The following description is from the reminiscences of Major Ronald Dryen (1916-2003) published by Reg Kidd and Ray Neal in 1998. Major Dryen's first-hand account of 'N' Battery's camp on Bribie Island offers a brief glimpse of life on the island in 1943.
'N' Battery camp, Woorim, 1943.
"There was an American training camp for amphibious operations on Toorbul Point on the mainland opposite the southern tip of Bribie Island. When 'N' Battery was ordered to move to Bribie Island I prevailed on the Amphibious Warfare Unit to lay on a Landing Craft Surf (LCS) for a reconnaissance of the Bribie Island shoreline. The LCS was a water jet-propelled craft with shallow draft and no propeller, particularly suitable for landing on beaches. An adaption of this craft was used later on Australian beaches as surf rescue boats.
Normally Bribie Island could only be reached by a small motor boat operated by an Australian Small Ships Unit across the northern end of the Pumice Stone Channel, and by the American Unit at Toorbul Point at the southern end. After the war a bridge was built across the southern channel.
After three or four landings through the surf at various points I selected a site for the battery just north of the Welsby Lagoon, about midway along the island's shoreline, between Bribie and Skirmish Batteries.
In late March 1943 'N' Battery moved by road from 'Tabragalba' via Caboolture, to Toorbul Point where it was embarked on Landing Crafts Tank (LCTs) and transported by the American Amphibious Warfare Unit around Skirmish Point to its new location. It was our first experience for a beach landing, but not withstanding a narrow beach and a 3-feet escarpment, there were no hitches.
The battery was fortunate in that among its talented and resourceful soldiers it had a gun sergeant who had been an architect in civilian life and a gunner who was on strength as a carpenter. As soon as all the stores were unloaded from the LCTs the BSM took out a foraging party which after two days' search of the interior of the island and on the mainland returned with an adequate 'collection' of timber, sheet iron and other materials. Designed by the architect and constructed by the carpenter with a few officers, we soon had a BOP, storerooms, ammunition recesses, mess huts, kitchen, ablutions and a latrine block. The CASL Section under the Searchlight Officer dug a well about 50 yards in from the beach and set up the petrol motor water pump. After a few days' pumping it produced crystal clear fresh water sufficient for all our needs. The camp lacked electricity and we had to make do with hurricane lamps, which attracted all sorts of insects at night; otherwise we were fairly comfortable. Rations were picked up weekly from the DID at Woorim. There were no roads on Bribie Island and the only means of transport on the island was by running the jeep or 15-cwt truck along the beach front at low tide.
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| Map : Brisbane Fortress 1943 source: page 350, Kidd & Neal (1998) The 'Letter' Batteries. Map developed from a map in the unpublished draft The Guns of Brisbane and Moreton Bay prepared by Major Roy Harvey and Brigadier R.K. Fullford, OBE, for the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society Inc., Manly, N.S.W. Reproduced with permission of RAAHC (previously known as the RAAHS) 26.2.2025 |
Apart from the foot injury suffered by the beach piquet during the initial landing, the troops were free from sickness and serious injuries. The cooks found a snake wandering around the precincts of the kitchen. They killed it and draped it over a clothesline as a warning to others. One inquisitive soldier lifted up the snake's head to have a better look and the snake, obviously not yet dead, promptly bit him. He was quickly attended to by the Medical Orderly, Cpt. "Happy" Walkington, AAMC.
Foraging parties were a frequent form of recreation on off-duty days. One such party found a small rowing boat, launched it on the lagoon in the middle of the island and offered to take me for a ride in it. On disembarking I put a bare foot in the water and trod on a submerged broken bottle. Bleeding profusely I was carried back to the camp and rushed by jeep to Woorim where there was a fully equipped Casualty Clearing Post. The corporal medical orderly cleaned the wound and put in a few stitches using a pair of pliers to pierce the tough skin of the ball of my foot. On return to camp, the carpenter kindly fashioned me a pair of crutches. After a couple of weeks the wound turned septic and I had to call a doctor over from the mainland. He removed the stitches and put me on a course of sulphonamides. Shortly afterwards the main item at a concert party put on by the troops consisted of a soldier impersonating the BC being carried on the back of another, with a foot swathed in bandages, rushing up and down the stage ordering all and sundry to do this and that.
Being near the outlet from Brisbane to the Pacific Ocean, there was practically an endless stream of shipping passing the front of the battery. The personnel were able to get plenty of practice on the equipments by day and by night and to experience the coast artillery watch system on continuous manning. I had the carpenter make a miniature range, simulating the splashes of shells on the water, and I was able to train the officers in observation of fire and ranging procedures.
While performing the pre-dawn preparation for action one day we noticed a distinct reddening of the sky to the south-east in the direction of Moreton Island, followed by an audible explosion. Some days later we learned that the phenomena were caused by the torpedoing of the Australian hospital ship Centaur at 0410 hours on 13 May 1943.
In July 1943 'N' Battery packed up and moved out of its site on Bribie Island."
REFERENCES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The Story of 'N' Aust Heavy Battery, as related by Major Ronald G. Dryen (Retd) - The Battery Commander, pages 290-292, In: The 'Letter Batteries' : the history of the 'Letter' Batteries in World War II by Reg Kidd and Ray Neal, Sydney: published by the authors, 1998. ISBN 0 646 35137 0
Map : Brisbane Fortress 1943. source: page 350, Kidd & Neal (1998) The 'Letter" Batteries. Map developed from a map in the unpublished draft The Guns of Brisbane and Moreton Bay prepared by Major Roy Harvey and Brigadier R.K. Fullford, OBE, for the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society Inc., Manly, N.S.W. Reproduced with permission of RAAHC (previously known as the RAAHS) 26.2.2025
With thanks to the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company (RAAHC) formerly the Royal Australian Artillery Historical Society Inc. (RAAHS) https://www.artilleryhistory.org/ for permission to reproduce the Map Brisbane Fortress 1943 on this blogpage. 26.2.2025
Brigadier R. K. Fullford OBE (1918-2006)
https://artilleryhistory.org/gunners_past_and_present/gunners_of_renown_and_gunners_tales/gunners_of_renown/chapter_4/documents/bio_fullford_richard_kennedy.pdf
Roy H. E. Harvey (1919-1994)
https://artilleryhistory.org/gunners_past_and_present/obituaries/obituaries_h/roy_henry_harvey.pdf
FURTHER READING
1942 Troops train on Island https://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com/2024/10/1942troopstrainonisland.html
Troops Train for Offensive Landings by M.C. Warren, "Telegraph" War Correspondent. The Telegraph 2.12.1942 p. 4 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172598227
Bribie Island WW2 Fortifications https://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com/2016/11/bribie-island-ww2-fortifications.html
Online catalogue for Cutler Research Centre https://ehive.com/collections/201005/cutler-research-centre
A first class piece of artillery history. The Letter Batteries were raised as a matter of extreme urgency across around the coast of the Australian mainland and on islands as the threat of attack from Japan became clear. How so much was achieved so quickly when the nation was put on a war footing is remarkable. The source citations provided are excellent. Thank you.
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