1943 'N' Battery on Bribie Island

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.

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

1942 Troops train on Island

The following article, written in 1942, has a description of the military activities at Toorbul Point and Bribie Island, though neither place is mentioned as was the practice during wartime to keep information, about military training operations, restricted. 

Troops Train for Offensive Landings (1942)
by M.C. Warren, "Telegraph" War Correspondent. 
The Telegraph 2.12.1942 p. 4

An island off the Australian coast a popular holiday resort in peacetime - now is the centre of the most intensive amphibious training ever given to troops in this country.

Thousands of Australian and American soldiers have learnt there a new technique - seamanship - at an Australian Army Combined Operations School. There is a very good reason why our military leaders want to make troops amphibious-minded. 

War in the Pacific made many of our earlier training methods obsolete overnight. It meant a substitution of jungle methods of combat in place of open fighting in which 'block' formations and weight of armour counted. Our troops mastered jungle tactics and beat the Japs back in New Guinea. 

Now our military strategy is no longer defensive, it is offensive. It is not a case of 'hold what we have', but 'take back from the Jap'. This means carrying the war over the sea to the islands of the Pacific. Troops must be trained to lose any fear of moving over water, to handle small boats and to embark and debark swiftly and efficiently. They must learn about tides, currents, and winds. They are shown how the tide can be used to reduce the fatigue of paddling. They must become 'mud minded' - a tactical surprise can be achieved by a landing in swampy mangroves. Defence of small watercraft from hostile aircraft also is a phase of training. 

Already large numbers of troops have mastered these and other lessons at the island close to the coast.

Troops train on island
photo source: BI Surf Club book, 1988, p. 95

The Navy and the Air Force combine with the Army in making the course as tough and as thorough as training could be. All three services have a part in the operations, just as they would have in actual battle. All of the Army instructional staff are AIF personnel with practical experience in this war. Three American officers are attached to the school. Naval officers give lectures on seamanship and kindred subjects and the Navy also provides and runs the watercraft. 

An Army Co-operation Squadron joins in the exercises, either as friendly or hostile aircraft as required by the situation. Both Navy and Army officers make air flights as part of their training.

Embarkation

A first-hand picture of the wide scope of the school's activities was given to visiting war correspondents. They saw an American combat unit in action. Their mission was to land and attack a hostile beach position on the island off the coast. Primarily, they were required to take an airfield from the 'enemy.' Live ammunition and bombs are used in the exercise. The presence of aircraft gives realism to the task. Shortly before zero hour for the beach landing, Allied aircraft raided the 'enemy' airfield on the island, diving in concentric attack upon dummy planes, installations and troops. They dropped live bombs ranging from 112 lbs to 250 lbs. A smoke screen was laid down by fast motor boats for the landing. The assault troops fixed bayonets. Towing ropes were cast off and the first wave of infantry was paddling vigorously towards shore through the smoke.

Realism

Mines blew up in the water around them showering the troops with gushers of water. Hostile aircraft dive bombed the landing boats, simulating machine gun fire. The troops responded with fierce ack-ack bursts from Tommy guns and rifles. Friendly aircraft beat off the air attackers and formed a protective umbrella. The boats grounded on the sand. With a quick rush, the troops were across the beach, engaging the defenders. More mines blew up around them, giving the impression of heavy 'enemy' shelling. 

By infiltration, the first wave of troops ashore routed the shore defenders and pushed inland. Second, third, and fourth waves of infantry went ashore in quick succession and consolidated the beachhead. Parties were sent out to protect the flanks. A motor propelled barge came in sight, bringing jeeps and mobile anti-tank guns. The barge stood in close to the beach, a ramp was lowered and the jeeps splashed through the shallow water on to dry sand, hauling the anti-tank guns. The 'enemy' had blocked the only cleared ground leading from the beach with huge fallen trees. Engineers tackled the problem and within a few minutes a track was ready for the jeeps to bring the anti-tank guns up the rise.

Encirclement

They enveloped the airfield so successfully that a wallaby, caught on the landing strip was unable to escape through the ring of attackers. The word 'withdrawal' is not in the vocabulary of our military training school nowadays. When this unit had to return to their camp they did not merely withdraw, but performed another training operation. Main training at the school is in movement by night. Beach landings in hours of darkness are considered essential for surprise tactics.

