Tatura Internment & POW Camps

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After growing up in a town rich with World War 2 history and information, I am confused as to why, we were not taught more during my schooling years about vital history that was at our doorstep. As a result I lacked knowledge on my hometown of Tatura and all that was involved with the Internee and Prisoner of War Camps in Tatura and surrounding areas. In this essay, I hope to shed some light on the conduct within these camps and hopefully share some information regarding these compounds with

other members of society through he eyes of Leonhard Adam a Jewish internee from Camp 1. Leonard Adam grew up in Berlin. As an adult he became a very knowledgeable man who studied law, ethnography and Sinology. After studying at the University of Berlin he became a Doctor of Law and Philosophy1 1 Greg Dening, 'Adam, Leonhard (1891 1960)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/adam-leonhard-9962/text17651,

Tatura Internee & POW Camps

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Adam also became a distinct judge in Charlottenburg, authoritarian of law in primitive societies, editor

contributor to a textbook of ethnology and a respected field anthropologist 2. Adam lectured in comparative law and anthropology at the University of Berlin, London and Oxford, was a distinguished musicologist, taught Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture. He also taught courses of Asian Art and wrote a seminal book on Primitive Art, published by Penguin in 19403.

published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 28 September 2015. 2 Greg Dening, 'Adam, Leonhard (18911960)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/adam-leonhard-9962/text17651, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 28 September 2015. 3 Marie Clare Adam, (1996), Leonhard Adam, A Close Up. Hamakor Press Ltd, Jerusalem.

and the German Nazi Party had been pursuing a policy of expanding its territories in order to give their people more living room4. In September 1939 Hitler invaded Poland.

Germany put an end to

career and he was forced to immigrate to England to make a living. This immigration saved his life, like many other Jewish scholars, as he was welcomed in England and 5 4 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee. pp.11 5 (1936). Soviet Government Warns that Hitler is Planning For Massive War. Retrieved from: http://skepticism.org/timeline/august -history/8071 -soviet-government-warns-hitler -planning-massive-war.html

Adolf Hitler during his Reign
http://skepticism.org/timeline/august-history/8071-soviet-government-warns-hitler-planning-massive-war.htmlhttp://skepticism.org/timeline/august-history/8071-soviet-government-warns-hitler-planning-massive-war.htmlhttp://skepticism.org/timeline/august-history/8071-soviet-government-warns-hitler-planning-massive-war.htmlhttp://skepticism.org/timeline/august-history/8071-soviet-government-warns-hitler-planning-massive-war.html

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began to rebuild his life, however fate struck again.

Due to Britain declaring war on Germany on the 3rd of September 1939, Leonhard Adam, along with 2200 other German and Austrian refugees were arrested and deported to Australia as a safety precaution for England6. 7

The refugees boarded the

6 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee. pp.11

7 Troopship Dunera. Retrieved from: http://www.far -eastern-heroes.org.uk/richard_swarbricks_war/html/singapore.htm

abject conditions aboard the ship, under the control of the brutal captain and his vindictive crew. Robert Kahn a refugee on board recalls the internees being robbed of their valuable possessions when they were boarding the Dunera8. As well as sleeping on the floors with no such bedding and not to mention, room, Vittorio Tolaini recalls the four toilets and washbasins being of high demand amongst thousands of

8 Kahn, Robert L. (1991). Chapters from my past. Bentleigh East : R.L. Kahn

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prisoners to the point of blockage and the septic leaked onto the deck producing a noxious mess and smell, with conditions only decreasing as the voyage proceeded. As the soldiers did nothing to improve the conditions, Dysentery broke out and the morale amongst the refugees reached its lowest possible state9. On arrival to Australia, the ship docked at Fremantle, where the internees boarded a tram. The internees were shocked by the kindness and generosity of the Australian soldiers when they were offered cigarettes, tea and cake during their travels10. Leonhard Adam was transported to the internee camps in Tatura. Tatura was selected as the location of choice for the

9 Tolaini, Vittorio. ([198-?]). Voyage of an alien.

10 Gazzi, Marco. Video Interview. Retrieved from Marched In.

camps, because the Dhurringile Mansion already housed the single largest group of internees 11 in Victoria. Tatura already had a supply infrastructure set up at the showgrounds for the camps. The accommodation at Dhurringile Mansion did

11 Bossence, W, H. (1969). Tatura and The Shire of Rodney. The Hawthorn Press Pty Ltd, Melbourne. pp.49

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not meet Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of

12. 13

A location four kilometres from the Mansion was nominated for the campgrounds as it was dry, stony and poor quality land for farming. The camps also had an abundant supply of water, with access to the Waranga Basin, located two kilometres away. Life within the Internee Camps was decent. Camp 1, which was for single men from Germany and Italy, was designed to hold 1000


13 Retrieved from: http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6444

internees. The huts were made of timber frames, each to contain twenty-four men in one long unportioned room. Walls were of corrugated iron and chicken wire lined the eaves as ventilation. The rooves consisted of galvanised iron or corrugated asbestos sheeting. Eventually the 14 corrugated iron walls were lined internally and the chicken wire was replaced with hopper windows15. Furthermore, Camp 1 soon received additional inclusions created by the internees consisting of: a tennis court, ornamental ponds, gardens with stone edging, a tiered platform

14 Locaility Map. Tatura Museum. 15 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee. pp. 20

Positioning of camps

Dhurringile Mansion
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for the sounds shell, for choirs and the camp orchestra, a patio at caf Wellblech, concrete slab walls of the skittle alley and lines of eucalyptus trees16.

