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| Gallipoli |
This ANZAC Day there's no need to go to Gallipoli to show
your respect; Queensland Australia is teeming with memorial sites that pay
tribute to our fallen soldiers, making a great pilgrimage holiday.
While it might be hard to leave the RSL after the recent
announcement that two-up has been legalised in Queensland
for ANZAC Day, pieces of ANZAC history can be found throughout the state at
some of Queensland's
most beautiful destinations.
On the Sunshine Coast, the scenic Caloundra Coastal Walk is lined
with plaques commemorating soldiers who fought for Australia. At Kings Beach
headland stands a tribute to the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur during
World War II in which only 64 of the 332 people on board survived.
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| Heroes Avenue of 93 bottle trees |
In Roma, five-and-a-half hours' drive west of Brisbane, the Heroes Avenue of 93
bottle trees was planted in 1920 in memory of the 93 local men who fell during
the First World War. While each tree originally bore a plaque stating the name
of one of the men, a cairn located outside the Post Office now holds the only
remaining plaque and lists all 93 names since many trees have since been
replaced or removed.
Further north, 85 kilometres from Winton, a tour of
Carisbrooke Station reveals where the then future 36th President of the United
States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, was forced to do an emergency landing in the
B-17D Flying Fortress 'Swoose' during WWII.
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| Forts Walk on Magnetic Island |
While Townsville continues to be an important base for
military operations, the remnants of an Australian Royal Navy artillery battery
on the popular Forts Walk on Magnetic
Island serves as a
reminder of just how close the war came to our shores. Spread out along the 3.8
kilometre walk, the concrete command post, observation post, munitions bunker
and gun emplacements still remain for visitors to explore.
Sitting off the coast of Mission
Beach, The Royal Australia Air Force occupied Dunk Island
during World War II, building its airstrip and a radar station - the rusty
remnants of which can be found at the tip of Mt Kootaloo, with access to the
island via water taxi. With the men living in buildings that had previously
been part of the island's first resort, the radar station provided constant
surveillance of the coast.
Nearby, a Dawn Service is held in one of only two remaining
World War I Solder Settlement towns, El Arish. The Town Hall has just been
rebuilt following damage sustained by Cyclone Yasi last year.
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| Horn Island |
In the very far north on Horn
Island in the Torres
Strait, the 'In Their Steps' tour allows guests to walk in the
steps of soldiers who served in the area and explore what was the most advanced
operational Australian airbase during the Second World War. The Torres Strait Heritage
Museum, also on Horn Island,
houses over 400 exhibits including archival and personal photos from the war
along with diaries, maps, sketches and personal artefacts.
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