveals that all buildings at Camp Hugh Street had been removed by 1952 with only the semi-circular graveled road still visible.
","DWB [Director of Works and Buildings] - Property - Townsville Qld - Camp buildings - Hugh Street - West End - Disposal of surplus assets, A705, 171/106/486 ACT.
" 2071,"First Australian Army Headquarters","Mareeba State School","Headquarters","Atherton and Constance Streets",Mareeba,4880,Atherton Tablelands,-16.9921989440918,145.425750732422,"After departure of the American hospital Mareeba State School was taken over by units of the First Australian Army, based around 1 Australian Army Headquarters and Signals, a rear echelon command. Advance parties of the First Army began transferring from Mareeba to New Guinea in April 1944 and by October that year most of the unit had moved from Mareeba State School to new quarters at Lae on the north coast of New Guinea, where it commanded all field operation for the Australian Army in that theatre.
While on the Tablelands, all troops there, including 1 Aust Corps and relevant Divisions came under its command. The GOC was Lieutenant-General V.A.H. Sturdee. Administration of Mareeba State School was subsequently returned to the Queensland Education Department and continues as an important community learning centre for Mareeba and the Tableland.
","The first state school was built on the arrival of the railway from Cairns in 1893 when the surveyed township of Granite Creek was named Mareeba. During the early 1900s the old school underwent conversion and new buildings were erected and extended. Substantial remodelling of the later school took place during 1937 about five years before Japan's entry into World War II.
On 8 July 1942 US 2 Station Hospital was established with 250 beds under tents in the grounds of the state school. It was set up by a detachment of the US Army 46th Engineer General Service Regiment and plans were prepared at the Townsville office of the Allied Works Council for conversion of the main school blocks to permanent hospital facilities. State school students were taught at the nearby Catholic school of St Thomas of Villanova. For a period of two years during World War II, St Thomas's School housed the entire student population of Mareeba.
A detachment of US 2 Station Hospital at Mareeba was sent to Gordonvale in November 1942, to set up a 150 bed hospital by taking over the Gordonvale Hotel and Commercial Hotel in the town's main precinct, in preparation for the arrival of the US 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment at Gordonvale.
US 2 Station Hospital continued to operate from the school until after the transfer of the USAAF heavy bomber squadrons in mid-1943 moving closer to the New Guinea frontline.
","Pearce, Howard (contributing author).
Hugh J Casey. Engineers of the Southwest Pacific 1941–1945, Vol. VI: Airfield and base development. US Government Printing Office, Washington, 1951.
Peter Nielsen. Diary of WWII North Queensland, Nielsen Publishing, Gordonvale, 1993.
Howard Pearce (Ed.). Heritage Trails of the Tropical North: A heritage tour guide to far north Queensland, Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2001.
Howard Pearce. WWII: NQ: A cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II. Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane, 2009.
Lieutant-Colonel (R) J.S.D. Mellick OAM, ED, MID - who served on the First Australian Army General Staff at Mareeba.
" 2072,"116 Australian General Hospital","Charters Towers Race Course","Medical facility","Hackett Terrace",Charters Towers,4820,North-West,-20.0585136413574,146.275619506836,"The 116 Australian General Hospital (AGH), was established in January 1942 at the Charters Towers racecourse. Nursing sisters and patients were later relocated to the requisitioned Mount Carmel College in March 1942.
","This significant historic place has been recognised as a local site of interest form the WW2 era. If you have further information or images, please contact the project at: ww2.historic.places@publicworks.qld.gov.au
","Pearce, Howard & Queensland Environmental Protection Agency 2009, WWII : NQ : a cultural heritage overview of significant places in the defence of north Queensland during World War II, 1st ed, Queensland Government Environmental Protection Agency, Brisbane.
