National Archives of Australia
World War II internee, alien and POW records held in Sydney – Fact sheet 101
Contents
Introduction
During World War II thousands of men and women were interned in 'camps' around Australia, some for the duration of the entire war. These people consisted of 'enemy aliens' (especially Germans and Italians), naturalised and Australian born persons of enemy alien descent, enemy aliens arrested overseas and transferred to Australia, and prisoners of war transferred to Australia. Some Australians were also interned because of their political activities.
Tracing individual internees or prisoners of war
The camps in New South Wales were at Liverpool, Orange, Cowra and Hay. It was not uncommon for internees to be moved from one camp to another and to camps in other states. This can make it difficult to identify information on an individual because records may be held in more than one office of the Archives.
The office in Sydney holds a large collection of records of people who were interned in New South Wales during the war. Reference staff will assist you in using the control records listed below to identify the dossier on a particular internee.
Holdings on individual prisoners of war are not extensive, and those record items held relate only to the prisoner's internment in a New South Wales camp.
Records held in Sydney relating to individual internees
Creator and description of records | Date | Series no. |
Commonwealth Security Service, NSW (CA 946) | ||
Nominal index cards (by citizenship) to service records on internees | 1942–1945 | |
Nationality index cards to service records on internees | 1942–1945 | |
Location index cards to service records on internees | 1942–1945 | |
Key to service records | 1939–1945 | |
Commonwealth Security Service, NSW (CA 946) (to 1945)
| ||
Service records concerning internees | 1942–1945 | |
Transcripts of internees' appeals before the Aliens Control Tribunals and Advisory Committees | 1939–1945 | |
Investigation files (persons and organisations) | 1942–1946 | |
Commonwealth Investigation Branch, NSW (CA 904) (1919–1946)
| ||
Criminal investigation files | 1914–1962 | |
Correspondence re naturalisation and internees | 1914–1946 | |
Service records of Italian prisoners of war in Cowra and Liverpool camps repatriated on vessels Chitral and Katoomba | 1946–1947 | |
Headquarters, Eastern Command [I], Australian Military Forces (CA 1876) (to 1942) Headquarters, NSW, Lines of Communication Area, Australian Military Forces (CA 1877) (from 1942) | ||
Personal files of prisoners of war | 1939–1946 | |
General correspondence, 'S' (secret) series | 1922–1951 |
General records on internment
There are many series which contain records relating to internees and internment generally during World War II. These general records can be a useful source of information about individual persons. Included in the records are nominal rolls of internees, memoranda noting internees released on particular dates, and notes regarding internees' personal correspondence.
General records relating to internment held in Sydney
Creator and description of records | Date | Series no. |
Headquarters, Eastern Command [I], Australian Military Forces (CA 1876) (1939–1942) Headquarters, NSW, Lines of Communication Area, Australian Military Forces (CA 1877) (1942–1946) | ||
General correspondence files | 1871–1965 | |
Correspondence | 1912–1964 | |
General correspondence, 'S' (secret) series | 1922–1951 | |
Subject files to POW and internees | 1939–1946 | |
Commonwealth Security Service, NSW (CA 946) | ||
Various exhibits re internment of Italians | 1939–1941 | |
Security Service weekly reports | 1941–1945 | |
General correspondence files | 1942–1945 | |
Transcripts of the Australia First inquiry | 1944–1945 | |
Directorate of Manpower, Central Office (CA 533) | ||
General correspondence | 1942–1945 |
For more information
See the following fact sheets for more information.
