Harvey Internment Camp & 3rd Australian Corps Army School Historic Site Precinct

Experience Australia’s WWII internment history. Established in September 1940, Harvey Internment Camp No. 11 was the first purpose-built internment camp in Western Australia and housed around 100 German and 800 Italian Internees.

During World War II, the Federal Government embarked upon a policy of internment of nationals from countries at war with Australia who were considered ‘enemy aliens’ and posed a potential threat to the nation.

This State Heritage Listed site was built in 1940 and was one of 18 major Internment Camps in Australia.

Many internment camps were dismantled at the end of the war. Fortunately, the Harvey Camp No.11 site was repurposed and maintained. Today, at least 20 of the original 68 buildings remain.

To uncover this history, take the short Shrine Walk and visit:

• Internment Camp Memorial Shrine  – believed to be Australia’s only roadside shrine.
• Shrine Fountain ‘Fontana 2000’
• Internment Camp Ablution Block Foundations
• Internment Camp Detention Cells.

Sit in remembrance and contemplation, or discover exhibits that tell the Internment Camp and Shrine’s story.

The remaining buildings are owned by the Western Australian Department of Education and are not open to the public. However, the Old Hospital (1940) and Bailey Bridge (1940) are visible from the road.

When released, many Italian internees remained in Harvey, and their families call this community home today.

HISTORY

In November 1940, Western Australian Italian internees were transferred from Rottnest Island to the newly established Harvey Internment Camp No.11. The Camp was initially manned by a detachment from the 10th Australian Garrison Battalion.

The built form included 68 barracks, several workshops, shower rooms, dining huts, recreation huts, detention cells and officers’ quarters surrounded by a 1.8m high barbed wire fence topped with rolls of barbed wire.

The camp housed up to 1,000 men, including 800 internees and 200 army personnel. Most of the Italian internees held at Camp No. 11 came from a variety of professions, including orchardists and fishermen, and many of them continued to undertake similar work on the camp during their time there, including gardeners, blacksmiths, plumbers, woodcutters, cooks, carpenters, storemen, tailors, bootmakers and hospital orderlies.

In 1941, a section of it was used to house and interrogate the survivors from the German Raider ship Kormoran, which had sunk HMAS Sydney off the Western Australia coast. They stayed at Harvey until their transfer in December 1941 and January 1942 to the No. 13 POW Group at Murchison, Victoria.

In January 1941, a full-time company from the 5th Australian Garrison Battalion moved to Harvey to become the 11th Internment Camp Guard Company, soon after renamed the ‘M’ Australian Garrison Company.

With Japan’s entry into the war, the government moved all internees to the eastern states. This occurred in April 1942, leading to the closure of the Harvey Internment Camp.

3rd Australian Army Corps

Following the closure of the internment camp in 1942, the site was repurposed as the 3rd Australian Corps Training School, with courses focused on various military skills and leadership. 

Harvey Rural Training Centre

Following the war in 1947, it became the Harvey Rural Training Centre. Through the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme, ex-servicemen and women received a two-month training course in agricultural methods.

After World War I and II, the Australian government implemented soldier settlement schemes to provide land to returning servicemen and women. These schemes involved state governments allocating land, purchased or from crown land, to eligible veterans. While the program aimed to help veterans rebuild their lives, many faced challenges with the viability and suitability of the land parcels. The Harvey Rural Training Centre assisted with this transition.

Harvey Agriculture College