Cape York Telegraph Station

Cape York Post Office

During August 1942 the post office was visited by a detachment of the 2/7 Cavalry Regiment, known as Cobb Force. The unit, made up of about 80 armed personnel equipped with heavy military trucks, had set out from the south to determine whether the Cape York telegraph track could be traversed by vehicle, and also to investigate for any signs of Japanese activity on the Cape.

Place information

Location

Punsand Bay

Cape York, QLD 4870

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Place type

Radar/signal station

History

Paterson Telegraph Office—?the final station in the link from Cooktown to Thursday Island—?was originally located at Paterson Hill, near Peak Point. The undersea cable connecting the station with Thursday Island was laid in November 1886 and opened in 1887. Due to continuing problems with the cable link, Paterson Telegraph Office was moved in 1894 to the present site on Punsand Bay, where it became the Cape York Post and Telegraph Office. At the same time, a new cable route to Thursday Island by way of Horn Island was selected. The post office remained staffed during World War II.

In 1943 a...

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