Battle of Brisbane

THE BATTLE OF BRISBANE - 26 & 27NOVEMBER 1942
​

There have been many stories about the infamous"Battle of Brisbane" where many Australian and American troops fought it out inthe central business district of Brisbane during World War 2 on the evenings of the 26thand 27th November 1942. The varying stories probably pertain to how it started, how manypersons were involved, and perhaps who won the fight!
The following version of the Battle of Brisbaneis based on the excellent book "They Passed ThisWay" by Barry Ralph:-​

Brisbane​

Just before noon on 26 November 1942 an AmericanMP tried to stop a fight in Albert Street. An Australian soldier was hit on the head withan MP's baton and more Aussie soldiers became involved in the incident. It was a short butviolent brawl. Nothing like what was about to happen later that day.
The pubs closed at 6.50pm and the streets werecluttered with service personnel. Private James R. Stein (Service No. 36504556) of the404th Signal Company of the US Army had been drinking in the Australian Army canteen. Heleft the Australian canteen and started to walk towards the American PX canteen (Postal Exchange) which wasabout 50 yards up the street on the corner of Creek and Adelaide Streets. This buildingwas still in existence in the year 2000. Private Stein had been indulging himself on theAustralian XXXX beer. He meet up with 3 Aussie soldiers who had also had also beendrinking. They started to chat.​

Map of the "Battle of Brisbane"​

As they were talking, along came Private AnthonyE. O'Sullivan of the 814th MP Company, who challenged Private Stein for his leave pass.While Stein was fidgeting around to find his leave pass, the MP became impatient and askedStein to hurry up as he did not have all night. At this point in time his new-found Aussiemates had a go at the MP and told the MP to take it easy and leave Stein alone.
After some cursing, etc, a baton was raised andarms and legs started to fly in all directions. More Aussie soldiers and even a fewcivilians came out of the dark to look after their mates. More MP's arrived on the scenefrom the American PX canteen after whistles were blown to attract attention to thedisturbance. The MP's were outnumbered and they retreated towards the PX. Private Steinran and stumbled in to the PX also. Private O'Sullivan however had to be carried into thePX.
By this time there were alarms bells ringing andthe milling crowd outside the PX were throwing bottles, rocks and sticks at the PXbuilding. A parking sign was thrown through a window.
1st Lieutenant Lester Duffin of the 814th MPCompany arrived on the scene at 7.15pm. He saw about 100 Australian soldiers trying tobreak through a makeshift cordon around the PX door. Police Inspector Charles Pricearrived on the scene as the crowd continued to grow. The American Red Cross Club was alsoapparently under siege. The American Red Cross building was located in Terrica House diagonally opposite the PX building and has since been demolished and replaced.​

