German POWs in Australia

Discussions on every day life in the Weimar Republic, pre-anschluss Austria, Third Reich and the occupied territories. Hosted by Vikki.
User avatar
Adam Carr
Member
Posts: 2648
Joined: 30 Jan 2008, 14:40
Location: Melbourne Australia
Contact:

German POWs in Australia

#1

Post by Adam Carr » 30 Sep 2009, 04:54

I said in earlier post that I thought German POWs were sent to Canada while Italians were sent to Australia. But here are photos from the National Library showing German POWs at Murchison, Victoria, in 1945.

The captions at the NLA are:

Murchison, Australia. 29 November 1943. Group of German prisoners of war (POW) interned at A Compound, No. 13 POW group. Back row, left to right: 88032 Jac. Vogel; 88064 P. Westheider; 88028 Willi Ewert; 88027 Ed. Kuehn. Front row: 88018 K. Foerster; 88040 Herm. Paul. 88031 Fr. Wodarczak. Note: The number is an assigned POW number.

Murchison, Vic. 28 February 1945. Group of German prisoners of war (POWs) interned in B Compound No. 13 POW Group. Back row, left to right: 88020 Hoppe; 88043 Meichsner; 88033 Hustig; 88048 Vendt; 88047 Rathjens. Front row: 88067 Richter; 88038 Molle; 88041 Gilbert; 88028 Ewert; 88037 Stolley. Note: The number is an assigned POW number.
Attachments
07.jpg
07.jpg (64.08 KiB) Viewed 5964 times
02.jpg
02.jpg (58.62 KiB) Viewed 5964 times

User avatar
Peter H
Member
Posts: 28628
Joined: 30 Dec 2002, 14:18
Location: Australia

Re: German POWs in Australia

#2

Post by Peter H » 30 Sep 2009, 11:18

Hi Adam

1651 German POWs were held in Australia during the war,one died from lung cancer(a sailor from the Kormoran).The majority were kept at Murchison,including the officer's camp at nearby Dhurringile.Some also held at Barmera SA,Marrinup WA. A state of flux as well,some moving from Barmera to Murchison eventually.

The biggest first lot were the 315 survivors of the Kormoran,another 91 from the blockade runner and supply ship Ramses sunk in November 1942.Some captured Afrika Korps members as well.

/Peter


User avatar
abc123
Member
Posts: 79
Joined: 25 Jan 2005, 08:40
Location: Earth

Re: German POWs in Australia

#3

Post by abc123 » 04 Dec 2010, 14:50

Peter H wrote:Hi Adam

.Some captured Afrika Korps members as well.

/Peter
Most of them were DAK service men and would you like to hazzard a guess why no more were sent to Australia as initially 7500 were programmed for transportation and later the number was to be increased to possibly 25,000 or enen more if required by the British.

User avatar
Wolfensteiner
Member
Posts: 197
Joined: 19 Jan 2004, 07:43

Re: German POWs in Australia

#4

Post by Wolfensteiner » 27 Dec 2010, 15:00

There is a book published, unfortunately I do not remember the title, about German POW's in Australia. There were photos of them having parades and they even appeared to have their full uniforms including helmet if I remember correctly. I saw it in a military library. I will try and locate it on my next visit.

Kangaroo
Member
Posts: 9
Joined: 23 Jun 2010, 07:13

Re: German POWs in Australia

#5

Post by Kangaroo » 05 Feb 2011, 11:07

Yes the book is called 'Stalag Australia' - can't recall the author though.

UMachine
Member
Posts: 528
Joined: 15 Apr 2006, 16:35
Location: canada

Re: German POWs in Australia

#6

Post by UMachine » 05 Feb 2011, 14:18

IIRC,After The Battle recently had a good article on the POW's at Murchison.

forester01
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 06 Jan 2009, 23:44

Re: German POWs in Australia

#7

Post by forester01 » 07 Feb 2011, 09:50

G'day UM Machine and Kangaroo (what is a 'UM Machine'?)

the book you probably refer to is called 'Stalag Australia' by Barbara Winter. A second good book on the topic, which also deals with internees in this area of North Central Victoria is 'Walls of Wire' by Joyce Hammond. A third book of real intererest is 'Beyond All Hate' by James L Sullivan, a former commandant of Camp 13.

