Many interesting stories emerged while researching ‘Newspaper House’. The occupation of Brisbane by America’s General MacArthur is one of them, and because he and his troops were in residence at the same time and place my story is set, it made sense to include him in my book, if only in a small way. His presence also led me to discover The Battle of Brisbane. There’s nothing like stumbling across a good war story, and this one was local. It’s a war story with a difference, and I think it’s well worth a read.

My own father’s war story was ‘stumbled across’ by a family member whilst researching our family tree. Ronald Albert McConnell, had flown in the RAAF during World War II, which is when The Battle of Brisbane took place.

It tells of a very brave, very determined man, whose success during his two tours of duty, led to his becoming a member of the elite Pathfinder group. As with many returned soldiers, his war years were not something he spoke about, and I’m ashamed to say, they were not something we ever thought to ask about. I wish we had because it’s a story to be proud of.

However, this is not what I’m writing about today. Although there is a lot more to it, his story is just one example of the many that are out there waiting to be told, and they deserve to be told. This realisation was in part, what led to my love of researching the stories behind the heritage buildings of Brisbane. The Battle of Brisbane is one such story:

The Battle of Brisbane

In the 1940’s, Australia was in the midst of World War II. They were long, miserable years of food rationing, conscription, and a shortage of just about everything. Then, in 1942, American General Douglas MacArthur moved his headquarters to Brisbane, bringing with him more than 80,000 American troops, and they were all stationed in and around Brisbane.

Compared to our laid-back Aussie boys, the Americans were charming, better paid, had access to better provisions, and damn it, let’s face it, they looked mighty dashing in their ‘pinks and greens’ service uniforms. They caught the eye of all the young local girls, especially with their never-ending supply of chocolates and silk stockings. This did not endear them to our Aussie boys at all, so they were already off to a shaky start, and over the following weeks, the resentment only grew. However, it wasn’t until that fateful day when an over-zealous American MP, shot and killed an Australian soldier during a struggle, that the Battle of Brisbane erupted.

According to the book ‘The Battle of Brisbane’ by Peter Thompson and Robert Macklin, the fight had broken out in the canteen between Aussie soldiers and the American police. The police were outnumbered and as the brawling escalated, the Americans were chased out into the streets of Brisbane. It became apparent that the Americans were going to need help, so they called for reinforcements. Amongst those reinforcements was American MP Norbert J Grant, and Grant was carrying a pump-action shotgun. When Australian soldier Edward Webster attempted to disarm him, the gun went off, shooting Webster in the chest.

By now there were hundreds of Australians, both soldiers and civilians, swarming the streets and beating any American that came into view. But when the crowd saw what had happened to Webster, they went crazy, attacking with greater force and injuring more and more Americans. The fighting went on for 2 more days and the streets of Brisbane had become a war zone. Hundreds of American and Australian soldiers and civilians were injured, although Edward Webster was the only reported death.

What a shame that Dr. Lilian Cooper, Queensland’s first registered female doctor, who had great success in the 1800’s treating wounded soldiers, was no longer around. Dr. Cooper and her ‘life partner’ Ms. Mary Josephine Bedford had resided in The Mansions, another of Brisbane’s lovely old heritage buildings … but that’s another story.