The Battle of Brisbane was a riot with United States military personnel on one side and Australian servicemen and civilians on the other, in Brisbane, Queensland's capital city, on 26 and 27 November 1942, during which time the two nations were allies. By the time the violence had been quelled, one Australian soldier was dead and hundreds of Australians and U.S. servicemen were injured. News reports of the incident were suppressed in the United States and subject to wartime censorship in Australia, with local and interstate newspapers prohibited from mentioning the reasons behind the riot in their reports of the event.
Background
thumb|Early 1942; U.S. military police outside the Central Hotel, Brisbane. (Source: Sunday Truth, Brisbane/State Library of Queensland.)
thumb|U.S. servicemen march through [[King George Square, Brisbane, circa 1943.]]
From 1942 until 1945 during the Pacific War, up to one million U.S. military personnel, which included around 100,000 African-Americans, were stationed at various locations throughout eastern Australia. These forces included personnel awaiting deployment to combat operations elsewhere in the Pacific, troops resting, convalescing, and/or refitting from previous combat operations, or military personnel manning Allied military bases and installations in Australia. Many U.S. personnel were stationed in and around Brisbane, which was the headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander, South West Pacific Area. Many buildings and facilities around Brisbane were given over to the U.S. military's use. Brisbane found it difficult to cope, starting in December 1941, as their population of roughly 330,000 increased by 80,000 during the peak period. The city was fortified, schools were closed, brownouts enforced, crime increased, and many families sold up and moved inland.
At the height of the Pacific war, Australian Prime Minister John Curtin exploited American journalists to engender U.S. enthusiasm for his country's defence. This showed a new way for leaders of allied nations to utilise American press interaction to influence the White House during the war. "As a former journalist, Curtin extended his candid press talks and the fledgling Australian radio and newsreel media to involve U.S. reporters in his campaign for an escalated offensive from America’s Southwest Pacific headquarters in Brisbane, Australia," says Coatney, who wrote about the subject in his journal. Curtin still lost American press support he needed in order to prevent some of Australia's troops from fighting in the Battle of Burma.
Access to goods and services
Although the military personnel from Australia and the United States usually enjoyed a cooperative and convivial relationship, there were tensions between the two forces that sometimes resulted in violence. and U.S. dress uniforms were seen as more attractive than those of the Australians. The U.S. Army provided silk stockings and candy to American troops which they handed out to Australian women, as well as U.S. Army rations, in a time when Australians were on a poor diet due to rationing of food to civilians. This resulted in U.S. servicemen not only enjoying success in their pursuit of the few available women but also led to many Americans marrying Australian women, facts greatly resented by the Australians. In mid-1942, a reporter walking along Queen Street counted 152 local women in company with 112 uniformed Americans, while only 31 women accompanied 60 Australian soldiers. That it was thought necessary for the media to report this situation indicates the effect of the American presence. About 12,000 Australian women married American soldiers by the end of the war. "They're overpaid, oversexed, and over here" was a common phrase used by Australians around this time and is still recognised by some in the 21st century.
Opinions of each other's soldiers
Another factor in the 'battle' was the difference between the troops and the provost corps or military police. Australian military police were usually forced into a role no one else wanted and were seen as misfits. This caused the Aussie Digger to have little to no respect for them. A rule stated that the military police had to be unarmed. In Brisbane, by contrast, the military police were Americans, and had the right to be armed, and were seen as arrogant.
Views on race
While race was not a direct causative factor in this instance, it has been cited as a cause of tension between Australians and Americans and as a contributing factor. This tension arose from the treatment and segregation of the African-American soldiers by the U.S. military. Racial issues and segregation also played a substantial role in conflict between locals and Americans in both New Zealand and Britain. While in civilian life white Australians treated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in largely the same way as white Americans treated black Americans, institutional discrimination was "paternalistic", varying significantly from state-to-state. Despite official policy ostensibly barring the enlistment of indigenous Australians, in practice, a more flexible approach was adopted that saw many indigenous Australians enlist. Segregation was not overtly practiced and most Indigenous Australians received equal pay, were promoted on merit and were generally accepted and treated as equals.
Troops of the U.S. 208th Coast Artillery rioted for 10 nights in March 1942, fighting against African-Americans from the 394th Quartermaster Battalion. This was attributed to white American resentment towards African-American access to dance halls and for associating with "white girls on the streets of Brisbane and in houses of prostitution". As a result, U.S. military authorities segregated African-Americans, restricting them to the south side of the Brisbane River. However, trouble continued with a major race riot at Wacol, knife fights in South Brisbane and American military police assaulting or killing black troops simply for crossing the Brisbane River. This further incited the Australians, whose culture towards military police was notably different.
Events immediately prior
According to authorities, up to 20 brawls a night were occurring between Australian and American servicemen. In the weeks leading up to the Battle of Brisbane there were several major incidents. These included a gun battle between an American soldier and Australian troops near Inkerman which killed one Australian and the American; an Australian soldier was shot by an American MP in Townsville; an American serviceman and three Australian soldiers in Brisbane's Centenary Place were involved in a confrontation which killed one Australian; an American soldier was arrested for stabbing three servicemen and a Brisbane woman near the Central railway station; twenty Australians fought American submariners and members of the U.S. Navy Shore Patrol, mauling them badly. On the morning of the battle, an American MP batoned an Australian soldier in Albert Street.
Battle
First night: 26 November 1942
220px|thumb|right|The American Red Cross Services Club, at the corner of [[Adelaide Street, Brisbane|Adelaide Street and Creek Street, along with the nearby U.S. military Post Exchange (PX), was attacked by Australian servicemen and civilians, on 26–27 November 1942.]] According to Australian historian Barry Ralph, When O'Sullivan raised his baton as if to strike one of the Australians, they attacked him. More MPs arrived, blowing whistles, while nearby Australian servicemen and several civilians rushed to help their countrymen. Outnumbered, the MPs retreated to the PX, carrying the injured O'Sullivan. Stein went with them.
In the meantime, a crowd of up to 100 Australian servicemen and civilians had gathered and began to besiege the PX, throwing bottles and rocks and breaking windows. Police Inspector Charles Price arrived but could do nothing as the crowd continued to grow, with the American Red Cross Club diagonally opposite the PX also coming under siege.