CAMP PELL, MELBOURNE
FORMERLY CAMP ROYAL PARK
DURING WW2
During World War 2 there was a large military camp in Melbourne called Camp Pell. It tended to be used as a transit camp. It was initially known as Camp Royal Park but was renamed to Camp Pell in honour of Major Floyd Pell of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron USAAC.
Camp Pell was located in Royal Park in the suburb of Parkville in Melbourne. The original gate guard shelters are still there, but the site is now covered with netball/basketball facilities and the new hockey stadium which will be used for the 2006 Commonwealth games.
Eddie Leonski, the infamous "Brownout Strangler" was living at Camp Pell at the time of his terrible crimes.
The 43rd Engineer General Services Regiment landed in Melbourne on the 26 February 1942 and camped at Royal Park. After a few days their task was to unload war materials ships because the Australian wharfies were on strike. The 1st Battalion of the 43rd Regiment left Royal Park on 19 March 1942, the day that General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Melbourne after escaping the Philippines.
Task Force 6814, of the US Army arrived in in Melbourne in a convoy of ships on 27 February 1942. The troops were unloaded and dispersed to five major areas:-
Ballarat
Bendigo
Royal Park (Camp Pell)
Melbourne, possibly in Camp Murphy in the Melbourne Cricket Grounds
On 23 March 1942, advance elements of the 19th Bomb Group (less the 14 Reconnaissance Squadron which was based in Townsville) moved out of Camp Royal Park (later Camp Pell) for the dispersal base at Cloncurry, in Queensland.
One Operating Platoon (45 men) of the 121st Signal Radio Intelligence Company arrived in Melbourne on 10 April 1942. They set up camp at Camp Pell where they trained in intercept and direction finding operations until 6 June 1942. On 19 May 1942, the Platoon was redesignated and became the First Operating Platoon, 126th Signal Radio Intelligence Company. The Platoon moved to Mount Macedon in Victoria on 6 June 1942.
The 17th Station Hospital, US Army, disembarked at Melbourne on 4 June 1942. They erected their tents at Camp Pell. It was wet and cold and mess facilities were poorly organised.
The Australian Army took over Camp Pell when the Americans moved out and it became an Australian Army Leave and Transit Depot.
After WWII, the Victorian Housing Commission used the "army huts as transit camps". They were frequently being used to accommodate families who had been evicted by the Commission's slum reclamation program. Camp Pell gained a degree of notoriety, with some residents being classed as incorrigible, but communal facilities were scarcely uplifting.
Building 33A used for housing
after WW2
(Photo via Margaret McKay)
The following order shows the relocation of personnel from Northam Army Camp in Western Australia to Camp Royal Park (later called Camp Pell) in Melbourne.
HEADQUARTERS U S ARMY BASE SECTION 6 PERTH WEST AUSTRALIA 11 March 1942 Special Orders) Number 7) E X T R A C T 1. Each of the following named officers now stationed at Northam, W. A., will proceed by first available commercial aircraft to Melbourne, Victoria., reporting upon arrival to the Commanding General for assignment and duty:
Major James Connally, (ASN unknown) The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. A per diem at the flat rate of six dollars ($6.00) per day is authorized while traveling. FD 4109 P 1-01, 1-06, 1-07, 1-13 A 0200-2. 2. Paragraph 2, Special Order No 7, this headquarters is amended to read as follows: ACM of the following named officers, Headquarters Detachment, USFNEI, now stationed at Northham W.A., will proceed without delay to Melbourne, Victoria, reporting upon arrival to the Commanding General thereof for permanent assignment and duty.
