Coastwatchers deserve a mainland memorial
13 August 2024
JOHN GATES
NEWSTEAD – On behalf of more than 750 petitioners, late last year I drew the attention of the Brisbane Lord Mayor and Councillors that there is no memorial on the Australian mainland to the Coastwatchers who performed such courageous and vital service in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands during World War II.
Brisbane was the site of the Coastwatchers’ headquarters in the second half of the war and recognition of their amazing achievements and sacrifice is long overdue in Australia, which benefited so much from their bravery.
The Brisbane River was host to two key support elements for the Coastwatchers – the submarine base at Newstead and the flying boat base at Murarrie.
Our petition requested that a memorial place be situated in Newstead Terrace Park, midway between the two former bases. The area would be known as WWII Coastwatchers Place and it will need be sufficiently large for a suitable memorial or statue to be erected.
This would be a notable addition to the story of Brisbane’s role in the war through the work of the Coastwatchers and their leader Commander Eric Feldt. Indeed, it would be the first memorial on Australian shores recognising the vital role the Coastwatchers.
The Coastwatchers made an immeasurable contribution to the Allies' success in the Pacific war through reporting on enemy aircraft, ships and troops.
Forced to hide in the steamy, muddy, disease-ridden jungles of Papua and New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, they used portable tele-radios to forewarn Allied defences to be ready for attacks.
“The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved the South Pacific,” stated Admiral William (Bull) Halsey who controlled the United States fleet.
The Coastwatchers rescued over a thousand people, including future US president, John F Kennedy.”
Brisbane City Council has responded to the petition and, once you cut through the caution and the bureaucratese, you’ll find that it has been quite positive and supportive.
“Council receives many requests for memorials, park naming and other park improvements that need to be considered in the context of historical and cultural significance to the location,” began the reply.
“Memorials help define a sense of place, history and community and reflect the stories of the people and events that have made significant contributions to our sense of place and identity.
“Council acknowledges the vital role the Coastwatchers played in WWII in the Pacific, warning of Japanese naval movements and air activity, and the defence of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Council understands that a request for a plaque to the Coastwatchers in the Anzac Square and Memorial Galleries has been submitted to the Queensland Veterans’ Council for consideration.
“Given the Coastwatchers were located throughout Queensland and the Pacific region, recognition in Queensland’s pre-eminent war memorial is a fitting tribute to recognise these service personnel. Council encourages you to continue working with Queensland Veterans’ Council to achieve this outcome.
“Alternatively, Council notes that South Brisbane Memorial Park, South Brisbane, is the dedicated location of the Royal Australian Navy Memorial. As such, you could consider requesting a site within South Brisbane Memorial Park, South Brisbane, managed by South Bank Corporation, to appropriately acknowledge the Coastwatchers’ involvement with the Royal Australian Navy.
“As there are other memorials in Newstead Terrace Park, renaming a section of the park is not supported as the location needs to reflect all memorial themes.
“However, Council supports the installation of a memorial plaque, similar to those already in place in the park, to recognise the Coastwatcher, at the cost and responsibility of the proponent.
“The memorial will need to have its design formally approved by Council and should be comparative in size to existing memorials, to prevent dominating or detracting from other memorials, impacting local amenity or reducing flow and access to the park.
“Another alternate option that you may wish to consider is the potential to install a monument in Nudgee Beach Reserve. The memorial design, specific location and material would require formal Council approval and would be at the cost and responsibility of the proponent.”
We await news of further developments.
That rowed ahead is flagged "at the cost and responsibility of the proponent".
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 15 August 2024 at 11:01 AM
John - I certainly agree with your proposal to establish a memorial to the Coastwatchers of WWII, but do not entirely share your optimism that the letter from the Council is 'positive and supportive'.
To the contrary, from my reading of the bureaucratic nature of the missive it rather appears that the BCC has suggested that South Brisbane Memorial Park and Nudgee Beach Reserve are options, but that Newstead Terrace Park is probably off the agenda.
In fact, the BCC seems to have recommended that a plaque and memorial in ANZAC Square is their choice.
Would the area near the Queensland Maritime Museum and the Royal Australian Navy statue at the Memorial Park on South Bank not suit you and your supporters?
In fact, a Coastwatchers event, including the US Ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, was held there last year.
The Ambassador spoke of her father, JFK, and the way he was rescued by Coastwatchers after his PT boat sank after action with the Japanese in Solomon Islands.
Thus, a precedent has, in a way, been set for a memorial space.
The adjacent Maritime Museum hosts the Australian frigate HMAS Diamantina, a WWII vessel on whose decks the Japanese signed their surrender at both Nauru and Ocean Island in the Pacific.
Given that 17 New Zealand Coastwatchers were beheaded by the Japanese in 1942 on Tarawa in the neighbouring Gilbert Islands, the link, albeit tenuous, seems also to fit your project.
May I sympathise with you in your task to alert the general public to the invaluable role of the Coastwatchers.
I am a Board Member of the Honiara-based Solomons Scouts and Coastwatchers Trust and we have similar difficulties in convincing Solomon Islanders to more fully recognise and honour the role of their family members during WWII.
The Trust has established a memorial statue (Pride of Our Nation) in the CBD in Honiara and has also prepared a great deal of educational material for schools on the role of the Scouts and Coastwatchers during WWII.
Our most recent ceremony at the memorial was held last week (7 August) being the anniversary of the 1942 landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi by the Allies, primarily the US Marine Corps.
Despite this, after more than a decade of efforts, the Trust has still not been able to garner enough support to establish a small museum to highlight the role of courageous local men and women.
In an era where military tourism is so popular and the island of Guadalcanal is an iconic name in terms of key battles of WWII, the lack of interest is a little disappointing.
Having said that, the battles in Solomon Islands were part of a 'foreign war' not of the making of local people. Why should they choose to remember such a catastrophic time?
It was just unfortunate for them that international politics and the clash of nations happened to bring extensive warfare to their land in the South-West Pacific.
They lost their villages, their livelihoods and, often, their lives in supporting the Allied cause. And, too often, the material rewards provided by the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the US after the war for their honourable and courageous service and sacrifice were meagre, if not non-existent.
Many local people had no knowledge of what the war was all about, how it began and why it was being fought in their traditional homeland. The sheer ferocity of the conflict was also more than anyone could have imagined and has left scars evident even to this day.
It has been my great pleasure to have personally met several of the famous Coastwatchers of WWII, men such as Jack Read DSC (based on Bougainville during the war), Martin Clemens MC (Guadalcanal and New Georgia), Dick Horton DSC (Tulagi and Rendova) and local Solomon Islands heroes Sir Jacob Vouza GC, Sergeant Bill Bennett MM, and Daniel Pule.
Indeed, a memorial in Australia to honour all who served in those tumultuous times would be more than appropriate.
Please do keep us posted, John, through PNG Attitude. No doubt you and your supporters have read widely on the topic.
Sadly, most of the books are by the expatriates who served and tell only one side of the story.
For the local angle, 'The Big Death', an excellent oral history by Geoff White et al (USP Press), is recommended. It recounts the tales of the Solomon Islanders who served with the expatriate Coastwatchers and tells their experiences in their own words.
At the end of the day, It is important to remember that, without the Scouts gathering intelligence, acting as guides and carriers, and providing security and other support for the expatriates, the Australian Coastwatchers would not have survived in the bush in Solomon Islands and PNG for an instant.
Lest we forget.
Posted by: Martin Hadlow | 13 August 2024 at 05:54 PM