Mac Arthur Museum

The next day we started our tour by experiencing Brisbane as it was from 1942 – 1945 when over one million American servicemen rotated through the city. The MacArthur Museum, located inside the wartime headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur, told the story of MacArthur’s time in Brisbane and the war in the South Pacific. Most of the officers area has been remodeled but his conference table was sold after the war, relocated, then repurchased for the museum and still resides there today. MacArthur’s personal office is preserved inside the museum.

When MacArthur moved into his office an aide suggested that he hang a picture of the president on the wall behind his desk. MacArthur refused to hang Roosevelt’s portrait stating that he would not allow a Democratic to be in his office looking over his shoulder so instead he hung a portrait of George Washington in that honored location. Abraham Lincoln’s portrait also hung in the office.

Just a few blocks away is the site of the infamous Battle of Brisbane, a brawl that erupted when tensions ran high between American and Australian servicemen. The Australian soldiers were upset because the Americans had better pay and greater access to rationed items through their PX system. The Americans ability to get chocolate, cigarettes, nylons and other luxury items made them very popular with the Australian women but not with the Australian servicemen. As a result of the friction on November 26 and 27, 1942, several brawls broke out across the city. By the time the fighting was quelled, one Australian soldier was dead and hundreds of Australian and U.S. servicemen were injured.

Our guide showed us pictures of the bomb shelters that were constructed with concrete and brick protected by sandbags around the city. They ran a pipe next to the shelter that pumped water from the river to use in case the bombing caused a fire. When the war was over the city took down the walls of the shelters. Now only the roofs and beams remain and have become bus and sun shelters throughout the city.

In the afternoon we visited the Wacol Military Museum and enjoyed a tour by Paul Brown. It is part of the Archerfield Airport, the crash site of a C-47 Dakota.