" 2073,"Gladstone Wharves and Water Front","Auckland Point Jetties/Port Curtis/Stevedores","Naval/port facility","Macfarlane Street",Gladstone,4680,Fitzroy-Mackay,-23.832239151001,151.257293701172,"During World War II, the Port of Gladstone handled a vast number of US troop and equipment movement, en-route to camps in Rockhampton. The Waterside Workers and the Port of Gladstone received accolades by the Allied Forces, especially the US Forces, for their professionalism and dedication to the support of the transport and cargo vessels supplying the war effort. The main access points for the wharves were at Auckland Point and Port Curtis, to the north-east of the main centre of Gladstone.
","Three US Divisions had passed through Gladstone by early 1944. The divisions were part of the US I (1st) Corps Headquarters, commanded by Major General Robert L. Eichelberger, which eventually arrived in Rockhampton in August. It initially contained the 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, however, the 32nd Division diverted south to Camp Cable, south of Brisbane, and only the 41st entered camp in Rockhampton. The third division to join I Corps, and the second US division sent to Rockhampton, was the 24th Infantry Division, which arrived in Rockhampton in September 1943. The 24th was originally the Hawaiian Division, and it retained the shoulder sleeve insignia of a taro leaf. The main units of the 24th Division were accommodated at Camp Caves, and included the 19th, 21st and 34th Infantry Regiments, 3rd Engineers Battalion and the 11th, 13th, 52nd and 63rd Field Artillery (FA) Battalions.
Between mid 1942 and early 1944 Rockhampton was home to two of the four full US Army Divisions (the 24th, 32nd and 41st Infantry divisions, and the 1st Cavalry Division) which trained in Queensland during World War II.
Recognised by the US Army as the embarkation point for the Rockhampton area, Gladstone was an ideal port. It offered road access, thus offering a considerable reduction in the costs to the Railway Department of transportation of vehicles, equipment and troops by rail. Only 100 kilometres between centres, the savings meant that more rail transport was available for urgent civilian requirements.
In a report by C.G. Dennis, Chairman of the Gladstone Waterside Workers Committee, forwarded eventually to the Premier of Queensland, he explained that on Saturday 4 March 1944, US General Cremer, of the US Army's 24th Division and accompanied by Lt-Col Hazelwood and Captain Kay, all of the American Forces, addressed the wharf side workers in Gladstone. He stated that he was ""..deeply impressed with the wonderful spirit of cooperation manifested by the Waterside Workers"". He explained that the workers had often done jobs to expedite the sailing of ships under conditions which would not be tolerated in peace time and he wished to express his gratitude.
Colonel Hazelwood, who had had more intimate dealings with the workers and the wharves, also spoke to the men and indicated that in his travels and dealings from Tasmania to New Guinea, he had not had achieved better results anywhere than those in Gladstone. In illustration of the point in question, he had received information from Brisbane that the predicted turn around time to handle a boat in Gladstone was about 4 days. The reality was that in Gladstone the actual average time was 18 hours. The longest waiting time to date was 48 hours due to the delay of troop trains, not due to the efforts of the waterside workers. Colonel Hazelwood concluded that ""…nowhere on the Aust [sic] coast can ships be handled as expeditiously as in Gladstone"".
It was obvious that the Harbour Board's facilities were equal to the task and were highly spoken of by US Army Authorities and the Masters of vessels using the facilities. A large US Army Transport was able to lay alongside the wharves for over twenty-four hours and sailed drawing 29′ 3″. Although tides were favourable, the length of time available to the vessel, which in other ports might have run aground, was attributed to the careful and systematic maintenance dredging of the harbour.
By March 1944, it was freely rumoured that the Americans were to leave Rockhampton and be replaced by British forces. Representation was made to the Federal Government, by the Premier of Queensland for the continued use of the Port of Gladstone as an assembly and transfer point. This was supported by the Port Curtis Development League, who also made an appeal to the Prime Minister, John Curtin on the 4th April 1944 for the continued utilisation of the port for military purposes, on the basis of a national outlook for future planning.
In the advent of British troops coming to Australia and being stationed in the Rockhampton area, the Waterside Workers and the Gladstone Port Authority were eager to ensure that the site would be determined by operational necessity as being the continued assembly and embarkation point, for those encamped at Rockhampton.
