Victoria Barracks, Melbourne HQ for the US and Australian armed forces Curtinmacarthur

Naval Base Melbourne was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

base at

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Naval Base Melbourne became the South West Pacific Area Command Headquarters after the 1941 invasion of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

, after escaping the Philippines, set up his Headquarters after his arrival on 21 March 1942. MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces in the South West Pacific Area. The US Navy also set up a Headquarters a Melbourne, Allied Naval Forces Southwest Pacific Area under Commander Vice Admiral

Herbert F. Leary Herbert Fairfax Leary (May 31, 1885 – December 3, 1957) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of vice admiral. A son of Rear Admiral Richard P. Leary, he distinguished himself during World War I while on the st ...

. MacArthur and Leary used the empty Trustees Executive building at 401 Collins Street, Melbourne for headquarters. The

Port of Melbourne The Port of Melbourne is the largest port for containerised and general cargo in Australia. It is located in Melbourne, Victoria, and covers an area at the mouth of the Yarra River, downstream of Bolte Bridge, which is at the head of Port Phi ...

had good fleet anchorage and docks. A new naval base was built at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia,

Naval Base Brisbane Naval Base Brisbane was a major United States Navy base built in the early part of World War II at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At first, operated as a base for patrol aircraft and convoy escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Pacific ...

, and the Headquarters was moved to Brisbane in July 1942.

History

With the loss of

Naval Base Manila file:CoastalPlanManila.jpg, Map of Manila, Naval Base Manila is at Cavite in Manila Bay Naval Base Manila, Naval Air Base Manila was a major United States Navy base south of the Manila, City of Manila, on Luzon, Luzon Island in the Philippines. ...

in 1941, the US Navy and

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

need a safe

South West Pacific Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...

port to stage a reply to

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

advances. Northern Australia ports were within reach of Japan long-range

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

Bombing of Darwin The Bombing of Darwin, also known as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. On that day, 242 Japanese aircraft, in two separate raids, attacked the town, ships in ...

on 19 February 1942, demonstrated a more southern port was needed. Melbourne, in southern Australia, was far away from any current or future attacks. The existing port facilities at Melbourne were large enough to support the staging of future action. Local civilians were hired to help in the unloading and loading of US Navy and US Army ships. Japan planned an invasion of Australia, but after the losses at the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...

Japan canceled these plans. The

SS President Coolidge SS ''President Coolidge'' was an American luxury ocean liner that was completed in 1931. She was operated by Dollar Steamship Lines until 1938, and then by American President Lines until 1941. She served as a troopship from December 1941 until ...

and arrived at Melbourne on 1 February 1942 with supplies and munitions for the base and Australia. The ship also had troops and crafted

P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

. The crew's leaders were sometimes called the "Remember Pearl Harbor" (RPH) Group or ''RPH staff''. Other ships that were heading to now captured or in danger Pacific ports arrived at Melbourne. Melbourne became a staging place for 1942 convoys. On 16 July 1942 the SS Matsonia arrived at Melbourne with troops, most camped at Camp Murphy. The

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

was used to house the staging of American and Australian troops, called Camp Murphy. The

USS West Point (AP-23) SS ''America'' was an ocean liner and cruise ship built in the United States in 1940, for the United States Lines and designed by the noted American naval architect William Francis Gibbs. It carried many names in the 54 years between its con ...

arrived 4 September 1942 with more troops for Camp Murphy. US Army set up a camp at

Victoria Barracks, Melbourne Located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia, Victoria Barracks Melbourne is architecturally and historically significant. It is one of the most impressive 19th century government buildings in Victoria, Australia. Pre-World War II Original ...

. MacArthur set up his HQ at first in the

Hotel Australia The Hotel Australia was a former hotel in Melbourne, Australia. The hotel was built in 1939 on the site of the former Cafe Australia (which had opened in 1916), and was demolished in 1989. Designed by Leslie M. Perrott, the Hotel Australia was ...

