Gardens
For many internees constructing and maintaining gardens was vital for their well-being. It not only helped them to break the boredom of internment life and give them a reason to be active outdoors, it also gave them a supply of fresh produce. The forms the gardens took depended on the artistry and the national backgrounds of the gardeners. The first photos below are from the collection of the Australian War Memorial. Others were taken during a visit to Loveday by the delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dr Georges Morel, in 1943 and 1944.
Further Reading:
Julie Holbrook Tolley, ‘Chooks, trombones and tomatoes’, Australian Garden History, 31, 1 (July 2019), pp. 23-26.
A landscaped Japanese type garden built by internees in 14B Compound of No 14 Camp in the Loveday Internment Camp Group, December 1945. Photographer: Hedley Keith Cullen. AWM 123010.
A Japanese Charnel House constructed by internees of 14B Compound in No 14 Camp of the Loveday Internment Camp Group. Photograph by Hedley Keith Cullen. AWM 123011.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01876-38A.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01877-25A.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01876-04.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01876-07.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01876-29.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01883-14B.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-01883-16.
ICRC Audiovisual Archive, V-P-HIST-03289-05A.