With Adrian Dalgarno
During the 1930s, Bribie was becoming a holiday area for people from the country. A lot went to Redcliffe for their holidays and thence to Bribie via the “Koopa” which berthed at Redcliffe jetty en route from Brisbane. The “Koopa” was the only way to reach Bribie in those days. Quite a tourist industry became associated with the visits of the “Koopa” just prior to WWII.When booking a ticket on the “Koopa” at Brisbane’s Petrie Bight, there were two choices: to Bribie, meaning the Still Water side, or to the Ocean Beach, which entitled the visitor to a trip across the island in an old grandma vehicle, a converted International truck with solid rubber tyres. The road across the island varied between sand and very coarse metal and the resulting ride to the Ocean Beach was a very bumpy affair.
Cyprus (or Bribie island) pine trees were grown by Bribie locals and many used hedges of them instead of wooden fences. They were also of use commercially, and a lot of Cyprus was milled in these early days, especially by Norm Thurechts’ mills at Redcliffe & Caboolture. He had the license to cut it from Bribie, and had it rafted across to the mainland. After a tree had been cut, a crown stamp was put on the remaining butt so that every so often, inspectors could come to count the crowns, measure the butts, and thus calculate the royalty due.
There were a couple of big dairy farms on Bribie in these days and they supplied milk to the mainland. As well as the Bestmann’s, another belonged to the Freemans, being known to the local children as Bessie’s dairy or Free’s dairy. The dividing line between the two dairies was the road from the Still Water side to the Ocean Beach.
Near Poverty Creek, just across from Donneybrook, was an area known as The Stockyards, appropriately, because a lot of fat cattle were run there in the early days. It is here, too, that the cattle were swum across to the mainland markets at low tide. Up until about 1980, a lot of the old stockyard fences and slides were still in existence, but erosion has since disposed of the remains.
With the commencement of World War II in 1939, Fort Bribie was established on the Ocean Beach side and two 6 inch naval guns were installed to protect the entrance to Moreton Bay. The area also served as an important Australian communications base. Gates were erected about a third of the way across the island, and admission was impossible without an official pass. Naturally, such a set up necessitated all civilians leaving the Ocean Beach.
It is not generally realized that during the war Bribie was also a large base for both American and Australian small ships, such as antisubmarine vessels and gunboats. The channel at Toorbul Point had been dredged to accommodate such vessels. Although there was an American base and an Australian base at Toorbul point, the majority of ships were American.
During these war years, Adrian Dalgarno spent his childhood, moving between Sandgate and, whenever the opportunity arose, visits to his grandparents on the Still Water side of Bribie. Adrian can remember seeing three big American destroyers in the Pumicestone Passage. He also remembers seeing an American escort vessel beached on Skirmish Point for several weeks.
Adrian recalls: “We used to go over to Bribie at every opportunity, and being a kid I used to like getting a ride on a Jeep. There was a big American presence on Bribie: a lot of blasting in the Passage to provide accommodation for thirty or forty boats.
“The “Koopa” had been slipped at Toorbul Point for conversion to war service, and Terry Green, a spirited local of Irish extract, used to walk along the beach each day and abuse the Americans for converting the “Koopa”: “Leave the old girl alone!” he would threaten, and of course the yanks would bait him.
“With so many personnel involved, there were always incidents occurring. Once, an American barge took an Australian tank and crew of five across from Toorbul to Bribie. Unfortunately the tank was let off too early, and sank in thirty feet of water. Tragically, the five crew members drowned. Only the tank’s pennant could be seen above water. A plaque was erected to commemorate the loss, just where the fish market is now located.
“The “Otter” and “Doomba” used to run from Brisbane to Bribie and then Cowan with the mail. Sometimes, I would take the trip to Cowan and back with my grandfather, Jim Holyoake. He was a huge man and had been a member of the Black Watch in India all his life. His attitude to underlings especially coloured races left a lot to be desired. It was the same towards the Americans. One day on our return from Cowan, the “Otter” was rammed by an American landing barge and grandfather was sprayed by a lot of softdrinks which were broken near where we were sitting. Being a gin drinker he was further shocked at the waste, and on reaching Brisbane he went straight to the top brass and complained. The affair continued for some time. Such incidents were common around our crowded bay at this time.”
Extract from ‘Moreton Bay People – The Complete Collection’.
Moreton Bay History 