Author name: CCHA

The Camp Columbia Heritage Association would like to thank Centenary and District Environment Action Inc (CDEA) for including us in their new display at the Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve. CDEA has undertaken a refresh of the Pooh Corner information display with funding assistance from Brisbane City Council. The timeline poster, shown here, will inform visitors […]

In the immediate post-War World years, refugees from war-torn Europe were resettled in different places across Australia. By 1949, it is estimated that one-tenth of the American/Dutch/Australian Army’s Camp Columbia area was acquired by the Department of Immigration and became the Wacol East Dependant Holding Camp for Displaced Persons. This was situated on the north

These three maps show the Camp Columbia (CC) area as it currently is used. The maps are overlayed on the original WWII map that shows the military buildings and infrastructure of the WWII Camp. There are still some areas that have not been overbuilt and it clearly show that these area will still hold remanent

A large area in and around Wacol – which was nearly all bush land at that time – was selected as its major staging camp for the US Army in the South West Pacific. Here weapons, ammunition and equipment in transit were assembled or processed. A range of military facilities were build in the area

Officer Candidate School During 1942/1943 the Americans established the Officer Candidate School (OCS), on the other side of the railway in Wacol, in the area known as Camp area 3.  They  provided training for nine different army branches and was of the most comprehensive schools of its kind in the world. They provide training for:

At the Yeronga Memorial Park in Brisbane the American WACS are also commemorated. There are still plans underway to also add a plaque to the Commemoration Wall at the Memorial for the Dutch and KNIL women (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army). However, there were objections as this memorial is just for Australian Forces. Since then

On 12 April 2023, we presented ourselves at an event organised by the Royal Historic Society of Queensland. The RHSQ has become an official sponsor of our organisation. Below is a copy of the presentation. This is the PPt presentation Photos with thanks to Jorien van Beukering and Ed Parker

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