Information
Formerly undeveloped land, this site was home to the major US Army ordnance depot in Brisbane during World War II. It was used for storing small parts supplies, and army equipment and captured enemy items were also repaired there. Any trucks and jeeps found to be unrepairable were crushed and recycled as scrap metal. The US Army erected prefabricated warehouses there, including four large ‘igloos’ that were used for various purposes, including a small parts store, a reconditioning plant, and a carpenter’s shop.
The Americans lived on-site in Bell tents. At the end of the war the depot was handed over to the Australian Army, who retained it until it was sold and demolished in the 1980s.
Citations
Queensland Government, ‘Queensland WWII Historic Places’, USASOS Coopers Plains Depot (http://www.ww2places.qld.gov.au/places/?id=572), sighted 22 July 2017; Coopers Plains Local History Group, ‘A Closer Look at Coopers Plains’, Brisbane, Coopers Plains Local History Group, 1993.
Image Citations
Repacking cases at Coopers Plains Sub Depot, 1946. Australian War Memorial. Record number. 126991.
Map References
Qimagery. Brisbane City Council Series 1946. Scale: 1:15,900.