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Rocky Creek Hospital
5th Australian Camp Hospital, 2/2nd and 2/6th Army General Hospitals, 1st Australian Mobile Laundry Unit, 2/1st Australian Convalescent Depot
The Rocky Creek Hospital Complex was in operation from October 1942 until September 1945, and some 30,000 patients were treated at this facility. Located on the southern side of the Kennedy Highway, almost five kilometres north of Tolga, the site includes a theatre (entertainment) igloo and remnants of part of the 2/2nd Army General Hospital (AGH) on Frazer Road’s road reserve.
The main section of the igloo is corrugated iron clad, and has a curved auditorium roof 34 metres long and 17.4m wide. The interior trusses are made of native timber. Along each side of the curved wall there are seven dormer windows with iron sides and skillion roofs, fitted with window panes of Caneite. A gabled stage and backstage area, clad in corrugated asbestos cement sheeting, extends 8.6 metres from the southwest end of the igloo and is 22 metres wide.
Remnants of the 2/2nd AGH are visible either side of Frazer Road, which runs southeast from the igloo. These include ward concrete slabs with drainage and toilet outlets, bitumen road remnants, walkways, garden beds, terracing, and building material scatters. Traces of the roadways of 2/2nd AGH are also visible from the air, in the cane fields east of Frazer Road.
Place information
Location
Place type
Medical facility
History
The Atherton Tableland was chosen as the site of a major concentration of troops and stores during 1943, for a number of reasons. It was close to New Guinea; near a port (Cairns); had a cooler climate yet was suitable for training in jungle warfare; and it was a mostly malaria-free area for the hospitalisation of those suffering from tropical diseases. The physically exhausting terrain and climate of New Guinea meant that Australian troops had to be regularly rested and rehabilitated, preferably close to their theatre of operations.
The largest military hospital in north Queensland during World War II was built...
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