Dispersement

The school does not put troops immediately into water manoeuvres. They practice beach assault first from dummy boats at the waters edge. Special tactics taught at this stage are dispersement, speed, silence and method of moving the craft.

Despite the element of risk associated with the rigorous training methods at the school and the many thousands of soldiers who have passed through it, not one serious accident has occurred.

REFERENCE
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

Photo source: Bribie Island Surf Club Book, 1988, page 95.

FURTHER READING
Merv Warren (1914-2013) War Correspondent: As I saw World War II. 1993. 106p. ISBN 0646149652 

Field Hospital Bribie 1965

In September 1965 a Field Hospital was set up at Woorim as part of the field training of the 3rd Clearing Station of the Australian Army. The 50-bed hospital set up was open to public inspection for a day and many local people took the opportunity to visit. Below are two articles which appeared in the Bribie Star at that time.

Field Hospital Training at Woorim (September 1965)

Field Hospital

An Army group is to visit Bribie Island in September to set up a Field Hospital of 50 beds. The Field Hospital will be located near the partly constructed Koolamarra Motel from the 13th to the 17th September. The Commanding Officer, Lt. Colonel Wainer, has issued an invitation to the public to visit the hospital which will be open for inspection on Thursday 16th September.

Source: Bribie Star, v.4 no. 5, 27 August 1965, p. 2

Aerial view (cropped) 11 July 1967.
Moreton Bay and Adjoining mainland,
run 3, 24,000 ft. QAP1747 frame 24.
QImagery. 

Field Training for the Army (September 1965)

Bribie Island was chosen for the field training of the 3rd Clearing Station. This is an element of the Army that includes in its training the setting up of a Field Hospital in various places each month.

Although this element would depend on other Army services such as supply and engineers, it is a complete hospital of 50 beds, the job of the staff being to take care of urgent casualties whose lives would be further endangered by a lapse of time taken to get them to a permanent or general hospital.

In modern times these casualities are very often picked up by helicopter directly from battalion or patrol positions and taken to the advanced field hospital.

The 50-bed hospital set up on Bribie was open to public inspection on the 17th September and was fully equipped to handle all emergencies. It is all under canvas. These canvas centres are very cool, having a double roof, allowing a passage of air between the inner and outer canvas and are dug in in war areas.

The hospital has a reception room for receiving patients. The next step is a resuscitational centre for pre-operational treatment. This theatre is fully equipped with a portable X-ray machine complete with dark room and sterilizing equipment. ... From the operating theatre the patient is transferred to a main ward, also under canvas. The hospital is also equipped with a very well stocked pharmacy and also a sick bay for its own staff of 75 men who are fully trained to the standards of the nursing staff of other and civilian hospitals. To cater for this staff the unit has to carry all the necessary equipment to feed them and care for their everyday needs.

The Head Teacher of the Bribie State School was pleased to accept an invitation to the staff and children to visit the Army Field Hospital at Woorim.

Pupils travelled by bus and bicycles for the hour-long tour over the hospital on 16th September.

A number of Army personel explained the procedure and functioning of various party of the unit. Real patients who aided in illustrated talks aroused in the children particular interest and sympathy. Equipment for blood transfusions, X-rays and blood tests were all demonstrated. Visitors also saw techniques used for resuscitation.

A highlight to conclude the occasion was a drink of water from a large aluminium Army mug!

Source: Bribie Star, v.4 no. 7, 24 September 1965, p.4

REFERENCES

Aerial view (cropped) 11 July 1967. Moreton Bay and Adjoining mainland, run 3, 24,000 ft. QAP1747 frame 24. QImagery. https://qimagery.information.qld.gov.au/

Field Hospital. Bribie Star, v.4 no. 5, 27 August 1965, p. 2

Field Training for the Army. Bribie Star, v.4 no. 7, 24 September 1965, p.4

1944 Big Bird

The following article was written by Ken Telfer (1924-2018) and provides us with a wonderful glimpse of a day in 1944 when an aircraft landed on Toorbul Point and amazingly took off again the next day.

Thank you Ken.

The Day the Big Bird Came to Toorbul Point

by Ken Telfer, ex-Sapper, 2 AWT Group

 Big Bird by Ken Telfer, ex-Sapper, 2 AWT Group. 
Log Book no. 58, April 1991 pages 10-12.**

"Well, not a real big bird like today's Jumbo jets, but still a sizeable airliner for the late thirties and forties.

