Injustice. Survival. Memory. These are the stories of civilians arrested, deported, and incarcerated in camps at Hay, Orange and Tatura during the Second World War. Over 2500 men came from Britain to Australia on the Dunera, disembarking in Melbourne and Sydney in September 1940. Over 250 men, women and children came from Singapore on the Queen Mary three weeks later.
Volume 2 of Dunera Lives follows the paths of a selection of these people, from their early lives before and during the Nazi years, through their arrival in Britain or the Straits Settlements in search of a safe haven, to their arrest as enemy aliens and subsequent deportation and incarceration in camps in Australia. Then, as free men, they start new lives in many parts of the world. What they made of their freedom is striking.
This book is a chronicle of injury, endurance, courage, and transcendence.
Carol Bunyan studied history at the Australian National University, and later was a public servant. She was born in Hay; this link led to her interest in researching the Dunera story. Her association with Ken Inglis began when they met at a Dunera anniversary function in 2011.
Bill Gammage was a student, colleague and friend of Ken Inglis. He studied at the Australian National University, and taught Australian and Pacific history at the Australian National University and the universities of Papua New Guinea and Adelaide.
Ken Inglis (1929–2017) was an Adjunct Professor at Monash University, and Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. He was one of Australia’s most admired and warmly regarded historians. Volume 2 of Dunera Lives concludes the path-breaking project begun by Ken. It is a testimony to the enduring legacy of his work.
Seumas Spark is an Adjunct Fellow in History at Monash University. He is a co-author of Dunera Lives: Profiles
and Dunera Lives: A Visual History, and co-editor of ‘I Wonder’: The Life and Work of Ken Inglis and Shadowline: The Dunera Diaries of Uwe Radok.
Jay Winter is Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University, and Honorary Professor at the Australian National University. He is a historian of the First World War.