"We Did" 77th Seabees
TheBrisbane American Red Cross Service Club​

Captain Robert M. White, an American LiaisonOfficer observed the fight from the balcony of the nearby Gresham Hotel. He could seeQueensland Policemen and US MP's barricading the doors to the American PX canteen.
War Correspondent, John Hinde, was also on abalcony overlooking the "Battle of Brisbane". He was probably staying in theGresham Hotel. He stated "The most furious battle I ever saw during the war was thatnight in Brisbane. It was like a civil war."
Sporadic fights spread into other streets in thecity area. On American GI, who had just been to the Wintergarden picture theatre hadto vacate a Brisbane tram headed to New Farm to avoid a violent battle between someAustralian and American soldiers.
Women workers in the city area were escortedfrom the area by soldiers with fixed bayonets. The Tivoli Theatre was closed by the MP'sand patrons ordered back to barracks and their ships.
Back in the PX canteen, Private Stein triedunsuccessfully to retrieve his Leave Pass from the prostrate Private O'Sullivan. He wasgiven a baton and told to help protect the PX.
By 8pm between 2,000 to 5,000 people wereinvolved in the disturbance which continued to rage. A picket sentry, Duncan Caporndetained a small truck driven by an Australian Officer and three soldiers. The truckcontained 4 Owen sub-machine guns and several boxes of ammunition and some hand grenades.
The Local Brisbane Fire Brigade arrived but didnot use their hoses to quell the disturbance. The American authorities were later tocriticise them for not taking this action. Some Australian MP's removed their arm bandsand joined in the disturbance.
The 738th MP Battalion started to arm their MP'swith 12-gauge Stevens pump-action shotguns. One of these persons was Private Norbert Grantof "C" Company. They elbowed their way to the front of the PX.
Someone in the crowd saw that Grant had a gunand suddenly he was accosted by people trying to get the gun off him. He jabbed one Aussiesoldier with the shotgun. Another soldier grabbed the gun and someone else had him aroundthe neck. The shotgun discharged. In all 3 shots were fired.
The death and injuries as a result of these 3shots were as follows:-
1. The first shot hit PrivateEdward S. Webster from the 2/2nd Anti-Tank Regiment in the chest killing him immediately.
2. Private Kenneth Henkel wasalso hit in the cheek and forearm.
3. Private Ian Tieman fell tothe ground with a chest wound.
4. Private Frank Corrie washit in the thigh.
5. 18 year old Walter Maidmentwas also wounded.
6. Private Richard Ledson (35years old) had a compound fracture of the left ankle and was wounded in the left thigh andleft hand.
7. Sapper De Vosso was woundedin the thigh.
8. Civilian Joseph Hanlon (38year old) was wounded in the leg.
After a momentary silence, Private Grant thenscrambled towards the PX canteen. On his way he broke the butt of the shotgun over anAustralian's head. Another casualty was American soldier, Private Joseph Hoffman, who wasone of the guards at the front of the PX. He received a fractured skull.
Other battles raged in the various Canteensaround Brisbane. (The Battle of the Canteens!)
By 10pm the city had quietened down. The groundfloor of the American PX was demolished.
​

State Library of Queensland - Image number: 106429
Repairing broken windows at the American canteen, Brisbane, 28 November 1942​

The final toll was as follows:-​

- 1 Australian killed
- 8 minor gunshot wounds
- 6 baton injuries
- 100's with black eyes, split lips, swollen cheeks, broken noses and variousabrasions​

