Even in Brisbane, the global importance of the city’s role during World War II is largely unknown. Yes, most people are aware that large numbers of American troops were stationed here, and many will recall the so-called “Battle of Brisbane”—but for most, that’s the extent of their knowledge of Brisbane’s wartime significance.
As I delved deeper into this history, I began to wonder: what do American and Dutch WWII sources say about Brisbane? And how well is Brisbane represented in Australia’s broader World War II narrative? In all cases, the coverage is disappointingly limited.
I will explore my findings in a series of articles, each focusing on how Brisbane’s role is reflected (or overlooked) in American, Dutch, and Australian perspectives.
This one looks at this from the American point of view.
While Brisbane played a vital role in the Pacific War—yet in American histories, it is often reduced to a footnote. As the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur and home to Camp Columbia, Brisbane was a key hub for Allied strategy, logistics, and international cooperation.
Despite its importance, the city—and Camp Columbia in particular—receive little serious attention in mainstream American WWII literature. This article explores that gap and why it matters.
Brisbane: the Allied city behind the front
When General MacArthur arrived in Australia in early 1942, he made Brisbane the operational heart of the Southwest Pacific command. From the AMP Building in Queen Street, he directed campaigns in New Guinea and beyond.
The city soon filled with American servicemen, engineers, supply depots, and planning units. But in major U.S. accounts of the war—such as Ian Toll’s Pacific War Trilogy, William Manchester’s American Caesar, and Walter Borneman’s MacArthur at War—Brisbane appears only in passing. The focus is overwhelmingly on battles, not bases.
Even Toll’s description of the Battle of Brisbane, a violent clash between U.S. and Australian troops, is brief and treated as a humorous aside rather than a meaningful event.
Camp Columbia: a vital base, mostly forgotten
Camp Columbia, established in Wacol in 1942, was the U.S. Army’s most important base in Brisbane. It housed:
- Headquarters of the Sixth U.S. Army (Gen. Walter Krueger)
- The Southwest Pacific Officer Candidate School
- Medical and logistics units
- Staging areas for operations in New Guinea and the Philippines
In 1944, it was handed over to the Netherlands East Indies government-in-exile, making it the only place in Australia to host a foreign wartime government. From here, the Dutch prepared for the reoccupation of the East Indies and coordinated support for Indonesian exiles.
Yet in American WWII literature, Camp Columbia is barely acknowledged. At best, it appears in official U.S. military reports or unit histories. The U.S. Army’s “Green Books” series includes only minimal references.
Most detailed accounts come from Australian or Dutch sources, not American ones.
Why the silence?
This historical blind spot reflects a broader trend: combat zones and battles such as the Battle of the Coral Sea dominate public memory, while vital logistical and political centres are overlooked. But these centres mattered deeply to the outcome of the war.
Camp Columbia wasn’t just a military installation. It was a crossroads of American, Dutch, Australian, and Indonesian interests. It played a role not only in military planning, but in post-war diplomacy and decolonisation.
A new push for recognition
The Camp Columbia Heritage Association (CCHA) is committed to uncovering and promoting the overlooked history of Brisbane’s role in the Second World War. Its work focuses particularly on the significance of Camp Columbia as a multinational Allied base, and more broadly on Brisbane’s strategic importance in the Pacific War. Through research, exhibitions, publications, and community outreach, CCHA aims to ensure this history is preserved and better understood—both in Australia and internationally.
Time for a new chapter
At the Camp Columbia Heritage Association, we believe that Brisbane’s role in the Allied war effort—and particularly its significance to American operations in the Pacific—deserves far greater recognition in U.S. historical scholarship. We warmly invite American historians, institutions, educators, and students to explore this underrepresented chapter of the war.
Camp Columbia was not only a key U.S. Army base but also a unique site of international cooperation and post-war planning. We welcome collaboration, research exchange, and dialogue to help bring this history more fully into the American narrative of World War II.
Paul Budde
An excellent website that include many aspects of Brisbane’s roll in WWII has been developed by Brisbane based Peter Dunn: OzatWar
See also:
Brisbane’s overlooked wartime legacy: the forgotten Allied capital of Australia
Forgotten allies: how Brisbane’s WWII history has faded from Dutch memory