Does land have a memory? Many cultural historians believe so. In our region we have an extraordinary site at Greta, which despite looking quite ordinary actually carries in its landscape the memories, fears and dreams of thousands of people.
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Just outside the township of Greta is the site of the former Army Camp and Migrant Camp. This place has a complex history which bookends World War II. Originally a number of rural properties its story becomes transformed when Australia enters World War II on 3 September 1939.
Two months later the Federal Department of the Army compulsorily acquired 2,930 acres of this grazing land from local farmers, repurposing it to become one of Australia's largest military training camps. During the course of the war Greta Army Camp saw thousands of soldiers pass through its gates.
When on leave these soldiers came into Cessnock and surrounding towns and the sight of men in military uniforms on the street became the norm. Soldiers stationed at Greta were not locals from the Hunter Valley, most were from Sydney, others from far-flung regional centres.
They received a warm welcome in Cessnock. Some welcomes were particularly warm, with budding romances seeing some soldiers returning after overseas service, marrying local girls and settling here permanently. The war may have been over, but this parcel of land was about to have a dramatic new story.
In 1949 the land of was transferred to the Department of Immigration and from then until 1960 it became the Greta Migrant Camp. It was the first Australian home for tens of thousands of Europeans leaving the aftermath of war-torn Europe for a new life abroad. The people living at Greta Migrant Camp unintentionally, in turn, became the face of Australia's new post-World War II immigration policy.
The Australian Army resumed control of the camp site in 1962. In 1980 the land was auctioned and it was bought by the Windt family; it remains privately owned by them.
In 1981 Cessnock Council named the section of road between Talga Road and Greta Railway Station, which ran past the camp site, 'Camp Road'. It's a fitting memorial to those two camps which had such an impact on our Local Government Area and more broadly on Australian society as a whole.