 Due to fear of a Japanese invasion, the Queensland Government closed all coastal state schools in January 1942, and although most schools reopened on 2 March 1942, student attendance was optional until the war ended.Slit trenches, for protecting the students from Japanese air raids, were also dug at Queensland state schools.The swampy origins of Gregory Park meant that, instead of digging slit trenches, heaped sandbags were used to form six above-ground trenches, each long.