Manson Park is an historic cemetery located about 200 metres east of Ipswich General Cemetery.
Location
19 Cemetery Road, Raceview, Ipswich
History
- During World War II, many American servicemen died or were killed in action in Australia or surrounding regions and, as it was not possible to return their bodies to America for burial, a war cemetery was set up in Ipswich.
- Accounts written about Manson Park claim that the final number of burials was 1,260 and that the area was a field of small white crosses
- Most burials were documented but some were unknown and there were three burials for members of the Javenese Dutch Army.
- At the end of the war, more bodies were transferred to Ipswich from Townsville and New Guinea, with the final number of entries in the Burial Register for the USAF Cemetery being 1,402.
- In November 1947, the United States ship Goucher Victory arrived in Australia to return the dead to their native country.
- To exhume he bodies, 190 Australian civilians - said to have been mainly cane cutters - were employed. A four-metre high fence canvas was erected around the cemetery to screen it from view and the workers were instructed to observe strict decorum. The grim task was completed by December 20 and a ceremony held in Brisbane City Hall two days later to honour the American dead.
- Captain J.B. Harris, the American officer in charge of the War Graves Unit, later wrote to the Ipswich Cemetery Trust thanking it for '...accomplishing a resting place for our beloved deceased prior to their repatriation to their homeland and final resting place'.
- A newspaper article dated 14 June 1971 revealed that 'Over two dozen trees and shrubs were planted in the programme and it is envisaged that seats, playground equipment and a fountain will later be included. The Park at the present has no name'.
- Today's name, Manson Park, pays tribute to the work of local resident Mrs Rose Manson who cared for the graves during the war and wrote to the families in America.
- The monument was once the base of a flag pole which flew the American flag in the United States Armed Forces (USAF) Military Cemetery.