Page 17 - eMuse Vol.9 No.08

Battle of Brisbane ued to grow. The American Red Cross Club was also apparently un-
der siege. The American Red Cross building was located in Terrica
House diagonally opposite the PX building and has since been de-
Fact or Fantasy? molished and replaced.
Captain Robert M. White, an American Liaison Officer observed
Just before noon on 26 November 1942 an American MP tried the fight from the balcony of the nearby Gresham Hotel. He could
to stop a fight in Albert Street. An Australian soldier was hit on see Queensland Policemen and US MP’s barricading the doors to
the head with an MP’s baton and more Aussie soldiers became in- the American PX canteen.
volved in the incident. It was a short but violent brawl. Nothing like War Correspondent, John Hinde, was also on a balcony over-
what was about to happen later that day. looking the “Battle of Brisbane”. He was probably staying in the
The pubs closed at 6.50pm and the streets were cluttered with Gresham Hotel. He stated “The most furious battle I ever saw dur-
service personnel. Private James R. Stein (Service No. 36504556) ing the war was that night in Brisbane. It was like a civil war.”
of the 404th Signal Company of the US Army had been drinking in Sporadic fights spread into other streets in the city area. One
the Australian Army canteen. He left the Australian canteen and American GI, who had just been to the Wintergarden picture thea-
started to walk towards the American PX canteen (Postal Exchange) tre had to vacate a Brisbane tram headed to New Farm to avoid
which was about 50 yards up the street on the corner of Creek a violent battle between some Australian and American soldiers.
and Adelaide Streets. This building was still in existence in the year Women workers in the city area were escorted from the area by
2000. Private Stein had been indulging himself on the Australian soldiers with fixed bayonets. The Tivoli Theatre was closed by the
XXXX beer. He meet up with 3 Aussie soldiers who had also had also MP’s and patrons ordered back to barracks and their ships.
been drinking. They started to chat. Back in the PX canteen, Private Stein tried unsuccessfully to re-
As they were talking, along came Private Anthony E. O’Sullivan trieve his Leave Pass from the prostrate Private O’Sullivan. He was
of the 814th MP Company, who challenged Private Stein for his given a baton and told to help protect the PX.
leave pass. While Stein was fidgeting around to find his leave pass, By 8pm between 2,000 to 5,000 people were involved in the dis-
the MP became impatient and asked Stein to hurry up as he did turbance which continued to rage. A picket sentry, Duncan Caporn
not have all night. At this point in time his new-found Aussie mates detained a small truck driven by an Australian Officer and three sol-
had a go at the MP and told the MP to take it easy and leave Stein diers. The truck contained 4 Owen sub-machine guns and several
alone. boxes of ammunition and some hand grenades.
After some cursing, etc, a baton was raised and arms and legs The Local Brisbane Fire Brigade arrived but did not use their
started to fly in all directions. More Aussie soldiers and even a few hoses to quell the disturbance. The American authorities were lat-
civilians came out of the dark to look after their mates. More MP’s er to criticise them for not taking this action. Some Australian MP’s
arrived on the scene from the American PX canteen after whistles removed their arm bands and joined in the disturbance.
were blown to attract attention to the disturbance. The MP’s were The 738th MP Battalion started to arm their MP’s with 12-gauge
outnumbered and they retreated towards the PX. Private Stein ran Stevens pump-action shotguns. One of these persons was Private
and stumbled in to the PX also. Private O’Sullivan however had to Norbert Grant of “C” Company. Grant and Mercier elbowed their
be carried into the PX. way to the front of the PX.
By this time there were alarms bells ringing and the milling Someone in the crowd saw that Grant had a gun and suddenly
crowd outside the PX were throwing bottles, rocks and sticks at the he was accosted by people trying to get the gun off him. He jabbed
PX building. A parking sign was thrown through a window. one Aussie soldier with the shotgun. Another soldier grabbed the
1st Lieutenant Lester Duffin of the 814th MP Company arrived gun and someone else had him around the neck. The shotgun dis-
on the scene at 7.15pm. He saw about 100 Australian soldiers try- charged. In all 3 shots were fired.
ing to break through a makeshift cordon around the PX door. Police From the Facebook page of Dennis Hill
Inspector Charles Price arrived on the scene as the crowd contin- Australian History — The Way It Was — A Nostalgic Look at our Past
August 2020 eMuse 17