Wartime service

A Cairns history book entry in 1943 states that owing to the dangerous position of the north for war, already about 7000 to 8000 people have left town. All Y.P [young people] have evacuated and 16 of regulars to the meeting. Dug air-raid shelter in the yard. First one collapsed – now made secure with bags. During this period of uncertainty over a possible attack, The Salvation Army continued to serve the community, conducting spiritual meetings both in the Cairns Salvation Army hall, and at the aerodrome with the men at the garrison. Over a two-month period in 1943 the local Salvo officers had used their emergency canteen to serve over 1100 gallons of tea, 430 loaves of bread (for sandwiches), four large tins of biscuits and large quantities of cake, to servicemen at the wharf arriving in Cairns by boat from New Guinea.