121 – The Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Canungra

This is the fourth episode of our interview with Dr Adrian Threlfall, the author of Jungle Warriors. This episode focuses on the formation and development of the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra, Queensland. Canungra played a pivotal role in preparing Australian troops for the challenges of jungle warfare. This miniseries is part of our series on the Kokoda track campaign, and the mobilisation of the soldiers to fight in that campaign.

We discuss the formation and development of the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra, Queensland. Canungra played a pivotal role in preparing Australian troops for the challenging jungle warfare.

The Need for Jungle Warfare Training

In the Second World War, the Australian Army faced significant challenges in adapting to jungle warfare, a drastically different environment from the desert warfare they had previously experienced. Early on, the army realized that troops needed specific training to master the difficulties of movement, control, and combat in the jungle. The Canungra Jungle Training Centre emerged as a direct response to these needs. Canungra enabled troops to be trained in the developing doctrine based on the lessons learnt from the early jungle battles.

The training center evolved from an earlier institution, the Independent Company Training School, which had been based outside of Foster in East Gippsland. The terrain and climate of Victoria were not representative of the tropical environments Australian soldiers would face in the Southwest Pacific. This spurred the decision in October 1942 to relocate the school further north, closer to the theater of operations. The move to Canungra was a crucial step in ensuring that Australian soldiers would be adequately prepared for jungle combat.

The Establishment of Canungra

The establishment of Canungra as a Jungle Training Centre was complicated by the lack of experienced instructors and rapidly developing doctrine. The appointment of Brigadier Irving as Director of Military Training at Land Headquarters (LHQ) played a significant role in the development of the training program. Canungra was not just a single training facility but rather a combination of several specialized schools, including an LHQ Tactical School for officers, a Reinforcement Training Centre for individual soldiers, and an Independent Company Training School. This comprehensive approach ensured that soldiers were trained not only in individual soldier skills but also in platoon and company-level operations.

Despite the initial challenges, including a lack of adequate facilities and instructional staff, the centre quickly became a cornerstone of the Australian Army’s preparation for jungle warfare. The curriculum and training regimens were continuously refined, based on feedback from the battlefield. For example, early reports from officers and soldiers in New Guinea emphasized the importance of training in actual jungle conditions to prevent troops from being “dominated by their environment.”

Overcoming Early Challenges

Many of the initial instructors were deemed unfit or too old for the rigours of jungle warfare training. This led to significant turnover in the instructional staff. However, over time, the army managed to replace these individuals with younger, more experienced officers who had served in jungle campaigns like Kokoda. This enabled the officers to get a respite from combat whilst sharing their jungle experience with the trainees.

By April 1943, Canungra had become an effective training ground, with over 1,400 soldiers under training at any given time. By mid-1944, the centre was training between 4,000 and 5,000 men, a testament to its importance in preparing Australian forces for the challenges of jungle warfare.

Legacy and Impact

The Jungle Training Centre at Canungra played a critical role in ensuring the success of Australian troops in the Southwest Pacific. Its comprehensive training programs, based on real battlefield experiences and constantly updated to reflect the latest tactical developments, made Australian soldiers some of the best-prepared jungle fighters of the war.

The lessons learned at Canungra did not just benefit the soldiers who trained there. Training teams from LHQ were dispatched to other units around Australia to pass on the knowledge and skills developed at Canungra, ensuring that even those who could not attend the training center directly benefited from its expertise.