Bristol Hannover Council
Who were the Dunera Boys — and what happened to them?
** On April 22 at Stoke Lodge Catherine Philips gave a talk on the Dunera Boys based on the research for her Masters 20 years ago.
The background to the story was the fate of those enemy aliens who were arrested en masse at the outbreak of the Second World War and interned for fear they could prove to be spies or saboteurs.
As the Germans occupied France in 1940 and the invasion of Britain was thought to be imminent, many of these aliens were shipped overseas to Canada or Australia.
One of the most controversial cases was the group of aliens transported in the steamship Dunera (above) to Australia and subject to harsh conditions. The group-which contained both known anti-fascists as well as confirmed Nazis was interned in a camp in the outback.
Catherine described the conditions in the camp with the aid of artefacts like camp newspapers and the talk was enlivened with video interviews with some of the survivors, some of whom went on to make their mark in post-war Australia and Britain.
IAN TURNER
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