I have lived in Forest Lake for years. But during World War 11,-I was in Java. When the Japanese invaded, the Dutch East Indies government escaped to Australia and ended up at Wacol. My family came later, in 1945. Dutch East Indies My grandfather was Polish, and he met and married my grandmother, who was […]
Eugenie Blackney (nee Shand) Read More »
I lived in Inala for almost forty years, and my kids went to school there. But I first came to the area during WW 11, when I was in the RAAF. I was born in McLean, Northern Rivers on 10/5/1926. By 1944, I was working in Grafton, and a month before I turned eighteen, I
I came to Brisbane with General MacArthur – his whole office moved from Melbourne to Brisbane in July ’42. I was a Staff Sergeant in Supply and Logistics – moving troops, ships and supplies. We moved into the AMP building in Queen Street, now MacArthur Chambers. I still visit there often, as I am involved
Bryan was in the US Army, 32nd infantry division-“The Red Arrows.” The departure of their fleet of 43 ships for New Guinea was headlined in the US newspapers – and then they set off from San Francisco with just one light carrier escort! There were 40,000 men-and they had three sleeping shifts to share the
Bryan “Tex” Grantham – Brisbane 1942-45 Read More »
Before the War My Dad’s great-grandparents were local pioneers. They homesteaded The Blunder – when the first selections were opened up there in 1865. King Avenue in Durack (then Oxley) bears their name. Dad’s parents came out from England as children, the Weekes from Devon, Prices from Oxfordshire. They met in Oxley and married in
Lona Grantham (nee Price) Read More »
Background In 1863, John Andrew Dunlop arrived in Moreton Bay from Scotland. Just nineteen years old, he soon found a place, clearing land along Oxley Creek for a pioneer farmer. Eventually, he became a land-owning farmer himself and grew cotton and other crops along Oxley Creek for many years. Dunlop Park at Corinda was created
During WW2 a large Australian Army camp was established at Redbank in S.Qld. Raw recruits entered the camp, were trained, then shipped off to various theatres of war. My sister Queenie & her husband, Ted Evans, lived close to the Goodna Railway Station, one station away from Redbank. Ted was the district’s chief Air Raid
By Val Jackson (nee Valma Jones of Redbank Plains & Goodna) Read More »
Camp Columbia in Brisbane’s west is a symbolic location connecting US, Australian and Dutch histories during WWII in the South West Pacific. It is the location where plans were made to re-occupy Indonesia at the end of WWII and to formulate the new relationship between the Netherlands and its former colony. The Dutch operated from this camp
Camp Columbia Presentation – ANZAC Memorial Galleries – Sunday 20 October Read More »
Dated : Kamp Columbia 3-8-45 This digitised copy of the original booklet provides a satirical overview of the people at Camp Columbia. The author most likely uses a fictional name: Prof. Dr. K.F. Pescator. Through descriptions of flora, he portrays the various military and civilian ranks and positions of the personnel. Perhaps it was presented
Satirical publication Camp Columbia (Dutch) Read More »
This is a video made by John. This what he writes about himself and his ‘Off Track Xplorer’ YouTube video channel. “My name is John and I’m a SEQ-based Solo Adventurist. I explore places…. on and especially off track. There’s a whole other world to explore off the beaten track and that’s what keeps my
Videos: Brisbane’s most interesting shaped Bushland Reserve! // Pooh Corner, Wacol Read More »
Patricia (Pat) Metcalfe (born 1929 in Cairns) moved to Brisbane when she was 4 years old and after she finished the St Columba school at Wilson, was employed at Camp Columbia as a typist and secretary, first with the Americans and since 1945 with the Netherlands-East-Indies Government. Here she worked for the Department of Works
Patricia Metcalfe and Wim van Wely met at Camp Columbia Read More »
ATIS was an integrated unit composed of Australian and American intelligence personnel and staff from the other Allied Forces (the Netherlands and China) Their primary responsibilities were the interrogation of Japanese POWs from Gaythorne POW Camp and the interpretation of captured Japanese documents. Given the low surrender rate of Japanese soldiers, ATIS placed greater emphasis
Allied Translator and Interpreter Section at Indooroopilly Read More »
My family moved into a Housing Commission house in the new Inala in the early 1950s. We boys soon found that there was lots of small arms ammo round the area, remnants of the US Ammunition Dump. Finding it and extracting the cordite was a favourite pastime for the local boys, who spent hours combing
UXO (Unexploded Ordnance) Blast Witness-Inala 1954 Read More »
On 15 August 1944, a deputation of 3 residents from Darra met with the State Minister for Health and Home Affairs and the Police Commissioner for Brisbane. They were introduced by local MLA Mr. TC Kerr. The notes of the meeting include claims that: “Several attacks have been made by American Negroes on the residents
The Loff FamilyMy mother Tilly was born in Darra on 4 November 1905. The youngest of six children, she was born at home, in a railway house. Darra was little more than a fettler’s camp then—though Brittain’s Brickworks had been going since 1899. The fettler’s houses were beyond the brickworks, near the “Nine-foot bridge”—which was
Desley Lansbury (nee Scott) Read More »
I was born in November 1931 at Lady Bowen Hospital in Brisbane, the first of four children. My parents were living in Woolloongabba (Balaclava St) then, and they saw the ads for cheap land at Richlands Estate in the local Agent’s window. So, I was just twelve months old when we moved to our bush
Beryl Bull (nee Clark) Read More »
My father was born in Italy in 1898. (We have a photo of him at the family house in his village. When it was demolished, it was found to be 300 years old). When Pilede turned seventeen, he was conscripted into the army. (In 1915, Italy joined the Allies in WWI). He fought for two
Carmen Formigoni (née Cantoni) Read More »
The Camp Columbia Heritage Association has received the permission to reproduce the articles from the book: World War II Stories from Brisbane’s South West – written by Vicki Mynott. Foreword, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Timeline – World War II, Reading List RICHLANDS DARRA WACOL GOODNA OXLEY / CORINDA Other stories After the War Other information from the
World War II Stories from Brisbane’s South West- Table of Contents Read More »
WORLD WAR IIStories from Brisbane’s South WestRichlands, Darra, Wacol, Goodna and Oxley Vicki MynottProject Support: Angela Naumann Richlands Inala & Suburbs History Group Inc Foreword The vision held by members of the Richlands, Inala & Suburbs History Group, from which this story results, was to recognize and celebrate in a local way, the 60th Anniversary
Foreword, Acknowledgements, Introduction,Timeline – World War II, Reading List Read More »
My parents were both immigrants. My mother was English, born in 1897 west of London; she arrived in Australia in 1915. My father was born in 1906 in Switzerland, and he came to Australia in 1929-1930. They met and married here and moved to Richlands in 1931. I was born in 1932, at Lady Bowen
