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 of Dutch military, diplomatic, government officials as well as senior bank and business people as they had to flee the Netherlands East Indies when the Japanese invaded.
Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve—a surviving part of Camp Columbia
Paul Budde explains the historical importance of Pooh Corner Bushland Reserve at Wacol. The reserve formed part of the former Camp Columbia military complex and preserves some of its last visible wartime remnants.
Today, its natural environment and wartime heritage combine to make Pooh Corner an important place for conservation, historical interpretation and future archaeological research.
The Battle of Brisbane—when Allied servicemen clashed
Associate Professor Geoff Ginn explains the tensions that led to the Battle of Brisbane on 26 and 27 November 1942, when Australian and American servicemen clashed in the city.
One Australian serviceman was killed and others were injured. Wartime censorship prevented the full story from being reported, allowing rumour and folklore to surround the incident for decades.
The story of the ceremonial sword discovered at Camp Columbia
Joe Kalemba recounts the discovery of a rare ceremonial sword at the former Camp Columbia site in Wacol.
Research by experts in the Netherlands indicates that it is a nineteenth-century ceremonial sword associated with a senior official, possibly from the Netherlands East Indies. Its discovery provides a tangible link to Camp Columbia’s later role as the principal base of the Netherlands East Indies Government-in-Exile.
The sword was displayed at the Home Front Festival at Wolston Farmhouse on 16 August 2026.
The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles and Wacol’s military history
A living-history representative discusses the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles display and the extensive military history connected with Wacol.
The Home Front Festival brought together uniforms, weapons, vehicles, artefacts and historical organisations to show how Brisbane and Queensland supported military operations across New Guinea and the South-West Pacific.
Brisbane’s wider WWII heritage
Peter Rasey recognises the MacArthur Museum Brisbane as the city’s leading Second World War attraction while highlighting the opportunity to interpret Brisbane’s much wider wartime landscape.
Camp Columbia, Wolston Farmhouse, the University of Queensland and numerous former headquarters, hospitals, airfields and military facilities all formed part of Brisbane’s role as a major Allied command and logistics centre.
Together, these places can tell the broader story of Brisbane as Australia’s Allied wartime capital.