From Singapore “under British protection”

On September 18, 1940, the British colonial power ordered the precautionary evacuation of a group of “enemy aliens” from Germany, Austria and Italy from Singapore. But wait – what looked like an “evacuation” for fear of a Japanese invasion was only the appearance of the action. In fact, it was a deportation of these people, including many young children and old people. They had agreed to the transport because they had been promised a life of freedom in Australia. They had to travel under guard and were immediately imprisoned behind triple barbed wire in the Tatura 3 camp in Australia.

Peter Dehn Febuary 2025.

“Under British protection on British soil”

In 1931, Singapore’s Jewish population was officially counted at 832 people. Then the Nazis came to power in Germany and immediately initiated anti-Semitic persecution. The British Crown Colony became a place of refuge. By 1942, the Jewish population had almost doubled to around 1,500 people[1] Wikipedia "History of the Jews in Singapore", retrieved 25.11.2024..

As early as mid-1940, the British were apparently anticipating a Japanese offensive on the Malay Peninsula and Singapore at its southern tip. The internment of “enemy aliens” was discussed between the authorities in London and locally. The British Colonial Office instructed the governor to act as he saw fit. The local colonial authorities did not want to get involved with a camp on their territory. “The tropics were considered unsuitable from a health point of view for the prolonged accommodation of Europeans“, the historian Paul Bartrop[2] Paul Bartrop "New Work on the internees from Singapore" in Dunera News No. 28, October 1993. summarized the reasoning and added: ‘There was no possibility of adequately accommodating internees’. After England and Australia had reached an agreement on the accommodation of internees, the colonial authorities in Singapore obtained permission from London to send “their” enemy aliens to Australia.

After being assured that they would not be imprisoned or persecuted, those affected believed themselves to be on the safe side, protected from a Japanese invasion and looking forward to a future in freedom.

On September 18, 1940, German internees were brought aboard the Queen Mary in the port of Singapore under guard. Photo: Alamy license, ID 2HX5D64.

The breakfast menu on board the Queen Mary on September 22, 1940 Source: AWM, No. RC11584.551.

No dangerous enemies

This was similarly passed on to the Australian authorities. Singapore expressly assured there „that with some exceptions these persons are not considered tobe dangerous enemies and if it were not for the special circumstances of the Straits Settlements[8] Unter diesem Begriff fasste Großbritannien bis 1946 die Kronkolonien an der Straße von Malakka zusammen, via Wikipedia, abgerufen am 25.11.2024., it is possible that the majority vould witout detriement have been allowed to remain at liberty”. The Malaya government would not stand in the way of release in Australia[9] Secret letter from Government House Singapore on 20.9.1940, NAA_ItemNumber6937127, pages 4/5, retrieved on 14.12.2024..

The journey from Singapore to Australia on the Queen Mary, which had been converted into a troopship for up to 5,500 men, began on September 18, 1940. The luxury liner was painted in grey camouflage in Sydney in March 1940. The current owner calls this “the birth of the Grey Ghost[10] Cf. The Queen Mary online, retrieved on 27.11.2024. The capacity was 5,500 men. In 1942, a division of 15,125 men and 863 crew members were transported.”.

On board the former luxury liner, the group were treated like 2nd class passengers, the care and treatment was good (in contrast to the Dunera) and they were only underway for a week until the ship dropped anchor in Sydney on September 25, 1940. The guard of 42 soldiers of the Gordon Highlanders was probably not particularly disturbing.

Having been promised their release, the deportees took their entire household with them. In view of the well-dressed arrivals, the response in the Australian press was much more positive than when the Dunera Boys arrived in Melbourne three weeks earlier, looking rather torn for well-known reasons.

“Protection” behind Australian barbed wire

The Germans, Austrians and Italians were taken from Sydney to the Tatura 3 camp near the small town of Shepparton in the north of the state of Victoria. The first measure was a search of their luggage. Indirectly, it became clear that the internees had brought their entire household and possessions with them because they had been promised a life of freedom. An officer from the intelligence section[11] In a statement dated December 20, 1940, to the commanding officer of the 17th Garrison Battalion, its Intelligence Division countered the untrue claim of an “Auditors' Report” that they had refused to cooperate with the paymasters. In NAA_ItemNumber330926, page 123. of the 17th Garrison Battalion reported critically on the searches:

“The Internees ex Singapore arrived late in the afternoon and carried considerable quantities of luggage, which had to be searched. The search revealed many valuables an thousands of pounds in various currencies, drafts and cheques. No providion had been made by the Paymastser to provide envelopes, forms or receipts, and we prepared shedules for entering the amounts an issued interim receipts. The whole of the transaction was carried out under extremely difficult conditions, as the internees comprised many women and children, and all were more or less excited. The Intelligence Staff of 2 Officers and 2 Sergeants were entirely responsible and the Paymaster was not present.

