No. 3 Fighter Sector HQ Bunker

Townsville, AU - Kidtopia - Monday, December 28th, 2009 : goo

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The Former Operations and Signals Bunker at Stuart, constructed in 1942-3, is significant as the former Headquarters of the Operations Section of No 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters (3FSHQ), who controlled fighter operations and anti-aircraft defences through North Queensland and New Guinea. Occupied by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in January 1945, the Former Operations and Signals Bunker played a pivotal role as the key communications centre for Allied Air Forces, operating out of Townsville during the final months of the Pacific War.
The Former Operations and Signals Bunker is one of a number of WWII structures and complexes which survive in the Townsville area, demonstrating the substantial role the region, and particularly Townsville, played in the war in the Pacific.

A veiw of the building in 2009

In 1961 James Cook University of North Queensland purchased the site for student accommodation while the residential halls at Douglas were under construction. The bunker was still partially furnished at the time the property was purchased by the university. There was a large mapping table in the main room complete with maps and maps on the wall still had marker pins in them. The switchboards and other communication equipment were still largely intact. Photographs, taken at the time, were deposited with the university.

Soon after, in 1962 or 1963, the interior of the bunker was destroyed by fire. In the early 1970s the site was vacated and the barracks either demolished or removed. The property is still under the control of the university although the bunker is the only remaining structure on the site.

A closeup veiw of the building from outside the fence.

One of the only existing photos from iside the bunker taken by Peter Dunn in 2003, before it was closed from the public.

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