In early 1944, the Training Centre moved from Chowder Bay to Toorbul Point and that's where the story starts. When we arrived the United States Navy was still in residence at the main base down on Pumicestone Passage. Accordingly, personnel of the AWT Training Centre were encamped up on the cliffs overlooking Deception Bay, where Pebble Beach Housing development (of the late 1980s) is now situated.

Our campsite at that time consisted of our tent lines, mess huts, recreation room, etc., on the western slope of the cliff top, whilst our latrines and ablution block were situated on the cliff top east of a dirt road which ran virtually north-south along the cliff.

We had some interesting experiences whilst we were in residence up on the cliffs. Plenty of fishing and mud-crabbing in our off-duty hours. Then there was the time shortly after our arrival when we were invited to the movies down at the US Base. Came the end of the movies and we climbed to our feet and started to move out. "Stand Fast" was the whispered order from Harry Watts, our RSM and then we noticed all the US Navy enlisted personnel standing rigidly to attention whilst their Officers moved out first. Just a little different to our more casual AIF approach!

After some weeks on our cliff top 'eyrie' the US Navy moved out and we started to move down to the main base. The first job for us 'doggies' was to clean up the mess halls, kitchens and other buildings. Who remembers, I wonder, the boxes of cherries so obligingly left behind by the US Navy and the pigs we made of ourselves gorging on those cherries - something that certainly wasn't on the ration list of AWT.

And some of the letters left behind by some of the US sailors. Eye openers to say the least for some of us young soldiers. I never knew 'ladies' wrote such letters to men, wow!!! It must have made quite an impression on me at any rate, I can still remember some of those letters 47 years on.

However, enough of the reminiscing of my misspent youth and down to the real story. Late one stormy afternoon soon after we had settled in at the main base, a Lockheed 'Electra' airliner appeared low over the camp site from the direction of Brisbane. As we looked south over Moreton Bay, it was obvious Brisbane was copping a 'beautie'. Low, green-black nimbo-cu clouds, lots of lightning and torrential rain. The Lockheed 'Electra ' (not to be confused with a later vintage 'Electra' flown by QANTAS, TAA and Ansett-ANA), was a pre-war all metal airliner flown by Ansett Airways of that time. Ansett was contracted to the US forces and flew senior Officers from General MacArthur's HQ, to and from Northern Australia and New Guinea.

Lockheed Model 10 Electra
source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Earhart-electra_10.jpg 

On this day, approaching Brisbane after a flight from 'up north', it was confronted by the severe electrical storm raging over Brisbane. Unable to land at Eagle Farm or Archerfield and low on fuel, the Captain decided to head north and look for a suitable place to make an emergency landing.

He circled our camp site at Toorbul Point several times, obviously sizing up the dirt road on the cliff top. Working that day in the signals office, I heard a call, "Break out a red lamp and get up there and let him know he can't land here!"

But, before anyone could grab an Aldis or Lucas lamp, the 'Electra' appeared low from the north over Bribie Island, flaps down, wheels down, obviously on 'finals' to attempt a landing on the cliff top dirt road. With a brilliant bit of flying the flight deck crew got the 'Electra' down in one piece and pulled up before they ran out of road.

That night the American Officers from the aircraft were taken into Brisbane by staff car, whilst the two Ansett pilots dined at our Officers' Mess and stayed overnight in the Officers' quarters. In the bright sunny morning that followed the previous day's storm, they vetoed any idea of dismantling the aircraft and taking it out by road. And anyone knowing the 'old road' from The Point to Caboolture, rough and narrow and highly corrugated, would appreciate why the aircraft Captain elected to try and fly it out.

But how? The dirt road they had landed on certainly wasn't an ideal strip. It was extremely narrow and it was short. Could they get the aircraft up, up and away before running out of road? That morning, not being on duty, I went up to the cliff top with quite a few other 'bods' to watch the takeoff.

First, the aircraft was towed back to the northern end of the road where it was still level and the tail jacked up. The 'Electra' was a tail dragger, like the Dakota. Then, with the tail resting on a sturdy block of wood from our Engineering Shop, the tail wheel was tied by a length of manilla rope, courtesy of AWT, to a nearby tree. One of our Sergeants with an axe, its blade specially honed, stood by to cut the rope.

