Now live on our website in time for Anzac Day, 25th April, are the stories of the men and women who served in World War II and are interred in this beautiful little cemetery. It is enclosed within Martyn Street General Cemetery and kept immaculate by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, thus ensuring they will always be remembered.
This is the final resting place for 118 Australian and Dutch members of the Armed Forces who died while serving during the war. There are, in total, 99 Australians: 71 Army, 10 Navy and 18 R.A.A.F. personnel. The Dutch have 19 members: 4 Navy, 2 Army, 11 Air Force and 2 civilians.
Cairns Family History have endeavoured to research these 118 men and women, so they are more than a name on a headstone and plaque.
This little patch of green with sparking headstones with a cross watching over them and a special seat to sit. This is the resting place of those who died from illness and injuries during World War 2. Some very young, some older; some close to loved ones and home, some alone and far away from home.
There is a special memorial dedicated to 20 casualties, 18 Dutch and 2 Australians of a Dakota plane crash of 1944, which was only discovered in 1989.
In the Martyn Street general cemetery, there are four graves of Australian soldiers who were serving and died before the War Cemetery was available, and therefore not included, they are:- Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Ramsay Miller MC., A.H.Q. Engineers; died of injuries from an aircraft accident at Coen 27 August 1941, age 57; Corporal Edward Gibson Forward, 51 Battalion Australian Infantry; died, age 21, from appendicitis 30th April 1942; Private Leslie Bowes, 2/22 Australian Infantry Battalion; died of an illness 30 March 1942, 26 years of age; Private Victor Herbert Bettiens, 15th Garrison Battalion; died 12 July 1942, age 41, of injuries received when struck by a car.
The youngest in the war cemetery is Able Seaman John Hyland aged 18 and Major-General Rupert Downes aged 60 years, the eldest.
Able Seaman Hyland along with Stoker R.J. Garret and Able Seaman D.B. Sigg died of injuries when their ship HMAS Warrnambool hit a mine while conducting mine sweeping searches in the Great Barrier Reef waters. Another shipmate, Signalman N.L. Lott was believed to be blown off the bridge into the water and presumed drowned. They were part of the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla of four corvettes and two harbour defence launches. Even though the war had ended, the operations of the clearance of the mines was classed as war service.
One third of the internments were from aircraft crashes. One of the crashes included two of Australia’s most noted soldiers, Major-General Vasey CB, CBE, DSO and bar and Major-General Downes (Retired) CMG, VD, MD, also Lieutenant-Colonel Bertram OBE. They were killed, along with Flying Officer Basset, Flying Officer Frieze, Flying Office Newell, Flying Officer Thompson, Corporal James, and LAC Moore when their plane crashed into the sea at Machans Beach – where a memorial now stands.
Brigadier John Wilson Crawford DSO, ED., was also killed along with Sergeant McColl and Lieutenant Morris when their aircraft crashed in the Jigol Peak area in Freshwater Gorge during a flight from Cairns to Mareeba. The aircrafts wing stuck the top of a tree while attempting to climb out of the valley.
Malaria was a mammoth health problem for the soldiers who were fighting in the jungles of the islands in the South-west Pacific region including the Cairns area. The quinine-based treatment developed by Dr. Edward Koch of Cairns, in the 1880’s was inadequate to meet the demand of malaria casualties. At the 5th Australian Camp Hospital (ACH) in Cairns and later at the 116th Australian General Hospital (AGH) at Redlynch, a special unit was established to research the mosquito larvae and create new drugs to combat the disease. With the successful research results, the death and illness rate dropped dramatically.
The 116th AGH was a large 750 bed hospital with over 140 buildings. Before being transferred to the Australian Army it was originally the Jungara US Army Station Hospital.
Reported in newspaper ‘The results achieved by the Cairns research station since it began this work in 1943 have played no small part in winning the Pacific war, which was, in many ways, as much a fight against malaria as against the Japanese’.
Many causes of death were recorded as accidental, which were mostly from injuries related to vehicle accidents. Other incidents that occurred were; while on manoeuvres, shark attacks, burns from explosions and drownings. Sometimes death was from natural causes.
Western Papua New Guinea, the southern part of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and the surrounding islands were known as the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) before the war which is now Indonesia. When Japan invaded the islands in 1942 many military personnel and citizens escaped to Australia as well as some of the surviving vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy. These ships and their crews were absorbed into the Royal Australian Navy as were the aircraft from the Air Force units.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force and Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force personnel were assigned to specially raised squadrons; No. 18 (NEI) Squadron, RAAF (Mitchell bombers), No. 120 (NEI) Squadron, RAAF (Kittyhawks), Transport Squadrons – Transport Afdeeling (Unit) Brisbane and the Transport Section Melbourne (Dakotas -transport & communication). They were operational across Northern Australia.
Personnel of the Royal Netherlands Army who escaped became the Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS).
The Dutch were unable to provide enough ground crew or extra gunners, so the RAAF provided the extra personnel where needed. These Squadrons had a Dutch Commander and an Australian liaison officer commanding the Australian Squadron members. The Dutch identity was retained as much as possible by wearing their country’s uniform, using the Dutch salutes etc.
More of the Dutch story can be found on the Australian War Memorial website.
During the war, the land and beaches of the coastal strip from Port Douglas down past Cairns, as well as on the Atherton Tablelands and beyond, was a vast sea of military personnel and equipment. Cairns changed from being a small country city to a bustling strategic centre for all arms of the Army, Navy, Air Force units of Australia, Dutch and United States. Exercises and training were constantly being conducted at anytime. Aerodromes were forged from the bush, workshops built, depots and camps built and much more infrastructure constructed. Cairns provided a central point for the refuelling of the ships who were engaged in the battles in the Pacific Ocean.
There are many websites that can provide more detailed information about what was happening in this part of Far North Queensland during World War 2 but explore the following local websites.
Online Resources
Cairns during the Second World War – Cairns RSL Sub Branch
https://crslsb.org.au/cairns-during-the-second-world-war/
Cairns Regional Council – Arts and Culture Map – Historical Places
https://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/experience-cairns/Cairns-Esplanade/memorials-on-the-esplanade
https://cairns.artsandculturemap.com.au/
AFC and Royal Australian Air Force Association Queensland Division Cairns Branch
I am very interested in military History,
Alan.