provide a coast watch service for the treacherous waters off Townsville and the Great Barrier Reef.
Other functions were added, including receiving weather reports from
the Willis Island
meteorological station, receiving mail messages transmitted by AWA staff
on Willis Island, and acting as a relay station for Thursday Island
and Cooktown radio stations.
Inside view of the operating room at Townsville Radio, c. 1928
Minimal, but cosy. The high tension wires running below the ceiling
would have selected against the type of workmate prone to waving their
arms around in moments of excitement.
After 1931,
Townsville Radio replaced Cooktown Radio as the main relay station for
messages from New Guinea to Sydney. Aeradio services were also established,
and continued to be based at the station until 1942.
During World War II, Townsville took part in the Coast Watchers Scheme.
The
headquarters for the Coast Watching organisation for the south~west
Pacific area moved to
Townsville from Port Moresby; they remained there until November 1942.
Messages were received from outlying posts in the northern islands which
were relayed to
Port Moresby and on to Townsville. A Naval Intelligence Officer was
also stationed at
Townsville early in the war, and Area Combined Headquarters was established
by mid-1941 as an intelligence gathering centre.
A posting to Townsville was welcomed by many of the men in the CRS.
The station was
situated in a pleasant town with a warm climate and they could take
advantage of Townsville's social life and sporting facilities.
