Berrima District Museum
Market Place
Berrima NSW 2577
Imagine a boating carnival complete with gondolas, paddleboats, a dugout canoe, a houseboat and several pedal-powered craft moving across Lake Titicaca. It did happen - only at 'Lake Titicaca' at Berrima in February 1916.
Berrima townsfolk's experience of the war was somewhat different to other Australians when their disused jail was reopened in March 1915. The jail was used to house the first of around 400 German internees, who were mainly merchant ships' crews and prisoners of war brought to Australia.
The camp was formally controlled by the Australian Army, with a 25-man guard detachment on fortnightly rotations with other detention centres. Monthly rotations soon became the norm, until 1917 when the 29th Guard remained for most of the year. The daily running of the camp was a matter of liaison between the Commandant of the Guard and the internees' Camp Committee. The committee consisted of ships' captains, officers and sailors who conducted organised sports to promote health and fitness; established sporting fields and vegetable gardens; and implemented a varied educational program, including the German School for Girls. The wives and families of five men were allowed to accompany them to Berrima, where they lived in rented accommodation in the village.
The internees were detained in the jail at night. During the day, they moved freely about within a radius of 2 miles (3.2km) of the camp. Most of them spoke some English and mixed with the Berrima villagers, using their own funds to purchase goods from local shops and their own canteen. Excess produce from the internees' gardens was sold in the village. Some passed the time by building elaborate bush huts and boating in a deep pool in the Wingecarribee River (called 'Lake Titicaca' by the internees). Others involved themselves in the production of theatrical and musical entertainments attended by the wider community. The internees left Berrima in August 1919, many having forged friendships with locals that endured long after the war ended.
Bowral photographer David Speer created a lasting visual record of the internees going about their daily activities. Examples of the internees' woodworking and carvings skills are evident in the several objects held by the Berrima Museum.
References
- Prisoners in Arcady: German Marines in Berrima 1915-1919, John Simons, Berrima, 1990.
- Prisoners in Arcady: German Marines in Berrima 1915-1919, (pamphlet), Berrima District Museum, 2009.
- 1918 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 23 July, p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15794696