The Elliott Heads Submarine Lookout is a lasting reminder of the community’s role in World War II when it was manned by the 10th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps.
Two posts from the lookout remain in place and the site is listed among Bundaberg Regional Council’s local heritage places with the Woongarra Shire Council erecting a plaque to commemorate the volunteer defence corps in 1989.
While the volunteer defence corps was responsible for reporting any enemy movement in the vicinity, the area is remembered more particularly for its role as a submarine lookout as submarine attacks by the Japanese were particularly prominent along the east coast of Australia at that time.
ANZAC Day Memorial
More recently, the Elliott Heads Submarine Lookout has become a focal point for war commemoration, particularly on ANZAC Day.
The Submarine Lookout ANZAC Day Memorial is located at the waterfront in Elliott Heads Memorial Park on the corner of Moore Street and the Esplanade.
The site is levelled, grassed and surrounded by She-Oaks, with a number of Norfolk Pines placed as feature trees in the park and also flanking the lookout memorial.
The memorial is situated close to the water edge and includes remains of the original lookout in form of two timber posts to the right next to the memorial which consists of two cube-shaped cairns with a plaque mounted on the top.
The plaque on the left cairn reads:
‘LEST WE FORGET • IN MEMORY OF ALL SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN WHO PAID THE SUPREME SACRIFICE • BOER WAR, WORLD WAR I. WORLD WAR II, KOREAN WAR AND THE VIETNAM WAR • ERECTED BY BURNETT SHIRE COUNCIL AND CITIZENS OF ELLIOTT HEADS 25-4-1996’.
The plaque on the right cairn reads:
‘A TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE VOLUNTEER DEFENCE CORPS WHO MANNED THE ELLIOTT HEADS LOOKOUT DURING WORLD WAR II • 1941-1944 • ERECTED BY THE WOONGARRA SHIRE COUNCIL • 1989’.
In the centre of the site is another memorial consisting of two concrete plinths set at a distance and connected by a timber beam with an upright rounded slab mounted on the left plinth.
The memorial is placed towards the rear of a round split block base with concrete and paving infill and carries the inscription:
‘ELLIOTT HEADS SUBMARINE LOOKOUT ANZAC DAY MEMORIAL’.
Two small plaques are attached to the plinths; one commemorates the full time members of the Volunteer Defence Corps of World War II who manned the observation post, the other acknowledges the contributions to the Submarine Lookout ANZAC Day Memorial Project 2006.
no mention for the submarine net that was across the Burnett River. curious that, just as vital. surprising at who did not know about that until the drawings were put under a few noses. it was a manned net that regulated boating activity in the Burnett River.