Arno can now feel the current pulling at him strongly. He has swum further out into the bay than he has ever swum before, and can feel the full grip of that current that pulls the breakwater away.
There will be an added pall of gloom over the prison after roll call the next day, he thinks. Perhaps the Doctor will announce it to the men.
“Arno Friedrich has been carried away by the sea,” he will say. He will suggest they place his name on the monument if they can rebuild it before they leave. He will say it was a tragedy. He doubts he will use the word “dead”.
So Arno Friedrich says it for him. “Todt!” He feels he could say whatever words he wants to out here. Could say anything at all. But he doesn’t. He keeps his head down. Keeps swimming. Towards a dream. Strong slow strokes towards Freedom Island.
Trial Bay Memorial (Photo: Australian Heritage Restorations)
Trial Bay Gaol (Photo: Craig Cormick)
Author’s Note
Over 500 Germans and Austrians were interned in the old prison at Trial Bay between 1915-1918.
Upon the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, all German subjects in Australia were made to report to authorities. In February 1915, over 6,700 were interned as enemy aliens. In NSW the single largest internment camp was constructed at Holsworthy near Sydney.
The internees sent to Trial Bay were specially selected and came from predominantly professional backgrounds: merchants, physicians, university lecturers and scientists.
The camp physician and theatre director was Dr Max Herz, a leading orthopaedic surgeon before his internment. Dr Herz also reported that the isolation and single-sex environment of the prison led to many cases of depression and self-abuse and perversity. Many of the other characters’ names are taken from actual people too.
Internees constructed several beach huts, cafes and restaurants outside the walls of the prison and were allowed to wander freely on the headland for long hours during the day.
The Trial Bay theatre company began performances in August 1916, with an ensemble of forty men. Performances, supported by the 14-piece orchestra, centred on German farces and comedies, often featuring women roles—which always proved popular with the men.
The officers from the German ship Emden, sunk by the HMS Sydney off the Cocos Islands in 1914, were moved to Trial Bay as prisoners of war. The Commander of the Emden was Captain Karl von Müller.
In 1917 the German raider Wolf was sighted off the coast of NSW, causing concern that the inmates might somehow be in contact with it. This triggered the return of the inmates to Sydney in mid-1918.
Five inmates died at Trial Bay (or after being removed to Sydney for medical treatment) and a monument to them stands on a hill on the headland. It was later destroyed by locals who feared it was a signal to German ships, but has since been rebuilt.
The names on the monument are:
Arno Friedrich (1888-1917) from Western Australia, died bathing on 25 June 1917 and was carried away by the sea.
Horst W. Eckert (1887-1917) of Ceylon—buried in Sydney.
Heinrich Albrecht (1864-1918) of Vegesach—buried in Sydney.
Conrad Peter (1877-1917), former hotel director in Colombo.
Herman Adam Merchant (1879-1916) of Hong Kong.
After the war many of the German internees were deported to Germany, despite having lived in Australia for many decades.
The Years of the Wolf Page 23