HOUSE AT STUART, TOWNSVILLE, QLD
 COMMANDEERED BY THE AMERICANS
FOR USE AS A BROTHEL DURING WW2

The Americans based in Townsville during WW2 commandeered a house at outer suburb of Stuart, in Townsville and had turned it into a Brothel for the exclusive use of their coloured troops. Some of these coloured troops would have been from the nearby U.S. Army's "Koala" Ordnance Service Center at Stuart, located where the Stuart Cement Works were built after the war.

Many of the locals complained about the goings on in this house, but they were ignored by the Authorities. The Madam of the brothel wore two large automatic pistols strapped around her waist. She carried her money in a leather bag which she hung around her neck. On occasions, she would use her pistols, one in each hand, to remove an unruly client from the premises. Occasionally she would fire a couple of shots into the air to achieve the desired result. She would then march up and down the street outside the brothel until the last customers had left. 

When Sgt Clark of the 799th Military Police Battalion was based in Townsville, a member of Co. "C" of the 799th lived with the madam of the brothel. The MP's would often get a signal from the brothel that the madam had left fried chicken, pies etc. for the MP's in the kitchen. This brothel was a place very much protected by the Americans rather than a restricted place. 

Roy Stephenson, a warder at the Stuart Prison and author of the book "Nor Iron Bars a Cage", had the unfortunate luck of living next door to this Brothel.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Steven Clark for his assistance with this web page.

REFERENCE BOOKS

"Nor Iron Bars a Cage"
by J. R. Stephenson

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 20 November 2003

This page last updated 25 January 2020