Home to thousands of Postwar European migrants
It's estimated that 1 in 20 Australians have a family member that spent time in the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, I'm one of those Australians. But even before I knew that a relative had been in Bonegilla, I was fascinated by the camp as it factored in so many stories from postwar migrants. I used the analogy that Bonegilla was to European postwar migrants what Ellis Island was to late 19th and early 20th century immigrants in the U.S. I realised when I visited the town I even pronounce 'Bonegilla' the European way of 'Bo-neh-gil-la' rather than the English 'Bone-gilla' as that's the only way I had ever heard it said.
The Migrant Centre was opened in 1947 to receive people from European Displaced Person's camps, the camp was a former army camp and there were 24 blocks. Each block had its own kitchen, mess hall and toilet block, when the camp was closed in 1971, the majority of the camp blocks were demolished but Block 19 eventually was preserved and it's this block that forms what people can see now and is known as the Bonegilla Migrant Experience.
Map showing the size of the Migrant Centre
The Migrant Centre was huge and housed up to 7,000 people, when there was no room in the barracks, migrants were housed in large army tents. The centre had its own roads, churches, shops, hospital, a cinema and playing fields, even banks and a police station. The residents were free to move around and to travel to Wodonga, 11km away.
In the early days of the centre the new arrivals would be housed in unlined army barracks, on army cots, 20 people to a room and they were segregated according to sex. Family members were separated, seeing an example of one of these early barracks made me realised how austere the conditions were. These barracks were boiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter.
1940s barracks
Bathrooms
The first arrivals at the migrant centre were from European Displaced Persons camps and these would have been the conditions they had experienced in the DP camps. Once the camps emptied, Australia introduced assisted migrant schemes to attract migrants, these newer arrivals left their homes for the better life in Australia that were advertised to them. They were appalled by the austere conditions in the camps, this was not the Australia that they were promised and there were protests and even riots. Living conditions did improve and the barracks were upgraded the internal walls were lined and partitions were installed, families stayed together and were given rooms together.
1950s rooms
Kitchen
Dining Hall
Rec Hall (with the chimney) and kitchen
Residential barracks and Hume Club (in the background with the chimney)
The first arrivals didn't stay long in the camp, they spread out to jobs around Australia. Later arrivals lived in the camp for longer period of time and many of them had jobs in the camp. A club named 'The Hume Club', Hume after the nearby Hume dam where the migrants were able to go swimming in the summer months, was created for the people who worked at the Migrant Centre. The Hume Club was a recreation club and it had been set up by the local Lions club. This same Lions club restored the derelict club for the museum.
The restored Hume Club
The dance hall
Migrants in the camp were able to take English lessons.
There was a nursery established for young children.
From the oral histories collected from people who had been at the Migrant Centre, children loved their time there. It was all a great adventure for them and they had plenty of friends to play with. The parents' memories weren't quite so positive, one account I read an Italian migrant from 1951 stated that his time at Bonegilla was the worst 3 months of his life!!
People can purchase a plaque to commemorate the family member or members who spent time at the Migrant Centre. It was fascinating to read the names and places, the sections are broken down into years. The 1940s names are from the DP camps, people from the Baltic states, Poland, Yugoslavia, as the years progress it's the assisted migrants from The Netherlands and Italy. Interesting to me at least was the fact that very few English migrants passed through Bonegilla, the camp was mainly for European non-English speakers. The government deliberately hid them away from the major cities so the local people wouldn't complain about being overrun by 'foreigners'.
Visitors' Centre
I would highly recommend a visit to the Bonegilla Migrant Experience, it's a fascinating part of Australia's living history. It's fascinating not only for descendants of former Bonegilla residents but also for anyone curious about Australian life in the postwar era. I was pleasantly surprised that entrance to the Migrant Experience is free! There is a fee for a guided tour which includes a light refreshment, tours need to be booked and they are held at 11am and 2pm. The cost for the guided tour is $25 and these tours are held during the school holidays and on Long Weekends.
The Bonegilla Migrant Experience can be found just outside the small township of Bonegilla in Victoria. Bonegilla itself is 11km from the twin towns of Albury-Wodonga, the centre is well signposted and easy to find. It's open from 10am to 4pm, 7 days a week, only closed on Good Friday, ANZAC Day and Christmas Day.
