The Visitors Centre at Knockaloe tells the story of the camp through the words, the imagery, the artefacts and ephemera of those who experienced it first hand. rather than seeking to interpret their experience, we allow the Charity and family collections that we proudly display to tell the story.
Certain items remain on physical display within the Centre, others form part of changing displays and talks, but each item has a fascinating story to tell. As well as building the Charity's collections, we are incredibly grateful to both collectors and families for sharing their precious items with us, allowing us to tell their stories.
The Centre brings together items shared and collected and it is that body of evidence, the collection of stories, that allows us to understand the experience of those living within the barbed wire of Knockaloe and the other smaller camps, over 100 years later. Creating one central point for the collection of artefacts, ephemera and information allows families who may simply have a name of a Grandfather, Great Grandfather repatriated and never reunited with their family to finally understand just why he was never to return to them and, one day, may allow an artefact or a fragment of information directly related to their long lost family member to finally reconnect them.
Each year our model room holds a specially curated display focussing on a different aspect of camp life, including other smaller transit, temporary or other camps in addition to Knockaloe which had a particular use. This focussed display selects the life of one or more of the people who experienced the Internment camps and tells their story, interlinking this with specific aspects of Camp life.
In 2023 we were honoured to focus on the experience of George Kenner, a Knockaloe Internee and talented artist who spent the first part of his internment, like so many of the civilians interned, at Frith Hill Camp. His own words and paintings told the story of the internee experience.
Images of the 2023 exhibition of the paintings and diary extracts of George Kenner at Frith Hill Camp and his transfer to Knockaloe