ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMP
STUD ROAD AND WELLINGTON ROAD ROWVILLE, KNOX CITY
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Statement of Significance
This record has minimal details. Please look to the right-hand-side bar for any further details about this record.
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ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMP - History
Rowville Military Camp / POW Camp was built in 1942 and was decommissioned in 1945. Australian troops of the 3rd Motor Brigade moved into the Rowville Military Camp on 18 May 1942. The camp was sited on a 109 hectare area north of the present Timbertop Drive. The troops were to be used as a strategic reserve in the event of a Japanese invasion in the Westernport region. When the likelihood of such an event passed, the soldiers were moved out in September 1942 and they were replaced by American troops.
When the Americans went off to the Pacific war zones their places in the camp were taken in late 1944 by Italian Prisoners of War who had been captured in North Africa. By June 1945, the number of prisoners had grown to about three hundred and the role of the camp was changing to that of a staging camp. This meant that all Italian prisoners being moved from camp to camp or onto farms as labourers were processed here in Rowville. A total of two thousand six hundred prisoners passed through the Rowville camp before the last of the prisoners were repatriated to Italy in 1946.A motorcycle circuit around the Military/POW Camp was used directly after the end of the war when still full of POW huts.
ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMP - Interpretation of Site
The camp was sited on a 109 hectare area north of the present Timbertop Drive (Victorian Heritage Database Entry for Rowville Military Camp). This site card is to extend the registration of H7922-0208 (Rowville Military Camp) to include those features identified and recorded within Starlight Reserve.
A further eight features associated with the Rowville Military Camp were identified and recorded during Aboriginal Cultural Heritage monitoring for the installation of a new walking track within Starlight Reserve. Features 01, 03 and 04 were discovered during works. These features were reburied under the new track to protect the features from future ware and damage.
Within the boundary of Starlight Reserve, there are a total of eight features (6 concrete and 2 excavated features). The majority of these features are associated with drainage for the Rowville Military Camp. However, Feature 05 is a concrete slab for a building. There are two earthen drains (D01 and D02) associated with Feature 06 (a concrete Culvert).
ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMP - Archaeological Significance
The features within Starlight Reserve, have been assessed as having low sub-surface archaeological significance. These are surface features, with little evidence of ground surface disturbance surrounding these features.
There is a moderate to low possibility that rubbish pits are located within the reserve. The majority of the Rowville Military Camp remains are within the Rowville Terminal Station managed by SPI Powernet Pty Ltd. It is more likely for sub-surface deposits to be within this location.
ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMP - Historical Significance
Low regional historical significance.
Heritage Inventory Description
ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMP - Heritage Inventory Description
Condition of original area of registration (corner of Wellington and Stud Roads, Rowville) is unknown - this area was not accessible at the time of survey (June 2013).
Within the boundary of Starlight Reserve, there are a total of eight features (6 concrete and 2 excavated features) to add to the current registration. The majority of these features are associated with drainage for the Rowville Military Camp. The condition of these surface features in the reserve is Fair (40-60% intact). Feature 06 (a concrete culvert has broken and there has been some slippage of the feature to the east. Feature 05 has a large vine growing within the concrete footing which will damage the feature, Feature 02 has large trees growing nearby and the root system may damage the feature. Features 01, 03 and 04 were discovered during Aboriginal Cultural Heritage monitoring during works (May 2013) to install a new walking track in the reserve. These features were not damaged during works and were reburied under the new track to protect the features from future wear.
The site consists of fourteen concrete building foundations, a 24,000 gallon steel storage tank foundation and a concrete culvert.
Heritage Inventory Significance: Low regional significance.
Heritage Inventory Site Features: Concrete foundations
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ROWVILLE MILITARY CAMPVictorian Heritage Inventory
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Stamford Park HomesteadNational Trust
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