Battle of the Coral SeaPrint Page

The direction finder on a pillar is a memorial which commemorates the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Australian American relationship.  

The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought between the 4th and 8th of May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theatre of World War Two between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States of America and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.

On the Kuranda Range-road at 3 p.m. yesterday the president of Rotary International (Mr. H. J. Brunnier) unveiled a cairn which has been erected as a reminder of war-time cooperation between Australia and the United States. The Governor of the 31st District of Rotary International (Mr. B. H. Crust) introduced Mr. and Mrs. Brunnier, at the same time explaining why the cairn had been erected. "It is to perpetuate the memory of U.S. and Australian men who lost their lives its the last war," he said. "We hope it will help to cement friendship between our two peoples."  The cairn, which is simply designed stands at a popular vantage point near the top of the Kuranda Range road, and overlooks a wide and interesting panorama. It is of concrete, with bronze plaques, and is shaped as a simple dias, breast high. Its upper surface is a wide plaque, indicating the direction of and distance to many points, especially those where notable actions were fought during the war and other wartime landmarks.

A plaque near the base of the cairn indicates that the memorial was erected by the Rotary Club of Cairns. In the centre of the main plaque is etched: "Erected to honour the victory of our gallant Australian and Allied forces in the Coral Sea battle, May, 1942, Pacific theatre of World War II, 1939-45, and to perpetuate the friendship of Australian and American people."
Cairns Post, 4th December 1952.

Note : As at 30-August-2014, the plaque that was attached to the pillar has been found. Gayle Hannah who has submitted the photographs, had submitted a request to the local Kuranda paper for photos of the plaque so a replacement might be created and installed on the concrete plinth at the Lookout. This request was printed on the front page of paper, and Gayle received a telephone call from a local woman to say she had the plaque. Her son had found it in a “bush camp” on Black Mountain Road, possibly where the thieves had gathered, near a fire pit, and realising its importance and brought it to his mother. She kept the plaque safe until she saw the newspaper article. She has now given the plaque to Gayle Hannah for safekeeping until a solution is found for its re-installation. 

Note : The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads upgraded the Henry Ross Lookout, and worked with the Rotary Club of Kuranda to install a replica of the original plaque.  The original plaque was too badly damaged to be re-installed and has been returned to the Rotary Club to preserve for historical purposes.

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Dedication