Australian POW camps

[Ian Fawbert]

Lang,

As you head south on the Hume Highway, not far past the Campbelltown Steam Museum and on the north side of the Picton Rd turn off, there are strange huts in the dairy paddocks. They look like POW type camp observation towers.

Years went by, we would drive past on the way to my grandparents. Mum and Dad didnt know the answer to what they were nor did others we would ask (not being from the area and pre computer, it wasnt as easy!).

Fast forward to about 5 years back, i was speaking to Les Bell. He too had seen them and often wondered. Moving into the area not long ago, he started asking. He said he'd found out that they were POW type/ww2 camp guard towers, and also were part of a railway line station (i think that was what he said) which was to bring those imprisoned, either POW or citizens of axis nations who those in the know said needed to be locked up (similar to Cowra i guess).

Regardless, it solved a mystery (one of the many!). They are still there, quite visible though sadder than they were when i remember then as a kid 25 years back. There used to be more visible, they have collapsed- the dairy cows rubbing on 70+ year old timber structures doesnt aid much, but the main one or two arent hard to spot- on the left, about 50-150 metres off the road as you head south.

Les didn't find much info on it (back then) and i havent thought to ask if he had found more by now.

Cheers,
Ian.

[Tony Smith]

Les may have got the story a little mixed up. There WAS a railway branchline used to take POWs and internees to a camp (known officially as the German Concentration Camp! . That name wouldn't ring so nice 25 years later.), but it was not near Campbelltown. The Holdsworthy (as it was spelt then) branch left the Main South Line at Liverpool station and crossed the Georges River (the bridge supports are still there, now a pedestrian/cycleway) and ran along what is now Heathcote Road to around the position of the current East Hill line, where it turned due south and into the current Holsworthy Military training area. It was 5Km long.

The camp was opened in WW1, and closed in 1920. The railway branch was built with Internee labour and opened to traffic in 1917. The end of the branch into the GCC was closed with the closure of the camp in 1920, but the middle section continued for many years to serve the warehouses in the Holsworthy Base, and also brought special passenger trains for weekend shooting competitions at the Anzac Rifle Range. The branch finally closed in 1974.

Being securely enclosed within the Military base, the remains of the railway formation and GCC are somewhat preserved, including lots of German grafitti and names carved in the sandstone outcrops around the site of the railways station. The camp buildings were burnt in a bushfire many years ago, but the stone remains of the commandant's house and mess hall still remain, with modern buildings all around them.

Pity the AWM's site has gone all funny, as there are lots of photos of the camp and railway in their online collection.

[Mike Cecil]

I agree with you Tony, about the AWM's updated website: gone backwards in a big way, and that's being polite. Best to write to the webmaster and voice your frustration like I and many others have: they might get the hint, but somehow I doubt it.

If you go to the new site 'search' option and type 'German Concentration camp Holdsworthy', 60 odd images come up for viewing. Simple searches like that seem to work OK, just don't try anything more complex!

Mike

[Dinty]

I have been going to a property up near Coonabarabran NSW, during WW2 there were Italian POW's on this property, they constructed wooden shearers quarters, erected a few windmills on this property, the next time I'm up in the area I will get more information if anyone wants it cheers Dennis