Community & Business
15 June, 2025
The Names that made Mareeba - Anzac Avenue
AT 4am on Wednesday 25 April 1951, the Mareeba Anzac Day dawn service attracted 73 ex-servicemen, conducted by Padre R. Campbell.
At 11am, a feature of the service was also the unveiling of the tablet of names of the fallen in World War II, an addition to the existing names on the War Memorial from World War I, that now stands proudly along Byrnes Street.
The unveiling of the tablet was by Chairman Cr J. M. Brown, with a guard of honour mounted by members of the Citizens Forces and the Mareeba Town Band present.
Sadly, during the parade, James Cartwright, a World War I veteran, whilst marching to the memorial with his fellow diggers, stepped off from the ranks and collapsed.
He was taken to a nearby house and as the Last Post played, sadly he passed away. James had been living in Mareeba in the Pensioners Reserve for about four years before he was laid to rest within the Mareeba Pioneer Cemetery the following day.
Sadness had already arrived in Mareeba with the loss of another veteran William Henry Buzza, who passed away and was laid to rest a day before Anzac Day, in the cemetery.
William, born in 1903, was enlisted in early February 1942 and taken on strength with the 17th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps. He transferred to a number of battalions whilst attached to the VDC throughout 1943 and 1944.
By September 1944, he transferred to the Torres Strait Detachment, and served on Thursday Island until discharge. He was 48 years of age when he passed.
Official Service records revealed 32-year-old, Pte James Cartwright (2774) born in 1883, in Melbourne, Victoria working as a labourer before joining the Australian Imperial Forces in Brisbane, in December 1915.
He embarked for England and was taken on strength in France attached to the 47th Battalion, months later. During his war service he was wounded in action in the trenches of France on three separate occasions, the first on 7 June 1917, the second on 12 October 1917 and again on 8 July 1918, fighting the Germans.
He suffered gunshot wounds to his left arm, hands and sustained other wounds during action. He returned back to England to recover from his injuries and returned to Australia in May 1919.
As you travel along Anzac Avenue in Mareeba, spare a thought for the many Anzacs who paid the ultimate supreme sacrifice and lost their lives in both World Wars.
On the afternoon of Anzac Day in 1951 an impressive ceremony took place at the approach of the Mareeba-Kuranda Road, when an avenue of 150 poinciana trees was planted in memory of the fallen in two World Wars.
The very first two trees were planted by the Chairman of the Mareeba Shire Council, Cr. J. M. Brown, and the president of the Mareeba branch of the RSL at the time, Mr J. Walker.
The balance of the trees were planted by children from the State, Convent and Emerald Creek Schools. On that afternoon, Mr Walker unveiled a temporary plaque, naming it Anzac Avenue.
It was the Mareeba Jubilee Committee, in conjunction with the Main Roads Commission, that arranged the planting of the trees and the upkeep in future was tasked for the Main Roads Commission.
On 20 April this year, the unmarked grave of James Cartwright was located within the confines of the Mareeba Pioneer cemetery. It had laid unmarked for 73 years.
Only by detailed research, interpreting his war records and research methods, his grave was located.
