In November 1942, Australians and United States (US) forces clashed in the Battle of Brisbane riot. Thousands of soldiers from both sides fought with batons and guns over 2 days of rioting. One Australian soldier was killed. Hundreds were injured on both sides.
To protect the Australian-US alliance, authorities tried to limit information about the riot. This led to rumours and exaggerated accounts.
This was one of the first major conflicts between Australians and US forces on Australian soil. It highlighted tensions caused by the Americanisation of Australia's culture and economy.
Australia's wartime alliances
The Australian Government, therefore, regards the Pacific struggle as primarily one in which the United States and Australia must have the fullest say in the direction of the democracies' fighting plan. Without any inhibitions of any kind, I make it quite clear that Australia looks to America, free of any pangs as to our traditional links or kinship with the United Kingdom.
[Prime Minister John Curtin, 'The Task Ahead', Melbourne Herald, 27 December 1941]
Two days after Christmas 1941, then Prime Minister John Curtin published an editorial in Melbourne's Herald newspaper. Curtin, a former journalist and union leader, had been prime minister for less than 3 months. In that short time, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States (US) into World War II. Nearer to Australia, Japan also invaded:
- Burma
- Hong Kong
- Indochina
- Malaya
- Netherlands East Indies
- Thailand
- Singapore
- The Philippines.
Curtin argued Australia needed to prepare for a feared Japanese invasion. The United Kingdom (UK) was preoccupied with the European war. Curtin called for a strategic alliance between Australia and the US.
A giant portrait of General Douglas Macarthur, Commander in Chief, South-West Pacific Area, is hung outside the Melbourne city store Myer Emporium. It marked a celebration of US Independence Day in 1943. AWM 139190
United Kingdom
The relationship between Australia and the UK was tested as the war worsened. Curtin and his predecessor, Robert Menzies, worried that the UK would not help Australia if Japan attacked. Both wondered about Australia's ability to defend itself if the UK expected its forces elsewhere.
British prime minister, Winston Churchill, wrote to Curtin after the article was published. His response was scathing:
Such a statement will cause resentment throughout the Empire and had a very poor reception in high quarters in the United States.
[British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Letter from Churchill to Curtin, 29 December 1941, quoted in 'Curtin, Churchill and Roosevelt wartime relations']
Churchill continued:
I hope you will not mind me saying that you have really not begun to feel the weight of this war, or even begun to experience the danger and suffering under which the people of Great Britain have long been proud to live.
[British prime minister, Winston Churchill, Letter from Churchill to Curtin, 29 December 1941, quoted in 'Curtin, Churchill and Roosevelt wartime relations']
Australia and the UK shared a common history, language and culture. Their ties went back to Australia's colonial past. Many Australians still saw England as the 'mother country'. They believed Australia's role to be that of an important junior partner in the British Empire. But Curtin's actions led to a change in foreign policy and national identity that continues today.
United States
Curtin now looked to the US for Australia's defence and protection. In return, Australia gave the US an important strategic base for its war effort in the South-West Pacific Area.
Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific Area, General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Melbourne in March 1942.
He received a hero's welcome from crowds lining the streets. He set up headquarters in the city and was given command of Australia's naval, land and air forces. Macarthur famously told Curtin:
We two, you and I, will see this thing through together. We can do it, and we will do it. You take care of the rear and I will handle the front.
[General Douglas Macarthur, Reminiscences, 1964, quoted in Backroom Briefings: John Curtin's War, p 13]
One million US service personnel passed through Australia during World War II. At the time, Australia's population was only 7 million.
Some 4,600 US soldiers arrived in Brisbane 2 weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack of 7 December 1941. By 1943, there were 150,000 Americans in Australia. They were stationed Australia-wide, from Melbourne in the south to Darwin in the north and Fremantle in the west. Most were based in Queensland because of its closeness to fighting in the Pacific.
Increasing tensions
Australians tended to idolise Americans as if every single one of them was a screen star, making for a welcome in the dark days of 1942 that was warm, generous and slightly unbalanced. People competed with one another to invite a ‘Yank’ home for a meal and women’s magazines helpfully published recipes that would ensure the Americans felt right at home. So people were apparently struggling to make fish chowder, breaded veal cutlets, shoestring potatoes, parsnip fluff, browned tomato sauce and butterscotch ice-cream cake. It all sounded exotic and romantic, and did provide a bit of life and fun just as the war seemed at its most dangerous.
[Michael McKernan, 'The Strength of a Nation', p 230.]
Most Australians initially welcomed the US troops. Many saw them as vital for Australia's defence. This was especially the case in 1942 when Australians feared Japanese attack and invasion. Others opened their homes to US soldiers, leading to lifelong friendships. Australian women also enjoyed the charm, manners and generosity of the visiting troops.
Tensions increased as US and Australian cultures clashed. Jealousy was a common trigger. US soldiers earned roughly twice as much as Australian soldiers and were free with their spending. They could afford to treat women to chocolates, cigarettes and other gifts. US uniforms were also smarter, backed up with a spare. The Australians looked drab in comparison.
