Dungong Chronicle: Dungong and Gloucester Advertiser (NSW), 2 June 1944

TWO DAYS IN ARCADIA

Every 48 hours, 100 Service men and women on leave, cross from Townsville to the Australian Comforts Fund's rest camp at Arcadia. Magnetic Island, 4 miles off the Australian coast. Never is there an empty bed. They all have a complaint - only one. "Two days is too short."

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 19 September 1944

Soldiers Like his Camp Life

MELBOURNE, Monday. - Magnetic Island, off Townsville, formerly a winter tourist resort, is now a luxury rest camp for men and women of the Services.

It has deck chairs, good beds, morning and afternoon teas, and supper.

A.W.A.S. wait on tables, and officers eat with the men and wash their own dishes.

Reveille is not until 9 or 10 a.m. if the troops do not mind missing their 8 a.m. breakfast.

Army and Air Force girls on the beach, in bright play-suits, give Magnetic Island a holiday atmosphere.

It has been conducted as a rest camp for two years by the Y.M.C.A. and Australian Comforts Fund.

More than 24,000 men and 6,000 women of the Services have stayed there.

The weekly average is 300.

Townsville Daily Bulletin, 20 September 1944

HOLIDAYING ON MAGNETIC ISLAND

'The Army as I Like It' is how most soldiers describe a rest camp situated on Magnetic Island off Townsville.

It is no wonder either as this unique camp— the only one of its kind in Australia— provides service men and women with a holiday worth many pounds at the ordinary resort.

Anti-aircraft soldiers — Gunners G. Coman, R. Watson and R. Yardy— are typical visitors to the camp. Their two days there every five or six weeks is the highlight of their static and hum drum service life on an ack-ack station.

They can travel to the island in one of the three drafts weekly which are arranged by Army Amenities and conveyed across the seven miles of water by a special Army Water Transport launch.

An hour's run brings them to the camp's Jetty where scores of people are waiting to meet the launch. The gaily coloured playsuits worn by most of the girls are a pleasant introduction and give a peace-time touch to the scene.

Let us follow the three gunners— 'Bluey' Coman, Ralph Watson and
Dick Yardy as they walk to the camp along the narrow, bumpy track, barely wide enough to accommodate a van or car, which winds round a steep, boulder-covered cliff.

Their first glimpse of the rest camp is of a long, low structure with a thatched roof, nestling among a group of tall feathery-topped palms, which shade numerous rotundas containing large comfortable deck chairs, cool and popular resting places.

On arrival, blankets, a sheet, pillow case and mosquito net are issued, and the gunners are allotted beds in one of the dozen or so sleeping cottages, which consist of an inside room, front and back verandahs, and bathroom. Five or six sleep in each hut –which are fronted by a wide gravel pathway paradoxically named Halfaya Pass. The huts themselves bear names familiar to every Middle East veteran. Tobruk, Bardla, Crete, Canea, Tel Aviv. 'Bluey', Ralph and Dick get three of the beds in 'Bardia,' a cottage which proudly claims Vice-Regal patronage. A Governor-General and several State Governors have stayed in the cottage. Another group of huts are called Lae, Salamaua, Buna, and other names famous in the earlier New Guinea fighting.

The huts have proper beds — not stretchers — cupboards and dressing tables, and the usual furnishings found In a good boarding house.

Its two years ago— 18th. August, 1942, to be exact— since the Y.M.C.A.
and A.C.F. commenced a long term lease of this former guest house well known to holiday-makers from all parts of Australia. In that time, 24,000 men and 6000 women of all services have stayed at the camp. An average of 300 personnel are accommodated every week.

Working on a quota based on units strength, Army units manage to give their personnel two days at the island camp every fire or six weeks. Service women, particularly A.W.A.S., are more fortunate, having two days there every fortnight or three weeks. Vast majority of visitors are Army personnel with fair numbers of R.A.A.F. and W.A.A.A.F. and a sprinkling of Navy men.

Almost as soon as they have made their beds and changed Into shorts or bathers, the ringing of an old ship's bell, brings our three soldiers, with 100 or more other men and women to some tables placed in the shade of a huge mango tree. There they have morning tea. This cup of tea and hot buttered scones or biscuits, provided morning, afternoon and at supper time. 'Bluey,' Ralph and Dick feel that this place is home all over again. Meals are made from normal rations brought from the mainland every day by a special Army launch. Supplemented by a special A.C.F. Issue of rations, expertly cooked and served on china, army fare gains a new attractiveness. Of course, the A.W.A.S. waiting on tables are an important factor in this too. Men and women, officers and other ranks all eat In the same dining room. Everyone washes their own dishes, and naturally with so many handling them, there are many breakages, replaced by the Y.M.C.A. and A.C.F. Time and again the person responsible has wanted to pay for a replacement but this has always been refused.

So long as they do not mind missing breakfast which is served punctually at 8 a.m., 'Bluey,' Ralph and Dick are surprised to find that they can sleep in till 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. Only duty 'required of them is that they made their beds and sweep their huts every morning. After that their time is their own.

In this area swimming is in full swing while southern States and even Brisbane are still shivering. A short walk brings them to a wide cove with a shark proof net suspended between two rocky headlands. A fringe of palm trees provide welcome shade on the sand, but many scorn this in an endeavour to acquire a handsome tan. The hot white sand contrasts vividly with the cool sea lapping at its edge.

The Y.M.C.A. and A.C.P. supply swim suits and sports gear of all types to those who wish to use it. Tennis is so popular that a booking system has been introduced; each group of four players has the court for an hour.

True, there are the four familiar Army boilers seen in every camp; A.C.F. and Y.M.CA. signs and posters, are a war time reminder, and the long troughs filled at meal times with boiling water for washing the dishes would never be seen in the ordinary boarding house, but the holiday spirit prevails and the atmosphere of peace is not far away. This is largely due to the efforts of the Y.M.C.A. and A.C.F. who have preserved the boarding house in its original form. No new buildings have been added. Crockery, cutlery and linen are still the same, and the same gong which announced dinner to the holidaymakers of the years before September 1939 summons Australian service men and women to their meals.

'There's no catch in this place,' said Gnr. Ralph Watson, speaking also for his two companions, Gnrs. 'Bluey' Coman and Dick Yardy. 'You can do just what you like. And that's why its so popular, with everyone.'

Former Sydney rice mill worker Gnr. Watson, of Crow's Nest, has been in the Army almost three years. In that time he has been stationed at various ack-ack stations on the eastern coast of Australia. His left arm was still in plaster following a fracture he received playing football several weeks ago. A keen footballer, Ralph played Rugby Union regularly in peace time. A brother was killed in action two years ago at Gona in New Guinea, another brother is serving with the R.A.A.F.

These three gunners are from an anti-aircraft station which went into action against Jap bombing aircraft more than two years ago.

Red haired, pleasant faced, Garby Coman, called 'Bluey' by everyone comes from Coominya, Southern Queensland. In the days when the tide of war was creeping close to Australian shores, he was one of the party which took heavy anti-aircraft guns across the water to this Island. 'Bluey' helped 'mount those guns with a short distance of the rest camp. Another Rugby enthusiast, he plays regularly with the unit team. A farmer before enlisting three years ago, 'Bluey' is still single and intends returning to the land. Being an expert axeman, he has taken. part in many woodchopping competitions in the Coominya district.

Vastly different from his two comrades, tall, quiet and studious Dick Yardy of Port Macqnarle. N.S.W. was a school teacher in civil life. Married, Gnr. Yardy has had two years in the Army. He has a sister serving in the A.A.M.W.S.