I'm a keen prospector and bush walker and frequently walk through and around the ramains of Camp 6, which was a forestry camp and accommodated mostly the sailors of the 'Kormoran', along with the more sensible and technically savvy members of Camp 13 who could be trusted to turn out a good days work in return for considerable privileges and a fair degree of trust. These turned out to be mostly Kriegsmarine members, Italians and Finns.

Usually the hard core DAK blokes - mostly captured by the Australian 6th Division in North Africa - were confined at Camp 13 (Murchison) where, in the later years of the war, their military pride was brought into check by the many wounded and returning members of the Australian 6th Division who had fought in the Tobruk theatre and who held little fear of their DAK prisoners as opposed to the inexperienced and elderly militia guards who had formerly made up the guard battalions.

Since my retirement from the Australian Army I've spent many years in this area wandering through the forests which abound in this region and have explored the POW camps at Graytown (Camp 6) in detail. I'll make a point of photographing what remains (barbed wire perimeters and concrete footings of SAL blocks and barracks still remain amid thick bush) for this site if you wish.

Regards

Forester01

Kangaroo
Member
Posts: 9
Joined: 23 Jun 2010, 07:13

Re: German POWs in Australia

#8

Post by Kangaroo » 08 Feb 2011, 09:14

Hi Forester01

Yes, I have done a bit of that myself through the remains of Camp No. 16 at Marrinup, just south of Perth. It is located near the old timber logging town of Dwellingup. Construction began in July 1943 with the intention of housing up to 3800 interness - mostly Italian and German Afrika Korps. Interestingly, it was only the Italians that were permitted to work on various farms as labour - the authorities did not trust the Germans. In addition in Western Australia there were two other main POW work camps W20 at Jarrahdale and W28 at Northcliffe. Also there was two temporary internment camps No.11 at Harvey - where some of the Kormoran crew were held for a little while - until Tatura, and Fremantle and Karrakatta Army barracks. In all there was also nearly 30 different work areas across the state for POW's. For a time there was even a holding camp for captured Japanese POW's just east of Kalgoorlie on the Trans Australian railway line.
Today at Marrinup though, there are still many remains and evidence of the camp. Also nearby there is a small stone bridge and St Xaviers Convent in the nearby town of Wandering, constructed by Italian POW's - a testiment to the fine craft of stone masons amongst them. I have heaps of photos if you would like to see them.

forester
Member
Posts: 2
Joined: 09 Sep 2008, 09:20

Re: German POWs in Australia

#9

Post by forester » 06 Mar 2011, 01:29

G'day Kangaroo,
for sure mate I'd love to see them - you'd post them on this site perhaps?

Regards
Forester

User avatar
9.Gebirgsdivision
Member
Posts: 51
Joined: 05 Jul 2006, 13:07
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: German POWs in Australia

#10

Post by 9.Gebirgsdivision » 05 Oct 2011, 15:36

I found this thread today...

Here is the "Identify Paper" of my grandfather,
first station of a long "trip" was Geneifa, then he came to Murchison...

He was medical stuff.

Unit: 5 I K.S.R.M ?!??

Best regards,
9.Gebirgsdivision
Attachments
JW.jpg

Dachhase
Member
Posts: 135
Joined: 07 Sep 2011, 12:30
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Re: German POWs in Australia

#11

Post by Dachhase » 15 Mar 2012, 09:09

Book: "Stalag Australia"; author: Barbara Winter; publisher: Angus & Robertson, 1986.
Available from Tatura Historical Museum, Victoria, if not in hard copy, then on CD or DVD.
Individual record cards are held in the National Archives of Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, and are digitised on internet. If anybody really wants to access them, I shall post the link here.

Mannheim
Member
Posts: 842
Joined: 12 Dec 2010, 23:10
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: German POWs in Australia

#12

Post by Mannheim » 18 Jul 2012, 05:36

German prisoners were also held in Trial Bay Gaol during the First World War. The gaol is worth a visit if you're travelling through but a walk up to the (reconstructed) German memorial quickly turned into a run when I was there as the mosquitos are the size of vultures. See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laggers_Point
Kein Irrtum ist so groß, der nicht seinen Zuhörer hat.

