Robert Tills, the first American naval officer killed during the Battle of the Philippines.
Tills moved to the Atherton Tableland and established a sawmill at Redlynch, eight miles from Cairns, on the Cairns-Mareeba railway line, with Charles Michael, Robert Warren and three times Mayor of Cairns, Louis Severin.
William B. Preston served as a base for three PBY Catalinas tasked with patrolling the eastern parts of the Celebes Sea, one of which was flown by Tills.