The Spot The War Forgot - Author Talk

Sometimes great stories simply land in the hands of a writer, just like the did for author, Wendy Hamilton who has called herself a Griffith local for the past year.

Ms Hamilton is a New Zealander who shifted to the Southern Highlands of Australia, to a small place called Berrima, with its small museum and what she found to be a very rich history.

“There’s a big historic gaol there,” Ms Hamilton said.

“During World War I it was empty.

It was one of the most notorious prisons at the time.

“German mariners were captured in the country.

“The Germans drew the first shot in World War I in Australia, down in Victoria.

“The ones that were sent to Berrima Gaol were high-ranking captains and officers.

“It turned out to be an amazing place.

“In a time of complete darkness, it became a little place of peace.”

Ms Hamilton said that many of the German captives were merchants and they ended up completely transforming the lives of the villagers.

They ended up becoming friends.

At the time, many of the villagers were starving, but the mariners showed them how to farm the land.

That’s not the end of the story, though. One of the main factors was the humanity of the Australian guards entrusted with overseeing the German prisoners of war.

All but one of the guards treated the prisoners humanely.

In fact, when a dispute arose between the one commandant who wasn’t held in as high regard as the rest, and the prisoners, a tribunal found in favour of the prisoners because the majority of the guards believed the commandant’s treatment to be unfair.

In what was one of the darkest times in history, Aussie soldiers showed how successfully a POW camp could be run without blind hatred.

Though she had always been interested in history, Ms Hamilton had no intention of writing this story, but she found a notebook in her mother’s things written by her great grandfather dated 1834 about Australia’s showcase POW camp at Berrima.

She has written the book in the form of a novel, but from factual sources, diary entries, etc, and has kept as much as possible of her great grandfather’s writings.

If you would like to learn more about The Spot the War Forgot, Wendy Hamilton will be addressing the Veterans and Ex-service men and women of the Australian Defence Force and their partners at the Griffith Ex-servicemen’s Club on Tuesay, May 9 from 10:30 am to 12 noon.

The event is fully funded by Griffith RSL sub-Branch.

Contact the Griffith RSL sub-Branch Secretary, Berdene Oxley-Boyd at 0409 729 401 or email her at griffithSB@rslnsw.org.au for more information.

• Topics:

• History
• Literature
• Military