Two days later, after checking the cast, darfts etc. we handed over to the Paymaster, who with his assistand checkedthe amounts in our presence, and found the figures correct, but we received no acquittance.”

The camp consisted of four separate compounds, each with 18 barracks. The families and single women were accommodated in Compound D, the single men in Compound C. Everyone was surprised and horrified to be locked up like prisoners of war behind barbed wire, watchtowers with searchlights, guard corridors, etc. instead of living in the promised freedom. In both compounds they were imprisoned together with “Australian Nazis[12] Cf. various documents In NAA_ItemNumber347069, retrieved on 20.12.2024.”.

The phrase “under British protection on British soil” seems meaningful enough to also describe imprisonment. The British government certainly knew exactly what awaited the internees in Australia, even if the departments in Singapore may not have been informed. Not least because the British government also financed the construction and operation of this internment camp.

This view of the Tatura 2 camp was painted by Italian internee Giorgio Scola with watercolors around 1941, courtesy of Julian Scola.

About chicken wire and blowflies

“We were, therefore, utterly surprised to find ourselves upon arrival in an ordinary camp for prisoners of war – which was not even completed – and to see that nothing did correspond with those assurances given to us in Singapore. The huts made of corrugated iron are not able to give shelter from the cold and heat.“ Gerhard Seefeld complained about this as representative of the internees[13] G. Seefeld on September 29, 1940 to the camp commander in NAA_ItemNumber358850, page 12f. to the camp commander immediately after their arrival on September 29, 1940. The treatment of the Queen Mary group was in this respect similar to how the Australians treated the Dunera Boys.

The then three-year-old Ruth Simon, née Gottlieb[14] The family from Vienna is not related to Leon Gottlieb from Hamburg, who was also brought to Australia on the Queen Mary., recalled the reaction of her mother Johanna. She had commented on “the chicken wire ventilation in the huts” with the remark: “Don’t tell me the blowflies are that big!” “Surrounded by adults ‘everyone was uncle and aunty’, she recalled the difficulties of living[15] Melinda Mockridge, Ruth Simon “Ruthi, a young girl in internment” in Dunera News No. 98, page 8 of October 2016, retrieved on 15.09.2024. in such proximity, the lack of privacy and water, playing with friends, the freedom to roam the camp, and the friendliness of the camp guards.”

“Detained” instead of interned

Part of the “bureaucracy” of this special internment is that there are only a few British personal files of Queen Mary internees in the publicly accessible documents of the Australian National Archives. This was different for the men deported from the British Isles to Canada and Australia. The Australian personnel files differ from those of the Dunera Boys in one interesting respect: on both of the usual forms for Dunera Boys, the words “Prisoner of War” were crossed out and “Internees” stamped above them. For the Queen Mary people, the pre-printed words “Prisoner of War” or “Internee” on the “Service and Casualty Form” index sheet and the “Report on …” questionnaire were replaced by “Detained Refugee” and the term “internment” was replaced by “detention”. The entry route was generally entered as “Escort Queen Mary” (emphasis added) and the date of detention as September 27 – i.e. the arrival or first registration in the Tatura camp. These changes were made by typewriter. It should therefore be assumed that the documents were filled out in the typing pool of the guard units with official approval.

The difference between the classification of the Queen Mary group as “prisoners” and the “interned” Dunera men probably made little difference in practice. Ultimately, all those deported to Australia were subject to the local regulations for prisoners of war, including mail censorship.

One of the top achievements of the internment bureaucracy was that even the 15 children born during the internment were officially interned. Ronald Frederick Gottlieb was born in Waranga Base Hospital on January 1, 1942. This was one of the hospitals responsible for the care of camp inmates in the Tatura region. The baby was officially interned on January 29. The cries of joy were certainly great when Ronald learned of his release on April 27, 1942, together with his mother and sister Ruth. Father Otto Gottlieb[16] Personalakten Otto und Ronald Gottlieb in Nationalarchiv NAA, abgerufen am 20.11.2024. had started his service with the 8th Employment Company on April 8.

