91ST ENGINEERS GENERAL SERVICES REGIMENT
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WW2

visits since 9 August 2000

The 91st Engineers, a Negro unit, travelled from New York to Brisbane with 25 Officers and 1193 enlisted men. Negro units were nearly always commanded by white officers.

The 91st left Brisbane in 4 trains on 10 April 1942 with no equipment, arriving in Townsville on 11 April 1942.  They arrived with another Negro unit, the 96th Battalion. The 91st relocated to a railway siding called Woodstock about 50 kms south of Townsville, where they began building the landing strips at Woodstock and Giru using hand tools. The 91st Engineers and the 46th Engineers both helped to build the Woodstock airfield in April 1942.

The 91st Battalion then moved to Giru in May 1942 and built 3 landing strips for fighter aircraft in the form of a triangle at Giru.  Two of these landing strips can still be seen from the main highway.  The third runway became part of the Woodstock to Giru road.

The local farmers provided poultry for the canteen run by the 91st battalion.  The troops used to frequent the current Giru International hotel for entertainment. Many of the units of the 91st were transferred to Port Moresby in August and September 1942.

John Barr worked with Mick Statham at the Goods Shed in Ayr during the 1980's. Mick was in Coastal Defence, and in Commonwealth Construction at Garbutt. One of the subjects they talked about was the landing of Japanese troops on Australian soil. One of these "stories" suggests that some American Negroes based at Woodstock were brought down by train to Cromarty to capture 106 Japanese Marines that had been spotted coming ashore at Cromarty 

The story suggests that a short battle ensured. Apparently two Negroes were wounded and a number of Japanese Marines were killed. They were taken and held at the cutting at Kissing Point in Townsville. These were the same Negroes that held the demonstration for their basic rights near Stuart Station during WW2. I wonder if this is referring to the riot at Laudham Park involving the 96th Battalion. The 91st Battalion was the Negro unit that had been cased at Woodstock for a while.

African-American soldiers in Australia during WW2

Were the 91st Engineers ever camped at
the northern end of Mount Louisa in Townsville?

Were they ever involved in building underground bunkers,
tunnels or command centres in the Townsville area?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank John Barr for his assistance with this home page.

Heaps of WW2 books available at Amazon.com

This page first produced 5 July 1998

This page last updated 08 May 2002