Heritage Information

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Combined Services Detailed Interrogation Centre (former) (Witton Barracks) - 650030

Key details

Also known as Indooroopilly Barracks

Addresses At 9 Lambert Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland 4068

Type of place Defence site

Period World War II 1939-1945

Lot plan L13_SP108539

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 1 Key dates Local Heritage Place Since — 30 November 2012 Date of Citation — July 2010

Construction Walls: Masonry

People/associations Department of the Army (Architect)

Criterion for listing (A) Historical; (B) Rarity; (D) Representative; (G) Social; (G) Social

Requisitioned in 1942, the site became the Australian headquarters of the Allied Translator and Interpreter Service (ATIS). Japanese and German POWs were brought here for interrogation prior to imprisonment in the southern states. The military purchased the site in 1945. In 1951 it became the Northern Command Provost Company’s barracks. It changed its name from Indooroopilly Barracks to Witton Barracks during the 1980s.

History

The Commonwealth requisitioned the site from the Queensland Government’s Public Trustees Limited on October 1942. The Public Trustee was administering this property as part of the estate of H.B. Hemming who died on 8 March 1942. The property had, previously been put up for auction on 15 July but was withdrawn from sale, with a new land evaluation conducted by Blocksidge & Ferguson in August. The site included two residences ‘Tighnabruaich’ and ‘Witton House’ that overlooked the Brisbane River. ‘Tighnabruaich’ was built in 1892. The earlier (1860s) ‘Witton House’ was moved onto the property from elsewhere in Indooroopilly in 1915.

A joint Australian and American intelligence organisation, the Allied Translator and Interpreter Section (ATIS), established its headquarters on the site. In June 1942, there was a re-organisation of the various national intelligence services (Australian, American, Dutch) based in Australia. The Allied Intelligence Bureau (AIB) was formed to oversee all intelligence activities and the ATIS was probably created around the same time. Its role was to interrogate enemy prisoners of war (POWs) and interpret any captured documents. The first such documents were captured in the Australian raid on Salamua in Papua on 29 June 1942. The Supreme Commander of the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) theatre, US General Douglas MacArthur, transferred his headquarters from Melbourne to Brisbane on 23 July 1942. The first group of Japanese (8) were captured at Normanby Island (near Milne Bay) on 23 September 1942. By October, Japanese POWs began to trickle in from the Kokoda Campaign. It was at this time that ATIS established its headquarters at Indooroopilly.

ATIS was a joint Australian and US unit. Japanese-Americans known as Nisei and Australians who spoke Japanese staffed ATIS. As Japan had been Australia’s ally in the First World War, some Australians had maintained close contacts with Japan during the Interwar period. Interrogation of captured Indonesians or the translation of documents written in the Malay languages of the Indies was undertaken separately by the Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS).

The initial 1942 plans for the layout of the ATIS Camp incorporated the existing ‘Witton House’ as the Sergeant’s Mess while the larger ‘Tighnabruaich’ was allotted to the officers for their mess and sleeping quarters. The other

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 2 ranks slept in tents until barracks and an ablutions block were constructed. The Orderly Room/Office was built close to the Camp’s only entrance off Clarence Road. A documents translation building was placed near ‘Tighnabruaich’. The most important addition was the Prisoners of War (POW) Compound (or Cage) located near ‘Witton House’ and the Interrogation Building adjacent to ‘Tighnabruaich’. Construction was undertaken under the direction of the Allied Works Council (AWC).

Within the POW Prisoners’ Compound that was surrounded by barbed wire, three small brick cell blocks were built that could accommodate about 15 prisoners. This was the only military interrogation centre built in Australia during World War II. Other POW sites in Australia were POW Camps containing large barracks and mess buildings and ablutions blocks that could accommodate large numbers of POWs for long period of time. The cell blocks at Indooroopilly were built as temporary holding cells for small numbers of POWs awaiting interrogation. Research has revealed that the cells were purpose built for holding small numbers of enemy POWs undergoing special interrogation by trained members of the ATIS. ‘Witton Barracks’ was the World War II HQ of the ATIS, with the Indooroopilly site requisition soon after General MacArthur authorised the formation of ATIS. All important interrogations of German and Japanese POWs were conducted on this site and the 3 cells remain an obvious physical reminder of the site’s wartime role.

