Military Police contains information about military police functions in maneuver and mobility support, area security, law and order, internment/resettlement, and police intelligence operations.
Issue link: https://militarypolice.epubxp.com/i/655275
68 MILITARY POLICE By Master Sergeant Patrick V. Garland (Retired) and Mr. Mark S. Lindsay In a previous issue of Military Police, Master Sergeant Garland (Retired) wrote about the penal institutions estab- lished in the European theater of operations during World War II; but until recently, historical on prison facilities in the Far East were diffcult to uncover. 1 In December 1941, U.S. armed forces arrived in Australia prepared to wage war against the Empire of Japan. Mili- tary police units were among those arriving, and they began policing the areas used by our forces. A provost marshal's offce was established in Base Section 3, situated around the city of Brisbane. Headquartered in the South Brisbane Municipal Chambers (town hall), the basement of the build- ing housed detention cells and a solitary confnement facil- ity for detained U.S. military personnel. As the need grew, the Eagle Farm Stockade (an even larger facility) was estab- lished in the vicinity of the Doomben Racecourse. Initially, this facility was secured by C Company, 738th Military Po- lice Battalion, and was later replaced by the 1st Provisional Guard Company. On 24 November 1942, the 1st Provisional Guard Company was redesignated as the 345th Military Po- lice Escort Guard Company. 2 Soon, it was apparent that this facility was not large enough to accommodate the prisoner population, which had risen to 110. The U.S. Army proposed a Detention and Rehabilitation Center at Round Mountain, south of Laravale in Beaudesert Shire in southeast Queensland, Australia. Round Mountain was once a quarry that provided ballast for the Brisbane to Kyogle section of the interstate railway line. 3 The assistant minister for the Australian army approved a £36,000 budget for the project in October 1942, on the grounds that a mili- tary detention camp with satisfactory accommodations was urgently required for U.S. prisoners serving sentences for major offenses. According to a 1943 map of the completed complex (and confrmed by contemporary photographs), the stockade was located north of the quarry at Round Mountain, east of the main road. It had two outer fences and guard towers at each corner and midway along the west, south, and east sides. The southern part of the stockade contained rows of tents for the inmates, divided into three sections by internal fences. The northern part of the stockade contained timber buildings, including a hospital and chapel. There were power, supply, and repair buildings to the north of the stockade on either side of the entrance. North of these buildings, a road from Round Mountain Road ran east, to a timber trestle bridge over the Logan River, linking to today's Mount Lindesay Highway. North of this road, opposite the stockade, was a parade ground; and north of the parade ground were timber buildings and tent lines for the prison guards. The headquarters buildings were located west of Round Mountain Road, to the northwest of the stockade. A tennis court and motor pool were located north of the headquarters area. Water mains ran northwest from the stockade com- pound, past the south end of the headquarters buildings, up the hill west of the road to six water tanks just south of a house. A swimming pool, complete with what appeared to be a sandy beach, was located west of the water tanks. A poultry farm was located north of the house. On 1 July 1943, the 120 men of the 345th Military Police Escort Guard Company and 116 military prisoners took up residence at Round Mountain. White and black Servicemen were held in the stockade.The prisoners worked in the bal- last quarry at Round Mountain (linked by a railway spur to the interstate railway line) and other areas in the camp (contructing pallets, repairing shoes, working in the lum- beryard). The camp raised its own pigs, and a poultry farm