Each internee was given a bed made from galvanised wire mesh attached to a 4 inch by 2 inch hardwood frame. Each person also received 2 single blankets, 1 pillow and pillowslip , 2 bed sheets and 1 hessian 16 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee.

mattress filled with straw17.

Food supply was quite an operation with 12,000 mouths to feed across all of

the camps; however, food supply was of liberal amounts and met the needs and special preferences of all nationalists within the compounds. Marco Gazzi recalls arriving at Tatura starving

17 Lothar Streker. Provision list. Tatura Museum.

Model of internee quarters from Camp 3

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for food, only to be presented with two days worth of rations in one meal18.

Camp 1 consisted of Italian and German Nationals who were originally interned at Dhurringile Mansion. The prisoners were originally living in the capital cities of Sydney and Melbourne before becoming internees during the war. The prisoners were selected as a result of a list system that was created to recognise security risks within society. The lists were compiled in colours, those

18 Gazzi, Marco. Video Interview. Retrieved from Marched In.

being red, orange and green. The names, which featured on the red list, were considered security risks and arrested when war was declared by Germany. These security risks were then transported to the Tatura Internee camps. Camp 1 received 600 German and Austrian males who were interned from Persia in 194519.

With the escalation of World War 2, in June 1940, the British Government

19 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee.

Men from Camp 1 creating comforts from items found within the compound

Interior of a cabin at Camp 1

Camp 1, sketch by Internee Duffner

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requested her Commonwealth countries, each to take and house up to 50,000 prisoners. Additional camps were therefore required. These camps were logically situated near Camp 1 in Tatura. Camp 2 was built one kilometre from Camp 1. Camp 3 and 4 were built near Rushworth and housed families and Japanese families. Each of these camps housed 1000 prisoners. Camp 13 was the biggest and was designed to accommodate 4,000 prisoners of war20.

20 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee. pp. 22

Camp 2 comprised of 1000 single German and Italian men. This included those interned in Britain after The Battle of Dunkirk in June 1940. Jewish refugee boys and men were also detained in Camp 2 until they were released to join the 8th Employment Company of the Australia Military Forces.

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Camp 3 held German and Italian families totalling 1000 prisoners. They arrived on the Queen Elizabeth ship in 1941. On boarding the ship, they were unaware of when the ship was destined for. In Camp 3 a school was established in which all the children received a good education. However, despite there being difficulties such as lack of resources and textbooks, minimal classroom space and the requirement of

Teaching different aged students within the same classroom, the individuals were able to overcome these issues to produce a suitable education. Subjects that were offered were: German, English, French, Latin, Geography, History, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Art and Physical Education. The students' Abitur certificate was later recognised by German universities and the University of Melbourne21. 21 D, Nutting. (2001). Victoria. Tatura Internment Camp. Retrieved from: http://www.germanaustralia.com/e/tatura.htm
http://www.germanaustralia.com/e/tatura.htmhttp://www.germanaustralia.com/e/tatura.htm

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Camp 4 also housed families, however these families were of Japanese decent. In addition, this camp also housed children from mixed racial marriages such as Islands in the Pacific, New Guinea, The Dutch East Indies know known as Indonesia, Singapore and Malaya22.

Dhurringile Mansion was converted into a Prisoner of War Camp holding 150 German officers and 50 Batmen who were captured in North Africa.

22 Camp 4. Tatura Museum.

Although the facility was crowded, the facilities were much more superior to those of the Australian guards and the German other ranks at Camp 13 who were housed for a time in tents. As with the other camps, prisoners furthered their educations and had access to other facilities within the camp grounds such as a tennis court and handball court23.

23 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee. pp. 108

Japanese internees of Tatura No. 4 camp line up for dental check-ups

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During the time of World War 2, numerous escapes took place through tunnels, which were excavated, in the ground. Dhurringile Mansion was constructed on one of the many sand hills in the district, which made digging easy.

