non-fictionThis article is about local engagement with a post-war immigration reception centre. The author explains the community perceptions of and interactions with Bonegilla, its residents and ex-residents while the centre was operating. He then traces the way locals, working with ex-residents, created and championed Block 19 Bonegilla as a memory place and heritage asset. The roles played by locals and local government are explored and analysed.bonegilla, immigration reception centre, block 19 bonegilla

Bonegilla operated as an army base from September 1940 and by 1943 was expanded to 848 buildings, including a general hospital. It provided training for small arms instructors, signallers, transport workers, bomb disposal and gas warfare personnel. In a response to the need to house the growing number of displaced persons coming to Australia, the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre began operating in 1947. For some time it was a shared facility but the Army withdrew temporarily from Bonegilla in 1949, whilst still retaining ownership of the site. From 1949-65 Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre operated without a military presence. However, in the late 1960s and Australia’s commitments to the Vietnam War and pressed by the need to find accommodation to train men, especially National Servicemen, the Army negotiated with the Department of Immigration to take over several blocks at Bonegilla in 1965. Thirty-five huts were acquired by the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps as a Recruit Training Centre in which National Servicemen and recruits could attend 10-week ordnance courses. Shortly afterwards additional huts were acquired by the School of Military Survey, which established field-survey practical training areas and special astronomical observation sites as it began conducting courses in surveying. Instructors and trainees co-located at Bonegilla with migrant reception centre. In 1971 the Reception Centre closed and the site reverted to the Army. Progressively after 1971 the Army undertook a major site redevelopment with the construction of Latchford Barracks as the Army Apprentice School. Later Latchford Barracks was redeveloped into part of the Army Logistic Training Centre. Block 19 of the Mirant Reception Centre later became the Bonegilla Migrant Experience Heritage Park.This item depicts a heritage listed historical site located in the Wodonga district.A large poster size representation of the variety of buildings at Bonegilla, Victoria when it served as the location for the Royal Australian School of Military Survey. The insignia of the Royal Australian Survey Corps is featured in the top left hand corner.Top left corner: Insignia of the Royal Australian Survey Corps At bottom of sketches: "The School of Military Survey, Bonegilla Victoria / January 1966 - December 1982migrant reception centre bonegilla, army at bonegilla, australian military

Bonegilla Army Base and Migrant Reception Centre began when funds were allocated to build Bonegilla Army Camp in June 1940. Builders began to erect about 600 huts prior to the Army moving in during September of that year. Between 1942 - 1943 it was enlarged to 848 buildings. In 1947 Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre began operating with the Army providing transport, security and catering services. From 1949 until 1965 the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre operated without a military presence. Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre was made up of 24 blocks. It had its own churches, banks, sporting fields, cinema, hospital, police station and railway platform. It became the largest and longest operating reception centre in the post-war era. More than 300,000 migrants passed through its doors between 1947 and 1971, with most of those originating from non-English speaking European countries. From1965 with the increased Australian commitment to the Vietnam War and the need to find accommodation to train National Servicemen for Vietnam, the Army negotiated with the Department of Immigration to take over several blocks at Bonegilla. In 1971 the Reception Centre closed and the site reverted to the Army. After 1971 the Army undertook a major site redevelopment with the construction of Latchford Barracks as the Army Apprentice School. Later Latchford Barracks was redeveloped into part of the Army Logistic Training Centre. Between 1978 and 1982, nearly all of the centre was demolished in a major redevelopment. The new replacement buildings were formally opened as Latchford Barracks in 1983. Demolition of the buildings prompted calls for recognition of the site and the role it had played in Australia’s post-World War II Immigration program. After much discussion between the Department of Army and Heritage and local groups about the significance of the site, the Australian Heritage Commission proceeded with its listing on the Register of the National Estate. A Conservation Management Plan was prepared for Block 19 in 1996. The Army transferred Block 19 to the Victorian Government. In 2002 Heritage Victoria listed Block 19 on the State Heritage Register, giving attention to both the migrant and army connections with the site. Hut 97 at Bonegilla Migrant Experience is the home of the Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc.This image is significant because it records a building which is part of the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre which played a critical role as the largest and longest operating Migrant Reception Centre in Australia.A colour photo of Hut 97 at Block 19, Bonegilla Migrant Experience, now the home of Wodonga & District Historical Society Inc.hut 97 bonegilla migrant experience, wodonga & district historical society, immigration australia

non-fiction"The history of Bonegilla near Albury - initially a pastoral run, then a grazing property, then, after World War II a migrant transit centre". Bonegilla is the ‘deep waterhole’ on the Murray river. First it was a resource-rich tribal country, then came the explorers and the squatters and the mixed farmers and the Australian Army – a procession of occupants for over 100 years. Arthur Calwell, Australia’s first Minister for immigration changed Bonegilla again in 1947 and made it the first Australian home for 320,000 migrants mostly from war-ravished Europe. Ann Tündern-Smith is the first of the Australian-born children who resulted from Calwell’s post-war population programs. Her mother was one of the Estonians selected for the ‘General Stewart Hentzelman’ which brought the first Displaced Persons here in November 1947.bonegilla migrant reception centre, immigrants, bonegilla

