Woolenook Wood Camp was a
World War II internment and prisoner of war camp in the Australian state of
South Australia located Murtho along the
River Murray
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
, in the state's
Riverland. It was officially part of the Loveday POW Camp complex, and housed
Japanese internees and later,
Japanese prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
. As internees, they had the option to accept paid work and they were employed as wood cutters for the
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
war effort. Timber was required to fuel Renmark's steam-powered irrigation pump for food production while fossil fuels were in low supply. The cut logs were collected and transported to Renmark on the PS Ulonga captained by Bob Reed.
Woolenook was similar to wood camps throughout South Australia at the time, including two others attached to the Loveday POW camps -
Moorook West (Wood Camp) and
Katarapko (Wood Camp).
The camp consisted of a tented compound, surrounded by barbed wire. The camp guard was provided by members of the 25/33 Garrison Battalion, a
militia unit of the
Australian Army. At one stage, the civilian internees were removed from the camp for their own safety, because Japanese POWs considered them spies of the Australians. The camp was officially closed on 6 May 1945 and within a year, all salvageable buildings were sold at auction. If you visit the site now, you will need to access it by river. The stone roads and tracks are still visible with some building foundations, the cricket pitch, flattened tennis court area, telegraph cable and some small monuments.
See also
*
List of POW camps in Australia
This is a list of prisoner of war camps in Australia during World War II.
During World War II many enemy aliens were interned in Australia under the ''National Security Act 1939''. Prisoners of war were also sent to Australia from other Allied co ...
*
Loveday Camp 9
*
Loveday Camp 10
*
Loveday Camp 14
References
External links
Australian National Archives factsheet about Loveday POW & Internee Camp, South Australia
{{coord, 34.286323, S, 140.454135, E, format=dms, type:landmark_region:AU-SA, display=title
History of South Australia
Military camps in Australia
World War II internment camps in Australia
World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Australia
Riverland