The port continued to be utilised as an assembly and embarkation point until the end of the war, however not on the same scale at as was seen with the American forces. A party of Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) personnel disembarked from the transport ship Marella in early 1946 and were met by friends and relatives. This was the first group of AWAS to return home from Lae in New Guinea after the war.
Today, much of the original WWII wharf and surrounding infrastructure has been destroyed through development. In 1963, Queensland Alumina Limited established its alumina refinery on the site of the old meat works. Gladstone's port facilities were expanded and the city launched into an era of industrial development and economic prosperity.
","During WWII, Gladstone was home to the Port Curtis Seaplane Base and its accompanying alighting area. Located within the Port Curtis channel, north of Auckland Point, the alighting area was approximately six square kilometres in area. It also, included a number of mooring buoys just near the mouth of Auckland Creek. Land based facilities were limited to crew quarters and a bomb dump.
There was also an alternative alighting area within the Calliope River, west of the main town centre.
","This historic place is significant within Queensland's WWII heritage. If you have infiormation regarding or images of the location, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","NAA Series A9716 511. Barcode 1787216 - RAAF- Directorate of Works and Buildings - Engineer Intel Section - Gladstone, 1943 - 1944.
" 2075,"1st Australian Salvage Depot","Enoggera Salvage Area","Supply facility","Wardell and Lloyd Streets",Enoggera,4051,Greater Brisbane,-27.425895690918,152.988815307617,"The 1st Australian Salvage Depot camp was located on the southern side of Lloyd Street, not far from the current entrance to Gallipoli Barracks. It occupied the south-western corner at the intersection of Lloyd and Wardell Streets. The current site is now owned by the Defence Housing Authority. The camp contained barracks, tented areas, and mess and recreation facilities. The task of the salvage units was to recycle, re-use and re-condition equipment for the war effort.
","Within the salvage area, items ranging from boots to tyres and aircraft parts to fuel drums were stored, sorted and re-distributed. At one stage during the war, it was estimated that there was at least 500 tonnes of aircraft parts stored.
This is a significant historic place within Queensland's WWII heritage. If you have images of or information about the Salvage Depot, please contact us at heritage@ehp.qld.gov.au.
","National Archives of Australia files.
" 2076,"Miegunyah - Officer's Club and Z Special Safe House","Miegunyah House Museum/Queensland Women's Historical Association","Headquarters","35 Jordan Terrace",Bowen Hills,4006,Greater Brisbane,-27.4453792572022,153.041412353516,"During the war 'Miegunyah' was requisitioned by the Commonwealth Government. In 1943 it served as a staging camp for the men of 'Z' Special Unit, who carried out Operation Jaywick, the secretive attack on Japanese martime vessels in Singapore Harbour. Following the successful mission, the participants were debriefed and recovered at the house.
","This historic house is now utilised by the Miegunyah Folk Museum. It is also home to the Queensland Women's Historical Association.
Built in the 1880s when local tradition was at its most opulent, Miegunyah is one of Brisbane's most accessible Heritage Homes. Richly decorated with iron-lace balustrades, filigree columns and friezes, and furnished in the style of the late 19th century, Miegunyah is a living example of Victorian elegance and charm.
","In late 1939, an Ordnance Enlistment Centre was established in a requisitioned building (former Lady Lammington Hospital) centrally located at 184 St. Paul's Terrace, Spring Hill. It role was to process the enlistment of volunteers with recruits who had experience handling explosives (e.g. miners) being particularly sought.
","In 1939, Queensland was designated the First Military District. The Queensland-based Australian Army Ammunition Company was renamed the First Military District Depot Company of the Australian Army Ordnance Corps (AAOC). This depot company comprised a Workshop Section and a (general and ammunition) Stores Section. Lieutenant A.J. Pixley commanded the Workshop and Lieutenant H.N. Vidgen the Stores Sections. The unit (135 men) with its headquarters moved from the Gaythorne stores depot to the Enoggera Army Barracks in late 1939.
