Horn Island

 From Thursday Island we took the ferry across to the much larger Horn Island.

The size and flat terrain of Horn Island meant it was easy to lay out an airport and during the war, this gave the island massive strategic importance.  So much so it was extensively bombed by the Japanese. The island was protected by a number of large anti-aircraft gun installations spread over the island and coordinated from  a distant command bunker.

The gun and shell settings were all determined from the (distant) command bunker.  Other areas of the island had the remains of the defensive slit trenches.

And at various locations the remains of crashed aircraft including heavy bombers could be found.

Following a visit to the local museum, we headed for the Airport to fly back to Cairns and then on to Melbourne the next morning.