Coins minted for the Hay POW camp, c.1940s. Courtesy Hay Prisoner of War and Internment Camp Interpretive Centre

Collection
Hay Prisoner of War and Internment Camp Interpretive Centre

Object Name
Coins

Object/Collection Description
Coins pressed on metal with holes in the centre. Dimensions: 20 -30 mm diameter.

Australia declared war on Germany on 3^rd September 1939 the same day Britain did. Australia was now an independent member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. It did not have to join the war to support Britain. But most Australians believed that if Britain was in trouble it was Australia’s duty to help.

In Italy Mussolini had become dictator in 1922. Like Hitler, he set up a one party government. Italy was ruled by the Fascist party. Mussolini wanted to strengthen Italy’s power and to take over more land to make Italy a powerful nation. Italy’s armies invaded North Africa 1941 to establish a Fascist presence and interrupt allied shipping and transport links in North Africa. Australian troops helped defeat the Italians in North Africa. They drove the Italians from Bardia, Tobruk and Benghazi. Thousands of Italian prisoners of war (POW) were captured in the process. Many of these men were sent to Australia as POWs and were interred at POW camps at Cowra and Hay.

People from enemy nations in Australia were also interned throughout the first and the second world wars. They included Germans, Austrians, Irish (after the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin), Italians and Japanese.

The Hay POW camp was constructed in 1940. The first arrivals were 2036 Jewish internees from Nazi Germany and Austria - mostly professionals who had simply fled for their lives - along with 451 German and Italian POWs. They were transported from England on-board the Dunera, and they became known as ‘the Dunera Boys,’ which was applied, in particular to the Jewish refugees.

Conditions on the ship were appalling. The passengers were not allowed to leave the ship during stopovers and were rarely permitted on deck and, when they did, the British crew scattered bottles in their path to deter them. Conditions were also unsanitary.

The refugees (and POWs) were transported to Hay via train and then placed in the camps behind barbed wire. They remained active, holding physical education courses and concerts, teaching the children and printing their own money. All of these internees were moved to Hay in May 1941.

Italian POWs at Hay 1941. AWM

A few weeks later, about 2000 Italian POWs arrived from the battlefields of Egypt. They worked at farming practices, making the camps largely self-sufficient. Only one escaped and he spent six months in Melbourne before being recaptured.

In December of 1941 Japanese internees were conveyed to the camp from Cowra. Unfortunately, a number of them were merely Australians from Broome who were descended from Japanese pearlers; some of whom had never been to Japan.

The repatriation of the POWs was carried out in 1946 and the camp was dismantled and all building materials auctioned in 1947.

Dunera Boys Reunion 1990. NLA

There was a reunion of these internees in 1990 and a memorial has been placed on Showground Rd, opposite the Hay Town Bush Fire Headquarters (past the showground). More recently an interpretive centre on the subject has been set up at the old railway station.

Ironically, after the war, Italian migrants arrived in Hay and established market gardens.

The coins have historic value as evidence of the events that surround the internment of POWs in Australia in World War 2 and the experience of the refugees and POWs life at the Hay camp, the attitudes of the POWS to the war and internment and their relationships to other POW communities in NSW.

The coins provide a research tool for historians to explore the Second World War chapter of Australian history and give the story a wider meaning in the context of the history of migration and settlement in Australia. The material culture of the Hay POW camp reveals the diverse skills and backgrounds of the people interned there, including their educational and cultural backgrounds.

The coins have social value providing a reminder of the fears felt by the Australian, German, Italian and Japanese communities of war, the loss of loved ones and the insecurity of war time. POWs and guards’ families have a common link to the place and many local residents have developed a strong attachment to it. Many local residents are collectors and amateur historians carrying out many years of research and documenting the history of the Hay site and the collection. A lot of information still resides in the memories of the Hay community.

The coins are well provenanced to the Hay POW camp. The coins are in the collection of the Hay Prisoner of War and Internment Camp Interpretive Centre.

The POW objects are rare in a NSW public collection and that it relates specifically to the POW occupation of the Hay site and it is associated with those particular groups who emerge as significant participants at the Hay POW Camp and World War 2 NSW POW camp history.

The coins represent the culture and traditions of World War 2 refugees and POWs. It is part of a larger collection represents the German. Italian and Japanese experience in Australia during World War 1 & 2 and Australia’s strong historic links to Britain and the adherence to British foreign policy after Federation. The object represents Australia’s fear of subversion during the war and racial antagonism to cultural minorities in wartime. The object represents a time when Australia was moving away from Britain for foreign policy and becoming more confident of its place in the region but still held deep suspicions of non - British immigrants.

The coins are in good condition.

The coins’ importance lies in their potential to interpret the place as a site associated to POWs and internment, the internment camp itself, the refugee/ POW experience. The objects present the opportunity to interpret the stories of various individuals who were interned at Hay POW camp and those who were repatriated after the War only to return as migrants and become successful members of the Australian community despite their experiences.

Coupe, S. & Andrews, M.
Was it only Yesterday? Australia in the Twentieth Century World,
Longman Cheshire, Sydney, 1992.

Regional Histories of NSW,
Heritage Office & Dept of Urban Affairs & Planning,
Sydney, 1996.

Significance: A guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections,
Heritage Collections Council. 2001.

Websites

www.visithay.com.au/pow.html

www.awm.gov.au