Woolenook Wood Camp, World War II internment camp in Riverland, South Australia
Woolenook Wood Camp was a wartime detention site along the River Murray in South Australia housing Japanese internees. The site shows stone roads, building foundations, a former tennis court, and other structures within a wire-enclosed compound.
During World War II, Japanese internees at the site worked processing firewood to supply hospitals and military facilities in Adelaide. The camp played a role in the war economy through these organized labor tasks.
The Japanese internees built their own boats for fishing and maintained recreation areas like a tennis court and cricket pitch. These activities helped them cope with daily life in confinement.
The site lies off the main road and is best reached on foot via paths along the River Murray. Visitors should allow time to explore the stone remnants and building remains while following historical markers to understand the grounds.
The steamship PS Ulonga transported cut logs from the camp to Renmark, where they powered a steam-driven irrigation system crucial for wartime food production. This unexpected link shows how the internees' labor connected to a larger production network.
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