After a final walk along the road and I'm sure with some misgivings, the pilots climbed aboard and locked the door. The two engines were started and warmed up. When the manifold and oil pressures were right, the pilots gradually increased the revs until the 'Electra' with both engines at full bore and with the whole aircraft shuddering and vibrating so that it seemed every rivet must pop, she seemed like a greyhound waiting to burst from the starting gates.

At a hand signal from the cockpit window, the Sergeant chopped at the rope (who was that Sergeant?) and with three or four quick blows the rope was cut through and the 'Electra' shot forward like a projectile .

With its tail already up, a lot of flap and engines at full bore it attained flying speed very quickly and lifted off safely before running out of road. The 'Electra' that day exhibited STOL characteristics that I'm sure the designers never dreamed of when they first put pen to paper.

After climbing to about 500 feet, the aircraft banked to the left and came about to circle the camp. With a waggle of its wings to say "Thanks", it climbed away and headed for a safer strip in Brisbane.

I've always felt that "the day the big bird came to Toorbul Point" and the assistance AWT Training Centre was able to extend to Ansett to get the 'Electra' back into the war effort quickly, is one that should be recorded in our history and not allowed to sink without trace. I'm sure some of our grandkids who get to know of the story and who might visit Pebble Beach Estate some time, will stand and wonder .. how did they do it?

Perhaps Ansett have the emergency landing details somewhere in their archives and could share the details with our Association for posterity. If not, perhaps they should."

**ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Big Bird. The Day the Big Bird Came to Toorbul Point. 

by Ken Telfer, ex-Sapper, 2 AWT Group. Log Book no. 58, April 1991 pages 10-12.

The Australian Water Transport Association is acknowledged with thanks for permission to post this article on the BIHS Blog.

Photo

Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Model 10 Electra, at Oakland, CA on March 20, 1937. Scanned from Lockheed Aircraft since 1913, by René Francillon. Photo credit USAF.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Model_10_Electra#/media/File:Earhart-electra_10.jpg

FURTHER READING

Lockheed Model 10 Electra - Wikipedia entry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Model_10_Electra

WW2 Memorial Sandstone Point - Pebble Beach War Memorial (Toorbul Point / Sandstone Point)

http://bribieislandhistory.blogspot.com/2017/11/ww2-memorial-sandstone-point.html

A Memorial Service was held at Sandstone Point on 21 Oct 2012 by 13 members and their wives of the Queensland Branch of the Australian Water Transport Association (AWTA). ... The Patron of the Queensland Branch of AWTA in 2012 was John Pearn.

ref: Log Book Mar 2013 http://awta.org.au/pages/logbook.htm

WW2 Memorial Sandstone Point

Pebble Beach War Memorial

Toorbul Point / Sandstone Point

On Sunday 17th September 1995 a monument was unveiled at Sandstone Point as an "Australia Remembers" project.

The entry for the memorial on Monument Australia says: 

"Memorial commemorates allied personnel engaged in amphibious training exercises at Toorbul Point between 1942 and 1945 during World War Two.

Toorbul Point and Bribie Island were military/defence areas during World War Two, with Toorbul being used for amphibious and commando training. Both Australian and American personnel were involved, and Toorbul Point eventually became known as 7th Amphibious Training Centre under US Naval command."

Pebble Beach Memorial, Toorbul Point
Photo: Peter Ludlow's Moreton Bay History blog

At the base of the monument is the following inscription:

Erected by Caboolture Shire Council

as an "Australia Remembers : 1945 - 1995" Project

to commemorate the Toorbul Point Combined Operations Centre

and the many allied personnel who engaged in amphibious training exercises here

during World War II

Unveiled on September 17, 1995.

Australia Remembers, 1945-1995

'Australia Remembers, 1945-1995' was a program of activities organised by the Federal Government to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and culminated in key national ceremonies held in Brisbane on 15 August 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific.

References:
Australian War Memorial entry for Australia Remembers, 1945-1995.  https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/ARTV09186/

Bullets and Beans post of Saturday 3 December 2016, Peter Ludlow's Moreton Bay History blog https://peterlud.wordpress.com/2016/12/03/bullets-and-beans/comment-page-1/

Pebble Beach War Memorial entry on Monument Australia.
http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww2/display/92693-pebble-beach-war-memorial

Further Reading:
Donald, Ron (1995) Fort Bribie, 1939-45: the story of wartime Fort Bribie and Toorbul Point.

