NUDGEE JUNIOR COLLEGE,
INDOOROOPILLY, BRISBANE, QLD
COMMANDEERED BY THE MILITARY DURING WW2

The US Army took over Nudgee Junior at Indooroopilly for 2 years during WWII to establish the 172nd Station Hospital.

Photo:- Via Linda Bullock

Nudgee Junior Primary School

For the 2 years of military occupation, the 5 Christian Brothers and 100 boys of the college lived and carried out their school duties in a hotel called Hotel Inglethorpe, plus 2 houses and a hut at North Tamborine. New class rooms, dormitories and toilet blocks were erected. The school opened at Hotel Inglethorpe on Thursday 12 February 1942. The new school location was in daily bus contact with Brisbane. In June 1942 the school leased the adjoining paddock and started to clear up the ground for sporting purposes.

While they occupied the College at Indooroopilly, the Americans managed to sink the college's motor boat when it caught fire during one of their night parties on the Brisbane River. The boat had been given to the college by Monsignor Owen Hayes.

At the end of 1943, the Americans moved out of Nudgee Junior College. An American transport unit helped to relocate the school from Mt. Tamborine to Indooroopilly. The Americans repaired the damages to the school before the start of the 1944 school year. Several Negro prisoners were brought under guard from a military camp near the Indooroopilly Railway Station to carry out cleaning and repair work at the college. Brother J. K. O'Neill supervised the repair work and made sure the school was returned an excellent condition before the return of the students.

Note:- The school is now known as Ambrose Treacy College.

REFERENCE BOOKS

"And all this shall be added"
Catholic Education in Queensland - Volume VI
by Susan Mary Tobin

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"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 23 June 2002

This page last updated 28 August 2025