. After the Battle of the Coral Sea, in May 1942, and the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under ...

in June 1942, the US Navy and Army later moved its Headquarters to Naval Base Brisbane in July 1942. Melbourne also became a rest and recuperation spot for US troops after

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

battles. The 1st Marine Division, 865 Officers and 17,335 men, rested at Melbourne after the

Battle of guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

arriving on 12 January 1943 on the

, protected by the

USS Bagley (DD-386) USS ''Bagley'' (DD-386), a , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Ensign Worth Bagley, officer during the Spanish–American War, distinguished as the only U.S. naval officer killed in action during that war. ''Bagley' ...

. Rest camps were Camp Robinson, Camp Murphy, Convalescent Camp Pell, Camp Balcombe, Mount Martha, and at

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

. Naval Base Melbourne was closed after the war.

Geelong depot

Near Melbourne at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, the US built a new

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

depot. The Geelong depot was later named Kane Ammunition Depot, after a US Army 453d Ordnance Company crew member, who died in a convoy that departed Melbourne on 27 January 1942. His ship, ''Don Isidro'' was going to

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

to help the troops there. But in north Australia, his ship was attacked and ground on Bathurst Island, north of Darwin. Kane died in an Australian hospital at Darwin. Kane Ammunition Depot was run by the 25th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company. The depot worked with the Townsville Naval Section Base, which had an

Anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

Ordnance Training Center. The depot was closed after the war and is still abandoned today. *Small depots were built at Melbourne suburbs: Seymour, Laverton and

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

Rowville Training Camp

Rowville Rowville is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Rowville recorded a population of 33,571 at the 2021 census. Rowvi ...

a US Marine training camp was built in May 1943, with support from the US Navy. The

1st Marines The 1st Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. The regiment is under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The 1st ...

trained at the camp. Marines trained on field exercises live overhead firing, machine gun use, and mortar use. The camp was built by the

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

19th Battalion. The 19th Battalion also were the teachers of the use of some of the heavy equipment for the 17th Marine Engineering Regiment. In July 1943 the 3rd Battalion of the 17th Marines moved to

Naval Base Cairns Naval Base Brisbane was a major United States Navy base built in the early part of World War II at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At first, operated as a base for patrol aircraft and convoy escort aircraft to protect the last leg of the Pacific ...

. The camp closed 30 September 1943 after the departure of the

7th Marines The 7th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. Nicknamed the "Magnificent Seventh", the regiment falls under the command of the 1st M ...

, 1st Battalion and 4th Battalion of the

11th Marines The 11th Marine Regiment is an artillery regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Known as the "Cannon Cockers", the regiment falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division and the I M ...

. Most of the camp is now a major electrical terminal station and Stud Park. The camp was at .

Prisoner of war camps

In 1944

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

Camp, Rowville POW Hostel, was built that house 300 Italian Prisoners. A small hospital was built at the site in 1945. Italian infantryman Private Rodolfo Bartoli, from

Firenze, Italy Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

tried to escape and was shot on 29 March 1946. The POW camp closed in 1946. In 1940 camps were also built at

Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, and is situated within the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital (Melbourne) and west of the regional centre of Shepparton. At the 2 ...

, two camps at Tatura and two at Rushworth for German and Italian.

Melbourne Convoys

*Convoy MS-5 departed Melbourne on 22 February 1942. The convoy's goal was to reinforce the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. The Convoy included: MS Sea Witch with crafted

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time an ...

aircraft,

HMAS Katoomba HMAS ''Katoomba'' (J204/M204), named after the tourist resort of Katoomba, New South Wales, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvette, ''Bathurst''-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially crewed and commissioned solel ...

MV Duntroon MV ''Duntroon'' was a passenger motor ship built for the Melbourne Steamship Company, that saw military service as a troopship between 1942 and 1949. She was built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, and entered se ...

