MILITARY CAMPS
LOCATED ON CASTLE HILL, TOWNSVILLE
DURING WWII
Headquarters 11th Australian Infantry Brigade, moved their headquarters from a house on the corner of Denham Street and Wills Street to a house at Church Street, West End in Townsville on the lowers slopes of Castle Hill until they relocated to Nome, in about July 1942. The 242nd Australian Light Aid Detachment was attached to the 11th Infantry Brigade Group, to maintain their vehicles.
The 31st Australian Infantry Battalion (Kennedy Regiment) occupied positions on Castle Hill in March 1942 and commenced digging in Battalion positions on the western side of Castle Hill on 28 April 1942 when the 11th Infantry Brigade Group was concentrated in Townsville with its 51st Infantry Battalion along the Bohle River and the 26th Infantry Battalion at Stuart.
At 0830 hours on 14 August 1942, one Section of "C" Company of the 15th Australian Infantry Battalion, of the 29th Infantry Brigade, left the Mount Louisa area where the 15th Battalion was camped to man the Observation Post on Castle Hill. They replaced a Section from "B" Company who had been manning the OP since 3 July 1942. It is not clear if the Concrete Observation Post bunker had been built by that time.
At 2100 hours on 30 August 1942, the 29th Infantry Brigade advised the 15th Battalion that the Observation Post on Castle Hill was handed over to the 47th Battalion at 1800 hours.
At 1230 hours on 1 November 1942, 15th Battalion HQ's received a message from 29th Brigade HQs that Observation Post on Mount Louisa and Muntalunga would be withdrawn immediately and that a skeleton staff was to rain at the Observation Post on Castle Hill.
On 22 November 1942, the Castle Hill OP was handed over from the 29th Infantry Brigade to R.A.A. at 1200 hours.
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) established a Wireless Station, at 121 Upper Blackwood Street on Stanton Hill in Townsville during WW2 on about the 9 November 1942. It was was known as a "Y" Station. The Transmitter/Receiver Station for the Wireless Station comprised two 150 feet high wireless towers. The building is now used as a private house and is located at 7 Hillside Crescent ("Aileen's Place"), Stanton Hill.
REFERENCE BOOKS
"The Unit Guide - The Australian Army 1939 - 1945" by Graham McKenzie-Smith
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This page first produced 17 October 2018
This page last updated 24 January 2020
