KEDRON PARK CAMP
AKA KEDRON PARK BILLETING CAMP
BRISBANE, QLD
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII
The Kedron Park Camp operated by the Australian Army in Brisbane during WWII was located at the old Kedron Park Racecourse site on the corner of Lutwyche Road and Park Road. The racecourse was taken over in January 1942.
Plan:- NAA
Plan of Kedron Park Billeting Camp
Photo:- BCC 1946 Aerial
An aerial view of the area in 1946
The following Australian Army Units were accommodated at Kedron Park Camp at various times during WWII:-
1 Australian Armoured Division Support Group Ordnance Sub Park | 1 Australian Armoured Division Support Group Ordnance Workshop | 1 Australian Motor Brigade Group |
1 Motor Division Section (1), Armoured Corps Ordnance Workshop | 2 Australian Corps Provost Company | 1 Motor Division Section (2), Armoured Corps Ordnance Field Park |
2 Australian Motor Brigade Ordnance Sub Park | 2/2nd Australian HQ Guard Battalion | 2 Motor Brigade Ordnance Workshop (1) |
2 Motor Brigade Ordnance Workshop (2) | 2/6 Australian Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit | 2/7 Australian Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit |
3 Australian Corps Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit | 3 Australian Graves Registration Unit | 3 Australian Infantry Division Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit |
4 Australian Army Ordnance Field Park | 6 Australian Hospital Laundry Unit | 9 Australian Graves Registration Unit |
13 Australian Graves Registration Unit | 14 Australian Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit (2) | 15 Australian Depot Cash Office |
15 Australian Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit | 23 Australian Graves Registration Unit | 24 Australian Light Laundry Unit |
25 Australian Light Laundry Unit | 27 Australian Light Laundry Unit | 30 Australian Light Laundry Unit |
67th Australian AA Searchlight Ordnance Workshop Section | 101 Independent Brigade Group Ordnance Field Park | 240 Australian Light Aid Detachment |
Camp Staffs Kedron Park, 2 L of C Sub Area (South Queensland) | "G" Australian Field Security Section | Independent Brigade Group Ordnance Workshop |
HQs 1 Australian Corps Mobile Laundry & Forward Decontamination Unit (1) |
Plan:- NAA
Close-up of the main camp area
The Sergeants' Mess which can be seen just to the right of center in the above plan, was opened on Sunday 3 October 1943. AWAS Corporal Audrey Agnes Eastick (VF391182) of Headquarters Queensland Lines of Communication, Provost Company and another AWAS friend attended the opening function at the Sergeants' Mess and after a few drinks at the party, they both left in a military truck, Vehicle No. 102263, driven by Stanley Oliver Eyles (NX144431). Audrey sat beside Eyles and her friend sat with an Officer in the rear of the truck which passed a tram at 40 to 50mph as observed by the tramway motorman.
The truck swung to the right and went through the front fence of a house and through a side fence and rolled over seriously injuring Audrey Eastick who was taken to the 2nd Australian Women's Hospital at Redbank and was placed on the dangerously ill list with a fractured skull. She died from her injuries the following day.
Eyles claimed he was only doing 12 to 15 mph, despite there being brake marks for a distance of 105 feet. Eyles claimed the girl was very nervous and grabbed the wheel causing the truck to swerve to the left. Eyles claimed he then grabbed the wheel and swerved the truck to the right and applied the brakes.
Ray Eddols VB 14426395 was one of 12 Englishmen recruited from English universities for a six month course in military Japanese at Bedford in the UK. They arrived at Central Bureau at Ascot Park disguised as British Warrant Officers Class II. They were accommodated in the small huts at Kedron Park Camp until February 1945. He remembered the heavy meat diet at the Kedron Park Sergeants' Mess. Ray migrated to Australia after the war and eventually retired to Redcliffe.
REFERENCES
"Soldier Charged with Unlawful Killing", Telegraph (Brisbane), Monday 13 March 1944
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I'd like to thank Gerard Kelly for his assistance with this web page. His father William Francis Kelly (Q270184) was in a Stores Unit and was based at Kedron Park Camp in the 1943/44 period.
Can anyone help me with more information?
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This page first produced 5 October 2022
This page last updated 06 October 2022