Camp Cable

Coordinates: 27°48′01″S 153°05′59″E / 27.8004°S 153.0997°E

American soldiers using a stationary engine at Camp Cable, Queensland ca. 1942
Camp Cable, 1942–44

Camp Cable, Australia was a World War II army training base near Logan Village, Queensland, Australia.

The base was first known as Camp Tamborine but renamed in honour of Sergeant Gerald O. Cable.[1] Constructed in 1942 for the United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), initially for the 32nd Infantry "Red Arrow" Division (United States) preparing for the New Guinea campaign, the base was occupied by various units during the war.[2] Part of the base was an area south of the Albert River for the 155th Station Hospital.[2][3]

Camp related entertainment was both local and from overseas. A picture theatre and tennis courts were built near the base Headquarters. American comedian Joe E. Brown performed at the 155th Station Hospital in 1943.[2] A song called Once upon a midnite was written at Camp Cable in 1943 for the show Here we go again, produced at the Theatre Royal, Brisbane, in 1944.[4]

A railway branch line to Canungra, operating from 19151955, passed through the base where its traffic peaked during the war. Timber getting and a slash pine plantation were the principal activities on the site of the former base after 1945.[5]

In 2011 development began of the remaining land not previously subdivided for an urban precinct known as Yarrabilba.[6] Prior to 2012, a public park near the original main entrance of the base along Waterford-Tamborine Road included several memorials of remembrance. In 2012 these memorials were moved to the grounds of the Logan Village RSL, situated along Quinzeh Creek Road, to make way for the development's road works.[7]

See also

References

  1. "Camp Cable". Peter Dunn's Australia at War. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Camp Cable". Queensland WWII Historic Places. Department of Housing and Public Works, Queensland Government. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  3. "155th Station Hospital Unit History". WW2 US Medical Research Centre. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  4. McKinley, Sharon (2011). "Here we go again, stage musical, Brisbane, 1944". Sheet Music of the Week: Army Edition, September 29, 2011. Library of Congress. Retrieved 21 Jan 2013.
  5. "Yarrabilba". Logan Suburbs. Logan City Council. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  6. "Yarrabilba". Planning & Building. Logan City Council. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. "War relics moved as roadworks take over". Albert & Logan News. 7 November 2012. p. 17.

Further reading

External links

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