Donald, Ron (2010) The Yanks called it "Terrible Point" : the story of the big Allied amphibious training base at Toorbul Point, Moreton Bay, Queensland in World War II.

Saving war relics

War Relic was Holiday Home on Bribie

Barry Clark, Bribie Island Historical Society

We have recently been contacted by a lady from Brisbane with wonderful childhood memories of living in one of the Fort Skirmish Military buildings at Woorim.

It is one of only 2 remaining buildings in the area of Rotary Park, which is soon to have informative signs erected and improvements carried out. The structure is known as RAN 4 and was the Control Room for submarine detection cable laid on the sea floor, across to Moreton Island to detect and destroy enemy ships. 

There were several defensive installations throughout Moreton Bay which are shown on diagram 1. After the war the military equipment was removed but the structures remained.

1. Diagram of Defence installation
during WW2.

There were 5 rooms in the Control room building, for various equipment and wartime observation activities, plus a toilet for the Officers and another for the ratings. The layout and use of the rooms during the war years is shown on diagram 3.  Further back from the sea was the accommodation camp for about 30 servicemen plus various other military structures. The only other building that has survived is one of the Generator rooms which is still visible in Rotary Park.

Soon after the war the submarine cables were recovered and most buildings were removed or lost in the shifting sand dunes. By 1953 the RAN 4 Control Room was almost out of sight under the sand.

2. In 1953 it was almost buried,
before the Olsen family moved in.

Between 1948 and 1953 the Control room structure was used as a "weekender" by Brisbane butchers Bertha and Ern Koppe under a special lease. They installed double bunks and turned the Loop, Wireless and Observation rooms into bedrooms, and the Artificers Workshop became the kitchen.
The lease was taken over by Ray and Joan Craft who continued to use it as a weekender until 1958.

They installed a wood stove, but were unable to leave anything at all in the building when they were not there as it had no windows and was not secure.

3. Military use of rooms during WW2.

4. Rooms as Holiday home for
Olsen family 1958 to 1969.

Bribie Island was still quite remote in those days with only a car ferry from the mainland to the island, and a population of about 400 people.

The road across the island was rough and basic and there was only a sandy track from the Hotel north to the Control room.

Other families also leased Gun Emplacement structures opposite Fourth Avenue. Viv Daddo and family had use of the tiny Generator room still standing in Rotary Park.
Everything required for the holiday visits had to be carried in and taken back home afterwards.

On 12th March 1958 Frank and Oral Olsen took over the lease of RAN4 Control room and continued to use it as a holiday home for the next eleven years until end January 1969.
By 1970 the building was so broken down and unsafe that it could no longer be used.
Helga Newmann (nee Olsen) recently wrote the following letter to the Historical Society with her memories of those days, and provided a diagram of how they used the rooms as a home.

My memories of holidaying at "The Fort" Bribie Island 

by Helga Newmann (nee Olsen) April 2017

Between March 1958 and January 1969 my family (parents and five children) holidayed at various times (school holidays) at Bribie Island staying in "The Fort" leased by my Uncle Francis Lloyd Olsen (Frank Olsen). We would catch the barge  over from Toorbul Point to Bribie Island then drive across the island towards the ocean beach.

The road in to the fort was only a poorly maintained sandy track through the bush. First thing when we arrived Dad started the windmill so we could have water and got the kerosene refrigerator going. There was no electricity so we used primus lanterns for lights, a kerosene refrigerator and a wood stove. I don't remember stockpiles of wood for the stove so maybe we had some other means of cooking but I don't recall. Maybe a primus stove.

The windows would have had bars but I don't recall whether there was glass in them. The sand dunes actually came right up under the windows (within a foot of the windows) on the beach side. People used to wander along the beach and stop to look in the window. Many a time you'd surprise somebody looking in at you.

We used to swim and fish in the surf right in front of the fort. We also did lots of walking going to some of the inland lagoons. It was wonderful at night to lie in bed and listen to the only sound - the ocean breaking on the shore - and shadowy figures walking past the doorway when Mum and Dad passed with a lantern.

Saving Our War History

After 1970 the Control building continued to deteriorate and became extensively vandalised over the next 25 years, until in 1996 the newly formed Rotary Club of Bribie Island initiated a project to refurbish the building. Volunteers worked for many months inputting thousands of volunteer hours to uncover the building, clean and paint the interior rooms and external structure.

