by During World War II in Australia, a shortage of military bases led to a creative solution: thousands of troops at the MCG.
World War II came to the Pacific on November 7, 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. The United States, and Great Britain, declared war on them the next day.
The US was already considered a powerful military force, but they faced some initial disadvantages.
Japan had been fighting continuously in southeast Asia since 1937, and had a highly capable military, with battle hardened troops. Their war materials, aircraft especially, were also world leading.
Similar to Europe, the war initially went poorly for the Allies, as the Japanese Army advanced rapidly through southern Asia.
A chain reaction of events now took place.
In January 1942, Japan invaded the Philippines and Burma. In February, Britain was forced to surrender their great fortress at Singapore.
This had previously been considered impregnable, Churchill called the surrender, ‘the worst disaster in British military history’.
In March, General Douglas Macarthur, Supreme US commander in the region, was forced to evacuate with his troops from the Philippines. Defiant, as he departed he famously told the press, ‘I shall return’.
Nevertheless, this was a shocking blow for US pride.
The Japanese Army now looked to Papua New Guinea, and beyond that, Australia. Their momentum appeared unstoppable.
President Roosevelt ordered Macarthur to Australia, to regroup. A large number of US troops would join him there, the country seen as a secure base near hostile territory.
American troops were stationed in every Australian state, with the largest contingents near the major ports in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, and the Northern Territory. Over the next two years, more than one million US military personnel would pass through the country.
Macarthur initially set up his headquarters in Melbourne. The US Navy were based there as well, Macarthur and Vice Admiral Herbert F. Leary worked out of the Trustee Building at 401 Collins Street.
Some 30 000 US troops would be stationed in the city.
Accommodating such an influx proved a logistical challenge. Some were placed on local military bases, but Australia had introduced conscription in February, and these were heavily utilised by local forces.
For the officers, several local hotels were rented in their entirety. But for the enlisted men, lodgings and a place to conduct drills were in short supply.
Any open, public space was considered for military requisition. Royal Park, in the city’s inner north, was claimed quickly, and shortly saw thousands of troops encamped there.
On April 2, Melbourne Cricket Club Secretary Vernon Ransford received formal notice that the MCG, Australia’s largest sporting arena, was required by the Commonwealth Government. Ransford had 5 days to organise the club’s departure, before handing the ground over to the Quartermaster of the United States Armed Forces.
The MCG was to become a temporary military camp.
The first troops to use the ground were from the US Army’s Fifth Air Force. They utilised it as accommodation, while they waited to be deployed at air bases around the country.
They also provided the camp with a name: ‘Camp Murphy’. This was in honour of Colonel William Murphy, of the US Army Signal Corps, who had recently been killed when his B-18 Bolo bomber was shot down over Java.
The Fifth Air Force stayed at the ground until October, when they were replaced by 1 500 members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). They used the ground as a flight training school and would stay there until the new year.
Early in 1943, the First Division of the US Marine Corp (USMC) moved into the ground. The oldest and largest active-duty division in the USMC, this was an elite fighting force, nicknamed ‘The Old Breed’ due to their depth of experience.
Prior to arriving in Melbourne, the First Division had been engaged in the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Guadalcanal was an island in the Solomon Islands, 2 000 kilometres northwest of Australia. Japan had occupied it on their advance southeast; in their first major offensive of the war, the US decided to retake it to disrupt their progress.
The resulting battle would see some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Heavily entrenched, and told it would be dishonourable to surrender, the Japanese fought furiously, almost to the last man.
In difficult jungle terrain, the battle raged for six months; more than 25 000 soldiers were killed in combat, thousands more died of tropical disease.
The island was finally captured by the US on 9 February, 1943. Afterwards, the First Division was sent to Melbourne to recuperate.
The marines began arriving at the MCG in early February; in all, 3 600 would be stationed there.
The officers were assigned rooms in the Members pavilion, that had previously been used by cricket and football officials. Some of the sergeants set themselves up in the player’s dressing rooms.
The enlisted men would be accommodated in the grandstands.
‘All the seats were removed from the lower tier of the Grey Smith Stand, with double and triple-decker metal bunks being screwed to the wooden floors. The entire area had to be wired to provide electricity, and tarpaulins enclosed the front.’
– The MCG and WWII, ‘Ram’ magazine
Other alterations were made, including the installation of banks of additional showers, and the construction of three large kitchens under the southern stand. Two mess halls were built, and troops could cook their own rations in an area near the scoreboard.
The playing surface was used for drills, and recreation.
With their primary ground out of action, the local football league had to make alternative arrangements. The VFL moved regular season games out to the suburbs, and shared three Grand Finals, 1943 – 1945, between Princes Park and Junction Oval.
One of these was the notorious ‘bloodbath’ (read more about this in my history of the Grand Final, here).
While makeshift, the military accommodations at the MCG were considered above average, and the ground gained a reputation as a ‘haven’. Part of this was due to a relaxed atmosphere: the First Division had seen heavy fighting, and their commanders were keen to give them some down time.
Early in March, a get together between local and US troops was organised at the ground, which turned into a boozy afternoon of camaraderie. The new arrivals quickly felt at ease.
Troops came and went from the MCG as they pleased, and explored the city. ‘Young and Jackson’s’, a pub opposite Flinders Street station, became a popular hangout for US personnel, as did the dance halls of St Kilda, a short tram ride away.
The Prince of Wales Hotel, in St Kilda, had also been taken over as a US Officers Club.
The soldiers brought a touch of overseas glamour with them, which worked its charm on the local women. After the war, some 15 000 Australian ‘war brides’ would make their way back to America, with their new husbands.
The Marines departed the MCG later in 1943, and returned to the theatre of combat. Control of the ground then returned to the RAAF, who used it to house personnel and as an embarkation depot.
The war gradually turned the Allies way, and by the end of 1943 the Japanese were in retreat. As promised, Macarthur returned to the Philippines in October 1944, wading ashore in a moment carefully staged for the press.
As the frontlines moved further away from Australia, the troops stationed there began to depart, following the conflict.
Although the RAAF would retain control of the MCG until the end of the war, in 1945. By then, some 200 000 troops had spent time living at the ground.
One of these was American Mitchell Paige, who later won the Congressional Medal of Honour. In 1977, Colonel Page returned to the MCG, where he and MCC President Sir Albert Chadwick unveiled a commemorative plaque recognising the Americans’ time at the ground.
The plaque can be found on the outer wall of the ground. Some marines stationed in Melbourne during the war later described it as, ‘the best liberty port in the world.’
