My father was one of more than 100,000 Australian Army personnel who spent time on the Atherton Tablelands of North Queensland during World War II. From early 1943 until late 1945, the region was home to roughly 43,000 troops at any given time, reaching a peak of 100,000 during the height of the so-called “Atherton Project”.
The Atherton Project was a massive World War II military infrastructure development on the Atherton Tablelands. In 1942, the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Military Forces, General Sir Thomas Blamey, chose the Atherton Tablelands as a suitable area for rehabilitating and training troops and as a supply base. The region offered a similar climate and terrain to New Guinea, was close to the battlefields of the Pacific, couldn’t be reached easily by sea, and was relatively free of malaria. Thus, in December, the Australian Army moved its North Queensland headquarters from Townsville to the Atherton Tablelands.
The project proper commenced in early 1943. It involved construction of numerous camps, supply depots and hospitals supporting up to 100,000 troops from the 6th, 7th, and 9th Divisions of the 2nd AIF in 160 sites across the region. For a brief period between September and November 1944, all three divisions were present on the Tablelands simultaneously. The project transformed the region into the main base for Australian forces in the south-west Pacific area until the end of the war in the Pacific.
My father spent just over twelve months, from late September 1943 to early September 1944, based at Wondecla on the Atherton Tablelands. I wrote about this period of his wartime army service, although briefly, in My father’s World War II army service: Completing the puzzle (April 22, 2023). At the time, I knew very little about Wondecla, the Atherton Project, and this period of my father’s army service.
In October 2023, exactly 80 years later, my husband Tony and I travelled to the Atherton Tablelands where we explored the key sites of the former Atherton Project. Our five-day pilgrimage to the Atherton Tablelands gave us layers of insight that one simply can’t get from documents, photographs or family stories alone.
This is what we discovered.
Tony and I began our exploration of the Atherton Tablelands World War II sites at Wondecla and Herberton. After all, it was there I believe my father spent most of his time during his posting to the Atherton Tablelands.
Wondecla
Wondecla is a small rural district about 10 kilometres south of the historic mining town of Herberton. Herberton is the oldest gazetted European settlement on the Atherton Tablelands, founded in 1880 following the discovery of tin. Today, both Wondecla and Herberton are part of the Tablelands local government region of North Queensland. At the 2021 Australian census the population of Herberton and district totalled 895, that of Wondecla 661.
On our first full day on the Tablelands, Tony and I drove north from Ravenshoe (where we were staying) to Wondecla and Herberton via the Kennedy Highway, exiting the highway at Longlands Gap Road. The distance by road between Ravenshoe and Herberton is 38 kilometres.
As we proceeded along Longlands Gap Road, near the turnoff to Elms Road, we spotted a sign marking the site of the World War II encampment of the 6th Division of the 2nd AIF. My father’s units (17th Brigade and 2/5 Battalion) are among those listed on the sign. I caught my breath, overwhelmed by the joy of the discovery. This was my father’s wartime stomping ground. I felt an unexpected closeness to him – standing where he stood – imagining his routines, his duties, his leisure pursuits.
During the early months of 1943, the 6th Division established encampments around Ravenshoe, Wondecla and Wongabel. Wongabel is a rural district north of Herberton, roughly halfway between Herberton and Atherton. Units of the 6th Division served in campaigns in the Middle East, North Africa, Greece and New Guinea, including the crucial battles of the Kokoda Track and Buna-Gona, before returning to Australia for recuperation, retraining and regrouping. My father’s unit served in the Middle East, Ceylon and New Guinea before coming to the Tablelands.
The 6th Division set up camps near the Herberton golf course and racecourse, with the majority centred around the Divisional theatre igloo southeast of Wondecla railway siding. The Division based its headquarters further along Longlands Gap Road, closer to the junction with the Kennedy Highway. Other units of the 6th Division established their camps along the Herberton-Atherton Road, near the Wongabel railway siding.
Canvas tents, the men’s living and sleeping quarters, made up the main part of the encampments. Apart from the camp theatre, the only buildings on the Wondecla site were the officers’ messes, store, canteen, and corrugated iron sheds for the kitchens.