5. Control room before Rotary Restoration in 1996.

6. Restoration work by Rotary volunteers in 1996/7.

When completed it was almost as good as new and was positioned just above the high water mark. Despite the efforts of Rotary there was no interest by State or Council to provide adequate protection or signage.

7. After Rotary restoration vandals struck again in 2000.

In subsequent years king tides and storm surges eroded the protective sand dune in front of the Control Room, and vandals continued to break into the building and deface the restoration work.

8. Storm erosion in 2011 almost claims Control room.

9. Protective Sandbags after storms of 2011.

A major storm surge in 2011 removed large quantities of sand and seriously undermined the structure until it was almost lost.

Council were then required to construct a large sand bag protective wall around the building, which now sticks out over the beach and is washed by the daily tide.

10. What it looks like inside today.

Bribie Island Rotary Club have urged Council for many years to recognise the significance of these structures and to improve the facilities in Rotary Park and erect their informative signage. This work is scheduled to take place soon and it must be hoped that this will raise public awareness and respect for these important historical relics.

For more than a decade the Historical Society have urged State Government to recognise the almost complete loss of World War 2 structures at Fort Bribie on the north of the island. There are now very few remaining structures remaining intact. I have recently taken 40 people, as one of Council's Public programs, to see the inside of the Control Room and appreciate the role of Bribie Island in WW2. The interior is rapidly deteriorating due to extensive concrete cancer, and its ultimate collapse seems inevitable. Such a pity.

It was lovely to hear from Helga (nee Olsen) with her memories of many exciting holidays with her family, living in an empty concrete bunker on the water's edge ... a million dollar location.

We should all be reflecting on just how close Australia came to being invaded during the war, and the strategic role of the buildings and those who served on Bribie Island during those challenging years.

Acknowledgements
Thank you to Helga Newmann (nee Olsen) for her kind permission to reproduce her memories of "The Fort" Bribie Island.

The above article was published in the June 2017 issue (pages 14-15) of 
The Bribie Islander https://issuu.com/thebribieislander/docs/35_bis_june_2017

Further Information
Dr Richard Walding's webpages on Fort Bribie
http://indicatorloops.com/bribie.htm - has Loop Hut Floor Plan

http://indicatorloops.com/fortbribie.htm

Who Answered The Call

QANZAC 100 Project - "Who Answered The Call"

On 31 July 2015, two bronze plaques were unveiled at the little park at the end of First Avenue in Bongaree.  On these bronze plaques are the names of service men and women from Bribie Island and Pumicestone Passage who answered the call to serve Australia during World War 1 (1914-1918) and World War 2 (1939-1945).

IN HONOUR OF THOSE FROM BRIBIE ISLAND AND PUMICESTONE PASSAGE 

WHO ANSWERED THE CALL

RAN

CAMPBELL

Reginald Joseph

6477

HMAS Penguin

Bribie Island

ARMY

BISHOP	Maurice Alexander	366		11 Depot Bn	Toorbul
BONNEY	Walter Herbert	4681		26 Bn	Toorbul
DAVIS	Alexander Thomas	2792	DOW †	42 Bn	Toorbul
DUX	Bertie	6158		11 Bn	Toorbul
FREEMAN	William	2809		3 MG Bn	Toorbul
FREEMAN	Edward Henry	2987		11 Bn	Toorbul
GOLLAGHER	George Leslie	4535		31 Bn	Toorbul
GOSLING	William	4728	KIA †	26 Bn	Bribie Island
JACQUES	George Ernest	2188		49 Bn	Bribie Island
LAYTON	Alan	3388		4 Pnr Bn	Bribie Island
MILLS	John Robert	2262		2 Rmt Unit	Toorbul Point
MILLS	Thomas James	170		15 Bn	Toorbul Point
MILLS	Walter Henry	944	POW	25 Bn	Bribie Island
STORR	Arthur William	4891	KIA †	9 Bn	Bribie View
STORR	Charles Allan	4892		9 Bn	Bribie View
STORR	Harold Francis	653		15 Bn	Bribie View
TRIPCONY	Thomas Martin	1986		49 Bn	Cowie Bank