At the start of World War Two, Stores Section had the initial task of cleaning thousands of tent and marker pegs that had previously been held in civilian stores. This mundane job proved very unpopular with the troops and they were soon put to work reinstating the collection of World War One-era equipment that was held at the Army stores at Gaythorne. The guns were outdated while the horse-drawn carriages; tentage and other equipment were damaged by white ants or had rotted after 20 years in storage. Vidgen also led a section of AAOC Stores personnel to Fort Cowan Cowan on Moreton Island. There they established ammunition, clothing and other stores for the troops manning the fort's two 6-inch coastal guns.
In late 1939, an Ordnance Enlistment Centre was established in a requisitioned building (former Lady Lammington Hospital) centrally located at 184 St. Paul's Terrace, Spring Hill. It role was to process the enlistment of volunteers with recruits who had experience handling explosives (e.g. miners) being particularly sought. The Ordnance Enlistment Centre dealt with men who were covered by the first call-up of eligible civilians for entry into the Australian Military Forces (militia). Announced by the Federal Government on 15 November 1939, unmarried men who had reached the age of 21 by 30 June 1940 were to be conscripted into the AMF. Men began arriving at the Ordnance Enlistment Centre on 1 January 1940, the day the call-up took effect. After completing forms and undergoing health inspections at the St. Paul's Terrace centre, the new recruits were sent to Gaythorne to complete their 12 weeks of compulsory training. The men then returned to their civilian employment awaiting a possible future call-up for permanent, full-time military service.
On 3 October 1939, Vidgen was promoted to the rank of captain and appointed DADOS in the First Military District. J.W. Lawson was promoted to captain as the unit's second-in-command (2IC) When in August 1940, Vidgen transferred to the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and then served in the Middle East. Law son became the unit commander.
In September 1942, all AMF ordnance units based within the First Military District were disbanded, with the militia soldiers transferring to the AIF. The Ordnance Enlistment Centre at Spring Hill closed around the same time.
","Prior to May 1941, the Queensland Government had established only a small number of Air Raid Precaution (ARP) posts. These posts were scattered across Brisbane and were staffed by professional personnel drawn from the various emergency services. The ARP post established at the St. John's Wood recreation hall on 17 May 1941 was different. It was organised through the local community and it was staffed and largely equipped by civilian volunteers. To encourage the formation of more community-run ARP posts, a procession involving civil defence organisations from different Brisbane suburbs assembled at the St. John's Wood police station and marched to the new ARP post for its official opening.
","The experience of British civilians under day and night bombing raids during 'The Blitz' of 1940–41 had shown the Australian public the importance of having an organised Air Raid Precautions (ARP) system. The first ARP first-aid post organised by civil volunteers in Brisbane was at the recreation hall of the old St. John's Wood homestead in suburb of St. John's Wood (Ashgrove). A small number of governmental ARP stations or post were already established throughout Brisbane. The St. John's Wood ARP post was established on 17 May 1941. It was officially opened by the Chairman of Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigade (QATB) Mr. W. Richardson.
With the war so far away in Europe, Greece and the Middle East, ARP defences for Brisbane had received minimal interest prior to May 1941. On 3 May 1941, The Courier Mail had reported, ""recent war developments give added emphasis to the foresight of St. John's Wood in establishing its own A.R.P. first-aid station."" These developments were most likely the 'London 'Blitz' (began 7 September 1940) followed by 'The Blitz' on other British cities that began in mid-November 1940 and ended 16 May 1941, plus the destruction of Yugoslavia's capital Belgrade by the Luftwaffe ('Operation Punishment') on 6–8 April 1941 that saw 17,000 killed. Increasing fear of Japan entering the war meant that many people expected that Australia would suffer similar bombing raids.
