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Moorook West (Wood Camp) was a short lived World War II prisoner of war camp in the Australian state of South Australia, located in Loveday near the River Murray, in the state's Riverland. It was officially part of the Loveday POW Camp complex, and housed Japanese prisoners of war. They were employed as wood cutters for the Allied war effort. It was similar to wood camps throughout South Australia at the time, including two others attached to the Loveday POW camps - Woolenook (Wood Camp) and Katarapko (Wood Camp). The camp was officially closed on 21 February 1943. [1]
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. The major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China. It included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war.
South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and fifth largest by population. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second largest centre, has a population of 28,684.
Loveday is a town and locality in the Riverland region of South Australia, located south of Barmera and near the Murray River. Administratively it is part of the Berri Barmera Council LGA. At the 2006 census, Loveday had a population of 1,071.
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The camp guard was provided by members of the 25/33 Garrison Battalion, a militia unit of the Australian Army.
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF) commands the ADF, the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA). The CA is therefore subordinate to the CDF, but is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence. Although Australian soldiers have been involved in a number of minor and major conflicts throughout its history, only in Second World War has Australian territory come under direct attack.
