Brisbane's Secret War: The City and the Pacific Campaign

From July 1942, Brisbane became the headquarters of the Allied campaign in the South-West Pacific, and much of the work done here was secret at the time. Here are five lesser-known stories of wartime Brisbane, and a museum run by one of our members where you can step inside them.

An Office Block Becomes a Headquarters

In July 1942 General Douglas MacArthur shifted his headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane. He chose the AMP Building on Queen Street, a nine-storey tower regarded as the city's biggest and most up-to-date office block. Its civilian tenants were cleared out from 21 July 1942 and did not return until June 1945.

MacArthur took the eighth-floor boardroom, and according to the Queensland Government's WWII history the rest of the building housed signals units, a code room, and Allied air force and navy offices. His family lived a short walk away in suites at Lennon's Hotel, at the corner of Queen and George Streets. MacArthur left for the Philippines in 1944, and his wife and son followed in early 1945.

MacArthur Museum

The "Green Hornet" in the Basement

From about November 1943 the basement also housed SIGSALY, a voice-scrambling system nicknamed the "Green Hornet" and developed by Bell Laboratories. It gave MacArthur a secure telephone link to Washington, and the equipment was dismantled after the war.

Australia's Bletchley Park, in Ascot

In the northern suburb of Ascot, the US Army requisitioned "Nyrambla" around July 1942. This house at 21 Henry Street, built in 1885–86 for the Australian Joint Stock Bank's manager, became the base for Central Bureau, a joint Australian and American unit that intercepted and analysed Japanese army and air force signals.

According to historian David Dufty, Central Bureau had about 4,000 people by the end of the war, men and women from five Allied countries. Among them were the Australian Women's Army Service "Garage Girls", who operated British Typex cipher machines in the garage and, the Australian Signals Directorate notes, were bound to secrecy even from their families. Central Bureau is credited with helping Allied operations, including the April 1943 intercept of Admiral Yamamoto's flight plans. Nyrambla is now a local heritage place and a private home.

State Library of Queensland

The Battle Nobody Reported

On 26 November 1942, friction between Australian and American servicemen erupted into the Battle of Brisbane. According to the Australian War Memorial's record, it is believed to have begun when Australian soldiers stepped in to help an American being harassed by US military police. Several thousand Australians took part. Gunner Edward Webster died, and at least nine Australians and eleven Americans were badly hurt. Wartime censorship limited how much was reported. The Memorial's assessment is that the military police, rather than Americans generally, were the main focus of the crowd's anger.

Kings Park Brisbane Air Raid Shelter

Preparing for the Worst

Behind it all was a real fear of air attack. Brisbane City Council built 235 public air raid shelters, about 90 per cent of them finished by June 1942, and only a small number survive. According to the Queensland Heritage Register, four of them at East and Wickham Streets in Fortitude Valley are the largest surviving group of public shelters in the state.

Step Inside: The MacArthur Museum Brisbane

The MacArthur Museum Brisbane, a Brisbane Living Heritage member, is on Level 8 of MacArthur Chambers, the old AMP Building. Run by volunteers, it includes MacArthur's restored office and displays on everyday life in wartime Brisbane.

Visit: Level 8, 201 Edward Street, Brisbane City. Open Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, 10am to 3pm (last entry 2:30pm). Check mmb.org.au for current prices and group bookings.

Macarthur Museum

Sources

•      Anzac Square & Memorial Galleries, Queensland WWII history map: MacArthur Chambers, Central Intelligence Bureau Headquarters and Lennon's Hotel

•      Queensland Heritage Register: MacArthur Chambers and Fortitude Valley Air Raid Shelters

•      Brisbane City Council Heritage Register: Nyrambla citation

•      Australian Signals Directorate: The Garage Girls

•      Australian War Memorial: Battle of Brisbane

•      ABC Radio Brisbane report (2020), reproduced online: The secret codebreakers of Ascot's Nyrambla House

•      Australia @ War (specialist site, used for background): SIGSALY and Nyrambla

•      MacArthur Museum Brisbane: Visiting