US Army Warehouses and Cold Stores, Quartermaster Section, Base Section Two, US Army, Fleming Street, Aitkenvale, Townsville during WW2

US ARMY WAREHOUSES
AND COLD STORES
QUARTERMASTER SECTION
BASE SECTION TWO, US ARMY,
FLEMING STREET,
AITKENVALE, TOWNSVILLE
DURING WWII

Plan of the large Warehouses and the Cold
Store building at bottom right of the plan

Remains of the USA Army Aitkenvale Warehouses and Cold Store
building (darker colour building) in 1952. Ross River Road is
running from bottom left upwards to right centre of the photo.
Anne Street is running from bottom centre towards top left of photo.

The responsibility of supplying perishable subsistence to advanced bases necessitated cold storage for reserves. The US Army Quartermaster initially acquired cold storage space from Swift's Alligator Creek Meat Works and the Queensland Meat Export Company. Their inaccessibility, and the difficulties experienced in shipping supplies on Sundays and holidays led to the planning and construction of a US Army Cold Storage Warehouse at Aitkenvale for Base Section 3 Quartermaster. It had direct rail access to Townsville Harbour meaning that issues and shipments were made with the minimum of loss of time. A night detail was furnished to keep up standard operations.

They used the railway line that went down along Anne St, crossed Wotton St, and then turned left into Ross River Road and went up to the Hubert Wells power station. This spur line veered off the main railway line north at Garbutt just before the old Malanda Milk building on Ingham Road.

The railway line can be seen in this July 1941 photo of the area. The future site
of the US Army Warehouses and Cold Store is shown in red. Hubert Wells Power
Station can be seen to centre far right of the photo with the railway line going to it.

Photo supplied by Graham Roberts

The Warehouses and Cold Store at Aitkenvale can be seen
slightly to the right and above the peak of Castle Hill

Closer view of the Aitkenvale Warehouses and Cold Store near Fleming Street
Note the Aitkenvale Airfield at the Weir State School to the right of the photo

A close-up view of the large American warehouses and cold store complex at Aitkenvale

Units of the Quartermaster Section of Base Section Two, US Army that were based at Aitkenvale were:-

Chas Van Hulsentop contacted me on 20 December 2005 to tell me about what he believes to be the remains of a US Army Officers shower block and latrine in his backyard at 14 Wotton Street, Aitkenvale. His house is across the road from the US Army Warehouses and Cold Store site at Aitkenvale.

The concrete floor is still there and quite clearly was a shower floor. There is a toilet next door. Chas does not know if the “shed” structure is original, but it was about to be pulled down and Chas wanted to make sure it existence was recorded before it disappeared.

I'd like to thank John Edgar, Graham Roberts, Chas Van Hulsentop and Kevin Parkes for their assistance with this home page.

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