War stories

24 March 2009

Tropical North Queensland played a crucial role in the Australian war effort during World War II. These were fraught times. The Japanese had pushed the Americans out of the Philippines and the British out of Singapore; they occupied most of South-East Asia. Australian troops were engaged in a life and death struggle in the jungles of New Guinea and naval battles were lighting up the Coral Sea, the thunder of the guns audible in Cairns. Meanwhile, Japanese squadrons were bombing numerous towns right across the Top End, including Darwin, Katherine, Townsville and Mossman. Invasion seemed imminent.

General Thomas Blamey, Australian Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific War theatre, decided the Atherton Tableland was ideal both as a tropical training ground for soldiers preparing for the war, and a rehabilitation zone with field hospitals and convalescent facilities for the returned casualties, sick and wounded. Between 1943 and 1945 the Tableland was the biggest military base in Australia. Up to 300,000 troops from various army divisions were stationed in camps and training facilities across the region – in small towns such as Kuranda, Kairi, Atherton, Ravenshoe and Herberton. From September to November 1944, all three Australian Imperial Force (AIF) Divisions (6th, 7th and 9th) were quartered there at the one time.

Evidence of war remains in the Tableland towns where Australian and American soldiers were stationed, and in the memorial markers erected across the region indicating Australian Army campsites. Most buildings were dismantled after the war, except for some of the “igloo” hangars such as the one at Rocky Creek, which hosted entertainers such as Bob Hope; and Atherton (now the rugby league club). Bush and farming soon reclaimed other sites, leaving open stone fireplaces as the primary visible remains. Unexploded ammunition dumps are still occasionally discovered buried in the cane fields. At the annual Rocky Creek Military Muster and the Warbirds Air Show at Mareeba, both scheduled around August 15, Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day, the sacrifice and service of soldiers and civilians is commemorated.

For those with a personal connection through family or friends to the War in the Pacific, or with an interest in military history and  memorabilia, there is a memorable feast to be consumed up on the Atherton Tableland.

A 30-minute drive from Cairns over the Kuranda range is the “rainforest village” of Kuranda. The Kuranda Hotel (2-4 Arara Street, +61 7 4093 7206) sells appetising pub meals and cold ales, but during WWII, this grand old lady (1880), once used as a health spa, was commandeered by the US Navy as a field ambulance station and recuperation centre. Overlooking the Barron River, it’s a tranquil spot to forget the rigours of battle.

From Kuranda, it’s a scenic drive along the Kennedy Highway to Mareeba. The local RSL (88 Byrnes Street, +61 7 4092 1396) does a good lunch in its Diggers Bistro, but it’s also notable for its Women’s Auxiliary Memorial Garden and WWII memorabilia wall. On Long Tan Day, August 18, Vietnam vets from as far as Melbourne and Canberra call in for their annual get-together; pies and beer are on the house.

Just outside town is the Beck Museum (+61 7 4092 3979); look out for the rusty tank at the side of the highway. In a gigantic hangar sits a vast array of military equipment. Tanks, trucks, artillery pieces, planes, helicopters and bulldozers squat there, proof of human ingenuity when it comes to fashioning weaponry. Some of the exhibits were retrieved from the jungles of Cape York. Inside an adjacent warehouse is an abundance of smaller memorabilia: a Crown & Anchor game painted on a small piece of fabric; bowls from a German SS mess crockery set; chemical warfare bombs; a rudimentary RAAF flight trainer that looks like something Enid Blyton would have designed. It’s impressively catalogued by Norman Beck. His dad, Syd, began the museum. Syd grew up in Townsville during the war and remembers recuperating US servicemen at the American hospital: “Lots of ice-cream and chocolate”.

A few minutes down the road is Mareeba airstrip. Constructed during WWII, it was home base to US servicemen, 100 Squadron RAAF, which conducted bombing missions from the airfield, and Australia’s first parachute battalion. Now it’s the HQ of Mike Spaulding and his Warbird Adventures crew. There is a museum with a large collection of militaria, uniforms and static displays, but the primary focus is its squadron of restored military aircraft, which are available for adventure flights. Interested parties can check out the restoration process as someone is usually tinkering with one of the planes, making new parts or painting under the guidance of chief engineer Paul Knox.

The rollcall is impressive: a DC3 Dakota sits outside near the restored control tower – a workhorse in its day, now a work in progress. In the hangars are a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Nanchang; a US Navy Harvard; and their pride and joy, a P40 Kittyhawk fighter, shot down in 1943 by a Japanese Zero, recovered from the jungles of PNG.

Volunteer pilot Peter Gerdes, formerly with Air New Guinea, takes us up in a restored Winjeel, a 1950s RAAF trainer. Burnished chrome and seating three, the Winjeel is a very stable aircraft and soon we’re cruising at 120 knots some 500 feet above the banana, peanut, mango, sugar cane and coffee plantations. The rugged ranges in the distance were used for jungle training during the war.

The annual Warbirds Air Show is a magnet for aviation buffs. The RAAF has centre stage with a Caribou transport plane and Blackhawk chopper display. The Warbirds take to the sky for aerobatics, simulated dogfights and formation flying. There are vintage cars and military equipment on display, crop-dusting and water-bombing demonstrations – even a drag race between a Harley-Davidson and a Warbird, only one gets to take off, of course. On a shimmering blue-sky day, hordes of spectators enjoy the show and wait patiently in queues at the ice-cream van.

Rocky Creek War Memorial Park, on the Kennedy Highway near Tolga, hosts the annual VP Military Day Muster. Between 1942 and 1946, Rocky Creek was the site of the Australian Army Hospital and Medical Base, the largest field hospital in the Southern Hemisphere at the time, spread over three square kilometres. With 5000 beds and 2000 staff, the complex treated about 60,000 battle and disease casualties from South Pacific theatres of war.

On the initiative of a couple of locals – Mark Alcock and the “Unofficial Mayor of Rocky Creek”, Tim Foley, the site was cleared and shelters and facilities built. “We had the vision, and the shovels,” says Foley. About 100 commemorative plaques were set into rocks in a memorial garden, and a Wall of Remembrance for individual names built.

Held around VP Day (August 15), the Muster is a service of remembrance for those who served and those who fell, with dedication and unveiling ceremonies for new plaques. Since 1995, when the park was completed, many men and women – and their families – from units that served in the area, have returned to pay their respects. The muster features history enthusiasts displaying collections of photographs, memorabilia, militaria, weaponry and uniforms, a parade of vintage military vehicles and a formation flyover by the Warbirds.

On the way to Atherton, take a quick detour to Kairi, beside Lake Tinaroo. The hotel is a good spot for a quick refresher and a spot of research. On the wall, a large map shows all the sites in the region that were military camps during WWII.

Michael Nasser’s Heritage-listed Barron Valley Hotel in Atherton played its own significant role in the war effort, as the photographs on the walls attest. Nasser’s father and uncle joined up of their own volition; the art deco pub – built by Nasser’s Lebanese grandfather Scondor, had no choice in the matter. General Blamey commandeered it as his HQ and officers’ quarters. This was where battle plans were made, the launching pad for the New Guinea campaign. According to Nasser, the Americans had their eyes on the place. “MacArthur wanted to take it over, but the Aussies got in before him.” The hotel, looking much the same as it did in the war years, gets a regular stream of visitors.

“It used to be veterans who’d drunk here during the war, who wanted to see the place again. Now it’s more likely to be their sons or family. And a lot of Americans.”

Source: Qantas The Australian Way April 2009

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