Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Palm Island became home to a United States naval air station and a fleet of a dozen Catalina flying boats about a year after the raids on Townsville.

"Those aircraft had a range of over 2,300 kilometres, and they could fly for 10 hours," At the time, Palm Island was a strict government-run reserve for Aboriginal people considered too "disruptive" for the mainland.

But its northern half was transformed into a tent city that housed about 1,000 US troops as part of an Allied island-hopping campaign to defend Papua New Guinea from Japanese forces.

Legend says a boatie pulled them from the depths of Challenger Bay, a deep ocean channel about 70 kilometres off the coast of Townsville and towed them to where they lie now at Wallaby Point on Palm Island.

"old people" remembered the "big ships" that berthed in the deep and sheltered Challenger Bay off the island.

"Most of the old people weren't aware of what was going on, on the island … but planes used to fly over,".

"It was a cruel war.

"They used to patrol up and down Palm Island and go up and back and see if any enemy ships were entering Townsville … see if the enemy was coming in."

"Palm Island had a sports field on which it was possible to have a game of rugby against teams from other ships but, just as importantly, against teams from the local Indigenous community who thoroughly enjoyed the friendly competition. It was here that we gained a place in the fiercely competitive Aussie First Fifteen.