non-fictionA brief history of the Bonegilla centre and some of the migrants who passed through it. This publication accompanied a touring exhibition by Albury Regional Museum.bonegilla reception and training centre, bonegilla, postwar immigration

non-fictionAn overview of the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre and Heritage Museumbonegilla migrant reception centre, immigrants australia, post-war immigration

non-fictionA study of the development and role of the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre near Albury Wodonga and its impact on the residents and the community.immigration policy australia, bonegilla, albury wodonga, post ww2 immigration

non-fictionThis publication includes three lectures given for the 50th Anniversary Reunion Festival of the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre which was held from 26th September to 5th October, 1997. The lectures were :- first Lecture - Bonegilla : interface of old and new Australia by Richard Broome, second Lecture - The Michael Joseph Savage Memorial lecture; The unlucky country : the death of Australia by Phillip Adams and third Lecture - Citizens and ghettos : multiculturalism in Australia by Graeme Duncan.bonegilla, bonegilla 50th anniversary, multiculturalism australia, migration australia, immigration policy

non-fictionA full-colour catalogue to support the Sharing Bonegilla Stories exhibition at the Albury LibraryMuseum which was curated by Bridget Guthrie in 2009. The exhibition drew from a successful earlier Belongings partnership with the Centre. The catalogue tries to make sense of people’s different memories of, and responses to, Bonegilla.bonegilla, migrant experiences, immigration victoria

non-fiction Stories by Darebin residents recounting their personal immigration journeys and experience at Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centremigrant reception centre bonegilla, immigration australia, bonegilla

non-fictionIn this book the author discusses the effects of one-time Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell's approach to choose fair-haired people from the Baltic countries to persuade Australians to accept non-British migrants who were housed at Bonegilla.bonegilla migrant reception centre., arthur calwell, immigration australia, bonegilla, post-war immigration policy

Henrika (Henny) Kuljurgies was born in Lithuania on 20th May 1929 and came to Australia in 1948 on the USAT General Stewart, the third transport carrying displaced people from the Baltic countries. Like many thousands of migrants she spent a short time at Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre. . Henrika was raised by Margarita Vrubliauskiene who was her aunt although always referred to as her mother. Her family was torn apart by World War II and the invasion of her homeland. Under new immigration policies implemented by Arthur Caldwell, Australia offered a home to refugees from the Baltic States. It was initially easier to be accepted into Australia as a single person as you could be placed more easily for work. On 30 October 1947, Margarita Vrubliauskiene departed on the first transport to arrive in Australia, the USAT General Stuart Heintzelman. Henrika who was 18 years old at that time, remained in Germany until her passage could also be arranged. Also aboard this first transport was a young man Alfredas Kuljurgies who Henrika was to later marry. After a short time at Bonegilla, Henrika was transferred to Mulwala House in Canberra where Margarita had already been relocated. Mulwala House provided accommodation for the growing number of public servants in Canberra and Margarita was working there as a house maid. Whilst at Bonegilla Henrika had met Alfredas Kuljurgies and although she was not initially attracted to Alfred his persistence in courting her finally paid off. They married in Canberra on 14th September 1948. They had two sons, Fred and Charlie and settled into a new life at Little River (Killara). As well as acquiring some land in the area, Alfred established his business, Bandiana Motors in 1950. Alfred and Henrika were both granted Australian Citizenship on 28th June 1956. As her sons grew older, Henrika (Henny) became more involved in her passion of painting. She painted landscapes which captured the area around her new home. Henrika became affectionately know as the “bird Lady” as her paintings always included a magpie. Her work is held in many galleries, homes and public buildings including the hospital where she passed away on 27th October 2010. In 2018 a small park in Killara not far from her former home, studio Bandiana Motors, was named in her honour. These items are significant because they help to document the story of a Lithuanian migrant in Wodonga.A collection of black and white images and articles about Henrika Kuljurgies, her mother Margarita and husband Alfred.henrika kuljurgies, bonegilla migrants

A volume of 57 pages plus an epilogue relating the author's experience at Bonegilla, Victoria.non-fictionThis biography documents the story of Stefan Michael Klepiak who as a boy between the ages of nine and fifteen years lived at the Migrant Reception Centre at Bonegilla, Victoria. This was from 1957 to 1962 when Australia's post-World War II immigration program was at its peak. In his own words, young Stefan terrorised the migrants at the Bonegilla migrant camp day and night. The book describes the antics he and other boys at Bonegilla engaged in as they adapted to their new life after fleeing war-torn Europe. Stefan was often unsupervised, played truant from school and crossed the path of the local Wodonga Police. He was a regular guest at the Wodonga jailhouse and became known by the police and magistrates after several court appearances as The Bonegilla Kid. In the epilogue Stefan acknowledges key people in his life, including two Bonegilla policeman and the Bonegilla Camp Director, who gave "The Bonegilla Kid" the guidance he needed and put him on a positive pathway for the future.immigrant children biography, bonegilla migrant reception centre, migrant life australia