The Middle Head Story

Middle Head is commonly understood to be the area from Georges Heights and Chowder Bay to the headland itself. (That is different from the Harbour Trust’s Middle Head precinct, which is essentially limited to the area between Burnt Orange and the ditch at the entrance to the Sydney Harbour National Park.)

Middle Head is recognised as a beautiful oasis in the midst of a city of over 5 million people. The whole area is also referred to as the Headland Park. We are fortunate that, because of its exclusive military use spanning over 200 years, its fortifications and associated military infrastructure has largely been preserved. This offers a tremendous opportunity to tell the indigenous and military story of Middle Head in such a way as to attract many more visitors than at present and preserve its history for future generations.

The indigenous history of the area is also enlightening. It was called Cubba Cubba or Kuba Kaba (meaning large head). The Borogegal people lived on Middle Head for 40,000 years – there is still archaeological evidence of their occupation such as rock carvings and middens. Indigenous warriors danced with Captain Hunter and his marines on Cobblers Beach, Middle Head on 29 January 1788. This was the first encounter between white men and indigenous people on the north shore of Sydney Harbour.

Governor Macquarie gave Bungaree and his followers a rowing boat and the first indigenous land grant on this headland. Macquarie appreciated the aborigines’ great fishing skill and wanted help to feed the starving colony. The hoped for farming venture failed and the reason for its failure is a lesson in itself. It is first example of how both cultures failed to understand each other.

Bungaree’s walking track to Chowder Bay is still used. One of the least appreciated facts of our military history is the large number of aborigines who served in Australia’s defence forces over the years and what they achieved.

The history of ASOPA is also an interesting story. Australia after WW2 was charged with the legacy of overseeing PNG as a protectorate, which it we did for 29 years. There is a great history here and a close relationship with our closest northern neighbour. This history and stories need to be acknowledged and told. The ASOPA buildings were also briefly used at one stage as the Head Quarters of ASIO. There is a fascinating but largely unknown story in the ASOPA buildings of how a varied group of talented intellectuals, in the dark days of 1942, provided high-level policy advice to Australia’s most senior soldier, General Blamey, and through him to the Government for the remainder of the war and beyond. This band of academics, lawyers and New Guinea patrol officers formed a unique military unit, the Directorate of Research and Civil Affairs, under the command of an eccentric and masterful string-puller, Alf Conlon.

The Directorate was a pioneer in developing approaches to military government in areas liberated by the combat troops, as demonstrated by the Australian Army in New Guinea, and Borneo in 1945-46. It is an issue of enduring importance. The Directorate established the Australian School of Pacific Administration, and had an important role in founding the Australian National University. Sir John Kerr (late Governor General of Australia) was the Organising Secretary for the Preparatory Conference held at ASOPA in 1947.

In the Vietnam War the 10 Terminal base became a training site for ‘Code of Conduct’ courses for junior officers and NCOs in the event of capture. The course was based on the terrible experiences of Australian and allied POWs during WW2 and the Korean War. It took place in the ‘tiger cages’ within the fortifications and can be visited. The chilling and remarkable account of the ‘torture training’ of Australian war hero Captain Barry Peterson at Middle Head is screaming to be told. Middle Head was also the base for Australia’s involvement in PNG and the Pacific through the activities of ASOPA, and the amphibious transport unit responsible for opening up and annual resupply of Australia’s bases in Antarctica.