USAT Willard A. Holbrook SS ''President Taft'' was launched as one of the "state" ships, ''Buckeye State'', completed by the United States Shipping Board as cargo passenger ships after originally being laid down as troop transports. ''Buckeye State'' had been laid down as ...

and

USS Langley (CV-1) USS ''Langley'' (CV-1/AV-3) was the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, converted in 1920 from the collier USS ''Jupiter'' (Navy Fleet Collier No. 3), and also the US Navy's first turbo-electric-powered ship. Conversion of another c ...

that was sunk on the trip. The USS Whipple (DD-217) and

USS Edsall (DD-219) USS ''Edsall'' (DD-219), was a , the first of two United States Navy ships named after Seaman Norman Eckley Edsall (1873–1899). She was sunk by a combined Japanese air and sea attack, approximately 200 miles east of Christmas Island on 1 ...

joined the Convoy for added protection. The Troop ship Willard A. Holbrook had the US Army's 35th and 51st Pursuit Groups onboard. Empire of Japan two-engine naval land attack planes and six fighters attacked the convoy 74 miles from Tjilatjap on 27 February. Sixteen men from Langley died. The USS Pecos (AO-6) took on some of the survivors of the Langley. *The convoy of ships with Troops and

reached Melbourne on 1 February 1942 and departed for Perth on 2 February. The convoy was to go to India, but due to the invasion Philippines, the convoy returned to San Francisco. *On 26 February 1942, the ships of Task Force 6814, with seven transport ships arrived at Melbourne harbor. Stayed in camps in and outside of city:

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban population of 100,991, makin ...

, Darley, Royal Park and Melbourne. Many Australians opened their home and the Troops had home-cooked meals. The Task Force reloaded and departed for

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

on 6 March. *Regular Convoys were started each with a code CO was for

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

to Melbourne and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

ran from June 1942 to Dec. 1943 with 150 convoys, reverse trip called, OC. Convoy MS was from Melbourne to Singapore ran Jan. 1942 to March 1942 to support the British-led forces facing the Japanese invasion; 4 convoys. Convoy PV was from Melbourne to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

ran Sept. 1943 to Oct. 1943. *Some ships that ports in Melbourne : USS General H. W. Butner (AP-113), USS Mount Vernon (AP-22), USS Victoria (AO-46),

USS General George M. Randall (AP-115) USS ''General George M. Randall'' (AP-115) was a General John Pope class transport, ''General John Pope'' class troop transport which served with the United States Navy in World War II and the postwar era. She was named after Major General George ...

SS America (1939) SS ''America'' was an ocean liner and cruise ship built in the United States in 1940, for the United States Lines and designed by the noted American naval architect William Francis Gibbs. It carried many names in the 54 years between its con ...

, USS General W. A. Mann (AP-112), USS Altamaha (CVE-18),

USS General John Pope (AP-110) USS ''General John Pope'' (AP-110) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war she was transferred to the Army and redesignated USAT ''General John Pope''. She later served in the Korean War, Korean ...

USS Susan B. Anthony (AP-72) USS ''Susan B. Anthony'' (AP-72) was a turbo-electric ocean liner, ''Santa Clara'', of the Grace Steamship Company that was built in 1930. ''Santa Clara'' was turned over to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 28 February 1942 and ope ...

, USS Yuma (AT-94), USS Phoenix (CL-46), USS General W. F. Hase (AP-146), SS President Cleveland (1920), USS General A. W. Greely (AP-141), ,

USS Admiral W. S. Benson USS ''Admiral W. S. Benson'' (AP-120) began as an unnamed transport, AP-120, that was laid down on 10 December 1942 at Alameda, California by the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipbuilding Corp., under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 678). She was na ...

, USS Altamaha (CVE-18),

USS ARD-10 USS ''ARD-10'' was an auxiliary repair dock in the service of the United States Navy in World War II as an auxiliary floating drydock, built by Pacific Bridge Company. As was common with other auxiliary repair docks, the ship was only known by her ...

to repair ships and others.