The Chief Censor's Office in Brisbane orderedthat "No cabling or broadcasting of details of tonight's Brisbane servicemen's riot.Background for censors only: one Australian killed, six wounded". The BrisbaneCourier Mail had a heavily censored article the next day about a disturbance in which oneperson was killed and several wounded. It did not give any idea of nationalities involvedor any specific details of the disturbance.
Robert Bolton of the 911st Signal Company was in Townsvillewhen "The Battle of Brisbane" took place. He only heard rumours about the"Battle of Brisbane", some of which were pretty horrendous. The only thingRobert knew officially, was, as part of his company's censorship arrangements, they wereto allow no mention of it whatsoever in mail going back to the States. Robert believesthat no mention of it was ever made in the US newspapers. Nobody that Robert subsequentlyspoke to about it in the USA had ever heard of it.
In the following days, many exaggerated storiescirculated about the so called "Battle of Brisbane". Some version had up to 15Aussies being killed with machine guns.
On the following night, the 27 November 1942, acrowd had gathered outside the American Red Cross building. The PX building was underheavy security following the previous night's disturbance. Some hand grenades had beenconfiscated by some NCO's in the crowd. Heavily armed American MP's were located on thefirst floor of the Red Cross building. The crowd moved to the corner of Queen and EdwardStreets outside of General Douglas MacArthur'sheadquarters. They shouted abuse towards the building, but MacArthur was apparently in NewGuinea at the time. He had travelled to Port Moresby in early November 1942.
Warrant Officer Bill Bentson witnessed bothnights of the "Battle of Brisbane". He was walking towards the AMP building onthe first night and saw the disturbance. He ran down a lane and made it up to the 6thFloor of the AMP building. He could see a crowd of 500 to 600 Australian servicemen at theintersection of Queen and Adelaide streets. They had formed 3 circles in the street andwere passing American soldiers over their heads into the centre of the circles were theywould be punched and kicked.
Bentson saw some Aussie soldiers armed with MPbatons encounter about 20 US Provosts in Queen Street. The Americans lined the ram tracksand drew their 45 calibre handguns. An Australian Officer persuaded the the Americancommander to take his men away from the area in a truck.
Two other American MP's were caught in the openand attacked.
An American Officer and his Australian wife werewalking towards a restaurant after the evening session at the Metro to watch "Mrs.Miniver", when they were set upon by about 10 Australian military personnel. Theyheard shouts of "There's a bloody Yank - kill him" The lady was knocked overtwice. The crowd kept yelling "Kill him - kick him, kick his brains out." Thecouple were fortunate enough to escape into a pharmacy run by C.A. "Big Bill"Edwards. He was just closing his shop at the time.
During a Television documentary some 45 yearslater, "Big Bill" reported " This young couple fell through the door,chased by hordes of Aussie soldiers. I closed the wire grille door after them. "Giveus the bastard, Bill, he killed our mate." I told them that he didn't kill anyone,and if they found the one who did, I would kill him for them. After a while they broke upand left".
21 Americans were injured on the second night ofthe "Battle of Brisbane". 11 of these had to be hospitalised. The numbersincluded 8 MP's and 4 officers.
Many plans were adopted to ensure that peacewould prevail in Brisbane after this second night of unrest. The Units involved in thedisturbance were relocated out of Brisbane, the MP's strength was increased, theAustralian canteen was closed and the American PX was relocated.
There were many investigations into the cause ofthe disturbance and many a discussion on how to ease the tensions and avoid a similarevent. Besides the obvious effect of the liquor imbibed on the night of thedisturbance, the other main contributing factors that seem to have raised the deep-seatedfrustration amongst the Australian servicemen were:-​

- American pay levels compared to theAustralians
- smarter American uniforms compared to the Australians
- shops and hotels favouring the well-paid Americans
- Americans pinching their Aussie girls (and in some cases their wives)
- and the Americans' custom of caressing girls in public​

Private Norbert Grant was court-marshalled formanslaughter on 27 February 1943 but found not guilty, on the grounds of self-defence.Five Australians were convicted for assault as a result of the "Battle ofBrisbane" with one person being jailed for 6 months.


http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/ozatwar/bob.htm​

 

I have read about this before. Reminds me of the Zoot Suit/Sailors riots of 1943

Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots​

By the beginning of 1943, America was deeply engaged with World War II. In Los Angeles, the city had already been emptied of its residents of Japanese ancestry. Young Latinos, unlike their elders, were not content to stay within their barrios, but were spilling into downtown dance halls, movie houses, pool halls and clubs. As young men are prone to do, many young Latino males distinguished themselves with distinctive hairdos ("duck tails") and apparel ("drape shapes" or "zoot suits" - wide-brimmed hats, broad-shouldered long coats, high-waisted peg-legged trousers and long dangling chains). They called themselves pachucos. They came into contact with swarms of other young men who wore another type of uniform ...military men. The war had caused Los Angeles to swell with military personnel at local bases, many of them from other parts of the country with no prior experience with Latinos and Latino culture. At first, serviceman merely derided the young Latino males attired in "zoot suits." The derision turned to resentment, however, because the young Latino "zoot suiters" were not in military uniform. In fact, many Mexican American men were already in military uniform, disproportionately so for their numbers. Yet this was not what bored, restless young white servicemen saw when rubbing shoulders with strutting, brown-skinned "zoot suiters" in downtown Los Angeles. The local press had been beating a drum of fear that a "Mexican crime wave" had hit the city and "zoot suiters" and "gangsters" were one and the same.

