50th Anniversary of War Service Land SettlementPrint Page

The memorial commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the War Service Land Settlement on Kangaroo Island.

In 1948, settlers began to arrive at the Parndana East Settlement Camp, where their accommodation was the former Loveday Internment Camp, dismantled at Barmera and rebuilt at Parndana. There was a preference for returned soldiers with families. Pat said the first settlers arrived in May and found their huts had no windows or doors, allowing possums to move through them freely. Before long the first 20 flats were completed, and as each wave of settlers came through it increased to house 40 families, with 140 children in the camp.

It could take up to two years for the soldiers to be allocated in their block. In the meantime, they were put to work, driving bulldozers or acting as axemen, paid a “living wage” to get the land cleared of scrub. The blocks were usually between 400ha and 600ha, depending on how productive the land was, and usually included some scrub for the farmers to clear themselves.

By 1962 all the blocks were cleared, with 174 farms allocated.

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Dedication