Remembering the Internment of ‘Enemy Aliens’ During the Second World War on the Isle of Man, and in Australia and Canada

Abstract

In October 2000, David Cesarani decried the internment of refugees in Britain during the Second World War on BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Behind the Wire’. In recent years, novels, exhibitions, television, and radio programmes have introduced a wider audience to this oft forgotten part of the British wartime narrative, yet not all of those who were interned remained in the British Isles—some were sent to Canada and Australia. Of the five ships that set sail, one never made it to its destination. The sinking of the Arandora Star was the greatest tragedy of internment, and several hundred internees lost their lives. Those who survived were put straight on the Dunera, this time bound for Australia, on which many abuses were committed by British soldiers. This chapter will examine the memory of the camps, and consider how and why internment has been remembered and commemorated differently across continents.