The 80th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific (VP) Day on 15 August 2025 provides an opportunity to reflect on the role played by a former US Army radio receiving station on Redlands Coast.
The WWII Radio Receiving Station at Birkdale Community Precinct was one of the first places in Australia to receive the message that the Japanese had surrendered, signalling World War II was over.
Redland City Mayor Jos Mitchell said VP Day provided an opportunity to acknowledge the significant war efforts that took place within Redland City during the war.
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“The radio receiving station was built in 1943 by US Army Signal Corps and the site was regarded as one of the most important South Pacific communications centres supporting the Allied Forces,” the Mayor said.
“US officers based at the station received all incoming telecommunications from the Pacific and relayed them to US General Douglas MacArthur’s headquarters in Brisbane.
“Radio antennas arranged in a rhombic, or diamond, shape allowed General MacArthur to receive coded communications from the Chiefs of Staff and President Franklin D Roosevelt in Washington DC.
“As our community marks the anniversary of VP Day, it is fitting that we acknowledge the role our city played in this significant event.”
Division 10 Councillor Paul Bishop said the radio receiving station was considered to be one of Australia’s most significant and intact examples of World War II heritage infrastructure.
“The site includes a building with 18-inch thick, imported brick walls, reinforced to take a bomb blast,” Cr Bishop said.
“After the war, the high frequency receiving station was used for 75 years, initially by the Postmaster-General’s Department, later Telecom, as the ‘policemen of the airwaves’ kept us safe and resilient, while the place remained off limits to all but the Goat Ladies of Birkdale for over 60 years.
“Council bought the 62 hectares of Birkdale land on which the station is positioned in December 2019 and I’m pleased that the receiving station is the centrepiece of the Communications Hub featured in the Birkdale Community Precinct Master Plan.”
In November 2023, Council undertook restoration work on the building – repairing the roof and gutters, and removing hazardous materials and newer unstable structures.
In January 2024, three of the four rhombic antennae were removed so they could be safely stored prior to restoration and to enable construction across the site when approved.
More information on Redland City Council’s plans for the Birkdale Community Precinct can be found on Council’s website.