Dachhase
Member
Posts: 135
Joined: 07 Sep 2011, 12:30
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Re: German POWs in Australia

#13

Post by Dachhase » 18 Jul 2012, 07:15

There is quite a lot of material on POW and internees in Australia to be found at the Melbourne branch of National Archives Australia. The basic material has been digitised and is available at:
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/using/search/
You do not need to register as a user. Just click on the box "Begin your Search" and enter the name you want to investigate. The basic records come up under the Series numbers MP1103/1 and MP1103/2.
If you want to do more general research, not for just a single name, the procedure is more difficult and time-consuming. The series contains 42358 individual files, as it covers both prisoners of war and civilian internees (including wives and children in family camps), not only German, but also Italian (the largest number), Japanese, Chinese, Javanese, Russians, Finns, Hungarians, Roumanians, seaman deserters from some dozen countries, including the USA. You need some experience and a lot of dedication to handle material at that level.
As a guide: The numbers all contain five digits, and the prefixes vary. PWG41+ are almost all Afrika-Korps, some Luftwaffe from the Middle East, and a few from Greece and Crete. PWGA42+ contain Kormoran crew (also a few PWDA41+ numbers). PWGM88+ are Ramses crew. (M = Merchant navy.)
The person who provided the "protected personnel" document obviously does not want to be identified, so I shall not give the name of his father, but it took me about five minutes to identify his father, because I know how to work these documents. Just to confirm this: he was Austrian, born 4 February 1916, by trade Schlosser, captured in Greece.
There are also records in the series A367 of those who applied to remain in or return to Australia. These are Commonwealth Security Service files (handed over by ASIO). They are not digitised, and most have not been opened to the public, not because they are classed as secret, but because nobody has applied to see them. (Not many people know of their existence.)

nobodyofnote
Member
Posts: 388
Joined: 02 Jun 2011, 14:39

Re: German POWs in Australia

#14

Post by nobodyofnote » 18 Jul 2012, 09:00

Peter H wrote:Hi Adam

1651 German POWs were held in Australia during the war,one died from lung cancer(a sailor from the Kormoran).

/Peter
Torpedo-man Erich Meyer died of lung cancer three weeks after surrendering with the Kormoran crew. He was initially buried with full military honours in the Lutheran section of the Karrakatta cemetery, in Perth. His grave was then reinterred in the German cemetery in the Victorian town of Tatura, a few miles north of Dhurringile.

Dachhase
Member
Posts: 135
Joined: 07 Sep 2011, 12:30
Location: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Re: German POWs in Australia

#15

Post by Dachhase » 18 Jul 2012, 13:08

German POW who died in Australia:
Erich Meyer, from Kormoran, in hospital in Western Australia, on 24 March 1942, of lung cancer. (Four months after capture, not three weeks)
Robert Schepler, Afrika Korps, orderly at officers' camp at Dhurringile, on 17 June 1942, suicide by hanging. Body found in a storage room, apparently in a cellar.
Tobias Tschurtschenthaler, Austrian captured in Greece, on 21 September 1942, gunshot wound in the course of an apparent riot at Murchison in Victoria.
Adolf Heintz, Afrika Korps, on 13 December 1942, death by hanging, at Murchison, Victoria. (Body found beneath the barracks, which were raised off the ground; a bit of a mystery, as his feet were touching the ground.)
Heinz Paul, taken off an American ship at Fremantle, apparently being transported to the east coast of America via Australia, died a few days later on 7 December 1942, of an acute catatonic fit. Virtually no information about him.
Johannes Haubold, Luftwaffe Feldwebel, on 10 August 1943 at Murchison, suicide by hanging. (He had recently received a letter from his fiancee breaking off their engagement.)
Max Kruger, Afrika Korps, on 28 November 1945 at Murchison, of acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis.
Karl Schwab, Afrika Korps, on 10 February 1946, drowned while swimming in the Goulburn River.
Max Erber, merchant navy officer from Adolph Woermann, 14 December 1946, suicide by hanging.
Werner Junghanns, Luftwaffe officer, on 28 December 1946 at Tatura, of acute uraemia. (The officers had been moved from Dhurringile to Tatura on 25 July 1945, as a compound there had become available when civil internees were released. As he had collapsed on a tennis court while playing on a hot day, his colleagues thought that he had died of sunstroke. The heat might have been a contributing factor.)
The civil coronial inquests into most of these deaths are / were available at the Public Records Office of Victoria, if anybody feels like jumping through their hoops. There was also an extensive military inquiry into the death of Tschurtschenthaler, with virtually a minute by minute account of events.

Post Reply

Return to “Life in the Third Reich & Weimar Republic”