When I first heard about the relic World War II tank traps hidden away in the forests of south-east New South Wales, I thought someone was pulling my leg. It was only after I discovered my informant was a rural firefighter who’d seen the timber obstacles marked on an old map, that I took the claims seriously.
During World War II, civilians in Australia deemed “enemy aliens” – mostly those of German, Italian and Japanese descent – were housed in internment camps. The largest of the camps was Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia’s Riverland region, about 6km south of Barmera.
During the darkest hours of World War II, a short-lived survival plan was hatched to send British children to safety on the other side of the world in Australia.
During World War II more than 3000 Aussies who couldn’t join the military signed up for ‘The Ragtag Fleet’ and faced fire in the Pacific.
On 3 September 1939, two days after Hitler invaded Poland, Australia entered World War II.