As I viewed the site at Wondecla, I tried to imagine what the area would have looked like with tents and make-shift buildings in clearings between the trees as far as the eye could see. Hundreds, thousands of men lived here for months at a time. How busy and noisy it must have been. Today, there is no activity and the only sounds I heard were the intermittent twitter of birds.
My father was among troops of the 6th Division that arrived on the Atherton Tablelands in September and October 1943 following the campaigns at Salamaua and Wau. His battalion, the 2/5, had been in New Guinea since October 1942. My father’s unit disembarked at Cairns on 23 September 1943. From Cairns the men travelled by rail via Kuranda to the Atherton Tablelands, where they were to be based until their next overseas assignment. As it turned out, they ended up spending most of 1944 on the Tablelands before returning to New Guinea in October 1944.
During their stay on the Atherton Tablelands, the men engaged in a strict training regime, but they also had time to relax, recuperate and have fun. Some of them played team sports such as rugby league and Australian Rules football. Others participated in or were spectators at athletics or swimming carnivals, boxing tournaments or horseracing. Still others took up arts and crafts and learnt new skills like wood carving, model making, drawing and painting.
During his posting to Wondecla, my father Lieutenant William (“Bill”) Proposch served as an Education Officer of the Australian Army Education Service (AAES). In this role he provided the men with educational facilities and materials, intellectual stimulation and meaningful recreational activities. Officers of the AAES organised events, delivered lectures on current affairs, showed films and provided a weekly magazine “Salt” on topics of interest to the men.
Lt Proposch must have been performing well in this role because, in April 1944, he was promoted to the rank of Captain. However, some months later (I don’t know exactly when), he was demoted. My mother Evelyn told me it was because he went AWOL (took a few days’ leave without permission). I presume he travelled from the Atherton Tablelands to Rockhampton to see her.
As Tony and I continued along Longlands Gap Road towards Herberton, about two kilometres (1.5 miles) from the Elms Road turnoff, we spied the former Wondecla Army Camp Theatre. The large orange-red timber truss igloo clad in corrugated iron is now used in part as a private residence. When the army vacated the area in 1946, it left the building intact. Today, it is one of few remnants of the encampment.
Troops of the 6th Division used the theatre for both church services and concerts. The original structure comprised two parts – the igloo auditorium and an attached stage area. The igloo is huge – about 42 metres long, 22 metres wide and 7.5 metres high. The former stage area, a more conventional timber-frame weatherboard building with a gable roof, suffered severe damage during Cyclone Larry in 2006 and appears to have been demolished.
Tony and I had almost reached Herberton when we passed the Wondecla sportsground cum showgrounds. It’s located by Longlands Gap Road, about two kilometres outside of Herberton. During World War II, the army used the grounds extensively for rehearsals, parades and sporting events. In 1961, the Herberton Shire Council installed a plaque and monument at the sportsground, in honour of the troops of the 6th Division that encamped at Wondecla and district during World War II.
Interestingly, we discovered the original brass plaque on display in the Herberton Mining Museum. We were told it had been relocated there for safe keeping!
Herberton
After the Australian Army relocated its North Queensland headquarters from Townsville to the Atherton Tablelands in December 1942, the towns of Herberton, Ravenshoe and Atherton became hives of activity and remained so until the Army moved out at the end of 1945. The sudden arrival of tens of thousands of troops reshaped these small towns.
The Herberton railway station and the surrounding rail network played a crucial role during the Atherton Project. As part of the Atherton Tablelands railway system, the line transported thousands of Australian and American troops, ammunition, and supplies to the region.
The rail network was heavily used, with up to 40 steam trains and railmotors travelling between Cairns and various Tablelands branch lines each week, making the network a vital logistics hub. For soldiers arriving at Wondecla (for example), the railway siding was the last stop before going into, or coming out from, the training camps.
At Herberton, the Army took over local facilities such as the Herberton rifle range, the Herberton (Wondecla) sportsground cum showgrounds and racecourse. It was not uncommon for armoured vehicles belonging to the 2/9 Australian Armoured Regiment to be seen passing along the main street of Herberton.