Naval Intelligence Center

Station CAST Station CAST was the United States Navy signals monitoring and cryptographic intelligence fleet radio unit at Cavite Navy Yard in the Philippines, until Cavite was captured by the Japanese forces in 1942, during World War II. It was an important p ...

was

Naval intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

center at

Naval Base Cavite Naval Station Pascual Ledesma, also known as Cavite Naval Base or Cavite Navy Yard, is a military installation of the Philippine Navy in Cavite City. In the 1940s and '50s, it was called Philippine Navy Operating Base. The naval base is located at ...

. With the fall of the

the center was moved to Naval Base Manila's

Island. US Navy

Cryptologist This is a list of cryptographers. Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties called adversaries. Pre twentieth century * Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi: wrote a (now lost) book ...

s and other Naval intelligence personnel were taken off Corregidor Island by submarines on 8 April 1942 after the fall of

. Not all troops on Corregidor were evacuated, many became

and part of the

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March (Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') was ...

. The team set up a Naval Intelligence Center at Melbourne. The CAST team joined the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

codebreakers at Melbourne. The two units became

Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL) was a United States– Australian–British signals intelligence unit, founded in Melbourne, Australia, during World War II. It was one of two major Allied signals intelligence units called Fleet Radio Units in ...

. To be low key the unit was based in the Monterey Apts on Arthur Street and the

Moorabbin Moorabbin is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 15 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Moorabbin recorded a population of 6,287 at the . Most of the ea ...

Town Hall. US Navy Communication Security Section of the Office of Naval Communications, since 1940 was able to

decode Decoding or decode may refer to: is the process of converting code into plain text or any format that is useful for subsequent processes. Science and technology * Decoding, the reverse of encoding * Parsing, in computer science * Digital-to-analog ...

some Japanese communication ciphers and codes. By March 1942 the center was able to decipher up to 15% of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

's ''Naval Codebook D'', (US Navy label "JN-25B"). By May 1942 the US Navy was decoding up to 85% of the ''Ro'' code sent by Japan's Navy.

Fleet Radio Unit Radio Station

Naval Base Melbourne supported a remote post, Fleet Radio Unit Radio Station, at

Adelaide River The Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, joined by eight tributaries including the west branch ...

. The post was called USN Supplementary Radio Station Adelaide River and U.S. Naval Attachment, Fleet Radio Unit, Navy 136. It was run under the United States Seventh Fleet for the Naval Intelligence Center and opened in March 1943. A

teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Initia ...

line was run to Naval Intelligence Center so the info picked up could get to Naval Intelligence Center quickly. A DAB-3 HFDF was installed, a radio Direction Finding System, or Radio Direction Finder (RDF). The site was abandoned after the war. The Fleet Post Office FPO was 179 SF Adelaide River, Australia. Fleet Radio Unit Radio Station was supported by

Naval Base Darwin file:Darwin Harbour (AWM 027334).jpg, Darwin Harbour with the sunken ship MV Neptuna and burnt-out wharf of Darwin Harbour following the attack on February 19, 1942 file:USS Holland (AS-3) with seven submarines alongside at San Diego, Californi ...

Airfields

The US Navy and other branches made some use of existing Airfields in Melbourne: *Tullamarine Airfield now

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , colloquially known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is t ...

*Essendon Airfield now

Melbourne Essendon Airport Essendon Fields Airport , colloquially known by its former name Essendon Airport, is a public airport serving scheduled commercial, corporate-jet, charter and general aviation flights. It is located next to the intersection of the Tullamarine ...

Avalon Airport Avalon Airport is an international airport located in Avalon in the City of Greater Geelong in Victoria, Australia. While located outside the Melbourne metropolitan area, it is the second busiest of the four airports serving the state capita ...

at Geelong depot * Ballarat airfield now Ballarat Airport *

RAAF Base Point Cook Point Cook is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Wyndham local government area. Point Cook recorded a population of 66,781 at the 2021 census. Point Cook ...

