Loveday Internment Camp at Barmera in the South Australian Riverland has tended to exist on the margins of the Dunera story, despite its important place in this history.
Many Dunera internees spent time at Loveday. The camp served as a staging post for Dunera men who had signed up for service in the British Army’s Pioneer Corps and were awaiting transport back to Britain. Other Dunera and Queen Mary internees, such as Kurt Winkler, whose story is featured on this site, were incarcerated at Loveday in between stints at Tatura. Though authorities knew these internees claimed not to be pro-Nazi, they were regarded as doubtful cases and, thus, as security risks. Some internees were sent to Loveday for their own safety, or because they did not get on with the wider internee population at Tatura.
In welcome news, Professor Peter Monteath of Flinders University has established a website devoted to the history of Loveday Internment Camp. This excellent site promises to further our understanding of the Dunera experience at Loveday.
Photograph from the Loveday Lives website; taken by Hedley Cullen.