A small, dirt exercise yard was located within the barbed wire enclosure. There was only one Entry Point into the Prisoners’ Compound. POWs were marched through one barbed wire gate into a small holding pen. They remained inside this pen until one gate was closed and locked. Then the other gate was opened to allow them to either exit or enter the Prisoners’ Compound. The POWs were guarded by troops drawn from the Australian 1st Garrison Battalion. The Japanese would be shipped from Port Moresby to Brisbane then sent under guard by train or truck to the temporary Gaythorne POW Camp located near the extensive Enoggera Army Barracks complex. Individual POWs were taken by vehicle and under armed guard to the ATIS Camp and placed in one of the holding cells contained within the three cell blocks prior to interrogation. Interrogation sessions lasted a few days. Once the interrogation was completed, POWs were returned to Gaythorne prior to being placed on a train and sent for permanent incarceration at the Japanese POW Camps at Cowra and Hay, located in central, western New South Wales and, after the Cowra Breakout to Murchison in central Victoria.

While the ATIS Camp was close to suburban housing, it was surrounded on two sides by Brisbane River and the Ipswich railway line and so was considered escape-proof. Still, the presence of Japanese POWs so near to Brisbane homes was kept a secret from the civilian population. The ATIS headquarters at Indooroopilly remained the principal Allied interrogation centre for POWs within Australia during the war. The activities conducted on the site remained Top Secret. To thwart espionage, no building plans of the three interrogation cell blocks were made available. Specifically, the Prisoners’ Compound was drawn with no structures shown within but with this explanatory caption:

PRISONERS’ COMPOUND Plans of buildings within compound are secret and unobtainable Buildings are partly of Brick1 1

By the time of the Cowra Breakout on 4 August 1944, there were 2,223 Japanese POWs in Australia.1 2 Many of these POWs would have been interrogated at the ATIS Camp. German POWs were also sent to Indooroopilly. HMAS Adelaide and HMNS Jacob van Heemskerk sank the blockade-runner Ramses in the Indian Ocean on 28 November 1942. HMNS Zwaardvisch sank the submarine U-168 in the Indian Ocean on 6 October 1944. The ships’ officers and telegraphists were despatched to the ATIS Camp for rigorous interrogation.

During World War II, the personnel who worked in the document translation building undertook important work.

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 3 Two significant translations were of a captured Japanese Officer List and of the captured codebooks belonging to the Japanese 20th Division. The translation of the Japanese Officer List provided the Allies with a proper understanding of the Japanese Army’s command structure, such that:

Australian Order of Battle analysts, working on translations of this and other documents became the acknowledged international experts on the order of battle of the Japanese Army.1 3

In 1943, the 20th Divisions codes were captured in New Guinea and sent to Indooroopilly for translation:

This action was described as the 'seminal moment' in the history of the Allied signals intelligence organisation in the South West Pacific Area, known as Central Bureau.1 4

As the number of Japanese POWs and the volume of captured documents increased, the facilities at the ATIS Camp expanded. Such additions were usually small, temporary structures such as army huts, though by April 1944, the Other Ranks (ORs) had obtained their own Mess and adjacent Kitchen buildings. The temporary nature of most of the structures placed around ‘Tignabruaich’ reflect not only World War II construction designs and methods but also the uncertainty surrounding the Commonwealth’s intentions for the site after the war had ended. The Commonwealth had requisitioned thousands of sites to meet wartime contingency needs but most would no longer be require once peace was declared. The future of ‘Tignabruaich’, ‘Witton House’ and their surrounding grounds were finally revealed on 18 April 1945, when the Commonwealth gazetted the acquisition of the property. The Commonwealth formally purchased the property for ?8,909 on 13 June. In July, ATIS left and the site became the barracks for No.2 Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS). This unit had been based close-by, as it had transferred from the requisitioned St Peter’s Lutheran College on Indooroopilly Road.

After the war, the site remained an AWAS barracks (but for No.7 AWAS) until July 1946. It was used as a personnel depot until 1949 when ‘Tighnabruaich’ was converted into two flats for army officers. As a result of how close the Japanese threat to Australia had been, the Commonwealth Government decided to establish a permanent, standing army. The Australian Regular Army (ARA) was created in 1947. Initially, the Commonwealth concentrated on adding new training structures to the existing, larger Army barracks that were allotted to the ARA. In Queensland, these were the Enoggera Barracks and Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. The smaller sites, such as at Indooroopilly, had to make do with their World War II era structures and adapt these for re-use. A site map dated 5 November 1948, shows that the Army retained use of 34 of the former ATIS Camp buildings For example, the former POW cells blocks at Indooroopilly were reutilised as offices, storage rooms and overnight cells for military prisoners being held prior to a court-martial. After World War II, all of the POW camps situated around Australia were demolished. At Cowra, perhaps the most significant Japanese POW Camp, all that remains are a few remnant concrete slabs, though the casualties from the Cowra Breakout are commemorated through a Japanese Peace Garden. Nothing remains of the Hay, Lovejoy, Murchison or Gaythorne POW Camps. The three POW interrogation cells at ‘Witton Barracks’ are very important as they are rare, surviving examples of purpose-built wartime prison cells built after the commencement of the Pacific War, to accommodate captured enemy military personnel, particularly Japanese POWs.

