gracepoland

Nurse Grace Poland at the microscope, Hope Vale mission

from State Library of Queensland

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  Every photo is a real treasure of hidden knowledge. If it was not for this photo I would never discover the painful sides of the life of Australia's First Nations. History shapes us into who we are today.

• Vesna Verencevic said:

  According to an Honours thesis by Therese Forde (1990), Army Intelligence regarded the Lutheran Superintendent (George Schwartz, who was of German descent) at Hope Vale with suspicion, and he was taken into internment on 17 May 1942. Forde writes that when the army came to Hope Vale the mission itself was levelled: 'crops of maize, sweet potatoes and fruit were flattened, and the R.A.A.F. built an aerodrome and runway on the site' (p.41) Forde writes that while some elderly people were sent to Palm Island from Hope Vale, the majority were taken to Woorabinda in an arduous journey 'by steamer, train and cattle truck'. A Queensland Government website states that 60 of the Cape Bedford people died while at Woorabinda. The high death rate amongst the Cape Bedford people was partly attributable to inadequate housing and medical care at Woorabinda. The residents from Hope Vale were not equipped with clothing, blankets or bedding that was appropriate for winter conditions in southern Queensland. Forde writes that many people died from pneumonia shortly after their removal from Hope Vale. Source: www.findandconnect.gov.au/guide/qld/QE00829