Peter Monteath
Auteur de Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders
A propos de l'auteur
Matthew P. Fitzpatrick is Associate Professor of International History at Flinders University, Adelaide. Peter Monteath is Professor of History at Flinders University, Adelaide.
Œuvres de Peter Monteath
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom canonique
- Monteath, Peter
- Sexe
- male
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Critiques
Captured Lives, Australia’s Wartime Internment Camps tells the story of both interned civilians and POWs, from both the World Wars. As you might expect, the rules, procedures and conditions in WW2 were influenced by the Geneva Conventions updated between the wars, (a history interesting in itself, see Wikipedia) as well as the lessons Australia had learned from rather its indiscriminate system in WW1.
It’s quite widely known that naturalised Germans who had lived in Australia for many years and been model citizens were interned on the grounds of national security during WW1, and that later in the war, internment was also applied to Australian-born people of German heritage, who were actually British subjects (as all Australians were at that time). The War Precautions Act 1914 was designed to ensure that no assistance of any kind can be rendered to the enemies of the Empire and Regulation 55 allowed the Minister of Defence to issue warrants for the detention of naturalised persons he had reason to believe were ‘disaffected or disloyal.’
Although there was only one group of POWs who were actually enemy combatants who were captured in battle (the men of the German cruiser SMS Emden), there were also POWs from German shipping in Australian ports. Due to the sudden outbreak of war and the tardiness of communications in those days, crews of these 15 ships had no way of knowing, as they entered port flying a German flag, that they had suddenly become the enemy. So too were German officers and crew on ships not flying German flags but they were also rounded up. At first officers (but not seamen) were allowed comparative freedom on parole, but from 1915 Australia was complying with directives from Britain and they were all behind barbed wire.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/07/31/captured-lives-australias-wartime-internment...… (plus d'informations)
It’s quite widely known that naturalised Germans who had lived in Australia for many years and been model citizens were interned on the grounds of national security during WW1, and that later in the war, internment was also applied to Australian-born people of German heritage, who were actually British subjects (as all Australians were at that time). The War Precautions Act 1914 was designed to ensure that no assistance of any kind can be rendered to the enemies of the Empire and Regulation 55 allowed the Minister of Defence to issue warrants for the detention of naturalised persons he had reason to believe were ‘disaffected or disloyal.’
"From very early in the war, Australian authorities were determined to quash German economic activity in Australia. This meant that a number of German merchants were interned, nominally with the aim of preventing trade with the enemy and in accordance with Britain’s strategy of economic blockade. In many cases, those who found themselves behind barbed wire for these alleged reasons suspected that the Australian policy was being used to favour the interests of Australian businesses, happy to see some of their rivals eliminated.
In a similar vein, authorities were deeply suspicious that Germans might be involved in espionage activity in Australian cities. Where mistrust was strong, levels of internment were higher, so that even men of elevated social standing— whether as leading businessmen or honorary consuls— were subjected to internment. " (p.13)
Although there was only one group of POWs who were actually enemy combatants who were captured in battle (the men of the German cruiser SMS Emden), there were also POWs from German shipping in Australian ports. Due to the sudden outbreak of war and the tardiness of communications in those days, crews of these 15 ships had no way of knowing, as they entered port flying a German flag, that they had suddenly become the enemy. So too were German officers and crew on ships not flying German flags but they were also rounded up. At first officers (but not seamen) were allowed comparative freedom on parole, but from 1915 Australia was complying with directives from Britain and they were all behind barbed wire.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/07/31/captured-lives-australias-wartime-internment...… (plus d'informations)
An account of the voyages of discovery by Matthew Flinders (English) and Nicolas Baudin (French) in the first years of the 19th century
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 14
- Membres
- 101
- Popularité
- #188,710
- Évaluation
- 3.8
- Critiques
- 3
- ISBN
- 36
The content is invaluable in giving an insight, from the inside, of life in such a camp.
Life must have been tough. Boredom must have been a key problem. Uncertainty must have plagued the minds of the internees. The content suggests that treatment of the internees was reasonable. Diet and health were as good as might be expected.
The fascinating aspect, for me, is the the fact that the author, publishing this record late in life, after Japan had become a great economic power, and after the futitlity and stupidity of the Japanese governments colonial ambitions had been exposed, and the attrocities of Japanese POW camps had been well publicised, the author delivers the same pre-war platitudes that led to the trainwreck.… (plus d'informations)