Page 65 - Tropic Magazine Issue 223

TROPIC • REGIONAL HISTORY

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House on the Hill 2

IF WALLS COULD TALK
Krait,” The Canberra Times reported evidence that senior police had been
From links to Charles in 1966. “From the Krait, six men in taking orders from one of the brothers,
Kingsford-Smith, a decorated three folboats (folding kayaks) raided Geraldo Bellino. A police whistleblower
told the inquiry, “Bellino’s boys are now in
Singapore Harbour and sunk about
WWII squad and the Fitzgerald 40,000 tons of Japanese shipping.” the top ranks of the police force. Officers
inquiry into Crime and The newspaper was calling for the house who want a transfer have to contact
Corruption, the property to be protected by the National Trust, Bellino and he will organise it for us
commonly known in Cairns as however that never occurred and by 1966, through the top ranks of the police force.”
Bellino was sentenced to seven years in
the property had been taken over by the
the House on the Hill certainly family of current Cairns Councillor Terry jail for bribing police. During that term,
had a colourful history. James, who turned the House on the The House on the Hill, which had again
Hill into a motel and restaurant. Former changed hands, was destroyed by fire. A
Words: Renee Cluff members of the Z Unit were guests at the set of apartments was built on the block
The House on the Hill at Mooroobool was official opening and gave souvenirs and in 1996, where they still stand today.
originally known as Fairview House. photographs of their wartime operations
It was built at Fairview Farm in 1896 for display. Mr James lived and worked at The Cairns Historical Society has over 30,000
digital images from Far North Queensland. You
by Richard Kingsford, the grandfather the popular nightspot until it was sold to can view them at the Society’s Research Centre
of aviation pioneer Charles Kingsford- the notorious Bellino brothers, who also located within the Cairns Museum in the School of
Smith. In 1900, he sold the property to owned a series of Brisbane nightclubs Arts building.
Cairns business pioneer William Munro, and brothels.
whose estate also included local pastoral In the late 1980s, the Fitzgerald inquiry 1. Nightclub advertisment, early 1980s
2. The House on the Hill 1976
holdings, meatworks, sugar, mining into Crime and Corruption heard 3. Apartments replaced the House on the Hill
and dairying businesses. Apart from a
cyclone which destroyed cow sheds at
the dairy in 1918 and a grass fire which
threatened the homestead in 1939, life
was pretty quiet at Fairview House, until
the outbreak of World War II.
From 1942, the Royal Australian Navy
reportedly leased the property for
one pound per month, using it as a
training school and headquarters for
the ‘Z’ Special Unit. They were a group of
commandos who went on to play a highly
classified key role in the war.
“Final preparations were made in the
house for such famous expeditions as
Operation Jaywick, the highly successful
raid on Singapore in the little vessel
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65 • tropicnow.com.au