Rowville Military Camp

The Camp had a relatively short history as a military camp and was only in use from 1942 until 1946. During that time it was first used by the 3rd Motor Brigade Group on 18th May 1942. The troops stationed there included signallers, ambulance drivers and engineers. Units of these groups were engaged in training and exercises. The troops were stationed in the Rowville Camp because of the concern at the time that the Japanese might land in the Westernport Bay area. They were to be used as a mobile tactical reserve to reinforce troops defending the coast between Westernport Bay and Point Nepean. The Units stationed in the coastal area were under the command of Brigadier George H. Knox after whom our city is named and the Units at Rowville were under the command of Brigadier K.A. McKenzie.[*]

When the probability of a Japanese attack diminished, the 3rd Motor Brigade Group were moved to Seymour on 25th September 1942. After this the camp became a training and reception depot for American troops who were later shipped for service in the Pacific Region.

Whilst the Rowville area never really felt the ravages of the war, the local residents did at least have their fair share of 'frights' caused by the activities of both the Australian and American soldiers who were constantly on manoeuvres in the area. During their stay in the Camp, the Americans could often be seen trooping all over the hills, where their strange looking uniforms and unusual equipment were continual sources of interest to the small farming community of Rowville, many of whom were women left at home to carry on whilst their men were away fighting overseas.

In 1944 the American troops moved out of the camp and in December 1944 the Rowville hostel was established with one hundred Italian prisoners of war, one officer and seven other ranks. The number of prisoners was increased to one hundred and fifty in January 1945. Although there was no increase in the number of military staff, later that year the number of prisoners grew to approximately three hundred. The role of the camp was changed to that of a staging camp on 5th June 1945, with an increase in military staff which consisted of one officer and fifteen other ranks. This meant that all prisoners being moved from centre to centre around Victoria were dispatched through the Camp at Rowville. Prisoners were kept until there was sufficient justification for them to be sent to other camps around the State and used as farm labourers. According to the Australian Archives, Italian prisoners of war were also used on military works at salvage depots, Fisherman's Bend, the Engineers Depot at Oakleigh and the Military Camp at Watsonia.[1] Altogether a total of two thousand six hundred prisoners of war passed through the Rowville Camp until the government inquiry in 1946.

The Rowville Camp was a very low security area in semi-rural uncleared land. Around the perimeter was an ordinary wire fence, a little over a metre high, capable of keeping grazing cattle out rather than prisoners in. The camp had no sentries on the gates and there was nothing to stop an ordinary individual getting in or out, either by jumping over or crawling under the wire fence or just walking through the unguarded entrances of which there were four off Stud Road and one off Wellington Road.[2]

Local residents' recollections of the prisoners varied greatly. Those who used them as farm labourers found them friendly, harmless men, other locals were not so happy with them working along the country roads in their 'crimson pyjama suits.' Many false stories were made up to discredit and make trouble for both the prisoners and the Italian farmers who had moved into the area. The latter were always raided whenever there was an escape as it was suspected that the prisoners were hiding there.

During January 1945 with about three hundred prisoners of war in the camp and only fifteen guards to control them, six prisoners of war escaped. As these men were without weapons, they were not considered to be a threat to the local community, but their escape caused considerable controversy because of the lack of security at the camp.

A newspaper article in the Dandenong Journal on 21st February 1945 recorded that residents at a public meeting of the Council were perturbed by the wanderings of the prisoners of war from the Rowville Camp. It was mentioned that groups of prisoners had been seen wandering the roads at 10 o'clock at night, and on one occasion fourteen prisoners had approached the doorkeeper and sought to be admitted to the dance at Mulgrave.[3]

The degree of supervision of the prisoners was not unduly restrictive. They were allowed to go within one mile from the camp but were not supposed to cross over the Dandenong Creek. They were also forbidden to have any personal contact with local residents and to generally conduct themselves beyond reproach.

Because of the general lack of supervision prisoners continued to escape believing that by doing so they could remain in Australia instead of being repatriated to Italy. This belief was offset to a certain extent by some camp Commanding Officers who pointed out that prisoners of war who escaped and were found after repatriation had been carried out would also be deported from Australia because at that time they would be regarded as prohibited immigrants.

