73 NEGRO SOLDIERS DEAD IN MOUNT ISA, QLD
AFTER DRINKING A BREW MADE IN DISUSED CYANIDE DRUMS

Sister Eileen Richardson recalls the Americans arrived in Mount Isa and took over Hilton Hall which was owned by Mount Isa Mines, which became the 17th Station Hospital. She remembers a tragic incident where 73 Negro soldiers died after drinking a home brew which was made in disused cyanide drums, which were probably surplus from the mines. The cyanide would have seeped into the inside seams of the drums. The 73 coffins were loaded on a train and sent to Townsville possibly to the US Military Cemetery in Townsville.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank John Daly for his assistance with this home page.

REFERENCE BOOKS

"Outback Corridor - World War II Lines of Communications across Australia from Adelaide and Mt. Isa to Darwin"
by Alan Smith

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 9 June 2004

This page last updated 19 January 2020