To inaugurate Brisbane's first ARP first-aid post, a parade of interested, local organisations was held on the Saturday afternoon of 17 May at the St. John's Wood police station. Air raid wardens from Ashgrove, Kelvin Grove, Ithaca, Bardon and Red Hill, the Returned Soldiers' League Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC), the Metropolitan Ambulance and Fire Brigades, the Ashgrove and Ithaca Junior Red Cross and the 1st Company, (Anglican) British Boys Brigade marched in the parade. The parade commenced at 3 PM and was led by the band of the Boy's Brigade and drum and fife bands from Ashgrove, Ithaca Creek and Oakleigh State Schools. This march was to advertise the role of the ARP and to attract new volunteers. The march commenced at the police station and proceeded along Jubilee Terrace and concluded at the recreation hall of the old St. John's Wood homestead in Laird Street.
There were other, scattered ARP first-aid posts in existence prior to May 1941, which the state government, utilising its own police, fire and ambulance personnel, had established and equipped. The Queensland Government issued ARP wardens their equipment. It comprised an ARP identification pin, a rubber gas mask with a canvas carry bag, a wooden air raid warning rattle or clacker and a white British Army-pattern tin helmet with the letter 'W' painted on the front. The nearest government-run ARP post to St. John's Wood was located at the Ashgrove Public Hall.
The St. John's Wood ARP post was a new concept as community-based volunteers who provided both expertise and some of the required equipment ran it. Mr. W.R. Johnstone, a resident of Piddington Street, established this new ARP post. He paid to equip the first-aid centre and Mr. E.A. Hawkins of Clayfield arranged premises in a room of the St. John's Wood Hall. Local registered nurse G. Wright offered to staff the centre, while her husband R.J. Weight offered his car as a temporary ambulance. Other local residents also volunteered their own cars and trucks and Mr. C.W. Bellingham lectured on first-aid.
The ARP first-aid post initially used for training purposes the small, hardcover textbook First Aid to the Injured produced by the St. John Ambulance Association in 1940. In its thirteenth edition, Watson, Ferguson & Company reprinted this British textbook in Brisbane. It had its printing works in Stanley Street, South Brisbane. The book was replaced in December 1942 by First Aid in Civil Defence - Civil Defence Handbook Number 3 issued by the Commonwealth's Minister for Home Security. This handbook contained two pages of supplementary notes that were for the specific use of Queensland's Civil Defence Organisation.
","In a time when Brisbane was known as a cultural backwater, the Bellevue Hotel was at the forefront of change as a new era of fine dining, entertainment and accommodation. Located close to Parliament House and the Queensland Club, the hotal was utilised for official functions, weddings, dances, dinners and gala events during the war years.
","Famous for its architectural elegance, it was the ornate iron work adorning the verandahs that set the location apart from most others in the city.
A hotel establishment existed on the site from as early as the 1850s, and three successive 'Bellevues' followed consecutively. The main andmost ornate version appeared in 1886, designed by John Cohen, for proprietor J.A. Zahel.
Cohen was tasked with designing a hotel that would be 'commercially successful and climatically adapted, while blending into the fashionable parliamentary precinct.' Cohen's design incorporated a rendered brick three sided core enclosed by a verandah web of filligree cast iron.
By 1887, there was a ladies drawing room, private suites for informal dining, baths with hot and cold water, smoking, writing and reading rooms, and an attending barber who plied their services each morning for the convenience of guests. Additionally, a waiter was available to meet each steamer that arrived at the nearby wharves.
By the 1930s, the facility has become 'the best known and most popular first class hotel business in the state'. The hotel's list of celebrities is impressive. Sir Robert Menzies, Marlene Dietrich, Gracie Fields, Joan Sutherland, Frank Sinatra and Katharine Hepburn have all enjoyed her hospitality over the years.
The 'Bellevue' was sold to the State Government in 1967, being used as accommodation for country parliamentarians. Following assessment of safety, the ornate iron work and verandahs were removed in 1974, leaving a bare box structure.
Despite protests from the National trust and the public, the hotel was demolshed on the 21st April 1979 in the middle of the night. The site was then occupied to develop the new Government Public Works precinct, including Queens Place with the iconic statue of Queen Elisabeth II.
","