Camp Oxley
Base Section 3 Engineers, 28th Chemical Warfare Coy, US Army
- Type
-
Military camp
- Region
Brisbane City
Blunder Road, Oxley 4075
Camp Oxley appears to have been a small US Army camp located on Blunder Rd, Oxley. It is likely to been associated with Camps Darra and Freeman and may have been constructed when these camps reached capacity.
History
Camp Oxley was constructed in 1943 and was first occupied by the African-American troops of the 28th Chemical Decontamination Company, (28th Cml. Decon. Coy). The primary role of a decontamination company was to 'counter the threat of crippling gas attacks on rear area service facilities.' By October 1943 a typical chemical decontamination company consisted of four 33-man platoons with a total strength of 120 men. The smallest operating unit of the company was a 10-man section.
Photographic evidence shows the 28th in Brisbane was operating an MIIA1 decontaminating unit. This apparatus consisted of a truck-mounted sprayer with a 400-gallon tank that could distribute a heated decontaminate of bleach and water. The 28th is known to have worked at Crosby Park, providing decontamination demonstrations as part of the training carried out by the Chemical Warfare School. Being a mobile unit it is likely to have visited other US Army facilities in south-east Queensland as required. When not engaged in training the Company provided a ready labour force for facilities such as the Darra Ordnance Depot.
The 577th Ordnance Ammunition Company, also an African-American company, is known to have occupied Camp Oxley after October 1943 upon its return from Townsville. The men of the 577th primarily worked at the Darra ammunition depot.
Source/comments
B E. Kleber And D Birdsell, The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat, Center Of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1966
R Marks, Brisbane - WW2 v Now, Vol 5 “Crosby Park chemical w’fare depot", Brisbane, 2005