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The Dunera Italians: 200 men, 200 stories

The 10 June 1940 changed the lives of thousands of Italians living outside of Italy. With Benito Mussolini’s declaration of war with France and England, these Italians were declared ‘enemy aliens’ with consequence of arrest and internment. For 200 Italians living in England, Scotland and Wales, their internment would take them 12,000 miles from the United Kingdom to Australia. "Canzone dei 200" follows these Italians from their arrest, internment in UK, rescue after the sinking of the Arandora Star, the journey on the Dunera to Australia and life behind the barbed wire in Tatura Camps, Victoria and Loveday Camps, South Australia.

The Dunera Boys - 70 years on after notorious voyage

As a wave of fear over a German invasion gripped the British nation at the start of the Second World War, thousands of foreign nationals were interned over fears that they might be enemy spies. Some were put on the ship HMT Dunera, which had a capacity of 1,600 including the crew. It set sail from Liverpool 70 years ago on 10 July 1940, crammed with around 2,000 mostly Jewish refugees, aged 16 to 60. Alongside them were genuine prisoners of war, 200 Italian fascists and 251 German Nazis. The ship was hugely overcrowded.

Kitchener Camp: refugees to Britain 1939

In September 1939, when Britain declared war on Germany, alien tribunals were established to ascertain which Germans living in Britain were to be categorised as ‘friendly’ and which were to be deemed ‘enemy aliens’. Around 65,000 were initially categorised as ‘friendly’. When France fell, however, the government became nervous about invasion, and many Germans, Italians, and Austrians came under suspicion. The decision was made to intern in the UK or to deport (for internment) to Canada and Australia. Around two hundred of these deportees had believed they had found refuge when they had arrived in 1939 at Kitchener camp in Kent. 

Second World War Internment Camps: Tartura Museum

The Tatura group of 7 internment camps were established in this area because of the distance from a sea port and availability of adequate food and water. Holding between 4 and 8,000 people at any one time, they were located at Tatura (camps 1 and 2), Rushworth (camps 3 and 4), Dhurringile Mansion, Murchison (camp 13) and Graytown. Camps 1 and 2 were for single males, mostly German and Italian. Camp 3 was for mostly German family groups. Camp 4 was for Japanese family groups. Dhurringile Mansion was for POW officers and their batmen. Camp 13 was for Italian and German prisoners of war, and some Japanese were transferred there after the Cowra Breakout. This camp is the site of the HSK Kormoran Memorial. Graytown Camp was used for Italian, German and Finnish POW’s who were occupied with woodcutting to supply the camps and hospitals

​A garrison of guards and other support staff, including nurses were stationed outside the compounds. Field Hospital 28 was constructed at Camp 1 where over 100 Japanese babies were born.

None of the camps are accessible as they are on private property and Dhurringile Mansion is now a part of HM Prison Dhurringile.

Objects through time: 1941 Dunera Boys Hay Internment Camp Collection

A collection of objects from the German and Austrian Jewish refugees from the SS Dunera who were interred at Hay internment camp during World War II. The collection comprises various objects including a soccer jumper, newsletters, passport, artworks, a suitcase and documents. The collection is in good condition.

National Musuem Australia: 1940: HMT Dunera arrives in Australia

The ‘Dunera Boys’, as they became known, included musicians, artists, philosophers, scientists and writers. Following their release in 1941 many chose to remain in Australia, making a significant contribution to the nation’s economic, social and cultural life.