Camp Caves

Camp Caves was home to the US 24th Infantry Division, part of the US I Corps, between September 1943 and early 1944. The camp, north of Rockhampton along the Bruce Highway and the North Coast Railway line, stretched from Etna Creek Road to Alligator Creek. Another I Corps Division, the 41st Infantry Division, had arrived at Rockhampton in July 1942 and was accommodated at Camp Rockhampton, between Moores Creek northwards along the Bruce Highway almost to Parkhurst; either side of the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road before the intersection with Artillery Road; and south of Artillery Road between the Rockhampton-Yeppoon Road and Sandringham. Other camps in the vicinity of Rockhampton included Camp Nerimbera, Camp Thompson’s Point, Camp Keppel Sands, Camp Yeppoon and Camp Wallaroo. The main combat units of the 24th Division included the 19th, 21st and 34th Infantry Regiments, 3rd Engineers Battalion and the 11th, 13th, 52nd and 63rd Field Artillery (FA) Battalions. After moving to Goodenough Island (New Guinea) in January 1944, the 24th Division engaged in an amphibious assault on Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea in April 1944, as part of Operation Reckless.