As there was almost full employment in Australia during the 1950s, 1960s and into the early 1970s, new, modern facilities were required to attract recruits to join the units of the modern Regular Australian Army. Gradually the old World War II-era Orderly Room/Office, Interrogation Building, Other Ranks Mess, Other Ranks Ablutions Block plus two of the five buildings from the POW Compound were demolished during the 1950s. An auction was held on 4 September 1957, to sell for removal the OR’s Mess Hall, Kitchen, Laundry & Shower Block, Boiler

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 4 House and Latrines. In 1958, a building (60 ft x 19 ft) was old for disposal to a local plumber.

Only three of the wartime brick POW cells were retained for multi-purpose usage. At ‘Witton Barracks’, the location of the Prisoners’ Compound with its three former POW brick holding cell blocks with their adjacent exercise yard determined the post war layout of other buildings. Thus the brick Q Store (1959) and the brick Transport Office (1959) were built to complete the enclosure of the four sides of the exercise yard. This was sealed and became the barracks parade ground. In 1986, a steel Maintenance Worksop was added to the perimeter of this parade ground. Thus all, but one, of the buildings remaining at Witton Barracks constitute a group of purpose-built, Army-designed buildings planned around a central parade ground. This is a principal characteristic of the design and composition of Australian Army barracks. The location of other buildings [or in this case one building – the ORs Mess (1967)] is standard as the Army expanded, it sought to utilise all the land on a particular site. Buildings constructed outside of a central parade ground can be found at Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera, at the former Gona Barracks at Kelvin Grove and were at the former Wacol Barracks at Enoggera and the Banyo Army Depot at Banyo.

During 1950, ‘Tighnabruaich’ was reconverted to a house and in January 1951, it became the residence of the General of Command, Northern Command. ‘Tighnabruaich’ fulfilled this role for 17 successive commanders over the next 47 years. Major General CC Secombe was the first occupant. He commanded all army units (both regulars and part-time Citizen Military Forces) within Queensland. In mid-1952, three fibro residences, designated as married quarters, were completed, with two placed in Lambert Road and one in Clarence Road. These married quarters were allotted to the immediate staff (e.g. his batman) that served the General of Command. In 1955, a tennis court and shed was placed beside ‘Tighnabruaich’. By 1957, the Northern Command Provost Company (military police) was based at what became known as Indooroopilly Barracks. In 1959, a brick transport Office/Garage was built to service the provost company’s vehicles and a brick Quartermaster’s (‘Q’) Store was built to house the company’s supplies. The two brick buildings constructed in 1959, along with the three brick former (1942) cell blocks enclosed the former exercise yard that was then sealed to become Indooroopilly Barracks’ central parade ground.

A semi-circular brick memorial wall enclosing a flagpole was added to the barracks site. This was a specific and standard feature of post war Australian Army barracks whether those allotted to the ARA or the part-time forces. A significant change occurred to the Indooroopilly Barracks in 1967. The nineteenth century ‘Witton House’ was demolished, and replaced by an architect-designed two-storey brick Provost Company Barracks and Offices. The new building provided a modern mess and sleeping quarters for the Company’s other ranks. The stain-glass fanlight from ‘Witton House’ was retained and incorporated into the design of the entrance to the new other Ranks (ORs) Mess building.

In 1974, a married quarters building was relocated from the Kelvin Grove Military Reserve onto the Indooroopilly site. This was the former Kelvin Grove Military Reserve’s Staff Officer’s quarters that was constructed on Sylvan Road (now Blamey Street) in 1934. The timber Interwar residence was shifted to its new location and given a few exterior modifications. In 1983, this residence was named ‘Blamey House’ after SWPA Land Forces Commander and Australia’s only Field Marshal Thomas Blamey. In 1986, a steel-framed Maintenance Workshop was added to the perimeter of the central parade ground. Throughout the 1980s, the Australian Army renamed many of its barracks. It was during this period that the site became known as Witton Barracks. As well, a number of commemorative plaques and memorial trees were placed around the site.

