Z Experimental Station
The Z Experimental Station (ZES) was established in July 1942 at Munro Terrace, Mooroobool, Cairns, Queensland, Australia, jointly by Secret Intelligence Australia and the Inter-Allied Services Department. The building chosen to be the headquarters was known as "Fairview" (or House on the Hill), and it had been the home of Richard Ash Kingsford, the first mayor of Cairns and grandfather of aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. As far as ISD was concerned it was used as a wireless relay station for the New Guinea Section. The site was selected by Commander Roy Kendall, the head of SIA and was about inland from the town of Cairns, North Queensland. The site was originally chosen for its good radio reception. There were, however, good security conditions for training, until the Cairns district became a very active assembly area for Australian and US troops operating in New Guinea. Until June 42, ISD special operations personnel were trained at the Guerilla Warfare School, Foster, but this establishment in the south of Victoria had an extremely rugged climate, which continuously resulted in sickness on the part of operatives who had lived for many years in the tropics. Since ZES was the only ISD establishment outside