The Australian army did not refer to the Germans and Austrians of the Queen Mary group as internees, but as “detained refugees”. Source: NAA_ItemNumber9904155.

The four very young children born in Malaya in 1940 had a similar fate. Eva Duldig, just four years old, was released from internment “on parole” (!). It is important to note that children born in Singapore or Australia were British citizens by virtue of British law. A total of 41 children and young people up to the age of 18 (born in 1922 or later) were sent to the camp with the Queen Mary and as family members of the internees.

Life in the camp

Invitation to the theater: H. Blau presented the play “Laugh amd forget”. Graphic: Ludwig Meilich. Courtesy of Miriam Gould.

Shortly after arriving at the camp, some families were separated: up to 25 children over the age of 12 were sent to the Jewish Welfare Society’s Larino children’s home or other homes or boarding schools in Melbourne. The younger kids stayed with their parents; the internees organized a kindergarten for them.

“We had a canteen, camp library and a camp school where scientists, students and others regularly gave lectures. (…) The food was good, the climatic conditions unfavorable due to the hot sandstorms,“ recalled Franz Lebrecht[17] Franz Lebrecht „Bericht über Erlebnisse während des Dritten Reiches …“ on 10.4.1960 for Wiener Library, No. 1656/3/9/1194, page 25. Dehn Archives.. Similar to the Dunera internees, 3 plays were also written and performed in Tatura. Werner Baer (*1914) from Berlin composed songs for them, with lyrics by Hans Blau (*1906) from Vienna. Ludwig Meilich designed the advertising motif for one of the plays.

Although the British government wanted the internees to be treated like enemies, they were generally treated “extremely well[18] Cf. G. Seefeld, L. Duldig, P. Schlesinger loc.cit.” by the Australian guards, according to internees.

However, the world of the internees cannot have been quite so perfect. The “camp leader” Gerhard Seefeld, who had been elected by the Jews of the Queen Mary group of Tatura 3 camp, was dismissed by the camp commander “for lack of cooperation”. Seefeld had continued to warn of conflicts and the potential for violence between the hostile groups with ever stronger words in the face of vehement ignorance: Jews and politically persecuted people on the one side and German and Australian Nazis and Italian fascists on the other had been housed together in the compounds. The officers in charge saw the internees’ resistance to this decision as a “Jewish mutiny” and tried in vain to discipline the internees by withholding mail, among other things.

In later conflicts, the commanders backed the Nazis and fascists. A provocation by Nazis against Jews took place at the end of September 1941, as is known from the documents of the 17th Garrison Battalion[19] Cf. various documents in NAA_ItemNumber347069, retrieved on 20.12.2024. responsible for guarding the Tatura 1 and Tatura 3 camps. The battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Tackaberry, shifted the responsibility to the Jews. In the camps guarded by this unit, Nazis and fascists were apparently able to let off steam. The Nazis even installed a “hall guard” to ensure that their man was elected to represent the internees.

Age is no protection from the camp

Four men[20] Cf. the personnel files in the Australian National Archives, retrieved on 16.11.2024. in the Queen Mary group were over 70 years old. Joseph Rein, born on December 11, 1862 in Hungary, was the oldest of this group. He was interned at the age of 78 (!). He was one of the first to be released from internment in October 1941. His daughter Irma (*1899) was allowed to accompany him to the “Montefiori” home in Melbourne St. Kilda. Joseph died there on August 11, 1942.

When he was arrested in Singapore, the Dane Alf Knudsen was 71 years old. He had to endure a further 16 months in captivity after the end of the war until he was released to Melbourne in September 1946 at the age of 77.

Arnold Aussem (*1868) from Cologne was held in the Tatura camp until long after the end of the war. Arnold died there on July 23, 1946 and was buried in the Tatura cemetery. His widow Jessie was only released to her birthplace Singapore in May 1947 (!) at the age of 66.