Troops based at Wondecla and Wongabel participated in local community events. They attended social events, such as dances. They joined the citizens and returned servicemen and women of Herberton in commemorating Anzac Day. Given that my father was stationed at Wondecla in April 1944, I wonder if he was part of the contingent of soldiers of the 6th Division that participated in the Anzac Day march and ceremony that followed at the Herberton War Memorial on 25 April 1944.
Ravenshoe
During World War II, troops of the Australian 7th and 9th Divisions set up camps outside the town of Ravenshoe, along Ravenshoe-Mount Garnet Road near Millstream Falls and Archer Creek. Troops of the 7th Division arrived in January 1943; the 9th Division began arriving in January 1944.
The rainforests of the southern Tablelands around Ravenshoe made the district an ideal site for the army to conduct jungle warfare training. Here, the soldiers acclimatised for the wet conditions and humidity of the tropics, and the altitude, and learned how to fight in the close confines of a dense, wet rainforest.
At Ravenshoe, Tony and I stayed at a modern bed and breakfast dwelling called The Jungle Stays. When I made the online booking, I had no idea just how appropriately it is named. The house is located off the Old Palmerston Highway in a clearing in the forest, about 10 kilometres northeast of Ravenshoe.
From the entrance to our room, past the tree ferns we had a view of lush grazing land and, in the distance, mountains covered by mist. This is the one opening in the forest. The rest of the house is surrounded by jungle, reportedly teeming with wildlife. Our host encouraged us to take a walk in the forest, but I was not inclined to do so, fearing an encounter with a snake or two!
At 920 metres above sea level, Ravenshoe is Queensland’s highest town. Up until December 1988, when the district was declared a Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, Ravenshoe boasted a thriving timber industry.
During World War II, the town’s timber mills operated in overdrive in order to fulfill their wartime timber contracts. Following the establishment of the Atherton Project, the Army required timber for the buildings on its camps, as well as for ammunition boxes, tea chests and supply boxes. A continual stream of timber trucks and trailers hauled logs from Ravenshoe to sawmills throughout the district.
Between 1943 and 1945, the army took over some of the town’s buildings. The Ravenshoe Hotel (formerly known as the Tully Falls Hotel) became the officers’ quarters and the School of Arts building an entertainment centre. Today, Ravenshoe recalls with pride the important part it played during World War II, with a photographic display in the Ravenshoe Visitor Centre.
On our last day at Ravenshoe, Tony and I visited the Millstream Falls National Park, a few kilometres by road southwest of Ravenshoe. We saw both the Little Millstream Falls and Big Millstream Falls. The latter are considered the widest single drop falls in Australia when the stream is in flood. We took the 400-metre walking track from the carpark to the viewing platform overlooking the falls. A World War II Heritage Walk from the carpark enables visitors to explore the site of the former army camps. Unfortunately, we didn’t take the walk, as it was already late in the day and getting dark.
We returned to Ravenshoe, and the Ravenshoe Hotel, to have dinner.
Atherton
After our two-day stay at Ravenshoe, Tony and I travelled north to Atherton, where we planned to stay for another two days. Along with Mareeba, Atherton is one of the main towns on the Atherton Tablelands. The Tablelands Regional Council and administrative offices are based at Atherton. At the 2021 Australian census, the population of Atherton and district was 7,724.
When the Australian Army moved its North Queensland headquarters from Townsville to the Atherton Tablelands, the commanding officers made Atherton their base. Along with officers of the United States (US) Army based in North Queensland, they took over many of the town’s buildings.
One of these buildings was the newly constructed Barron Valley Hotel in Atherton’s main street. The Australian Army used the hotel as an officers’ club, mess hall and accommodation for 2½ years. Indeed, for several months before relocating to Port Moresby, General Sir Thomas Blamey made the hotel his base.
The grand two-storey brick building, which still stands today, is the fourth hotel erected on the site. Cairns architects Hill and Taylor designed the building, which was completed in 1941 just two years before the Army took it over. The building included 30 bedrooms, a billiards parlour, two bars, a lounge and dining room.
The Army took over the Atherton Showgrounds and remained there until the end of the war. In November 1943, the Allied Works Council built a large igloo at the showgrounds to serve as an army canteen service supply depot. After the war, the Atherton Show Society purchased the building. It is still standing and today is known as Merriland Hall.