The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. A per diem at the flat rate of six dollars ($6.00) per day is authorized while traveling. FD 4109 P 1-01, 1-06, 1-07, 1-13 A 0200-2. 3. The following named officers of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron FEAF, now on temporary duty at Northam, W. A., will proceed by first available rail transportation to Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria., reporting upon arrival to the Commanding General for assignment and duty:
The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. A per diem at the flat rate of six dollars ($6.00) per day is authorized while traveling. FD 4109 P 1-01, 1-06, 1-07, 1-13 A 0200-2. 4. The following named enlisted men of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron FEAF, now on temporary duty at Northam, W. A., will proceed without delay by first available rail transportation to Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria., reporting upon arrival to the Commanding General for duty:
M/Sgt. William F. Robinson, 6895537 RAAF:
The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. It being impractical for the government to furnish cooking facilities for rations, the Finance Department will pay in advance the monetary allowances in lieu thereof as prescribed in par 2a, Table II, AR 35-4520, as amended by War Department Circular No. 111, 1941, at the rate of three dollars ($3.00) each day for (45) men for two and one third days (2 1/3 ). FD 4109 P 1-01, 1-06, 1-07, 1-13 A 0200-2. 5. The following named officers of the 19th Bombardment Group, now on temporary duty at Northam, W. A., will proceed without delay by first available rail transportation to Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria., and upon arrival will report to the Commanding General thereof for duty:
Maj. Connally, Air Corps, 0-unkn The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. A per diem at the flat rate of six dollars ($6.00) per day is authorized while traveling. FD 4109 P 1-01, 1-06, 1-07, 1-13 A 0200-2. 6. The following named enlisted men of the 19th Bombardment Group, now on temporary duty at Northam, W. A., will proceed without delay by first available rail transportation to Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria., reporting upon arrival to the Commanding General for duty:
M/Sgt. Doucet, Adolph, 6229636 The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. It being impractical for the government to furnish cooking facilities for rations, the Finance Department will pay in advance the monetary allowances in lieu thereof as prescribed in par 2a, Table II, AR 35-4520, as amended by War Department Circular No. 111, 1941, at the rate of three dollars ($3.00) each day for 119 men for two and one third days (2 1/3 ). 7. Each of the following named officers of the 11th Bombardment Squadron now at Northam, W. A., will proceed without delay by first available rail transportation to Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria., and upon arrival will report to the Commanding Officer.
1st Lt. Donald D. Davis, 0-371724 Officers attached to the 11th Bombardment Squadron from 9th Bomb Squadron.
1st Lt. Paul E. Dawson, 0-409914 The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. A per diem at the flat rate of six dollars ($6.00) per day is authorized while traveling. FD 4109 P 1-01, 1-06, 1-07, 1-13 A 0200-2. 8. The following named enlisted men of the 11th Bombardment Squadron now on temporary duty at Northam, W. A., will proceed without delay by first available rail transportation to Camp Royal Park, Melbourne, Victoria., reporting upon arrival to the Commanding Officer:
M/Sgt. Charles W. Cheatham, R-1019086 Men attached from 9th Bm Sq to the 11 Bomb Sqd
M/Sgt. Stephen N. Funk, 6327178 The Quartermaster will furnish the necessary transportation. The travel directed is necessary in the military service. 8. It being impractical for the government to furnish cooking facilities for rations, the Finance Department will pay in advance the monetary allowances in lieu thereof as prescribed in par 2a, Table II, AR 35-4520, as amended by War Department Circular No. 111, 1941, at the rate of three dollars ($3.00) each day for 179 men for two and one third days (2 1/3 ). By order Lieutenant Colonel James g. Mann: Arthur F. Beistel Official: Arthur F. Beistel
Distribution:- Hdq. Comdt
2
Quartermaster
2
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Bob Manuell told me on 2 January 2020 that the community hall at Mountainview Road, Briar Hill (near Greensborough) is an old Army hut from Camp Pell, relocated around the late ‘50’s and may be the last or one of the last remaining examples of the huts from the Royal Park site. Showing in Melways on page 21 C3.
Russell Holroyd contacted me on 11 October 2000 and told me that German POWs were housed at Camp Pell at some stage, probably after the Americans moved out and the Australian Army took it over. Russell said that this does not get mentioned in official histories which was no surprise to him. Russell said the Italians were interned in the Rowville area on the other side of Melbourne and hardly anyone remembers their camp now!
George Dragicevic contacted me on 14 November 2000 and told me that he passed the former Camp Pell every day on the way to work. George said that the original gate guard shelters were still there, but the site was now covered with netball/basketball facilities and the new hockey stadium which he believed was to be used for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. George worked with someone who actually lived at Camp Pell as a child in the 40s and 50s who told stories of the poor people who lived in the camp and the terrible conditions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I'd like to thank Bov Manuell for his assistance with this web page. His late father-in-law helped to build Camp Pell.
Can anyone help me with more information?
"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products
© Peter Dunn OAM 2020 |
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This page first produced 7 August 2000
This page last updated 22 February 2020