Carl Habekost (*1868) and his daughter Carla (*1912) are a particularly interesting case: according to Australian files they were repatriated in July 1943[21] Letter from the War Ministry to the Foreign Ministry dated 22.9.1944. In NAA_ItemNumber770913, page 10, retrieved on 15.12.2024. and are said to have “apparently” reached Germany in October.

Ludwig Meilich, a civil engineer from Vienna, born in 1883, died in Mooropna Hospital on September 16, 1941.

“No right of objection”

A wedding in the camp was a rare event. Hans Fischer and Lotte Calm (front center with friends and child Ruth Gottlieb) decided to marry Lotte Calm on September 8, 1941. Photo: Ruth Simon Collection; excerpt from Dunera Newsletter No. 98, page 9.

As in the Hay 7 and Hay 8 camps, the Queen Mary internees confronted their unfortunate situation and protested against their detention and for their release in accordance with the promises.   As a matter of principle, the Australians refused to deal with the release of internees. This was in line with the then White Australia Policy of the ruling racist United Australia Party (UAP), which wanted to preserve the country’s “racial homogeneity”. Australia had previously made it clear that the settlement of internees, let alone Jews, was undesirable. Australia shifted the responsibility to the British authorities (99%) in Singapore (Queen Mary) and London (Dunera).

“They had no right of appeal[22] Memorandum of the Australian War Cabinet of July 22, 1941, NAA_ItemNumber651163 page 7, retrieved on December 15, 2024. against their internment, and no files were kept on them,” Australia’s Prime Minister replied in July 1941 to a query from his military about the status of the Queen Mary internees. And added some self-praise: “Efforts were made to place young children in schools and to provide educational facilities for younger men.”

In accordance with his instructions, the camp commandant of Tatura 3 informed the internees on October 21 that they should address their requests for release[23] See NAA_ItemNumber358850 aao. Page 12f. to the British authorities in Singapore. So on October 28, 1940, the internees formulated their request again and addressed it to the Honorable Colonial Secretary in Singapore. The letter was signed by 126 Germans and Austrians, who also spoke on behalf of their 25 children.

Nevertheless interesting is the following remark[24] „Queen Mary Internees“ loc.cit., which refers to the deselection of the racist United Australia Party (UAP) from government in December 1941:

“This change meant a more sympathetic attitude and serious consideration to the plight of the internees and ultimately agreement that they be released.”

The Italians on board the Queen Mary

While the German-Austrian Queen Mary group consisted almost exclusively of Jews and political refugees, the Far East sojourn of the deported Italians was only in rare cases due to an escape from the Mussolini fascists. Two Jews in this group are known. When questioned by the camp commanders, some people explicitly described themselves as Mussolini supporters and members of the Fascist Party.

On the Queen Mary, 44 Italians[25] Research of dunera.de, see below., including 9 children, were transported to Australia. The Reginato family had two children in the camp. “Interned in hospital” was noted by the Australian bureaucracy on the dockets of these two of the five children born in the camp. One woman died in the camp. Many of the men in this group had been arrested in one of the Asian colonies or on board merchant ships.

Interestingly, four Italians enlisted for military service and were accepted into the 8th Australian Employment Company. Two of these men and six other Italian internees from this transport later became Australian citizens.

Italienische Queen Mary-Familien in Tatura. Stehend v.l.n.r.: Giovanni Battista Reginato, Cosimo Marsella, Giuliano Hreglich, Giulio Hreglich, Sitzend: .Ottilia Reginato mit Tochter Elena, Phyllis Marsella mit Sohn Ricardo, Anna und Carla Hreglich, Vincenco Reginato. Photo: C.T. Halmarick ca. 1943. Quelle: Australian War Memorial Nr. 030190/11.

The end of internment

Australia’s anti-refugee policy only changed after the change of government in August 1941 and Japan’s declaration of war on 8 December 1941. However, the fact that the British government had already organized releases from internment before then and after harsh public criticism, and ended internment from spring 1942, did not initially change the Queen Mary internees’ stay in the camp.

Australia’s political reorientation was only triggered by the shock of the first Japanese air raid on Darwin on February 19, 1942. More than 100,000 Australians were subsequently called up and their labor was missing from the economy. From April 1942, they were replaced by ex-interns, among others. In return for their “voluntarily[26] Cf. memorandum of the Attorney-General for the Australian Parliament, March 29, 1946, NAA_ItemNumber4938132, sheet 28, number d.” service in a military work unit, they were offered Australian citizenship or a right of residence.