However the sand created problems such as instability on the walls and rooves of the tunnel, which required the prisoners to use timber from their beds and the building to support the tunnels24. The most successful tunnelling 24 L, Knee., & A, Knee., (2008). Marched In. Lurline & Arthur Knee. pp.108

attempt was when 17 prisoners escaped from

Dhurringile in 1945. The tunnel started under the floor of the mansion and went down 14 feet and was 160 yards in length. A heavy crockery cupboard that contained almost 800 pieces of crockery concealed the entrance to the tunnel. The exit of the tunnel was concealed with boards that were joined together and covered with soil and grass. The soil from within the tunnel was disposed of in one of the underground water tanks25. The men were all soon recaptured and sent to Melbourne Gaol where they

25 Bossence, W, H. (1969). Tatura and The Shire of Rodney. The Hawthorn Press Pty Ltd, Melbourne.

Inspecting the tunnel dug by POWs in WW2

Inspecting the tunnel at Dhurringile Mansion

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were punished by having to run around the courtyard wearing sixty pound packs on their backs26. Camp 13 was also a Prisoner of War camp and housed 4000 single German and Italian men in four compounds, equating to two for each nationality. After the breakout at Cowra Prisoner of War camp, 400 Japanese prisoners were sent to Camp 13 and machine guns secured in position by concrete were employed to cover the compound. Lastly, there was Graytown, which was also a Prisoner of War camp situated between Nagambie and Heathcote. Graytown was a


small, low security camp located in the Strathbogie Forest, which held survivors of the Kormoran a German ship, which was sunk during World War 2 after it sunk the HMAS Sydney.

Whilst in the camp the men would cut wood in the forest to supply the other camps as well as Melbourne during the war.

In conclusion, on commencement of my investigation into the Internee and Prisoner of

Camp 13

Men collecting wood in Graytown

POWs cutting wood in Graytown

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War camps in Tatura and surrounding areas, I was trying to uncover the history and story behind these establishments. I was intrigued to know the conduct within the camps and the effects which imprisonment had on these innocent civilians. From reading numerous primary sources, such as letters and statements from internees found in the book Marched In by Lurline and Arthur Knee, there are not any accounts of maltreatment within the camps. The conduct of the Australian guards is complimented within these comments. To know whether the book Marched In has only had positive statements selected for its publishing I am unsure of, but through accessing other primary and secondary sources of information, I was unable to find any recall of poor treatment and lifestyle within the camps. Although, through reading the secondary source Italian Australians during the Second World War: some perception of

internment, Gitano Rando raised the issue of internees being unfairly treated during the period of World War 2. Events that are notable as unfair treatment would be the deportation of Germand and Italian civilians to Australia to spend years in an interment camp. Rando states The entry of Italy into the second world war brought considerable disruption to the over thirty thousand strong Italian Australian community whose presence was seen by the Australian authorities as a serious potential threat to national security. About 4,700 mainly male Italian Australians were incarcerated in internment camps while women and children were left to fend for themselves in a highly hos 27. To

27 Gitano Rando. (2005). Italo-Australians during the Second World War: some perceptions of internment. Retrieved from: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti cle=1123&context=artspapers&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com.au%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dtatura%2Binternee%2Bcamps%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252C5%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22tatura%20internee%20camps%22
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perception of the interment of Italian men, Kathleen Masuko Murakami who was born in Singapore, yet her mother was an Australian born Japanese woman was imprisoned due to her ethnicity28. The document states she was cleared of any wrong doing, however she still spent five and a half years in the camp even after giving birth to her two children, who also lived within the camp during the early stages of their lives. The reason for her imprisonment was solely based on her ethnical background. In addition to both of these stories, I will return to Leonhard Adam who was a well educated, knowledgeable man. He was extremely successful in the numerous careers, which he followed, yet due to him being of Jewish

28 LaTrobe University. Kathleen Masuko Murakami. Community History. Retrieved from https://communityhistoryoz.wordpress.com/civiliansimprisoned/kathleen -masuko-murakami/

religion he was imprisoned as an internee in Tatura for two years before he was released on parole to the National Museum of Victoria29.

29 Greg Dening, 'Adam, Leonhard (18911960)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/adam -leonhard-9962/text17651, published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 28 September 2015.

Kathleen Masuko Murakami POW paperwork
https://communityhistoryoz.wordpress.com/civiliansimprisoned/kathleen-masuko-murakami/https://communityhistoryoz.wordpress.com/civiliansimprisoned/kathleen-masuko-murakami/https://communityhistoryoz.wordpress.com/civiliansimprisoned/kathleen-masuko-murakami/

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In my opinion I agree that the imprisonment of such innocent individuals can be detrimental to peoples lives, however when the world goes to War, security measures must be taken to protect each country and despite the ideas of racism, nationality is a huge factor during wartime. The people within the interment camps in Tatura were treated fairly and with compassion after reading several primary sources and it is stated the people from the

were treated with respect, as fellow human beings. We will never forget that

me peace of mind, knowing these people were experiencing such hardship through no fault of their own, however my home town of Tatura does not have skeletons in the closet regarding treatment of fellow humans during the Second World War, whilst enduring internment.

Internee camp near Murchison.

Documents

Tatura Internment & POW Camps