cairns

The Redlynch Staging Camp, or 16 Australian Personnel Staging Camp was located in the vicinity of Harley Street, Redlynch. Also know as a Leave and Transit Depot, the Redlynch site saw vast numbers of troops pass through its gates, en-route to New Guinea and later Borneo and the South-West Pacific. The camp was utilised as a final organisational depot prior to overseas departure. Most often troops would undertake a spell in the area en-route to the Atherton Tablelands, which housed the 6th, 7th and 9th Division camps and training areas. Or, for those troops travelling down from the range by truck to link up with the railways at Redlynch Station. From Redlynch the troops would travel to Cairns fior embarkation on a troopship. The camp consisted of ast tented lines, simply designed to accommodate the troops. Whilst they were at the depot, they would be resupplied in preparation for departure. Should personnel become sick en-route, the 116 AGH and US Station Hospital was just south of the area. Known as Jungara Hospital, the facility was famous for scientific treatment and prevention of malaria. The camp was lucky to have a cinema, which entertained thousands of troops during the war to prevent stagnation, boredom, thus reducing the opportunity for less honorable pursuits. Source: www.ww2places.qld.gov.au/place?id=1235

In the 1850s, tens of thousands of Chinese people traveled to the Australian goldfields. Written accounts, artworks, photographs, and artifacts from a vivid picture of Chinese people in Australia at the time of the gold rush. This writing is complemented with the same photo of Kwong Sue Duk, his three wives, and 14 children. Yet, no other explanation is and info is provided. Source: www.sbs.com.au/gold/voices/

Kwong Sue Duk (1853-1929): His Life and Family in Australia + Kwong Sue Duk was a prosperous and generous Chinese gentleman who had four wives and twenty-four children and made Australia his chosen home, during and after the nineteenth-century northern Australian gold rush period. + Kwong Sue Duk was born in Guangdong Province, China, in 1853 and ventured abroad to the California goldfields at an early age to seek his fortune. After several years, he earned enough money for his family and passage home to Taishan, China, then embarked on education in Traditional Chinese Medicine. In 1874, Kwong Sue Duk married his first wife, Gee An Gow. + In 1875, after the birth of his first son (Kong Sing), Kwong soon heard of the gold rush of Australia and took a ship to Cooktown, North Queensland. He made several trips home to China and in 1879 a daughter (Jon Gee) was born. In 1882, Kwong arrived in the prospering township of Southport in the Northern Territory, where he eventually established a successful general trade store and real estate enterprise, operating under his business name, Sun Mow Loong. He became well respected and influential amongst the Chinese and European communities and was consulted over many matters concerning the Chinese. + In 1884, Kwong Sue Duk married his second wife, Chun Ngor Gwei, and obtained his naturalization certificate in Australia. Kwong moved to Palmerston (early Darwin) and in March 1887 he met and married his third wife, Yuen Yuk Lau. He returned to China and another daughter (Toy Mee) was born to his first wife. Not long after the birth, he traveled back to Australia to tend to his thriving businesses and to buy a number of rental properties. In 1888, Kwong's third wife gave birth to a daughter, Ly Kin. + He returned to China in 1889 and subsequently brought out his first wife and three children to Palmerston, where she later bore him another daughter (Sum Gwai). Kwong and his three wives lived in harmony and supported the family together. Over the next twelve years, eleven more children were born - Thomas, Edward, Leslie, Elsie, Fred, Lim, Maizie, William, Kathleen, Mary, and Lily. By 1902, there were sixteen Kwong children. Kwong prospered well in the remote Northern Territory, purchasing rental properties and at least five large gold mining leases. If you want to know more please follow the link: arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/stories/kwong...

Brilliant !