Italian Prisoners of War

During the African campaign, Australian troops had captured many Italian soldiers and some of these were later sent to prisoner-of-war camps in Australia, mainly at Cowra. As the labour shortage became more critical, the Government agreed to let the more trust-worthy prisoners work in rural communities. Farmers needing assistance made an application and if successful, were allocated a number of men; the farmers paid a wage and provided accommodation and meals.

The conditions for the POWs were quite liberal. They were not guarded although they were visited regularly by their control officer and they had to wear an ex-army uniform dyed a distinctive magenta. Most POWs welcomed the relative freedom of this arrangement and got on well with their employers.

Ian Harsant was a child at the time but remembers the men employed on his family’s farm at Warrill View. He recalls: “We had Italian Prisoners of war working here until 1946, there were always two here at one time and a neighbour had one also. They slept in a little hut we had here but they ate with the family. I believe they paid great attention to me.

“A canteen truck would come around and they could buy things we couldn’t get. My mother always said they spoiled me, by feeding me things like cordial. They were all very gifted, one played the banjo, another was good at leather work. They used to cook up their big spaghetti dishes. “One who had been here a long time wrote after the war pleading with my father to help him get back out here. My father put a lot of effort into it, but with everything in chaos after the war, a lot of mail went astray and we lost contact.