Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 42 Feb 20, 2024, Brisbane, AU, Brisbane Panorama
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city of Queensland and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the center of South East Queensland, which includes several other regional centers and cities. The central business district is situated within a peninsula of the Brisbane River about 9 miles from its mouth at Moreton Bay. Brisbane is located in the hilly floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Taylor and D'Aguilar mountain ranges. It sprawls across several local government areas, most centrally the City of Brisbane. The demonym of Brisbane is Brisbanite.
Aboriginal groups claiming traditional ownership of the area include the Yugara, Turrbal and Quandamooka peoples Brisbane is home to the land of a number of Aboriginal language groups, primarily the Yugara language group which includes the Turrbal language. The city is also known as Meanjin, a Turrbal word that originally referred to land on which parts of the city are built, or as Magandjin, a Yagara word referring to the tulipwood tree.
The Moreton Bay penal settlement was founded in 1824 at Redcliffe as a place for secondary offenders from the Sydney colony, and soon moved to North Quay in 1825 on the banks of the Brisbane River, so named for British army general and Governor of New South Wales Sir Thomas Brisbane. The Early Streets of Brisbane is a heritage-listed archaeological site at sections of Albert Street, George Street, William Street, North Quay, and Queen's Wharf Road in Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
n May 1825 Lieutenant Henry Miller moved the Moreton Bay penal colony from the Redcliffe Peninsula to the northern bank of the Brisbane River. This was an elevated location with water holes and cooling breezes. The southern bank was a cliff of rock, suitable for building material, and a fertile flood plain. The settlers faced hardship and privation and the paucity of resources combined with thick sub-tropical vegetation made settlement difficult.[2]: 35 Between 1826 and 1829, the number of prisoners in the settlement rose from 200 to 1000 and the plight of the convicts whose labour was to establish the settlement was dire.
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Streets_of_Brisbane
German Lutherans established the first free settlement of Zion Hill at Nundah in 1838, and in 1859 Brisbane was chosen as Queensland's capital when the state separated from New South Wales. By the late 19th century, the city had grown into a major port and center of immigration. During World War II, the Allied command in the South West Pacific was based in the city, along with the headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur of the United States Army.
General Douglas MacArthur was the commanding general of US forces in the Far East when Japanese forces swept across Asia. He commanded the US and Filipino garrison in the Philippines when the Japanese invaded in December 1941.
MacArthur was ordered to escape to Australia four weeks before the Philippines fell, but he famously vowed to return, on the railway station at Terowie, South Australia, on his journey south. He was appointed Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in the South-West Pacific Area and was soon to establish his headquarters in Brisbane.
MacArthur’s arrival in Australia was greeted with enthusiasm. He established a close relationship with the Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, and virtually directed the Australian war effort. Australians treated him like a movie star. In retrospect, it might be said we surrendered some of our sovereign powers in allowing this, and while the Australian Commander in Chief, General Thomas Blamey, had great Australian responsibilities he had less influence.
More info: https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/underattack/end/macarthur
Wednesday marks 75 years since Japan’s devastating attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The surprise attack immediately drew the U.S. into World War II, and within days, American troops landed in Australia to begin defending the Pacific.
On the eighth floor of what was once the sturdiest building in downtown Brisbane, echoes of history reverberate off the wood-paneled walls.
For more than half of World War II, U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur ran the Allied fight in the Southwest Pacific from a suite in Australia’s third-largest city. It’s now part of the MacArthur Museum, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Albert.
Just 15 days after Pearl Harbor, stunned by the sudden arrival of war, U.S. troops began arriving in Brisbane – the first of an eventual one million who would pass through Australia.
“Well, essentially what was happening was the Japanese were advancing down through the Philippines, simultaneously moving from French Indochina down through the Malay states, into what was then the Dutch East Indies... looking to isolate Australia,” Wright said.
But when MacArthur arrived in Australia in the spring of 1942, he did not land as a conquering hero. He was forced to flee the Philippines with his family, issuing his famous promise: “I shall return.” And he did, but not for two and a half years.
“Was he sort of licking his wounds?” Albert asked Walter Borneman, who wrote the just-released book “MacArthur at War.”
“He was definitely licking his wounds,” Borneman said.
“How does a general on a losing streak go to Australia and by the end of World War II become someone extremely popular throughout the country?” Albert asked.
“MacArthur fills the need in the American psyche for a hero,” Borenman said. “To MacArthur’s credit, by the time 1944 comes along, he’s doing a lot of island hopping, he’s really bought into the whole concept of air power. He’s doing miraculous amphibious landings all over. So he does evolve as a military commander.”
Three-quarters of a century later, 1,250 U.S. Marines are deployed in the northern Australia city of Darwin for training – a sign, Australian army Capt. Adele Catts told CBS News, of the enduring partnership.
“I think that the collaboration that occurred with U.S. troops in World War II under General MacArthur certainly has laid the groundwork for the U.S. and Australian joint operations that exist now,” Catts said.
Today, MacArthur’s legacy lives on there in other ways. His old headquarters building has been named after him, and there’s an Apple store on the ground floor, right next to the MacArthur Central mall.
In Greater Brisbane, there are streets, roads, drives, circles and bus stops named after the general, who still touches 84-year-old resident Del Hicks. Hicks played with Arthur MacArthur, the general’s son, while the family lived in Brisbane.
More info/pictures: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pearl-harbor-attack-75th-anniversary-general-douglas-macarthur-museum-brisbane-australia/
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane
This large masonry building was constructed 1881–1885 as the new Head Office for the successful and influential Queensland National Bank.
The burgeoning gold mining industry of the early 1870s created a mood of optimism and a desire for increased development capital, free from inter-colonial and overseas control. Seizing on this mood, eight prominent local businessmen and politicians formed the Queensland National Bank (QN Bank) in March 1872. Immediate widespread support of the bank exceeded expectations and the continuing patronage of powerful political figures ensured its prominence. When Thomas McIlwraith, a Queensland National Bank director, became Premier in 1879, he swiftly transferred the Queensland Government accounts to the Bank.
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Australia_Bank_(308_Queen_Street)
Brisbane City Hall, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, is the seat of the Brisbane City Council. It is located adjacent to King George Square, where the rectangular City Hall has its main entrance. The City Hall also has frontages and entrances in both Ann Street and Adelaide Street. The building design is based on a combination of the Roman Pantheon, and St Mark's Campanile in Venice and is considered one of Brisbane's finest buildings. It was listed on the Register of the National Estate in 1978 and on the Queensland Heritage Register in 1992. It is also iconic for its Westminster chimes which sound on the quarter-hour.
The building has been used for royal receptions, pageants, orchestral concerts, the Lord Mayor's Seniors Christmas Concerts, civic greetings, flower shows, school graduations and political meetings. In 2008, it was discovered that the building had severe structural problems. After a three-year restoration, it re-opened on 6 April 2013.
More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_City_Hall
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