WORLD WAR II
Stories from Brisbane’s South West
Richlands, Darra, Wacol, Goodna and Oxley
Vicki Mynott
Project 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 of Victory in the Pacific in August 2005.
We completed four projects – a World War II Visual Exhibition, and an Honour Stone to local allied troops – both completed in 2005; a History Tour of local WWII sites; and this local history, completed in 2006.
This story is the result of much hard work by a few, and the willing contributions of many other local residents.
Two members, Vicki Mynott and Angela Naumann, enthusiastically carried the main burden of work. Assisted from time to time by other members of the history group,
they gathered the recollections and photographs of people who lived here during WWII. In a few instances, the stories were told by their children.
We are most grateful for the many hours of interviewing and recording undertaken by our members, and for the contributions by the Forest Lake Photography Club.
The Brisbane City Council generously provided a grant that enabled us to undertake the whole project. Councillor Les Bryant’s assistance in so many ways is acknowledged with gratitude.
Above all, we say ‘thank you’ to the many people who so generously and patiently told us their stories and let us see their memorabilia.
Dr Noel Wallis – President
Richlands Inala and Suburbs History Group Inc.
March 2006
Acknowledgements
I have thoroughly enjoyed the past months recording, compiling and editing these fascinating stories of our local social history. It was exciting, too, to see the photographs and other personal treasures, kept for the sixty years since the War, and still capable of awakening people’s memories of a lifetime ago. I hope this collection of narratives evokes a sense of those times.
I want to express my appreciation to two people who gave such strong support to this project.
Peter Hughson, secretary of the Forest Lake Photography Club, saw our need to have illustrations as an opportunity for members to gain experience in the field and to see their work published. He also prepared all our photographs for the publisher.
Angela Naumann, treasurer of the Richlands Inala History Group, accompanied me to interviews, and used her valuable insight to provide notes that captured essence and feeling. She hosted two delightful morning teas at her home for the interviewees – who were photographed at moments snatched from recognizing and catching up with people they had not seen for perhaps sixty years.’
These people show that a wonderful sense of community still exists in the district. I hope this collection of personal memories will contribute to the history of this community of quite varied origins.
Vicki Mynott
March 2006
Introduction
Brisbane was a military garrison town for several years (1942-46). There were thousands of troops camping and working in the Richlands-Wacol-Darra district and nearby Oxley and Goodna.
Local people were greatly affected by this influx of troops. Some resented them, while many welcomed them. These were tiny communities of battlers and immigrants on the edge of the city, and the army numbers overwhelmed them — but provided social interest, and many sorts of opportunities.
Several local farms opened small shops selling to the troops, and some women earned extra money doing mending and laundry for the men. Some of the local fruit, chicken and eggs were sold direct to the ever-hungry soldiers.
These largely farming communities found much of their produce — fruit and vegetables and chickens — being bought by the military quartermasters.
Local families attended the US picture shows at Camp Freeman and Camp Columbia, and many young people went to dances run by the military at Darra and Redbank.
A labour shortage replaced the unemployment that had become socially and economically crippling during the depression of the 1930s. Around 25,000 people were needed just to staff the many military headquarters around Brisbane. Young women did “war work” in factories producing military requirements; older men often found regular employment at the army camps, for example, as guards or drivers. Wives ran houses and farms alone.
A few local men joined the Volunteer Defence Corps or the local Air Raid Precautions unit. Some families invited soldiers home, billeted wives of soldiers, or supported evacuees from the Dutch East Indies.
Local girls had soldier boyfriends, and some became war brides. Some marriages were short-lived. Some fell victim to the cultural differences, and some endured.
Some locals who were children in those years remember quite exciting times, with many soldiers, huge pieces of equipment, free picture shows, and lollies.
Timeline – World War II
1942 – WAR COMES TO AUSTRALIA
Until late 1941, most of Australia’s fighting force was in the European theatre. Concern for the plight of “Mother England” overshadowed anxiety about a growing Japanese threat to Australia and other Pacific countries.
On 7 December 1941, the Japanese bombed the US Pacific Fleet and US military installations at Pearl Harbor (Hawaii). That day, a convoy of seven US ships, escorted by the cruiser Pensacola, was ordered by President Roosevelt to divert from Hawaii to Brisbane, where it arrived on 22 December, with 2400 troops.
Japan’s aggressive intentions in the Pacific and Asia became clear. On 25 January 1942, full mobilisation was ordered in Australia.
In February 1942, Australia was attacked for the first time. Four days after the fall of Singapore, and only 10 weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there were Japanese air raids on Darwin – the first of 64 during the following two years.
1942 – EVENTS IN THE PACIFIC
January – February:
- Netherlands East Indies, Java, Timor, and Rabaul were invaded.
- Singapore fell.
