Short video produced by Peter Rasey at the Home Front Festival at Walston House on 16 August 2026. The event was organised by the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) and the Camp Columbia Heritage Association. Brisbane’s complex Allied command structure during WWII Paul Budde explains the complexity when suddenly Australia faced itself with an invasion […]
Short video of the Home Front Festival Read More »
At the Home Front Festival at Wolston Farmhouse on 16 August 2026, Associate Professor Geoff Ginn of the University of Queensland and Camp Columbia Heritage Association Chair Paul Budde delivered two complementary presentations about Brisbane during the Second World War. Professor Ginn first established the broader historical setting. He explained how the Pacific War transformed
Brisbane in the Second World War—from regional city to Allied headquarters Read More »
By 1944, Camp Columbia at Wacol had become the principal Australian centre of the Netherlands East Indies wartime administration. Among the organisations operating from the camp was the Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS), the principal Dutch intelligence organisation operating from Australia. NEFIS had itself been established in Melbourne following the Japanese conquest of the Netherlands
Intelligence cooperation in the Southwest Pacific Area Read More »
The Camp Columbia Heritage Association has completed a major project funded through a $20,000 Australian Government Stronger Communities Programme grant, providing new exhibition, digital and audiovisual resources to help preserve and communicate the remarkable history of Camp Columbia. The grant was secured with the support of the Hon Milton Dick MP, Federal Member for Oxley,
$20,000 Stronger Communities grant delivers lasting legacy for Camp Columbia heritage Read More »
The Camp Columbia Heritage Association’s participation in the Home Front Festival at Wolston Farmhouse on Sunday 16 August 2026 attracted strong interest from visitors and the local community. Presented by the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) in partnership with CCHA, the festival commemorated Victory in the Pacific Day and brought Brisbane’s wartime Home Front to
Among the collections preserved at the Bronbeek Museum are a series of unassuming red file folders labelled: N.E.F.I.S. Kaarten – JAVA no. 2699 N.E.F.I.S. Kaarten – MOLUKKEN no. 5999 N.E.F.I.S. Kaarten – EILANDEN in de ARAFURA ZEE no. 1999 At first glance they appear to be ordinary filing folders. Yet they contain evidence of one
Mapping the road home: NEFIS, Camp Columbia and the Allied intelligence war Read More »
The 91st Station Hospital was one of the major American medical units based at Camp Columbia during World War II. Operating alongside the better-known 42nd General Hospital and the 28th Surgical Hospital, it formed part of the extensive medical infrastructure established by the United States Army in the Brisbane area to support Allied operations across
The 91st Station Hospital at Camp Columbia Read More »
Long before suburban development reached Brisbane’s western outskirts, the railway line through Wacol played a crucial role in opening the district to agriculture, industry and later military activity. The railway from Brisbane to Ipswich was completed in the 1870s, with Wacol Station established in 1876 as a stopping place for settlers and local farming communities.
Wacol Station and the railway lifeline of Camp Columbia Read More »
A new six-part historical series on the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre (DACC) website The story of Camp Columbia is one of the cornerstones of the Camp Columbia Heritage Association (CCHA). Yet Camp Columbia was only one part of a much larger wartime network that linked Australia and the Netherlands during the Second World War. While
Beyond Camp Columbia: The Dutch Government-in-Exile and Australia’s Wartime Alliance Read More »
The post-war history of Camp Columbia is best understood as a continuous evolution rather than a single transition. From 1945 onward, the site developed into a major Australian Army facility, later known as Wacol Army Camp and centred on Sanananda Barracks. Over more than fifty years, its role changed in line with Australia’s defence priorities,
In June 2026, Camp Columbia Heritage Association (CCHA) Chair Paul Budde and University of Queensland historian Associate Professor Geoff Ginn travelled to the Netherlands for a week-long study visit by invitation of the Dutch Cultural Heritage Agency (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed – RCE). What began as an exchange of knowledge quickly developed into the
Building an International Future for Camp Columbia: Lessons from the Netherlands Read More »
More info about the event incl tickets On Sunday 16 August 2026, the Camp Columbia Heritage Association (CCHA) will join the National Trust of Australia (Queensland) at the Home Front Festival at historic Wolston Farmhouse to commemorate Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day. The festival promises a fascinating day of living history, music, military re-enactments,
Wolston House at Wacol is one of Brisbane’s oldest surviving colonial homesteads and occupies an important place in both Queensland history and Brisbane’s World War II heritage landscape. Built in 1852, the house long predates the military transformation of the surrounding area during World War II, yet its wartime experiences directly connected it to Camp
Charles van der Plas: colonial expert, wartime administrator in Australia and advocate of gradual reform Charles Olke van der Plas (1891–1977) was one of the most experienced Dutch colonial administrators of the Netherlands East Indies. Born in Buitenzorg, now Bogor, in West Java, he developed a deep knowledge of Indonesian society, Islam and local languages.
Charles van der Plas: colonial expert and advocate of gradual reform Read More »
When people think of the Allied command centres of the Second World War, cities such as London, Washington and perhaps Chongqing come to mind. Yet few realise that for much of the Pacific War, Brisbane became one of the most important Allied capitals in the world. Between 1942 and 1945, Brisbane served not only as
During discussions in the Netherlands in June 2026 between the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), the University of Queensland and the Camp Columbia Heritage Association, it became clear that the history of Camp Columbia – also for the UQ students – is best understood within the broader context of the Second World War
From Camp Columbia to World War: Understanding Australia’s Role in the Pacific Read More »
Among the many Dutch servicemen who passed through Australia during the Second World War, few went on to build a career as remarkable as that of Jan Bakker. Remembered in the Netherlands as intelligence officer, Engelandvaarder, Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS) operative and later the legendary spy known by the codename “Virgil”, Bakker’s Australian period
What the museum is about Museum Bronbeek, in Arnhem, is the Netherlands’ national centre for understanding the colonial-military past of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It sits on the historic Bronbeek estate, which also houses the Royal Home for Former Military Personnel. The institution’s official name is Koninklijk Tehuis voor Oud-Militairen en Museum Bronbeek (KTOMM)
CCHA works closely with Museum Bronbeek in the Netherlands Read More »
In 2001, when the Department of Defence proposed disposing of the Wacol barracks, Allom Lovell Pty Ltd, Brisbane architects, completed a heritage assessment of the site and concluded: “…The retention of perhaps a sample of typical buildings may be appropriate to recognise the history of this place but any listing of the site in whole
Preserved Camp Columbia buildings at the National Service Heritage Precinct, Wacol Read More »
Among the many American military units stationed in wartime Brisbane, the 99th Signal Battalion remains one of the least documented. Yet fragmentary records and newly identified evidence now provide a clearer picture of its role within Brisbane’s wartime military network. Signal Corps units generally worked behind the scenes, maintaining communications systems, logistics coordination and command
The 99th Signal Battalion and Brisbane’s hidden communications war Read More »
