I was driving from Margaret River, which is an actual town, back north toward Perth. I took a side/back road rather than the main route north, namely, route 20. Along the way is a small-ish town called Harvey. Just a little way beyond the city, I saw a couple of stone buildings and a sign that said "Internment Camp Memorial." Mind you, I was driving around 80kph or so at the time. As soon as it was safe, I turned around and had a look. It was closed at the time, but here's what the net says:
"t the beginning of World War Two, Mussolini and Hitler joined forces and declared war on Great Britain and France. As a result all German and Italian migrants living in the allied countries were categorised as enemy aliens, and subsequently interned in camps. One of these camps was situated in Harvey with about 1,000 internees.
"One of the prisoners instigated the construction of an altar made of stone, depicting their Catholic faith. This shrine still stands today and was enclosed in a chapel in 1992. It is believed to be the only roadside shrine of its kind in Australia. Housed in the chapel are several sculptures and an "Australia Remembers" static display."
So it appears the Australians interned citizens during World War II. It's worth some more research to find out what happened to the internees afterward.
Monday, 26 January 2009
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