The Australian Army used the Girl Guides Hut for its historical work and turned the Sharples Theatre into a canteen. The Army used the Atherton Courthouse as a hospital for officers and the Red Cross took over the School of Arts building.
Atherton War Cemetery
While at Atherton, Tony and I visited the Atherton War Cemetery. It’s located within the Atherton Cemetery Reserve on the southeastern outskirts of town, at the corner of Kennedy Highway and Rockley Road. The main entrance, off Rockley Road, comprises a shelter constructed of brick columns with a concrete lattice roof and wrought iron gates. On a bench in the shelter we found a box containing a visitors’ book and cemetery register.
The Atherton War Cemetery was established in 1942, before the Australian Army relocated its headquarters from Townsville to the Atherton Tablelands. The first burial in the cemetery was that of Gunner Andrew Mervyn Hemsworth, of the Royal Australian Artillery, who died on 4 January 1943.
The Atherton War Cemetery contains 164 burials, comprising 151 Australian Army, 12 Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and one Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) member. The cemetery is maintained on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission by the Office of Australian War Graves. The Queensland Government added the Atherton War Cemetery to the Queensland Heritage Register on 19 November 2010. The Atherton War Cemetery is the third largest of Queensland’s 14 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries.
What is most noticeable as soon as one enters the cemetery are the uniform white marble headstones set in perfectly straight rows. Tony and I wandered up and down the beautifully manicured lawn pathways between the rows of headstones, reading the inscriptions.
At the top of each headstone is the national emblem, the service or regimental badge of the deceased, followed by the person’s rank, name, unit, date of death, age and often a religious emblem. At the foot of some headstones, there are inscriptions chosen by the relatives of the deceased.
The other noteworthy feature of the cemetery is the Cross of Sacrifice. It stands alone to one side of the garden setting. This tall, finely proportioned stone cross, with a symbolic downward pointing bronze sword attached to its face, is common to all Commonwealth war cemeteries containing more than 40 graves. Designed by British architect Sir Reginal Blomfield, the Cross of Sacrifice represents both the military character of the cemetery and the religious affiliation of the majority of the dead.
On the second day of our stay at Atherton, we travelled north to Tolga and Rocky Creek. Each of these locations played a very important role in the Atherton Project.
Tolga
The rural town of Tolga is located 8 kilometres (about 5 miles) by road north of Atherton via the Kennedy Highway. Tolga is so close to Atherton (about 5 minutes’ drive from Atherton’s town centre) that it is often considered a suburb of Atherton. At the 2021 Australian census, the town and locality of Tolga recorded a population of 3,177 people.
The town was originally called Martin Town after pioneer sawmillers George and Robert Martin. However, with the construction of the Tablelands railway, the Railways Department changed the name to “Tolga”. The last section of the line connecting Mareeba and Atherton, Tolga to Atherton, opened on 10 August 1903.
During World War II, as part of the Atherton Project, the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps set up a large storage and repair centre on a hill slope west of Tolga and the Kennedy Highway. Known as 13 Australian Advanced Ordnance Depot, the complex was huge. It comprised 170 buildings, 18 enormous igloos and an army vehicle park. It employed a staff of about 1000, including 200 women of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS).
The Tolga railway station became a hive of activity, with troops and army supplies arriving by rail. The lines were already there and could handle 100 wagons at a time. According to Percy Urquhart, a former Tolga stationmaster, in 1943 the Tolga railway station handled a record 34 steam trains in one day. The station operated 24 hours a day, with the stationmaster working from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm and two night officers on duty, one from 2.00 am to 2.00 pm and the other from 2.00 pm to 2.00 am.
All of the army’s supplies – ammunition, weapons, vehicles, motor parts, engines, personnel equipment and clothing – passed through the Tolga railway station. The supplies came by rail from Melbourne and Sydney. Because of the break-of-gauge at the New South Wales-Queensland border, they had to be reloaded on trains at Wallangarra (on the border), for transport to the Atherton Tablelands. Most of the supply trains arrived at Tolga late at night or in the early hours of the morning.