Of the 102 German and Austrian Queen Mary men aged 18 to 69 (born 1870 to 1922), 75[27] Resewarch by dunera.de. enlisted in the spring of 1942; four single Italians also did so. They served with the Dunera Boys in the 8th Employment Company as labor soldiers.

Shortly after they entered service, the soldiers’ families were released from internment. Most of them sought accommodation in Melbourne, where the unit’s headquarters were located. The most important stationing locations were Albury, Wodonga and Tocumwal: at the border stations there, military and civilian goods were transferred between railroad wagons of different gauges in the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria.

The majority of the German and Austrian families and a few Italians remained in Australia. Unless the men had joined the Australian army, most of the Italians were detained until long after the end of the war and repatriated until 1947.

Miriam Baer was deported from Singapore to Australia with her parents Ilse and Werner when she was just 10 months old. Photo: Courtesy of Miriam Gould.

Please Note: Helmut Neustädter from Berlin began his career as a fashion photographer in Australia. He became famous worldwide under the anglicized name Helmut Newton and became the best known of the Queen Mary internees. The composer Werner Baer was honored as a “Member of the Order of the British Empire” (MBE) for his services to the Australian music scene. On dunera.de you will find detailed biographies of the Queen Mary internees Franz Lebrecht and Leon Gottlieb. At the end of February 1941, Ernst Friedlich (Ernest Fry) and his wife also arrived at Tatura 3 camp on the Bossevain from Singapore.

Queen Mary – the passenger lists

Years behind barbed wire

As always, there are different official figures in the case of the Queen Mary. In addition to the lists with 223 names of German and Austrian deportees and 44 Italian deportees, there were 15 children born in the camp. At least 185[28] Cf. personal files at NAA. of the Germans and Austrians were, according to their own statements, Jews – i.e. refugees. Only two of the Italian deportees were Jews.

The exact dates and places of birth, occupations and any other information were added to all 282 names in our own research, primarily in digital sources from the National Archive of Australia. When sorting, care was taken to keep the families together, with the husband being named first. Cross-references were added for families with different names. Two names were included due to the Australian entry date of 25.9.1940 on the Queen Mary, as stated by the NAA, although there are currently no digitized files available there that provide evidence of internment.

The Governor of Singapore[29] Morgenroth/Pistol loc.cit. Cf. cable of the Singapore Govenor from 20.9.1940 in NAA_ItemNumber6937127 pages  7/8. had advised 268 people to come to Australia. A secret report by the Australian Secretary fort he Army Forde[30] Report on the treatment of internees to the government dated 11.11.1941, in NAA_ItemNumber358850, page 4, retrieved on 20.12.2024. estimates 272 people (137 men, 95 women, 40 children). The decisive factor, however, is that the “majority are refugees who were not classified as dangerous by the Singapore administration”, but were unable to stay there “due to the special circumstances in the Singapore and Penang forts”. Elsewhere, it was self-praisingly noted that 19 children “were allowed to attend approved schools” – which were admittedly far away from their parents in Melbourne, among other places.

The Dunera and Queen Mary Association in turn estimates 232 Jews and 63 Italians and other Germans – a total of 295 people[31] Cited in “Art Behind the Wire”, aao.. This figure probably includes the 16 Italians and two Germans deported from Singapore on two further transports[32] Alan Morgenroth, Rachel Pistol „The Queen Mary Internees – Facts and Figures“. In Dunera Newsletter No. 109, page 9,  retrieved 20.11.2024. in February and November 1941.

The total of 267 “passengers” of the Queen Mary, the 18 who were later deported to Australia and the 15 children born in the camp thus add up to 300 people.

Our thanks go to Joanne Tapiolas. With the support of the historian from Townsville/Queensland, we were able to complete our list of names of Queen Mary Italians. Joanne has long been intensively involved with the fates of Italians who were interned or imprisoned by the British in Australia during the Second World War and with compatriots who were arrested in Australia because of their ancestry. Her most recent project is The Dunera Italians, dedicated to “200 men 200 stories” about the survivors of the Arandora Star sinking who were deported to Australia. From the perspective of the Italians, Joanne has compiled a timeline of the events surrounding this group of people and a list of the internment camps where Italian men, women and families were detained.

Footnotes