At the height of the Second World War, Brisbane, like most Australian cities, experienced a sudden influx of U.S servicemen as they prepared to take the fight back to the Japanese. However tensions quickly grew between the Australian soldiers and their U.S counterparts over the higher wages paid to the latter. These higher salaries allowed U.S servicemen to purchase chocolate, silk stockings and flowers, which apparently back in those days were basically vagina keys.

This powder keg of resentment finally erupted on November 26, 1942, when a rummed-up U.S serviceman stopped for a chat with some Australian soldiers. An American MP started hassling his drunken countryman, and his new Aussie friends came to his defense.  Through a series of subsequent misunderstandings, within two hours some 5,000 Australian and American soldiers were involved in a ferocious battle. When the dust had settled on the ‘Battle of Brisbane’, hundreds were injured, several had been shot, and one Australian soldier had been killed by a shotgun blast to the chest.

Legend has it that within two days, men from both sides were buying each other beers and commending each other on the “brilliant ruckus” of last Friday. “RUCKUS”!!!?? A man was killed! Machine guns were deployed! A “RUCKUS”!!??

While Brisbane soon recovered from its wartime violence, other cities weren’t so lucky. In 1945 the U.S dropped a severe “donnybrook” on Nagasaki, and a massive “brawl” on Hiroshima. There is also still lasting resentment between China and Japan over the Manchurian “scrimmage” of 1931-1945.