After arriving at Tolga, Tony and I headed straight for the Tolga Museum. It’s located in the former Tolga railway station building. The Tolga railway station closed in 1991. In January 1993, the Queensland Government gifted the station building to the Tolga Historical Society for use as a museum. In February 1994, the building was moved to its present site, by the Kennedy Highway at the northern entrance to the town. The museum was officially opened in May 1997.
The adjacent Greg Mulley Building, erected by a local builder and volunteers in 2018 and officially opened in March 2020, displays Tolga’s military history. The building is named after the late Greg Mulley (died 14 April 2025). Mr Mulley played a major role in the construction of the shed and display cases, painting of the shed and many more jobs relating to its completion.
As Tony and I soon learnt, volunteers of the Tolga Historical Society manage and operate the museum. During our visit, we met four of these amazingly helpful and knowledgeable individuals. The majority are retirees. I had many questions and they were able to answer most of them.
But there was one aspect of the Australian Army’s World War II history that they were not familiar with – the Australian Army Education Service (AAES). I was able to share with them what I knew about the service, and how it contributed to the morale and wellbeing of servicemen and women during their wartime and post-wartime service.
Tony and I spent several hours at the Tolga Museum. There was much to see and take in. But we needed to move on, as we wanted to visit the Rocky Creek War Memorial Park while it was still daylight.
Rocky Creek
Rocky Creek is located 6.4 kilometres (less than 5 minutes’ drive) north of Tolga via the Kennedy Highway. During World War II, Rocky Creek hosted the largest military hospital complex in the southern hemisphere. The complex comprised two 1200-bed hospitals (2/2nd and 2/6th Australian General Hospitals), malaria research laboratory, a 1200-bed convalescent depot (which serviced both hospitals), ambulance services, kitchens, laundries, workshops, an entertainment igloo and its own railway station.
The complex employed more than 2000 staff, including doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, cooks, kitchen hands and cleaners.
Between October 1942 and September 1945, the Rocky Creek hospitals treated more than 60,000 patients. Most of the patients arrived in Cairns from New Guinea and were transported to Rocky Creek by the 4th Australian Hospital Ambulance train. The train ran three times a week. The tourist Kuranda Scenic Railway carriages were converted for, and used as, ambulance carriages during the Atherton Project.
Today part of the former World War II hospital complex at Rocky Creek has been turned into the Rocky Creek War Memorial Park. The park is situated on the site of the former 2/2nd Australian General Hospital (AGH) laundry and medical stores. Although Tony and I arrived at the park in the late afternoon, we still had enough time to wander through the park and view the numerous and varied memorials it contains.
The Rocky Creek War Memorial Park commemorates the Australian men and women who served or trained on the Atherton Tablelands during World War II. In 1994, a group of local residents led a drive to establish a memorial park on the long-abandoned site. They were Myra Jones BEM, Mark Alcock, Tim Foley, Linda Cook, Jim Chapman OAM, Keith Byrnes and Tina Jones. A memorial plaque at the site acknowledges their contribution. Dedication of the first memorials in the park took place on the 50th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day, 15 August 1995.
Recent additions to the park include the Wall of Remembrance (containing the names of many of the men and women who served on the Atherton Tablelands during World War II) and the Rocky Creek War Memorial (officially opened on 15 August 2020). Anzac Day services are now conducted at this site in the park.
What struck Tony and me most were the boulders bearing memorial plaques, nestled beneath Australian native trees in a dedicated section of the park. We wandered through the park, from boulders to boulder, reading the text on the plaques—not that we read every one. There are so many. I searched until I found the boulder bearing the memorial plaque for my father’s unit.
I couldn’t help but compare this park with its massive irregularly shaped boulders and rustic setting with the war cemetery at Atherton with its perfectly symmetrical rows and spacing of identical white headstones and its garden setting.
Before we left Rocky Creek, Tony and I crossed the highway to take a look at the former entertainment igloo. It’s located on Frazer Road, on the southern side of Kennedy Highway. As it was late in the day, we decided to return to the site the following day. We wanted to see the remnants of the former 2/2nd Australian General Hospital located on Frazer Road Reserve, further along Frazer Road.
