Enoggera (Gaythorne), Queensland (1914–15 and 1940–46)

World War I

The Enoggera internment camp was located next to an existing army camp in what is now suburban Brisbane. It housed nearly 140 internees, including the non-military officers and crew of civilian German ships docked in Brisbane after the outbreak of war. Many of the men were married, but their families were not taken into the camp. For the first five months, until March 1915, the internees were able to leave the camp during daylight hours and they could be employed. The camp was closed in August 1915 and the internees were transferred to the Holsworthy camp in New South Wales.

Enoggera camp in 1915
AWM H02154

World War II

The Enoggera internment and prisoner of war camp was re-established in early 1940 in the same area as the World War I camp. After 1942 the camp was enlarged and had a capacity to accommodate 1800 people in five separate compounds of between 300 and 500 people each. Those interned at Enoggera during World War ll included family groups with children and the elderly. They were primarily German, Austrian, Italian and Japanese.

Officers' quarters at Enoggera camp
AWM H02155

Records

The National Archives holds records about the Enoggera camp during World War II. A selection of these is listed below.

Collection references

This Department of the Army file describes the army company which administered and maintained the camp at Gaythorne.	1944–45	MP742/1, 96/1/1921
An inspection report and plans of the camp are included in this Department of the Army file from 1943.	1943	MP742/1, 255/9/111
This 1942 Army file contains correspondence and reports on internee complaints about their treatment.	1942	MP508/1, 255/713/27
Camp personnel at Gaythorne is the subject of this Department of the Army file from 1942.	1942	MP508/1, 96/707/1137

'Aliens and others': World War ll internment project

The National Archives of Australia is a partner in an Australian Research Council project titled ‘Aliens and others: representing citizenship and internment in Australia during World War II', headed by Dr Ilma O'Brien of the Victoria University of Technology.

As part of the project, Dr O'Brien is interested in collecting personal memories of World War II internment in Australia. If you have personal or family memories, photographs or documents about internment you would like to share, further information about the project can be obtained from Dr O'Brien at ilma.obrien@vu.edu.au.