RAN

BAND

John Morrell

KIA †

HMAS Basilisk

White Patch

ARMY

ADAMS	Thomas Edward	Q187167		1 Garrison Bn	Toorbul
BENSON	Reginald Clarence	QX61294		2 Aust Mtn Bty	Donnybrook
BOOTHE	George Henry	Q187425		1 Garrison Bn	Toorbul
BOOTHE	Kathleen Violet	Q267346		AAMWS	Toorbul
COSTIN	William Charles	QX14502	POW	2/26 Inf Bn	Bribie Island
CROUCH	Charles Frederick	QX27813		2/15 Inf Bn	Bribie Island
DARVALL	Mary Judith	QF273914		2 AWS Trg Coy	Bribie Island
DUKE	John Allan	QX9594		2/15 Inf Bn	Toorbul
FREEMAN	William Charles	Q120090		12 Garrison Bn	Bribie Island
GRANT	Edith Emily Isobel	QF268557		5 Aust Ord Stores Coy	Bribie Island
JACKSON	Cecil Robert	QX52029		13 Fd Regt	Donnybrook
LINDSAY	William John	QX13785	POW	1 Coy AASC	Bribie Island
O’NEILL	Arthur	QX27819		2/16 Inf Bn	Bribie Island
SHAW	Thomas	QX45157		12 Army Tps Coy RAE	Bribie Island
WELLAUER	George Benjamin	QX30244		2/6 Aust Fd Coy RAE	Bribie Island
WILSON	Robert George	Q153131		9 Wks Coy	Bribie Island

RAAF

SHIELDS	Gordon Henderson	78860		11 Sqn	Toorbul
HEENAN	Denis Joseph	6762		10 AAC Flt	Bribie Island

Memories of Local War Heroes

“If I had died there . . . I would be remembered”,
this statement says a lot about how we regard War service all these years later.

The Bribie Island Historical Society recognised that there was no specific memorial to those from Bribie Island and surrounding areas who had answered the call to duty in both World War 1 and World War 2.

Throughout this year 2015, the centenary year of ANZAC, there has been a great focus on the events of World War 1 (1914-1918).  A special fund was established for this purpose by the State Government for communities to initiate projects in remembrance of those who served.  A small grant was received by the Bribie Island Historical Society to enable research to be carried out to establish and commemorate the men and women from here who served in both Wars.

Initially it seemed that there were very few people from Bribie Island, Toorbul Point, Donnybrook [formerly Bribie View] and Pumicestone Passage who had enlisted, but as the research dug deeper it revealed the remarkable number of 18 men who enlisted from this area in World War 1.  Given that the population of eligible males in the area was less than 60 in those days, the impact on the community during the 1914/1918 period comes into stark focus. Of the 18 men, one went into the Navy and 17 in the Army, two were killed in action, one died of wounds, and one was taken prisoner of war.  The rest returned from the war.

During World War 2 (1939-1945) a total of 19 people enlisted from the much larger number of residents in the area by then, including three women, and one man who had also previously served in WW1.  Of these 19 local people who served in WW2, one was Navy and 16 were Army, two were RAAF; one was killed in action and two taken Prisoner of War.

The family names of these local heroes, especially those in World War 1 form a significant part of our local history.  Some of these names are reflected in local streets and place names today such as Campbell, Bishop, Davis, Dux, Freeman, Gollagher and Tripcony.  These were some of the families that pioneered the settlement and development of Bribie and surrounds back in those times.

Likewise with some of the World War 2 names such as Costin, Crouch, Freeman and Shields still have descendants living on Bribie Island. Of the three women who enlisted in WW2, Mary Duvall and Edith Grant were from Bribie Island, and Kathleen Boothe was from Toorbul.

Graham Mills (centre) with Ted Freeman (right)
and John McGrath unveil plaques.
Photo: Barry Clark

In a moving ceremony last Friday at the memorial on First Avenue, Bongaree, Project Manager Graham Mills outlined the complex task involved in establishing the final list, and paid tribute to the Historical Society research and input from relatives.  Member for Pumicestone Rick Williams paid tribute to this initiative as did Councilor Gary Parsons.  Ray Sycamore from the RSL sub branch and Padre Colin Baxter paid their respects, and the two High School Captains laid wreaths.

Of particular mention was William Freeman who had served in both Wars and whose family descendants are still resident on Bribie Island. Long term resident Ted Freeman was then invited to unveil one of the Plaques and the other by Vietnam veteran John McGrath.

You can contact the Bribie Island Historical Society on bribiehistoricalsociety@gmail.com

By Barry Clark

[The above article was published in The Bribie Islander, no. 13, Aug. 2015, p. 19.]