At the beginning of WWII Mussolini and Hitler joined forces and declared war on Great Britain and France. As a result, all German and Italian migrants living in the allied countries were categorised as enemy aliens, and subsequently interned in camps. One of these camps was situated in Harvey with about 1000 internees. One of the prisoners instigated the construction of an altar made of stone, depicting the Catholic faith. The shrine still stands today and was enclosed in a chapel in 1992. It is elieved to be the only road side shrine of its kind in Australia. Housed in the chapel are several sculptures and an "Australia Remembers" static display. The shrine is a popular tourist attraction depicting an important part of our history. To access the inside of the Shrine, a key must be collected from the Harvey Visitor Centre along with a $5.00 deposit, which will be returned with the return of the key.
Along your 200m journey from the Harvey Visitor Centre to the Internment Camp Memorial Shrine you will come across a bridge known as Garry's Crossing. Many of our visitors ask why it is called this. The name relates to a local community member- Garry Van Burgel OAM in recognition of the work that he did in assisting with the establishment of the Shire precinct and particularly the crossing over the channel to give direct access between the Visitor Centre and Internment Camp Shrine.
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