Diving into days of summer
A look back at significant moments in the North’s history
TOBRUK Pool will be officially opened tonight after a long and hard journey filled with work delays and five years of global warfare.
Major-general WJ Windeyer will be guest of honour at tonight’s big event, which comes after the baths were sadly shut down earlier this year because of an outbreak of polio myelitis.
More than 6000 people packed into the pool when it was first opened for business in October last year, fulfilling a £60,000 project that began a decade ago during the early years of World War II.
But from the very beginning there was a large section of residents claimed it was wrong to spend ratepayers’ money on a public pool.
A public mass meeting led to a petition being presented to the government, but because all formalities had been taken care of by the city council, the protest was dismissed.
It was during the height of the protest controversy in 1941 that the council decided to name the pool as a memorial to the heroes of Tobruk in North Africa, where Australian troops helped stop the advance of Nazi Germany’s Afrika Korps.
Work on the pool resumed after the war, but material and labour shortages meant the project could not be finished until 12 months ago.
Hundreds of local schoolchildren were taught to swim during the first days of the pool opening, which was why its recent closure was such a disappointment to the community.
An estimated 85 per cent of local children have never learned to swim, and while the cyclone of 1940 destroyed the old smooth water pool, there is little excuse for why such a large number of youth should be without such an important skill. The new pool has also suffered from vandalism, with the freshly painted women’s changing rooms defaced by lipstick and resulting in a new paint job.
And the lost property box is brimming with belongings such as towels, bathing suits and other items of clothing left behind. But putting the disappointment behind, the swimming classes have now resumed and large numbers of locals are taking the opportunity to have a dip.
It will be fitting that tonight’s opening at 7.45pm will be led by one of the distinguished leaders of the siege of Tobruk.
General Windeyer led the Battalion there, he was later in charge of the 20th Australian Brigade when it saw service at El Alamein, Lae, Finshafen and Borneo.
Hopes are high that the pool will become a popular and well-used facility that becomes an iconic part of the Townsville community.
We may also look forward to competitions and carnivals, and to a considerable increase in the number of young adult swimmers in our community thanks to Tobruk Pool.
There is no doubt that one day it will form part of a promenade that ranks among the best in Australia, if not the world, and that it will provide joy to local families for many years to come.