A particularly special Remembrance Day service will be held at The University of Queensland (UQ) Gatton this Thursday November 11, 60 years since the departure from the campus of the first US Army Hospital established in Australia.
Current and past servicemen from both countries, including members of the RAAF, Army Reserve, RSL, Legacy and the American Legion will join current and former UQ staff and students, school children, American expatriates and members of the public to remember those who have lost their lives in war.
The gathering will also recognise one of the most significant periods in the region’s history, two-years during World War II within which the Gatton Campus was home for nearly 20,000 convalescing US soldiers and medical staff.
Campus Director Professor Roger Swift said the occasion would be remembered in perpetuity with the commemorative planting of a descendent of the original Lone Pine tree near the Foundation Building, which served as the headquarters for the hospital.
“On March 15, 1942, the US Army requisitioned the Gatton Campus and established the 153rd Station Hospital, the first operational United States (US) Army Hospital in Australia,” Professor Swift said.
“When this unit departed for Port Moresby on July 10, 1942, the facility was transferred to the US Army 105th General Hospital, which operated until July 1944 as the primary hospital in the South West Pacific during General Macarthur’s campaign.”
The two years when the US Army was located at Gatton is a significant period in the history of the Campus and equally significant for Harvard University, from which the 105th drew almost its entire medical staff.
“The University of Queensland is very proud of the historical links we share with the US and Harvard University and the important role the Gatton Campus played,” Professor Swift said.
“The contribution made by both hospitals’ medical staff to the war effort and the medical profession during the US Army’s time at Gatton was immense.
"As well as treating nearly 19,000 patients, the hospitals provided medical staff to support the military’s forward deployments and developed particular expertise in the treatment of injuries and illness in the tropics.
“The Americans also made an enormous contribution to the local community during those wartime years and to the development of the Gatton campus, installing the sewage system, landscaping, roads and other infrastructure that is still used today.
“As we pause to remember the sacrifice of all those who have served and died in war this Remembrance Day, we will also remember those casualties who recuperated or died at the Gatton Campus as well as those dedicated medical staff and others who treated, supported and cared for them.”
UQ Gatton’s Remembrance Day service will begin at 10.30am at the Memorial flagpole, adjacent to the Foundation Building, UQ Gatton Campus.
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