I'm doing a project on interment camps in Australia for History, and I can't find much information on it. Are there any good databases that you know of that are free? Australian ones would be good. Thanks :-)

I once travelled from Melbourne to Sydney, sitting next to a man who had been the first European citizen to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army during WWII. He was sent to a Japanese POW camp at Cowra (in NSW) to take over as commanding officer, and arrived the day after a major escape.

I was only 8 when the war ended so I don't recall much. Here are a couple of links that should give you what you need.

The best known was the breakout at Cowra. The most shameful was the Dunera Affair. These unfortunates were held at a camp at Hay, which General Sheridan would have described as less inhabitable than Texas. (He's the guy who said if he owned Hell and Texas he'd rent out Texas and live in Hell.)

Australian Internment Camps: WWII

Civilian Internees in Australia

The Dunera Affair

The Cowra Breakout