This post is an update on the information already published about the Italian prisoners of war who did maintenance work on the Trans Australia Railway Line in South Australia and Western Australia.

A young Australian, Arthur Henry Patrick had been a guard at Cowra Camp before he was detached to No. 3 Labour Detachment.  Several photos and two gifts from the Italians were donated to the Australia War Memorial in Canberra.  His photos are invaluable because they allow Italian families ‘to see’ the camps their loved ones lived in and catch a glimpse of the vastness of the Australian landscape beyond the camp. Patrick’s photos illustrate Camp 1 which is referred to as Camp No. 1 The Plains SA.

Camp No 1 was one of six camps along the Trans Australian Railway line.  It was 515 miles from Port Pirie and situated between the railway stations of Watson and Fisher.  The map below illustrates its situation.

From NAA: B300, 8247 Part 2 Employment of prisoners of war

The table below gives a further geographic location of being 54 miles from the township of Cook.

Location of camp and subcamps for No.3 Labour Detachment Cook

2^nd June 1942 Secret Report

From NAA: B300, 8247 Part 2 Employment of prisoners of war

The three photos following are labelled: View of the barracks that housed Italian prisonersof war (POWs) inside the barbed wire compound at Camp No 1, The Plains, SA.

The last photo provides the faces of the Australian servicemen who were detached to Camp No. 1.  The group consists of 15 men and three dogs.

Unfortunately, individual Italian prisoner of war records do not give the camp number they were attached to. 

For more of this history: https://italianprisonersofwar.com/2019/09/19/italian-pows-on-the-nullabor-plain/

1943 Group portrait of servicemen stationed at Prisoner of War (POW) Camp No 1, The Plains, SA. NX148826 Private Arthur Henry Patrick (seated front row, right) is holding a dog as are two other unidentified men in the group. The servicemen were detached to No. 3 Labour Detachment Cook SA.