Australian Internment Camps During WW11

 

 

Last week I wrote about the escape from the POW camp at Cowra and in the comments Chris from Tilting at Windmills found here: https://humbleauthorbsp.blogspot.com/ mentioned about internment camps for Asian Americans. America isn’t the only country with such camps here in Australia we had them too.

In fact, we operated a large network of internment camps during World War II, holding more than 12,000 people classified as “enemy aliens” as well as prisoners of war. These camps existed in every state and territory and included men, women, and children of German, Italian, and Japanese background.

Who was interned?

Well, it was civilians of German, Italian, and Japanese descent (including long‑term residents and even Australian‑born descendants).

POWs captured overseas and sent to Australia by Allied nations.

As well as a small number of Australians with extreme political views.

Why did internment happen?

Obviously, there were concerns about national security as well as public anxiety about espionage, sabotage, and later, Japanese invasion.

However, many were detained without evidence of any wrongdoing. There were around 7,000 Australian residents, with around 8,000 POWs sent from overseas.

Internment and POW camps were spread nationwide, including:

Cowra (NSW) — later the site of the Cowra Breakout.

Hay (NSW)

Tatura & Dhurringile (VIC)

Loveday (SA)

Gaythorne & Stuart (QLD)

Marrinup (WA)

Many of the camps were purpose‑built but some were repurposed gaols or military facilities.

Life in the Camps were heavily regulated, with restricted movement and limited freedoms. Some camps held families together; others separated men from women and children.

Internees worked in agriculture, woodcutting, and camp maintenance.

The camps operated for most of the war starting in 1939 through to early in 1946, they started to close after Japan’s surrender in 1945.

Internment was tied directly to wartime security laws. So as long as Australia remained at war with Germany, Italy, and Japan, internees were legally held.

Many internees (especially Japanese nationals) could not be released until repatriation ships were available after the war.

Most internees spent anything from a few months to several years in the camps. Some Japanese and Italian internees were held for between four to six years, depending on when they were arrested and when repatriation occurred.

Most ordinary Australians supported internment during WWII because they were frightened of invasion and espionage, but there was also discomfort and criticism—especially when long‑time neighbours were taken away without evidence. Public opinion was mixed, shaped by fear, patriotism, racism, and later regret.

After the fall of Singapore (1942) and attacks on Darwin, many Australians believed Japanese residents—even families who had lived here for decades—might aid an invasion.

This led to widespread acceptance of mass internment of Japanese people, even without evidence of them being a threat.

However, as the war progressed, some Australians became uncomfortable seeing their neighbours and shopkeepers, taken away suddenly. They also didn’t like seeing families split up, with many being seen as loyal Australians.

This created tension: some locals supported internment, others protested because they knew these families personally .

After 1945, public opinion changed with many coming to see internment as discriminatory, especially toward Japanese and Italian Australians and harmful to innocent families who had contributed to local communities.