The visitors were attractive to some but resented by others. Resentment grew as the urgency of the Japanese threat lessened. Some Australian businesses tried to swindle cashed-up and currency-naive US military personnel. There were fights over women. Australia's White Australia policy was tested by the arrival of large numbers of black US servicemen, especially in Australia's racially conservative north.
There were tensions between local and US authorities, as local police and US military police (MP) grappled with issues of jurisdiction. Locals resented the power wielded by the MPs.
There was also conflict between battle-hardened Australian soldiers who were just home from overseas combat and US servicemen who had not served on a front line. In the eyes of many Australian soldiers, the US servicemen were 'bragging, untested competitors'.
Wartime Brisbane
In July 1942, the Allied forces headquarters moved to Brisbane. The city's population doubled within months.
Brisbane in the 1940s was a large, conservative country town with strong ties to the UK. Many of its residents still carried the trauma of economic hardships during the Great Depression. Queensland also had some of the country's harshest laws and attitudes towards First Australians.
Brisbane residents felt anxious following Japanese victories to Australia's north in Asia and attacks off the Queensland coast. Some 200 air-raid shelters were built in the centre of Brisbane.
Violent brawls became common in Brisbane in 1942. In South Brisbane alone, the MPs broke up an average of 20 fights a night. The number of arrests rose from 140 in June 1942 to more than 1,100 by October.
Most clashes in the early months of 1942 were between Black and White US soldiers from the segregated southern states. Fuelled by racism and alcohol, these attacks took place in Brisbane's more disreputable areas. Knife attacks and shootings were common. As the year continued, violence spread into other parts of Brisbane. More US servicemen and Australians came into conflict.
Two days of rioting
Brisbane was already very much an unquiet city before the savage eruption of Thanksgiving Day, 1942.
[Raymond Evans and Jacqui Donegan, 'The Battle of Brisbane', 2004]
The Battle of Brisbane took place over 26 and 27 November 1942. Over 2 days of violent fighting, one Australian soldier was killed. At least 9 Australians and 11 US servicemen suffered serious injuries. Countless others had minor injuries.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the US. It falls on the fourth Thursday in November; in 1942 this was 26 November. It is a holiday of goodwill, good food – and in Brisbane 1942 – lots of alcohol. A US MP had assaulted an Australian soldier earlier in the day. That, plus several hours of drinking, primed servicemen on both sides for a fight.
The riot was sparked by a confrontation between Australian servicemen and US MPs. Australian Gunner Edward Sidney Webster had been out drinking with mates. When the pub closed earlier than usual, Edward headed off with 4 other Australians.
The early closure of pubs was a source of contention for Australian servicemen. They resented being told it was closing time, only to see the bar remain open for US military personnel.
Edward was not long home from fighting in the Syrian Campaign. He and his mates headed towards the Australian Canteen on Adelaide Street. They ran into Private James Stein of US Army 404th Signal Company. Versions of the story differ about whether the Australians were arguing or just talking with Stein. But, when 2 overly enthusiastic US MPs harassed Stein for his leave pass, Edward and the other Australians came to Stein's aid.
MPs had weapons, and many Australian servicemen resented what they saw as bullying behaviour. When an MP appeared to threaten an Australian with his baton, the Australian responded by punching the MP in the mouth.
More Australians and MPs joined the fighting. Punches and kicks were thrown. As a crowd of several thousand people gathered, rocks and sticks were used. Several windows were broken.
During the fight, shots were fired. Edward was hit in the chest, and he later died from the wound.
The violence continued into the next day. By 8 pm on 27 November, more than 2,000 people were involved in the disturbance. There were fights at various canteens around Brisbane, and the ground floor of the American PX (Postal Exchange) canteen was demolished.
The fire brigade was called to hose down the angry crowd. But the head fireman refused to do so.
Gunner Edward Webster is officially commemorated at Brisbane General (Toowong) Cemetery in the Returned Servicemen's Plot (Portion 10, Section 45, Allotment 28).
Repairing broken glass and damage at the American PX canteen (Postal Exchange), Brisbane, November 1942. State Library of Queensland digitised copy print from 28118 Sunday Truth and Sunday Sun newspaper photographic negative number 106429
Other clashes
Other riots broke out around the country at different times over the next few years. US and Australian servicemen came to blows elsewhere in Queensland, as well as at:
- Bondi, February 1943
- Fremantle, April 1944
- Melbourne, December 1942
- Perth, January 1944.
Significance of the riot
The Battle of Brisbane riot was significant for what it represented more than for the actual event. The riot, and the clashes that followed, highlighted tensions caused by the impact of hundreds of thousands of US forces on Australia's economy and culture.
The visitors' arrival affected the Australian home front in many ways, both during the war years and afterwards. US forces influenced Australian food, language and music.
On a deeper level, it disrupted traditional views of family life and partnerships. It also prepared Australia for ongoing debates about national identity, immigration and multiculturalism.
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