The former Rocky Creek World War II hospital complex site is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. The site comprises the entertainment igloo and what remains of the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital (AGH).
Rocky Creek WWII entertainment igloo
The staged closure of the Rocky Creek hospital complex began in 1944 and continued until the end of the war. The 2/6th AGH closed in October 1944, the 2/2nd AGH on 30 September 1945. Following the end of the war, the army sold the remaining buildings, which (with one exception) were dismantled or relocated.
In 1947, Frank and Eileen Frazer purchased the Rocky Creek entertainment igloo. They turned the stage section into their family home. They raised their 11 children there. After the death of her husband, Eileen Frazer continued to live there for a number of years until ill health forced her to move to Cairns.
In 1996, Mrs Frazer donated the igloo to the Atherton Shire Council. She wanted it to be preserved as an important wartime relic. In 2015, the Atherton Rotary Club commenced the task of restoring the building to its original state. Just like the entertainment igloo at Wondecla, the Rocky Creek entertainment igloo is composed of two major elements: the curved corrugated iron “igloo”, which formed the auditorium of the theatre, and the stage and backstage area.
Today, the fully restored entertainment igloo is used as a venue for private functions, community events, historical education and cultural functions.
Rocky Creek 2/2nd Australian General Hospital (AGH)
To begin our final and fifth day on the Atherton Tablelands, Tony and I returned to Rocky Creek. Leaving the Kennedy Highway, we drove along Frazer Road in a southeasterly direction past the entertainment igloo until we came to the site of the former 2/2nd AGH. It consists of several huge concrete slabs on a long gentle slope running parallel to the road.
At first, the Rocky Creek hospital wards were canvas tents with earthen floors, with a rattan carpet down the middle aisle. Orderlies watered the red earth daily, to keep it firm. By March 1944, both hospitals had been transformed from tents to huts with canvas walls and concrete floors. Both hospitals consisted of 40 wards, offices, stores and auxiliary buildings. Wards were laid out in pairs, with a service annexe in between.
At the site of the former 2/2nd AGH (the one we visited), historians have identified the following structures, beginning at the northern end: disinfectant room, morgue, a large cross-shaped ward, dysentery ward, psychiatric ward, venereal diseases ward, isolation ward. There are several other unidentified concrete slabs and remains of garden beds.
Tony and I were the only people there that day. The site was deserted, perfectly still, and the fresh air smelt only of native vegetation. The landscape holds a kind of quiet memory. The ochre-stained concrete slabs lie between tall native forest trees, their canopy filtering the sunlight and making eerie shadows on the ground below. As we wandered around the site, from one slab to another, we tried to imagine the sights, sounds and odours associated with the activity that once took place there.
I reflected on the fact that my father’s last posting with the Australian Army Education Service (AAES) in 1945 was to the Australian Army’s 103rd General Hospital at Baulkham Hills (Sydney). In this role, he assisted the repatriation of servicemen who had experienced trauma and/or serious injury (including loss of limbs) during their overseas service. One of his tasks was to help the men find meaningful employment when they were ready to return to civilian life.
I wondered, therefore, if my father, as an Education Officer, spent time at Rocky Creek during his posting on the Atherton Tablelands. Clearly, the AAES was actively involved in the convalescence and rehabilitation of the thousands of young men brought to and treated at the Rocky Creek hospital complex.
After our return visit to Rocky Creek, we continued our journey north to Mareeba.
Mareeba
Mareeba is located on the northern part of Atherton Tablelands, 33 kilometres drive north of Atherton and 63 kilometres (about an hour’s drive) west of Cairns. It’s the commercial hub of the Tablelands and its largest town, with a current population of over 12,000.
The weather at Mareeba on the day we visited was warm, dry and sunny. In comparison with Ravenshoe (altitude 920 metres) on the southern part of the Tablelands, Mareeba is situated 417 metres above sea level. Ravenshoe has a temperate, highland tropical climate with warm summers, cool nights and mild dry winters with mist and morning fog, whereas Mareeba has a tropical savanna climate, characterized by a short, hot wet season and a long, warm, dry season.
