On the edge of a tiny island in north Queensland, gentle ocean waves lap the rusted remains of two warplanes that once flew up and down Australia's east coast hunting Japanese ships and submarines.
Legend says a boatie pulled them from the depths of Challenger Bay, a deep ocean channel about 70 kilometres off the coast of Townsville, and towed them to where they lie now at Wallaby Point on Palm Island.
Aside from a crumbling concrete shack that was once a US Navy base, the warplane wrecks are all that remain to tell the little-known story of how an island home to an Aboriginal reserve protected Australia from a World War II attack.
Palm Island 'fundamental' to war success
Because it is so close to the Pacific, Townsville was Australia's most important air base when it was bombed by Japanese forces during four raids in late July 1942.
A fallen coconut tree was the only casualty in the attack — the third raid was broadcast live by ABC war correspondent Chester Wilmot.
North Queensland's brush with war has been largely underestimated by Australians, Naval Historical Society president retired captain David Michael says.
"I think most Australians now realise that there were bombing attacks all the way across the north," Mr Michael said.
"Places like Palm Island and Townsville were fundamental to success."
How flying boats defended the north
Palm Island became home to a United States naval air station and a fleet of a dozen Catalina flying boats about a year after the raids on Townsville.
"Those aircraft had a range of over 2,300 kilometres, and they could fly for 10 hours," Mr Michael said.
"So you could imagine them … getting into the Indonesian archipelago [from Palm Island]."
At the time, Palm Island was a strict government-run reserve for Aboriginal people considered too "disruptive" for the mainland.
But its northern half was transformed into a tent city that housed about 1,000 US troops as part of an Allied island-hopping campaign to defend Papua New Guinea from Japanese forces.
"Had the Japanese captured Port Moresby, it could have been quite a different story for Australia," Mr Michael said.
"I think most Australians need to realise just how close it did come."
Elders remember 'cruel war'
Palm Island elder Robert Friday said the "old people" remembered the "big ships" that berthed in the deep and sheltered Challenger Bay off the island.
"Most of us weren't aware of what was going on on the island … but planes used to fly over," he said.
"It was a cruel war.
"They used to patrol up and down Palm Island and go up and back and see if any enemy ships were entering Townsville … see if the enemy was coming in."
But there was some time for fun, according to the diaries of sub lieutenant Ian Wrigley, who was serving on HMAS Australia when it docked near Palm Island while waiting for a berth in Townsville.
"Palm Island had a sports field on which it was possible to have a game of rugby against teams from other ships but, just as importantly, against teams from the local Indigenous community who thoroughly enjoyed the friendly competition. It was here that I gained a place in the fiercely competitive Aussie First Fifteen.
The little boat that could
Betty Holt was a four-year-old living on Palm Island with her family when World War II broke out, and the hum of planes overhead became the norm.
But when a 500-pound bomb detonated on the horizon at sunset on 20 July 1942, she remembers island residents screaming and anxious.
"The voluntary defence corps saw this Catalina come down … and the only boat that was available [to rescue it] was my father's little 20-foot launch," Ms Holt said.
"He headed out to the ocean.
"The plane was being blown out on the horizon … some of them [the survivors] were out on the wing to keep it balanced."
"I remember dad saying took nearly six hours … it was a pretty rough trip because of the waves," Ms Holt said.
"They were quite amazed he was able to do it.
"There were some who weren't as lucky."
All 14 Australian servicemen on board were saved by Ms Holt's father, Fredrick Krause.
One of the survivors — nobody knows which — created a painting of the dramatic rescue.
Divers 'wreck hunting' to unlock more secrets
Decades on from World War II, the plane wrecks of battles past remain scattered across the Palm Island group.
Defence veteran and dive master Jason Mengel goes "wreck hunting" with other veterans to uncover what might have happened to the souls on board.
But, he says, it's not always an easy task, and the rewards are rare.
"We have gone out and searched for a fair bit of equipment, but it's not always where they say it's located," Mr Mengel said.
"We probably have about four A4 pages of wrecks of the Palm Island group.
"But as we've been slowly going through them over time, there's not much left, and that could just be because of the currents and depths and the cyclone that we get over the years."
Mr Mengel regularly surveys wrecks for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
"There's still a lot of wrecks out there that are still unaccounted for," he said.
'It has horrified me'
Palm Islanders have been finding ammunition, guns, and even 1940s Californian Coke bottles washed up at Wallaby Point for decades.
An old military-issued helmet has also passed hands around the island.
"[It means] our young generation know about Wallaby Point today," elder Robert Friday said.
But Betty Holt said the rest of Australia had never appreciated the role of the north.
She hopes more people will learn about the role of north Queensland in defending Australia from the World War II attack.
"We north Queenslanders knew how close it was," she said.
"The majority of Sydney people thought the only thing that happened was three midget submarines tried to come into Sydney Harbour.
"It has horrified me over the years … how ignorant they are of what happened in the north."
