North Queensland Garden of RemembrancePrint Page

North Queensland Garden of Remembrance

Plaque :

North Queensland Garden of Remembrance

Officially opened by the Honourable De-Anne Kelly MP Minister for Veterans` Affairs and Minister assisting the Minister for Defence 

23 March 2005

Plaque :

Townsville during the Second World War 

During the Second World War, Townsville was a major base for Australian and American forces.  Warships and aircraft based at Townsville escorted troopships and supply convoys off the coast.  In 1942, Townsville based American bombers attacked targets in Papua New Guinea.  In July of that year Japanese flying boats bombed the town causing little damage.

In May 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought to the east and north-east of Townsville.  Allied naval and air forces intercepted and turned back a Japanese invasion fleet heading for the key allied base in Port Moresby, New Guinea.  American carrier based aircraft also engaged enemy planes and carriers in the largest naval air battle ever fought off Australia`s shores.

Many allied servicemen and women were based at Townsville.  Thousands of others passed through while being shipped or flown to and from the battlefields in `the islands` to the north.  Military camps, supply depots, hospitals and other facilities were built.  Servicemen and women on leave were a feature of wartime Townsville.

Plaque :

Officially commemorated in this Garden of Remembrance are those eligible Australian war veterans who were interred or cremated privately.