CWA Shark-proof swimming enclosure

The photo below comes to us courtesy of brothers Tony and Michael Christensen and shows the shark-proof swimming enclosure that was erected on The Strand in Townsville in the 1930s, through the efforts of the Country Women’s Association (CWA).  The photo was taken in the 1950s, so the enclosure is looking a bit worn out, but the story behind why and how it came to be built is an interesting one.

CWA shark-proof swimming enclosure, 1956.
Photo courtesy: Tony Christensen and Michael Christensen.

The first of a number of holiday huts owned by the CWA on The Strand was built in 1924 at a cost of £350, which had been donated by Mr Daking Smith, of Charters Towers.  In honour of the donation, the hut was named ‘Daking Smith Hut’ and was officially opened in September 1924 by the Governor General Lord Forster.  The new hut enabled CWA members in the north and west to holiday at the ‘seaside’, something many families had not previously been able to enjoy.  The first family to occupy the new hut was to be a family of ten, and all of the children had never before seen the sea.  That same year the CWA constructed a small rock pool for children to swim in but it was constantly silting up with sand, so wasn’t very practical.

Opening of CWA Hut at Kissing Point, Townsville.
Photo courtesy: CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

On the 4^th January 1933, a shocking fatality occurred opposite the CWA huts.  A 38 year-old shearer’s cook named Stanley Victor Locksley, who was holidaying from Hughenden, was attacked by a shark while swimming at Kissing Point.  The large shark (thought to have been a grey nurse shark) inflicted massive stomach wounds and Locksley died from his injuries.  Ironically, at the annual meeting of the CWA the previous year, a resolution was submitted by the Prairie branch ‘that steps be taken to collect money for a safe bathing enclosure’. The resolution had been carried unanimously.

The attack on Locksley ‘clearly demonstrated’ to the executive of the CWA that ‘bathing in the sea without protection, was utterly out of the question’.  Moves were then made to begin canvassing support for the erection of a shark-proof swimming enclosure.  Because the enclosure would benefit northern and western visitors to Townsville’s CWA huts, branches of the CWA right throughout north Queensland donated funds towards the swimming enclosure. The following donations were noted in the Queenslander on 6^th April 1933:  Home Hill, £5; Richmond, £10; Stone River, £2; Kairi, £1/1/- ; Bowen, half a guinea; Hughenden, £10.  Other branches that indicated they intended to donate, included Prairie and Finch Hatton. 

Somewhat surprisingly, the CWA initially encountered opposition from the City Council, who opposed the construction of a swimming enclosure opposite the huts.  The council was against ‘further obstructions breaking the continuity of the beach’.  To placate the CWA, the council offered to provide all occupants of CWA huts with free admission to the city baths (located further along The Strand).  But this did not dampen the CWA’s resolve to provide their members with a safe swimming enclosure.  Plans and specifications were drawn up by honourable architect C.D. Lynch, and after much opposition the authority of the Governor-in-Council was obtained on 9^th June 1933.  By this time the City Council, Harbour Board and Marine Department had finally agreed to the project. 

The enclosure was erected by volunteer labour and with the help of assistance from local businesses who provided trucks to carry timber piles as well as help from the Council and Harbour Board (who provided a pile driver).  Mr St. John Robinson conducted three refreshment booths and catered for a private luncheon for 60 people at his rodeo, and donated the proceeds to the project.  The enclosure itself measured 70 yards by 40 yards and was made of large ti-tree piles, spaced 10ft apart, with specially-made, heavy duty 4 ½ inch-thick chain mesh.   

The swimming enclosure was officially opened on the 9^th September 1933 by Mr T.M. Barry in front of a large crowd.  It was named the ‘Ethel Crowther Bathing Enclosure’ after Mrs Ethel Crowther who was President of the CWA at the time. 

Tragically, in October 1951, a 43 year-old waterside worker named Albert Kenealey was killed by a shark while swimming in the enclosure. The man was reportedly swinging on the wire fencing when he was attacked by the shark, which tore off his right leg.  The man disappeared from sight, but his body was later found on the beach about 20 yards from the enclosure. 

CWA Huts, Kissing Point, Townsville, 1932.
Photo courtesy: CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

Sources:

Townsville Daily Bulletin, 22 September 1924, p. 4; 6 September 1933, pp. 3 & 12; 11 September 1933, p. 5.

The Queenslander, 6 April 1933, p. 35; 21 September 1933, p. 37.