During World War II, Mareeba played a pivotal role in the Atherton Project, primarily as a key operational aviation base and a strategic training location. Mareeba functioned as an advanced airstrip for Allied forces, a base for bomber and fighter squadrons, and a training ground for specialized units such as the 1st Parachute Battalion.
Tony and I took a quick look around Mareeba’s town centre. This was our last stopover before leaving the Tablelands and heading north to Cooktown. Our pilgrimage to the World War II sites of the Atherton Tablelands was over.
What we took away
After five days exploring the key sites of the Australian Army’s Atherton Project, Tony and I came away with far more than just facts. For me, our visit reshaped how I understand my father, the landscape he inhabited and the nature of wartime service.
Standing where my father once lived and worked gave me a visceral sense of his daily life during the twelve months he spent on the Atherton Tablelands. I pictured my father as a young man in uniform, navigating duty, uncertainty, boredom, hope. Learning about the scale of the camps, the level of activity and the transience of it all helped me imagine the rhythm of his days. Monotony, camaraderie, exhaustion. The waiting.
Seeing the landscape sharpened my understanding of how my father’s military service shaped him. I recalled his familiar traits – his strong sense of duty, his fastidiousness, resilience, sense of humour and playfulness. The isolation of the Tablelands, poised between recovery and redeployment, helped me understand the emotional strain of that liminal state: no longer in battle, yet never fully at rest. It made my father’s brief “escape” feel not like an anomaly, but a deeply human response.
Beyond the personal, our visit opened our eyes to the broader military story that unfolded across the region. The Atherton Project turned the Tablelands into the largest World War II training area in Australia – a vast, complex operation the brought together infantry, medical, engineering, education and support units. These camps were not simply places of preparation. They were thresholds, the last places of relative safety many soldiers knew before returning to jungle warfare in New Guinea and beyond.
Would I recommend a visit to the World War II sites of the Atherton Tablelands? Absolutely. Whether or not you have a personal connection to the Atherton Project, standing in these landscapes brings history into sharp, human focus. Documents and photographs can tell us what happened. Being there helps us understand what it meant.
REFERENCES
The State of Queensland (State Library of Queensland). Anzac Square: World War II historic places. ‘Wondecla Military Camps.’ https://www.anzacsquare.qld.gov.au/historic-places/queensland-wwii-history-map/wondecla-military-camps
The State of Queensland (State Library of Queensland). Anzac Square: World War II historic places. ‘Wondecla Army Entertainment Hall’. https://www.anzacsquare.qld.gov.au/historic-places/queensland-wwii-history-map/wondecla-army-entertainment-hall
Queensland Heritage Council. Queensland Heritage Register. ‘Barron Valley Hotel’. https://qhr.detsi.qld.gov.au/asset/?slug=qld-barron-valley-hotel-f6ce39&full=false
Queensland Heritage Council. Queensland Heritage Register. ‘Merriland Hall’. https://qhr.detsi.qld.gov.au/asset/?slug=qld-merriland-hall-3e4467&full=false
Queensland Heritage Council. Queensland Heritage Register. ‘Atherton War Cemetery’. https://qhr.detsi.qld.gov.au/asset/?slug=qld-atherton-war-cemeter-c1cfd2&full=false
The State of Queensland (State Library of Queensland). Anzac Square: World War II historic places. ‘Atherton War Cemetery.’ https://www.anzacsquare.qld.gov.au/historic-places/queensland-wwii-history-map/atherton-war-cemetery
Tolga Historical Society Inc. Tolga Museum. https://www.tolgamuseum.com.au/tolga-museum-2/
Queensland Heritage Council. Queensland Heritage Register. ‘Rocky Creek World War Two Hospital Complex (former)’. Retrieved 10 April 2026 from https://qhr.detsi.qld.gov.au/asset/?slug=qld-rocky-creek-world-wa-877803&full=false
Tablelands Regional Council. Rocky Creek War Memorial Park. https://www.trc.qld.gov.au/explore/rocky-creek-war-memorial/
ABC News. Tablelands World War II tour established by National Servicemen’s Association, Rotary club. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-15/world-war-two-tour-launched-atherton-tablelands-rotary-club/101150158
My father also was at Atherton (6th Div) – liked the area that much he wanted to live there post WW2
John, thanks for your reply. I wonder where your father ended up living after the war ended. My father (and mother), who married in March 1945 (during the war) ended up living at Rockhampton. My father came from Melbourne!
