Another S(h)ipping Reporter Scoop
During WWll , Z Force commandoes on Magnetic Island paddled into the nearby Townsville port during the night of June 22 ,1943 and placed mock mines on the hulls of shipping to prove the place was wide open to attack. All hell broke out in the morning when the mines were spotted and authorities wanted to charge the commandoes with a variety of offences.
During WWll , Z Force commandoes on Magnetic Island paddled into the nearby Townsville port during the night of June 22 ,1943 and placed mock mines on the hulls of shipping to prove the place was wide open to attack. All hell broke out in the morning when the mines were spotted and authorities wanted to charge the commandoes with a variety of offences.
Commemorating the raid , which caused near panic, is the above plaque in the Townsville Maritime Museum. Now, in what seems like a reverse raid on Magnetic Island , the so called safe harbour entry point for car and passenger ferries , has been hit with a large piece of wall graffiti which was apparently carried out without maritime authorities and the media noticing .
Was it a night-time raid as in 1943 ?
It has been applied , above , on part of the retaining wall , below a section of the Welcome to Magnetic Island banners , which has not yet been blown down or taken away , that shielded the adjoining hole eyesore from view .
Was it a night-time raid as in 1943 ?
The hole and its rusty, teetering barricade now mainly resemble the bomb crater of old .
Our nautical roundsman was shocked when a backpacker at Molly Malone's Irish Pub told him the graffiti on the island seemed to spell out Russell Hobbs, a brand of kitchen appliances. It would be sad to think that Magnetic Island , Townsville's Jewel in the Crown , is now reduced to promoting pop up toasters . Prince Harry might like one from the city as a wedding present along with a bag of coal , a bag of mangoes, a stuffed and mounted fruit bat ?
In an update to another waterfront story posted recently , the graffiti on the neglected American aircraft carrier Coral Sea anchor , just across the way from Enterprise House , still has not been removed , rust patches continue to show through .The tagger , Reckless , has been active in other parts of the waterfront , on a wall near the Pier Restaurant , just across from the ferry terminal .