Prior to the sale of ‘Tighnabruaich’ component of Witton Barracks, the Department of Defence commissioned an assessment report in April 1998. Subsequently in July, the architect firm Allom Lovell produced a conservation and management plan for the entire site. As regards the commemorative plaques and memorial trees, the

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 5 conservation and management plan specifically recommended:

These things all contribute to the historical significance of the place and should be retained.1 5

In 1998, Witton Barracks was sub-divided so that a 1.19-hectare block of land containing ‘Tighnabruaich’ was sold to the future AMA (Qld) president David Molloy. The remaining 1.9526 hectares was retained for Witton Barracks with the main entrance changed to Lambert Road. The Provost Corps of the Australian regular Army was replaced by the Army Ready Reserve’s University of Queensland Regiment. The University of Queensland Regiment left Witton Barracks for Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera cMay 2009.

Statement of significance

Relevant assessment criteria

This is a place of local heritage significance and meets one or more of the local heritage criteria under the Heritage planning scheme policy of the Brisbane City Plan 2014. It is significant because:

Historical CRITERION A

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of the city's or local area’s history requisitioned for use by the joint US and Australian Allied Translation and Interpreter Section (ATIS) in 1942; purchased by the Australian Military Forces in 1945 and then remodeled for use by a unit of the new Australian Regular Army.

Rarity CRITERION B

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of the city’s or local area’s cultural heritage as the only ATIS Interrogation Centre built in Australia during World War Two; plus as it retains its purpose-built, contiguous interrogation cell blocks.

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 6 Representative CRITERION D

The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class or classes of cultural places containing army-designed buildings and a sealed parade ground that denote its use as a postwar ARA barracks.

Social CRITERION G

The place has a strong or special association with the life or work of a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons due to the commemorative plaques and memorial tree plantings instigated by the Australian Regular Army units based at Witton Barracks.

Social CRITERION G

The place has a strong or special association with the life or work of a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons as the wartime ATIS headquarters in Australia and as an Australian Provost Corps post-war barracks for over 50 years.

References

1. National Archives of Australia, Series BP378/1, Item Folder I to L, Folio 9 Indooroopilly – A.T.I.S .SWPA [plan number 1/1/5] 2. Gavin Long. The Final Campaigns, (Canberra: the Australian War Memorial, 1963) p.623 3. Australian Intelligence Corps Association, A short history of the Australian Intelligence Corps, http://www.austintcorps.asn.au/history.php?show=15 4. Ibid 5. Allom Lovell Architects Brisbane, ‘Tighnabruaich’ – A Conservation and Management Plan for the Department of Defence, (Brisbane: Allom Lovell, 1998), p.81

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 7 6. Allom Lovell Architects Brisbane, ‘Tighnabruaich’ – A Conservation and Management Plan for the Department of Defence, (Brisbane: Allom Lovell, 1998) 7. Brisbane City Council Aerial Photos 1946, 2001, 2005 8. Environmental Protection Agency, ‘Tighnabruaich’, citation 600229, 20 April 2010 9. Harry Gordon, Die like the Carp! – the story of the greatest prison escape ever. (Stanmore: Cassell Australia, 1978) 10. Dr. Jonathan (Jack) Ford, A Brief History of the Site Occupied by the Australian Army’s Gona Barracks, at Kelvin Grove, Queensland, (the Carson Group commissioned report, 1998) 11. Gavin Long, The Final Campaigns, (Canberra: the Australian War Memorial, 1963) 12. National Archives of Australia, Series BP378/1, Item Folder I to L Folio 8, Indooroopilly - AWAS Barracks [plan number1/1/5] 13. National Archives of Australia, Series BP378/1, Item Folder I to L, Folio 9 Indooroopilly – A.T.I.S .SWPA [plan number 1/1/5] 14. National Archives of Australia, Series J108/2, Item LS 1065, Indooroopilly – prisoners of war compound 15. Barbara Winter, Stalag Australia, (North Ryde, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1986)

Copyright Brisbane City Council

Note: This information has been prepared on the basis of evidence available at the time including an external examination of the building. The statement of significance is a summary of the most culturally important aspects of the property based on the available evidence, and may be re-assessed if further information becomes available. The purpose of this information is to provide an informed evaluation for heritage registration and information. This does not negate the necessity for a thorough conservation study by a qualified practitioner, before any action is taken which may affect its heritage significance.

Information prepared by — Brisbane City Council (page revised September 2020)

Date of Citation — July 2010 Page 8