Shrine
|
|
From June 1940 many Australians of foreign descent were
interned as a precaution against sabotage and other anti war
activities,in Western Australia some 1000 of Italian males were
interned at Harvey in a camp officially known as Internment Camp
No.11,after the HMAS Sydney/Komoran engagement* survivors from the Komoran were also
placed here in an enclosure by themselves. The guards,from the
Australian Army, numbered two hundred and the camp ran from the
banks of the Harvey River to the site of the Shrine and comprised
over 115 buildings of various decriptions. Large vegetable
gardens were established by the internees to feed themselves with
surplus going to various military organisations,the shrine was
built as a spare time project adjacent to the Camp Church. After
the entry of Japan into the war the Camp was deemed to be too
close to the coast and was closedas a place of internment in 1942
and over the following years the buildings were demolished until
only the Shrine was left standing in an empty paddock. In 1987 a
public meeting was held to decide what action to take to preserve
the Shrine,the final decision was to leave the Shrine where it
was,repair the ravages of time and weather and erect a building
over it surrounded by landscaped gardens including a water
feature. The Shrine in it's new home was opened by Sir Donald
Eckersley and President Luigi Sgambelluri on 23rd.August,1992.
* See Quobba page in Gascoyne Sectiom