- Darwin was bombed.
- General MacArthur escaped from the Philippines.
March:
- HMAS Yarra, Perth, and Vampire were sunk.
- Port Moresby, Katherine, Horn Island (Torres Strait), Broome, and Wyndham were all bombed.
April:
- Townsville was put on invasion alert as the Battle of the Coral Sea raged to the east.
May:
- Midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour.
June:
- Sydney and Newcastle were shelled by submarines.
- June 5: Battle of Midway – the US and allied fleets turned the tide against the Japanese naval advance in the Pacific.
July:
- Australian forces fought at Buna and Gona, and Kokoda Track.
- Townsville was bombed three nights in a week.
August:
- HMAS Canberra, Voyager, and Armidale were sunk.
In the first months of 1942, Australia felt very close to being invaded. So, we were fortunate Pearl Harbor brought the Americans to Brisbane.
BRISBANE IN WORLD WAR II
1941
- American troops arrived, and introduced jazz, jitterbug, coffee inns, Coca-Cola, Camel cigarettes, Jeeps, and swell uniforms.
1942
- War crisis: food and clothes were rationed, holidays cancelled, weekday sports banned, race meetings curtailed, milk and bread supplies zoned, trading hours shortened, liquor limited, schools closed, windows blacked out.
- Women became tram conductors.
- US General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the Pacific, established his General Headquarters in the AMP Building. General Sir Thomas Blarney set up Australian Headquarters at the University of Queensland.
- The “Battle of Brisbane” between hundreds of Australian and US troops on leave in the city resulted in the death of one Australian soldier. Territorial war between white and black Americans at Wacol and South Brisbane escalated.
- Garrison Fort was established on northern Bribie Island to guard Moreton Bay.
1943
- The number of US troops in south-east Queensland peaked at 75,500.
- Hospital ship Centaur was sunk by a Japanese submarine off Cape Moreton, killing 268.
Timeline — based substantially on “Greater Brisbane” at [http://www.thecouriermail.com.au/extras federation Tirnelines/CMFedTimelineBris3.htm](http://www.thecouriermail.com.au/extras federation Tirnelines/CMFedTimelineBris3.htm)
Reading List
Bonutto, Osvaldo (1963) “A Migrant’s Story: The Struggle and Success of an Italian-Australian 1920s-1960s,” UQ Press, Brisbane
Browne, Waverney (1974) “A Man of Achievement,” Boolarong Press (Hornibrook biography)
Campbell, Rosemary (1989) “Heroes and Lovers: A Question of National Identity,” Allen & Unwin, Sydney
Cole, John R (1984) “Shaping a City: A Greater Brisbane 1925-1985,” Williams Brooks, Brisbane
Connors, Libby (1992) “Australia’s Front Line: Remembering the 1939-1945 War,” UQ Press, St Lucia
Cornwell, John (1999) “Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII,” Penguin, London
Cresciani, Gianfranco (1980) “Fascism, Anti-Fascism and Italians in Australia 1922-1945,” AN University Press, Canberra
Dunn, Peter (1996) “Australia @ War,” www.ozatwar.com
Ford, Dr Jonathan (Jack) (1996) “Allies in a Bind,” Netherlands Ex-Servicemen & Women’s Association, Brisbane
Formigoni, Ric (1994) “Richlands State School – 60th Anniversary 1934-1994”
MacMaster, Hugh (2000) “The Brisbane Line,” Rockhampton
Moore, John Hammond (1981) “Oversexed, Overpaid and Over Here – Americans in Australia 1941-45,” UQ Press, St Lucia
Notes of Deputation of Residents from Darra Requesting Closure of Darra Hall, 15.8.44 QSA: RSI 13214, 4/1289, A112029, General Correspondence – Police
“On Guard with the Volunteer Defence Corps” (1944) Australian War Museum, Canberra ACT
Portus, G V “Americans and Australians” – Australian Quarterly 1942, June pp 30-41 (reprinted in Moore, J Hammond “The American Alliance”)
Potts, E and A (1985) “Yanks Down Under: 1941-45: The American Impact on Australia,” OUP Melbourne
Priest, Joan (1987) “The Thiess Story,” 2nd ed., Boolarong Press, Queensland
Saunders, Kay (1986) “Racial Conflict in Brisbane in World War II: The Imposition of Patterns of Segregation Upon Black American Servicemen” in BHG Papers No. 4: Brisbane at War
Sharp, Ian (1998) “The Wolston Story,” National Trust, Queensland
Thompson, PA and Macklin, R (2000) “The Battle of Brisbane,” ABC Books
“Wacol Darra – The War Years” (1995) Military Museums of the Pacific
Wallis, Dr Noel (2003) “Tracing the Historical Significance of the Wacol Army Camp to the City of Brisbane”