Coronation Island, also known as Garlinju, is located off the
Kimberley coast of
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. It encompasses an area of .
It is located off Port Nelson in the
Bonaparte Archipelago, as a part of the group of islands known as the Coronation Islands, which were named by
Philip Parker King, the first European to visit the islands in 1820, after the anniversary of the
coronation of
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
, who had died in January of that year.
[
The traditional owners of the area are the Wunambal peoples, in whose language group of Wunambal the name for the island is Garlinju. The area holds preservation status.
During the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a military installation
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and Military operation, operations. A military base always provides ...
was established for Allied special forces under training purposes, later known as Station XIII; The station housed Allied commando force Z Special Unit for training prior towards the ill-fated Operation Rimau, executed by Lt. Col. Ivan Lyon of the British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. Allied forces remained within the training station after the disastrous attack, where they experimented upon the grounds with underwater vehicles such as the Motorised Submersible Canoe, along with the Welman and Welfreighter submersibles utilised by special forces. Z Special Unit resumed participating within clandestine operations around the Southeast Asian theatre shortly afterwards. A pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
provided to accommodate boatcraft was constructed by the Royal Australian Engineers, circa 1943, and was in use for the remainder of the war before it was dismantled.
Careening Bay (Wunbung-gu[) is a bay on the island, where King careened his cutter, , to make repairs. While on the island, the ship's carpenter engraved the name of the ship on a Boab tree (known as the Bodgurri by the Wunambal][) that is still visible today.][
Careening Bay is within the Prince Regent National Park and a permit is required to visit the site.]flora
Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...
found on the island include '' solanum cataphractum''.[
]
References
{{coord, -14.9927, 124.9221, format=dms, type:isle_region:AU-WA, display=title
Bonaparte Archipelago