Brisbane Courier, 18 February 1933, p. 17.

Cairns Post, 5 January 1933, p. 6; 23 October 1951, p. 3.

War Memorials in the Landscape - Part 2

War memorials in north Queensland are surprisingly varied.  Many are practical or functional, and there are some that are actually unique in their design, or function.  The types of war memorials that have been dedicated from around the turn of the twentieth century up until the present day have included (and this list is certainly not meant to be exhaustive) – but they include:  memorial gates, arches, fountains (both decorative & for drinking), flagpoles, gardens, swimming pools, trees, sports ovals, halls and public buildings.  Also honour boards were often erected as well as the memorials themselves. 

Honour Board inside the former Townsville Railway Station.  Photo: T. Fielding, 2013.

Three unusual memorials

In other parts of Queensland - in Gigoomgan in the Wide Bay region there’s a memorial wooden bridge (which was privately funded and erected on a public road), and in Mount Morgan there’s a memorial bell hanging outside the local scout hut.  It’s called the Mafeking Bell and it commemorates the Relief of Mafeking, during the Boer War in South Africa (1899-1902).  The bell itself was cast from pennies that were donated by local school children, so it’s quite unusual as a war memorial.  In Springsure, the state school there is home to the only World War I memorial fountain located in the grounds of a state school in Queensland.  The fountain is dedicated to past students of Springsure State School who served in World War I.  The names are listed on plaques at the base of the fountain, 79 in total, and somewhat unusually, the list includes first names as well, instead of just the usual initials.

Springsure Memorial Fountain. Photo: Queensland War Memorial Register

War Memorials in Townsville

Being home to a large defence base, Townsville is home to many war memorials.  There’s a memorial in Townsville for almost every conflict and also peace-keeping missions as well.  All arms of the defence forces are represented.  For a complete list of war memorials in Townsville, go to Queensland War Memorial Register and search for Townsville as the location.  Two of the more modern ones include the Battle of the Coral Sea Memorial and the ANZAC Way Memorial, both located in ANZAC Memorial Park, on The Strand.

Cenotaph (Soldier's Memorial), The Strand, Townsville, showing original clock faces, no date.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

ANZAC Memorial Park on the Strand is also home to the cenotaph, where ANZAC Day ceremonies are held.  What we now call the cenotaph, in ANZAC Park, was originally called the ‘Soldier’s Memorial’.  Built in 1923-24, by local stonemasons Melrose and Fenwick, what we now call the cenotaph, is a war memorial that was originally also a clocktower.  It was once a functional clock.  Standing at just over 7.5 metres tall, it’s made of large blocks of grey granite, which sit atop a marble base. At the base of the tower, marble tablets with lead lettering list the names of World War I casualties.  The clock faces are no longer on the memorial. 

At the former Townsville West State School on Ingham Road is the Soldier’s Memorial Gates, dedicated in 1921. The Memorial Gates are set into a recess in the Ingham Road fence.  The gateway is a free-standing masonry archway with a pair of wrought iron gates that include the words ‘Soldiers Memorial Gate of Honour’.  On the cornice of the masonry gate, are the words ‘Their Name Liveth For Ever’, with the dates ‘1914’ and ‘1919’ on each pier.  Mounted just inside the archway are two white marble tablets entitled ‘Honour Roll, Townsville West State School’. Each tablet is inscribed with about 100 names.

West End State School Memorial Gate, 1971.  Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

After World War II, the memorials erected seemed to change to more utilitarian - or useful - memorials.  I’m thinking particularly here of swimming pools – such as Tobruk Memorial Baths, Kokoda Memorial Pool and Long Tan Memorial Pool.  These are example of memorials that are both functional and commemorative.  Even buildings are memorials.  There are lots of RSL clubs that have been dedicated as memorial clubs, as well as many memorial halls, a few hospitals and even churches and chapels.

Tobruk Memorial Baths, The Strand, Townsville.  Photo: T. Fielding, 2012.

Have war memorials always been about reflecting on the loss of life associated with wars?

Strangely enough, no.  The Boer War memorials, in particular, or more correctly – ‘monuments’ – were erected as reflections of pride in each town or state’s contribution to the ‘Empire’.  But the loss of Australian lives was minimal in that conflict (about 500), compared to the Great War – that is, World War I – where 60,000 Australian lives were lost.  The sheer loss of life and the national grief that followed World War I sparked the trend in increased numbers of memorials.  They became ‘sites’, so to speak, of shared mourning.