Airfield 20 km (12 miles from Melbourne), also home to RAAF Museum at Point Cook. *The

Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) was an Australian aircraft manufacturer. The CAC was established in 1936, to provide Australia with the capability to produce military aircraft and engines. History In 1935 the Chief General Manager ...

built aircraft and was used to reassemble crated aircraft arriving from the United States on US Navy ships. *

Department of Aircraft Production Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) was the name of an aircraft manufacturer owned by the Government of Australia. The primary factory was located at Fishermans Bend, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria. It had its origins in the lead-up to World ...

built aircraft Melbourne. **Outlining Airfields: **

Lake Boga, Victoria Lake Boga () is a town in Victoria, Australia, located next to the lake of the same name. It is situated within the Rural City of Swan Hill within the Mallee region of north-west Victoria. At the 2016 census, Lake Boga had a population of 985 ...

Seaplane base **

Wangaratta Airport Wangaratta Airport is located about south of Wangaratta, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia just off the Hume Highway. It provides for general aviation, maintenance, an aero club, emergency services and occasional RAAF flights. See also * ...

** Werribee Airfield

Battle of Melbourne

While most people in Melbourne welcomed the US arrival at Melbourne, problems between Australian Troop and US Troop peaked in 1942 and caused was is called the ''Battle of Melbourne'' on 1 December 1942. The Battle of Melbourne was a smaller riot between Australian Troops and US Troops. There were riots in

, Bondi on 6 February 1943,

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

in January 1944 and

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

in April 1944. During the war there was a news blackout of the event, due to the need to keep morale up.Peter Dunn, 2005, "The Battle Of Brisbane – 26 & 27 November 1942"
(''Australia @ War'') Accessed 15 December 2006

Post war

*After

Victory over Japan Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

the base closed and the US Navy started taking Troops home in

Operation Magic Carpet Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships ...

. * At Ballarat Gardens near

Lake Wendouree Lake Wendouree () is an artificially created and maintained shallow urban lake located adjacent to the suburb of the same name in the city of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. The name Wendouree comes from a local Aboriginal word ''wendaaree'' w ...

is a marker plaque that reads: ::''"A tree that looks at god all day And lifts her leafy arms to pray. United States Marine Corps 1st Marine Division. This tree is to commemorate the Friendship established between The United States Marine and The citizens of Ballaarat during Their sojourn in early 1943"'' *At

's Stud Park is a marker noting the spot of the Rowville camp and the 1944 Italian Prisoner of war Camp.Marker of the Rowville POW camp
'ozatwar.com'' *

Shrine of Remembrance The Shrine of Remembrance (commonly referred to as The Shrine) is a war memorial in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road. It was built to honour the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I, but ...

in Melbourne. *

Melbourne Holocaust Museum The Melbourne Holocaust Museum (MHM) (formerly known as the Jewish Holocaust Centre) was founded in Elsternwick, Melbourne, Australia, in 1984 by Holocaust survivors. It is currently Australia’s largest institution dedicated to Holocaust educat ...

is in

Elsternwick, Victoria Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

opened in 1984. *

Australian National Aviation Museum The Moorabbin Air Museum is an aviation museum at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1962 as the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, in an attempt to maintain a World War II-era Bristol Beaufighter aircraf ...

in Tyabb just south of Melbourne. * Old Aeroplane Company Museum in Tyabb just south of Melbourne.

External links

youtube When World War 2 Came to Melbourne on 26 February, 1942youtube MaCarthur In Australia (1942)youtube Visions Episode 71: US Marines in Wartime Melbourne

References

{{USWWII Military installations established in 1942 Closed installations of the United States Navy 1942 in Australia

Naval Base Melbourne Victoria Barracks, Melbourne HQ for the US and Australian armed forces Naval Base Melbourne was a United States Navy base at Melbourne during World War II. Naval Base Melbourne became the South West Pacific Area Command Headquarters after ...