Wartime history reduced to dust

The old secret World War II bunker at Stuart, expertly disguised as a Queenslander homestead.

The Kana wireless operators intercepted Japanese messages to obtain vital intelligence informing the Allies of the timing and location of planned Japanese attacks.

Walls of the bunker were made of solid, metre-thick, reinforced concrete and the building was camouflaged to resemble a Queenslander farmhouse. Outside walls were painted to replicate windows and doors, with a verandah and stilt posts completing the disguise. There was also a false roof, and rainwater tanks. A set of stairs led to a fake front door and the scene created could have fooled anyone passing even close by, let alone enemy air reconnaissance.

The bunker was also fully air-conditioned, a rarity back then. It was reportedly a highly functioning set-up featuring sophisticated equipment such as plotting and cipher tables, maps, typewriters, telephones, radio receivers and even teleprinters, all of which helped decipher the Japanese wireless codes to inform Allied forces.

But about 12 years after the war ended, the bunker was demolished to make way for construction of the Townsville Copper Refinery. Obviously it was built to last, with a sizable quantity of gelignite required to bring it down. The force of the resulting explosion reportedly caused cracks in the outer walls of Stuart Creek Jail, several kilometres away. And thus, the former wartime headquarters of No. 1 Wireless Unit, one of two highly secret Allied Sigint (signal intelligence) organisations in the region, was consigned to history and oblivion.

In 2009, during the refinery's 50th anniversary, the old bunker's location was commemorated and the site identified with a plaque.

Who'd have guessed it? Not this kid, back on the day it was reduced to rubble! I hope they chased the other goats out before they blew it up.