In March 1946, the Minister for Information and Immigration, Mr A.A. Caldwell, made representation to the Minister for the Army, Mr F.M. Forde, to hold an investigation into the Rowville Prisoner of War Camp near Springvale. He suggested this action after receiving the following letter from Mr L. Santospirito of Carlton:

"At the prisoner of war camp at Springvale there is a certain Captain Waterston who is a veritable Nero. He is always drunk and treats the POW shockingly. They are not free to have any possessions of their own, all articles of any value being taken out of their cases such as shirts.

He makes a clean sweep of anything they manage to purchase out of their small earnings even to cigarette papers, razor blades, shirts and shoes etc.

Apparently he gets intoxicated every day; then he goes brandishing a revolver in mid-air. The prisoners are belted and given bread and water once a day and their money taken from them whenever they attempt to escape because they cannot tolerate the conditions any longer. A few months ago one man was taken to hospital and had to have seven stitches in his forehead. Several have gone out of their minds and been taken to Receiving Homes.

The food is very scanty. In fact they are all very unhappy. There seems to be a lot of Jews there. I have been told that these facts have been verified from various sources but it should be easy enough to have an inquiry. I was also told that this Captain is a protected person that is someone with influence.

As this has been going on for some time I would be very happy if some move were to be made to end this affair at the earliest possible moment as it has caused a terrible lot of discontent."[4]

On 30th March 1946, an Italian prisoner, Rodolfo Bartoli, was fatally shot while trying to escape from the camp by Captain Waterston, Camp Commandant.

On 3rd April 1946, a government inquiry was held into the running of the camp and on the 5th April an inquiry began into the killing of the Italian prisoner by Captain Waterston who was found unfit to command the camp and removed from duty. Mr Justice Simpson, in handing down his report on the Rowville Camp on 26th August 1946, was highly critical of the administration of the camp, the main criticisms being the method of inflicting punishment and the type of punishment handed out. Also the fact that legitimate complaints from the prisoners put forward by their camp leaders were neither forwarded to the authorities nor were they redressed.[7]

All of these unfortunate events took place in 1946 after the end of World War II. Despite the fact that Italy had changed sides in the conflict and declared war on Germany in October 1943, Captain Waterston, in 1946, was treating the Italian prisoners of war as if they were dangerous enemy soldiers. They were prisoners only in a technical sense because of a delay in obtaining shipping to repatriate them to their homeland. It is clear from Mr Justice Simpson's inquiry, that Captain Waterston was temperamentally unfit to be in charge of a prisoner of war camp in wartime and more so after peace was declared. During the life of the military camp at Rowville, many soldiers passed through its gates, Australian, American and Italian. It was a sad and unnatural situation for young men to find themselves in - carried away from their homes and families for five or six years, many never to return. Compared with the greater horrors suffered by prisoners of war in Europe and Asia, the Australian experience was preferable. The Australian authorities and people, in the main, except for isolated examples of bigotry and intolerance, treated the prisoners of war well, and it seemed that common sense prevailed over jingoism and racism, those vocal and inseparable allies in war-time.

All that remains of the camp today are the concrete foundations of some one hundred and forty buildings. The site is overgrown with trees and scrub, virtually left undisturbed since the last prisoners of war departed on their long journey home. The camp closed in 1946.

References:

Fitzgerald, Alan. The Italian Farming Soldiers, 1941-1947. Melbourne University Press 1981.

Coulson, Helen. Story of the Dandenongs. Longman Cheshire 1959.

1. Australian Archives Melbourne M.P. 508/1 Property and Works Item 259/-/-.
2. Australian War Memorial Canberra. Letter from the Acting Director, B.E.W. Kelson, 1982.
3. Australian Archives Melbourne M.P. 742 Correspondence files item 255/6/768.
4. Australian Archives Melbourne Map of Rowville Camp layout.
5. Dandenong Journal, Wednesday February 21, 1945.
6. Australian Archives, Melbourne M.P. 742/1.
7. Australian Archives, Melbourne M.P. 742/1 Rowville Inquiry No.255/6/774, Part 2.

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