Treasure of the Month, Fryer Library
from the special collections of the Fryer Library

Baldwin Goener’s plan of Tatura Internment Camp UQFL63

Plan of N.2 Internment Camp I.A.I.A. Tatura, Victoria

 

 

Physical Description

A3 sized colour plan; Hand made frame in the shape of the map of Australia, painted bright green, painted detail includes rivers and mountain ranges. Attached are: Emblems of an emu, kangaroo and kookaburra sitting on a boomerang; Coins: "Internment Camp" coin and "One Penny"; Blue plaque at top of frame, inscribed "N.2. Internment Camp I.A.I.A. Tatura Victoria".

Summary

This framed sketch belonged to Baldwin Goener who was interned as a German enemy alien at the Tatura Internment Camp, 1A & 1B, Victoria during WWII from 1942-1944. It is inscribed by ‘H.G. Duffner, 1944’.

WWI Internment Camps in Australia

Whilst living and working in Maryborough, Baldwin Goener was taken into custody on 5th September 1941 and escorted to an internment camp at Gaythorne, Brisbane. Here he was accommodated for five months with other German internees, then, as numbers increased he was transferred from Gaythorne to the Tatura Camp in Victoria in February 1942. He was later released and given leave to return home on 17th October 1944.

Two distinct groups were detained in these camps:
Prisoners–Of–War, and Internees – civilians living in Australia, deemed to be a security risk because of their nationality. Camps 1 and 2 at Tatura each housed about 1,000 single male internees, mainly Germans and Italians.

 

WWII Internment Camp Tokens
Australian currency was banned inside the camps for fear it would be used by prisoners to escape. The Army struck several denominations of bronze and brass tokens for use within internment camps. Most were destroyed at the end of WWII, and now these artefacts of Australia’s wartime history are sought after rarities.

The framed map is on display in the Fryer Library Reading Room for the month of April 2012.

 

Provenance

Received as part of the Baldwin Goener Collection, 1987 UQFL63

Significance

This item is historically significant as evidence of the experience of internees in Australia in WWII.

More Information

Henderson, David. ‘Bycatch of war: the German-Australian Internees 1939-1943’. Fryer Folios v.2:1 (2007) pp.8-10.

Tatura Museum
http://www.taturamuseum.org.au

Museum of Victoria, Drawing, Forest Camp, Broadford, 1944
http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/items/1346872/drawing-forest-camp-broadford-1944
 
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