Is it easy for you to email to me just the Atherton article – a friend’s father also was stationed at Atherton (friend not on facebook), I can then forward.
John, I can do that for you. My pleasure.
Judy I enjoyed your account of your visit to the Atherton area.You put a great deal of effort into your stories. Keep up the good work. Blessings to you and Tony.
Lorna, thank you so much for your feedback. Yes, stories like this do involve a lot of work – checking the facts, searching for historical photographs, selecting from my own stash of photographs, and composing an interesting account. But I do enjoy doing so. Thanks for the encouragement. xx
Thank you so much for another interesting article, Judy. My sister and I visited the Rocky Creek War Memorial Park last year on our Queensland road trip. I wish we could have spent more time visiting other sites on the Tableland, but now I have your stories to read and I feel as if I have been to them.
Dawn, thank you for your encouraging comments. I’m glad my story will help you to feel as though you’ve visited more of the WWII sites on the Tablelands, besides the Rocky Creek War Memorial Park. The park itself is a credit to those who had the vision to develop it and to those who now maintain it.
Dear Judy. I was late in reading your absolute stunning writings. I can only aspire to be as great as you. I have lots of stories stored away and love to put them on paper. Our story with Atherton Tableland was to call in and purchase fruit and vegies which we took back to Mary Kathleen where Ray was the Chief Chemist and Radiation Protection officer. We told our youngest child to help pick strawberries, and when we checked he was picking them and eating them. The Tablelands are very beautiful and we enjoyed our visit there. It was a very long trip back towing our caravan.
Beverley, you are too kind in your praise! But thank you anyway. I do hope you record all of those stories you presently carry around in your head. I know that you have recorded many of them. They are all so interesting, and need to be heard. Thank you for sharing here your experience of visiting the Atherton Tableland en route to Mary Kathleen, all those years ago! xx
What a wonderful story. My Dad was in the 2/4 and of course trained on the Tableland when he came back from the Middle East and before going to New Guinea. He met my Mum while training and the rest is history. I am almost 80 now but tomorrow I am flying up north to visit family and friends and to attend ANZAC Dawn service and the later service at Millaa Millaa where I grew up. My Mum was a great pianist and also played the accordion and she played for many dances all in the areas you spoke of while the soldiers were training up there. One of the trucks carrying the soldiers would pick her up and their farm where she sat in front with the driver. If there was no piano she used her accordion. In later years she formed a dance band which played all over the north and some of our family joined her….they were called Don and the All Stars……Don being my brother. She was still playing for the oldies in the Old Peoples home in Toogoolawah which is where I lived and even played The Holy City on the day she later died from a stroke. Looking forward to reading more of your stories. You made my day.
Janet, I’m greatly encouraged by your feedback and your personal account. How wonderful that your father met your mother while training on the Atherton Tablelands. Like my own parents, it was a wartime love-match. Clearly your mother was an accomplished musician, as is your brother.
I do hope you have a wonderful time during your trip north this month and that your participation in the ANZAC Day ceremonies at Millaa Millaa is a great blessing. Thanks so much for sharing a little of your personal story with me and my readers.
Dear Judith,
I was overwhelmed reading your story, like you it gave me so much comfort visiting the areas where my Dad & Uncles trained before being deployed overseas.
My Dad was in 2/3 Machine Gunner Battalion, and I think Dads Division was in Wondecla.
My husband Uncle also joined the Army.
My Husband & I both live in Yungaburra, I’m familiar with places here on the Atherton Tablelands, Rocky Creek, Tolga Museum. Atherton Tablelands played a huge part in the War years.
My Dad & Uncle both joined up as well as my Mums two Brothers and her Two Sisters joined the Land Army working on the many Farms around the Tablelands. My Two Aunties were not recognised for their duty in the Land Army till 1997, one of my Aunts had passed before 1997.
All who served in all departments of the War years are recognised on the Boulders with plaques at Rocky Creek, it is such a peaceful and serene place to visit. Thank you Judith loved your story, reading it made me feel I was there.