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The Cairns Post
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Courtesy of The Cairns Post

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Nautical Association of Australia - "The Log"  Book Review
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Merchant Mariners'  "The Red Ensign" Book Review
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Navy League of Australia - "The Navy" Book Review
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(Courtesy of Townsville Bulletin)

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Reveille - Review
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Alan Broughton – Vice President, Cairns Historical Society

North Queensland at War (Day by Day): Vol 1. Naval and Merchant Shipping Movements 1939 – 1942. Peter Nielsen, 2004.

Peter Nielsen has embarked on a mammoth task with his project to record and document the movement histories of all army, airforce, and naval units as well as merchant shipping into and out of North Queensland during the period 1939 to 1946. This first volume – North Queensland at War (Day by Day) Vol 1 Nava and Merchant Shipping Movements 1939 – 1942 shows that he has mastered his task brilliantly.

The book is a 306 page diary which sets down on a day to day basis the movements of ships – both naval and merchant – into and out of North Queensland ports from Mackay in the south to Thursday Island in the north. When a ship’s entry is documented for the first time, the author gives a full description of it which includes where the ship was registered, the owners, the type of ship, its tonnage and when it was built. The author has been meticulous in the presentation and display of the data, which adds to the book’s readability and use as a reference source. Historical notes relating to significant events in WW2 have been added to set the day to day entries in perspective.

Peter Nielsen has done an amazing amount of work in researching his subject matter. All entries have been referenced, and the material is supported by six indexes as well as an extensive bibliography and reference sources, a gazetteer and a table of abbreviations and acronyms. A map of North Queensland
displaying many of the place names used in the text is also included. Photographs of the ships described have not been included due to space limitations but the author has included references where such photographs can be obtained.

For any researcher, historian, merchant or naval seaman or interested person wishing to research shipping movements in North Queensland during 1939 – 1942, this book will supply all the relevant information required. No library with a research section should be without North Queensland at War (Day by Day) Vol 1. It adds further to our knowledge of how Australia was placed on a war footing and the effects this had on the role of merchant shipping plying the Australian coast, especially the North Queensland coast with the introduction of the convoy system, armed escorts and mine laying. This book is a very valuable reference source and historical diary of shipping movements in North Queensland from 1939 – 1942 and a welcome addition to the WW2 history of North Queensland.

The author of this work, Peter Nielsen, saw over 20 years of service in the Royal Australian and British navies. He served on board HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Curlew, and was later drafted to UK for submarine service, and was posted to the British Submarine HMS Finwhale and later, HMAS Otway and HMAS Oxley. He left the Navy as a Warrant Officer in 1979.

Nielsen’s first literary undertaking was in 1985, with a research project into HMAS Magnetic, the little known RAN Naval Establishment in Townsville during WWII. Later research projects included HMAS Kuranda, the WWII RAN Shore Establishment in Cairns. By 1990, he had commenced research into Australian military activities on the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland during WWII, encompassing the South West Pacific convoys undertaken by merchant shipping.

The forerunner to this Series (Volume.1 being the first of seven), was a 220 page book published in 1993, titled “Diary of WW2 North Queensland”, and is a compilation of movements in North Queensland of ships, air force units and ground troops, all in chronological order. The Series North Queensland at War Volumes 1-7 is a major updated version of the above.

Peter Nielsen obviously has a penchant for detail. North Queensland at War is written in diary format, beginning on the 3 September 1939 and continuing to 31 December 1942. Each day records the arrivals and departures of both military and merchant shipping, into all ports from Mackay to Thursday Island.

At the end of the book can be found several Indexes: Shipping, Shipping Companies and Owners, Convoys, General, and War Dead; an extensive Bibliography and Reference section; Gazeteer; Metric Conversion, Today’s Reminders and, Abbreviations and Acronyms.

The work is well laid out and easy to follow, and for anyone seriously interested in war time shipping movements, this single volume, date specific work, fills a large niche for researchers, and will be an excellent attribute to the library.

Vivienne Moran
Curator
"Maritime Museum of Townsville"