Lecture - Italian and German Prisoners of War in Australia

Murdoch Lecture: From Prisoners to Migrants: Italian and German Prisoners of War during WW2 and After

PETER MCMULLAN

September 2021

Presented by the City of Melville, Local History Service, and the Melville History Society

Between the Wars 1919-1939

With a great loss of men killed during the Great War and the Spanish Flu, Australia needed to increase its population to address the worker shortage. To enable this to occur, Britain and Australia encouraged immigration; the vast majority came from Britain as the White Australia Integration policy was still in place. There were, however, areas in Australia with Italian and German communities, mainly established in the mid-1920s. Times were good for Australia's economy during the 'Roaring 20s' until the Great Depression which led to redundancies and high unemployment. It was not until the end of the decade that Australia's economy began to improve, brought on by the threat of another war.

For most Australians on the Home Front, the 1st part of the war 1939-41 appears to have caused limited problems for the vast majority of people compared to 1942 onwards. A rise in employment, which included some jobs being classified as reserved occupations, occurred due to the demands of military call-ups and munitions manufacture. However, there was a significant impact for other people if they were classified as an enemy alien or someone from their family was fighting overseas. Internment of civilians identified as enemy aliens occurred almost as soon as the war was declared; these groups of people included Italians and Germans. Eventually, around 12,000 enemy aliens were interned, including many transported from Britain and its colonies. In Western Australia, Fremantle Prison and Rottnest held internees until a purpose camp was built at Harvey. By 1943, with the risk of a possible Japanese invasion, the internment camp, being so close to the coast, forced the internees to be moved to Parkston, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, then eventually to Loveday in South Australia. Mid 1941 also saw the first arrival in Australia of German and Italian POWs, captured in North Africa and transported to Sydney. These POWs were moved to recently vacated internment camps.

The entry of the United States into the conflict became a significant turning point for Australia and its allies, which put immense demands on various Australian resources, including food and manpower. Consequently, radical action was needed to increase Australia's war effort on the home front.

The civilian workforce, previously a male bastion, engaged large numbers of women, introduced 24 hour shifts, and restricted people from changing jobs. These labour controls became known as the Manpower Regulations.

Food demand significantly increased due to the requirements to supply Australian and US Military, both in Australia and overseas, combined with the Australian civilian population and pre-existing contracts to Britain. This created a considerable labour shortage in rural areas.

To fill the void, the Federal Government had tried other sources of labour - e.g. creating the Women's Land Army but had received a poor response and very low numbers. Hence the government chose to use its POWs. The 1929 Geneva Convention on the treatment and usage of POWs permitted this employment.

Italian POWs

The majority of Italian POWs had been captured in East Africa and Libya early in the conflict by British and Commonwealth forces. Due to the security issue of holding so many captives in that region, most were shipped to POW camps in India. Eventually, realising their employment value, Australia and other Commonwealth countries began to draw off this labour supply, which for many POWs was their survival lifeline. Eventually, only fascist POWs were left. More than 18,000 Italian POWs eventually arrived in Australia. The majority shipped to the east coast and located in POW camps.

The POWs were initially employed on farms in the eastern states - WA farmers eventually heard how good the project was working. The security forces vetted those farmers who wished to employ a POW to see if they met the correct standards. If all went well, the farmers could hire up to 3 POWs for their farms. Each district within a twenty-five-mile radius could employ up to 200 POWs.

The farmers were charged one pound per worker per week and provided the POW with food and accommodation. The army supplied work clothes; battledress uniforms dyed claret. The POWs were paid a small amount that enabled them to buy certain items such as sweets, matches and cigarettes, using the pay they received when visited by the army to check on POWs and farmer. Any incidents or bad behaviour by the POW generally resulted in the POW being returned to the POW camp, where he would be disciplined, getting 7, 14 or 28 days in solitary.

There were escapes - although few until repatriation began to occur. There were also deaths, mainly accidental or suicide. In WA, there were 22. The POW would be buried in the town cemetery, officiated by the local priest and often supported by the local RSL.

German POWs

Captured early in the war in North Africa, Greece, Crete or at sea, the majority arrived from Egypt to Sydney between Aug 1941 and Dec 1941. Only 1500 were transferred to Australia. British authorities had deemed them a security risk; therefore, they were kept in camps and supervised on day release for employment.

Australia had been offered more Germans but took Italians instead, based on the supervision costs. The Italians were cheaper to employ. As part of the rules, the POWs were to receive the exact ration quantities as the camp guards, and as the German had their own cooks, the POWs received food cooked to their own tastes. There were also educational classes, libraries, along with ready supplies of illegally brewed liquor.

Escapes occasionally happened, especially in the eastern states. Ten deaths occurred, including four suicides.

Repatriation

Although the Pacific War ended in August 1945, POWs were still employed in WA until May 1946 due to harvesting requirements. Planning began for the POWs to be returned home as mandatory repatriation of POWs was a requirement of the 1929 Geneva Convention. However, a lack of shipping prevented these returns until late 1946 - early 1947. In their home countries, unemployment was high, food scarce and families had suffered death or displacement.

Migration

Australia, the country they had just left, having experienced industrial expansion due to its war efforts, was experiencing an upswing in manufacturing, mining, and infrastructure projects with high demand for labour.

British citizens, especially ex-military personnel, were preferred; however, as there was little uptake from them, Australia was now forced to look to Europe for workers to assist with this expansion. Included in this intake was the possibility of Italian and German ex-POWs, Australian military authorities, and farmers having classified the majority of these ex-POWs as good hard workers.

Many of these POWs had also left Australia with a favourable opinion of Australia and its people. Some had a job offer from the farmer with who they had previously worked for. Therefore, for the POWs, the choice was to live and work in a rich country or a poor one.

Using Australian Censuses data: one from 1947 and the other from 1954; Australia's male population increased by 102,000 Italians and 42,000 Germans in the seven years. POWs in Australia during the war, approximately 14% of these 145,000 new migrants could hypothetically have been an ex-POW.