“Enemy aliens” in Australia in World War 1
It was not a good thing to be German in Australia in 1914. The outbreak of the First World War meant that anybody with German heritage was instantly under suspicion of disloyalty, and it wasn't long before many were rounded up and placed in internment camps. A copy of a 1914 letter from the Newcastle branch manager of the Bank of Australasia, William Miles Coverdale, shows how closely people with German links were being scrutinised by authorities. Mr Coverdale was required by the War Precautions Act 1914 to report to his head office on any suspicious…