Mutiny in Townsville

Townsville is a city in Queensland, about halfway up the Coral Sea coastline. During World War II, it was home to an American military base used to launch Pacific campaigns, including the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The Battle of the Coral Sea was critical to Allied success in the Pacific. It took place over a few days in the spring of 1942, so its 70th anniversary will soon be upon us. American and Australian naval forces fought together against Japanese naval forces, which were attempting to occupy the critical South Pacific ports of Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. It was one of the first (if not the first) modern naval battles, in that the combatants' ships did not fire on one another. Instead, all of the combat, and ship-sinking, was done by carrier-based aircraft.

The battle itself was essentially a draw. Both sides lost some major ships, including aircraft carriers, before withdrawing. The Japanese were successful in taking over Tulagi but not Port Moresby. Most importantly, two Japanese fleet carriers involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway, which contributed significantly to this decisive American victory against the Japanese and to America's eventual conquest of the Japanese-occupied Pacific.

The Battle of the Coral Sea was also critical to Australia's freedom from Japanese occupation. In the dark days of 1941 and 1942, Australians had little doubt that their resource-rich nation was next on the Japanese target list after New Guinea. And they were right. The presence of the US Navy in Australia, especially in the Battle of the Coral Sea, probably prevented a bloody battle for control of Australia between the Japanese and the Australians. Certainly the Australian military forces were no match for the Japanese forces, but I doubt the Australian people would have ever surrendered. Regardless, Australians remain grateful for America's help in repulsing the Japanese, and this is the foundation for the modern American-Australian alliance.

All of this is background for a very interesting story that appeared in this morning's ABC News. It seems that the US brought about 600 African-American soldiers to the American military base at Townsville. The soldiers were part of the US Army Corps of Engineers and were tasked with building airfields at the base.

Locals have long wondered why then-US Congressman Lyndon B Johnson took the unusual step of visiting the Townsville base in 1942. Rumors swirled, and it turns out they were true. An Australian historian, Ray Holyoak, has discovered documents proving that the African-American soldiers mutinied.

According to the story, in response to racial taunting (or worse), the African-American soldiers took control of machine guns and anti-aircraft guns and fired them into tents containing white officers. Over 700 rounds were fired, and "at least one person was killed and dozens severely injured." Australian troops were called in, and it seems that both mutineers and officers were later convicted of (military) crimes. You can read all about it here.

Apparently, an American journalist embedded at the base reported on the conflict, but of course the story was suppressed by both the Australian and American governments and never made it into the press. It looks like there are a lot more details about this story still to be learned, and I will be following it with great interest. I will also be interested to see whether this story makes it into the US media and, you know, if it gets anything close to the attention devoted to Katy Kardashian or whatever celebrity nonsense passes for news these days in the US.