There is a cafe on site as well as a small gift shop at the Visitors Centre, the staff at the Visitors Centre are happy to chat to visitors and share their knowledge of the migrant camp. It all makes for a really pleasant day out.
It's estimated that 1 in 20 Australians have a family member that spent time in the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, I'm one of those Australians. But even before I knew that a relative had been in Bonegilla, I was fascinated by the camp as it factored in so many stories from postwar migrants. I used the analogy that Bonegilla was to European postwar migrants what Ellis Island was to late 19th and early 20th century immigrants in the U.S. I realised when I visited the town I even pronounce 'Bonegilla' the European way of 'Bo-neh-gil-la' rather than the English 'Bone-gilla' as that's the only way I had ever heard it said.
The Migrant Centre was opened in 1947 to receive people from European Displaced Person's camps, the camp was a former army camp and there were 24 blocks. Each block had its own kitchen, mess hall and toilet block, when the camp was closed in 1971, the majority of the camp blocks were demolished but Block 19 eventually was preserved and it's this block that forms what people can see now and is known as the Bonegilla Migrant Experience.
The Migrant Centre was huge and housed up to 7,000 people, when there was no room in the barracks, migrants were housed in large army tents. The centre had its own roads, churches, shops, hospital, a cinema and playing fields, even banks and a police station. The residents were free to move around and to travel to Wodonga, 11km away.
In the early days of the centre the new arrivals would be housed in unlined army barracks, on army cots, 20 people to a room and they were segregated according to sex. Family members were separated, seeing an example of one of these early barracks made me realised how austere the conditions were. These barracks were boiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter.
The first arrivals at the migrant centre were from European Displaced Persons camps and these would have been the conditions they had experienced in the DP camps. Once the camps emptied, Australia introduced assisted migrant schemes to attract migrants, these newer arrivals left their homes for the better life in Australia that were advertised to them. They were appalled by the austere conditions in the camps, this was not the Australia that they were promised and there were protests and even riots. Living conditions did improve and the barracks were upgraded the internal walls were lined and partitions were installed, families stayed together and were given rooms together.
The first arrivals didn't stay long in the camp, they spread out to jobs around Australia. Later arrivals lived in the camp for longer period of time and many of them had jobs in the camp. A club named 'The Hume Club', Hume after the nearby Hume dam where the migrants were able to go swimming in the summer months, was created for the people who worked at the Migrant Centre. The Hume Club was a recreation club and it had been set up by the local Lions club. This same Lions club restored the derelict club for the museum.
Migrants in the camp were able to take English lessons.
There was a nursery established for young children.
From the oral histories collected from people who had been at the Migrant Centre, children loved their time there. It was all a great adventure for them and they had plenty of friends to play with. The parents' memories weren't quite so positive, one account I read an Italian migrant from 1951 stated that his time at Bonegilla was the worst 3 months of his life!!
People can purchase a plaque to commemorate the family member or members who spent time at the Migrant Centre. It was fascinating to read the names and places, the sections are broken down into years. The 1940s names are from the DP camps, people from the Baltic states, Poland, Yugoslavia, as the years progress it's the assisted migrants from The Netherlands and Italy. Interesting to me at least was the fact that very few English migrants passed through Bonegilla, the camp was mainly for European non-English speakers. The government deliberately hid them away from the major cities so the local people wouldn't complain about being overrun by 'foreigners'.
I would highly recommend a visit to the Bonegilla Migrant Experience, it's a fascinating part of Australia's living history. It's fascinating not only for descendants of former Bonegilla residents but also for anyone curious about Australian life in the postwar era. I was pleasantly surprised that entrance to the Migrant Experience is free! There is a fee for a guided tour which includes a light refreshment, tours need to be booked and they are held at 11am and 2pm. The cost for the guided tour is $25 and these tours are held during the school holidays and on Long Weekends.
The Bonegilla Migrant Experience can be found just outside the small township of Bonegilla in Victoria. Bonegilla itself is 11km from the twin towns of Albury-Wodonga, the centre is well signposted and easy to find. It's open from 10am to 4pm, 7 days a week, only closed on Good Friday, ANZAC Day and Christmas Day.
There is a cafe on site as well as a small gift shop at the Visitors Centre, the staff at the Visitors Centre are happy to chat to visitors and share their knowledge of the migrant camp. It all makes for a really pleasant day out.
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