On June 3, 1943, a number of sailors claimed to have been beaten and robbed by Mexican pachucos. The following evening, a mob of about 200 sailors, tired of boredom and fired up with bigotry, hired a fleet of cabs and rolled into East Los Angeles to beat up and strip the clothing off any young Latino male they could find. The authorities seemed to approve. Police made a few initial token arrests of sailors, but they were quickly released. This emboldened the sailors. For several subsequent nights, the swelling mobs of sailors were joined by soldiers and some civilians as they invaded the barrio, marching abreast down streets, invading bars and movie houses, assaulting and humiliating any and all young Latino males, many not attired in "zoot suits." Young Black and Filipino males unfortunate enough to be in the area were also assaulted. Mobs of servicemen in search of "zoot suiters" also prowled the Pike in Long Beach. Although police accompanied the caravans of rioting servicemen, police orders were to let the shore patrol and military police deal with military men. Instead, after several days of rioting and assaults by servicemen, more than 150 had been injured and police had arrested and charged more than 500 Latino youths for "rioting" or "vagrancy," many themselves the victims. The local press lauded the military rioters for confronting the menace of the "Mexican crime wave." "Zoot Suiters Learn Lesson in Fight with Servicemen," declared the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles City Council issued an ordinance banning the wearing of "zoot suits." "The zoot suit has become a badge of hoodlumism," explained Councilman Norris Nelson. "We prohibit nudism by an ordinance and if we can arrest people for being under-dressed, we can do so for being over-dressed."

Finally, on June 7, military authorities did what civil authorities would not. Navy and Army commanders sought to get control of their men by ordering that the City of Los Angeles be declared off-limits to military personnel. Nonetheless, the official Navy position was that their sailors were acting in "self-defense against the rowdy element."

Nationwide condemnation of the actions of the military rioters and civil authorities followed. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt commented, "The question goes deeper than just [zoot] suits. It is a racial protest. I have been worried for a long time about the Mexican racial situation. It is a problem with roots going a long way back, and we do not always face these problems as we should." The Los Angeles Times responded with a June 18 headline, "Mrs. Roosevelt Blindly Stirs Race Discord." The editorial page accused her of communist leanings.

Although the County Board of Supervisors launched an investigation and human relations committees were appointed and the police department was instructed to train its officers to treat all citizens equally, the only ones to suffer any real consequence were the Latino victims arrested during the riots. Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron, reflecting prevailing local opinion, responded to protests by the Mexican Embassy by downplaying the racial character of the incidents and blaming local Mexican youth gangs for inciting the riot.

Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots​

 

Or if you didn't like that version on how it started there is this one.
The thing is no one know how it started.

Incidentally I have seen examples of similar concern for a "fair go" in Palestine. Arab husbands habitually are astride a donkey so small the Arab's feet touch the ground on either side. Some distance behind will be his wife and whatever children belong, trailing some 50 yards or so lumping the family chattels. This was always too much for the passing Digger. He would drag the Arab off the donkey usually give him a kick in the tail and place the wife on the donkey. The fact that she was probably pulled off by the husband around the next corner wouldn't concern the Digger. He had made his point. For all his colourful reputation the Australian soldier is basically a kind person, quick to help the underdog and `straighten' out the oppressor.

And in the eyes of the two Aussies this night the MP was very much the oppressor. A particularly unpleasant one at that. US MPs were notorious for their arrogance and brutality and their use of batons and firearms at the least provocation. The incident took place at the corner of Creek and Adelaide Streets. A large and lavish American Club for US servicemen (a PX) had recently opened on the corner. Where I think Eagers Car Showrooms were previously.

Australians were not allowed entry. A crowd of Aussies gathered to support the two "good Samaritans" and the MP retreated into the PX. The crowd grew in numbers. The Australians saw a chance to even some old scores with the US MP's. MP reinforcements arrived and the resultant clash lasted over three hours. Even the arrival of the Fire Brigade and the copious hosing of the combatants failed to quench their thirst for action.


Battle of Brisbane