MILLION DOLLAR TREASURE HUNT
BY ALAN HASSELL?
Copyright? 4/11/92
Most detectorists can only dream about the probability of one day taking part in a treasure hunt that could be worth a Million Dollars or maybe more. The possibility of such an event happening to myself seemed highly unlikely except for a strange series of events that would lead me to a million dollar treasure.
Before anyone can even start writing about any subject, one must research the subject and gain as much information as possible before pen can be put to paper.
I knew there had been several camps in Australia but had never heard of one in Hay before. On July 25th 1940 the 16th Garrison Battalion was formed in Sydney and given the task of guarding internee's due to arrive on the Dunera from England. At the outbreak of war, German and Italian nationals were rounded up and transported to Australia. Not as POWs but as internee's. Here they would spend the duration of the war.
Japanese prisoners some from Cowra after the breakout and others born in Australia were also sent to Hay.
Money was quite plentiful believe it or not. No POW camp would be complete without escape attempts and a very elaborate tunnel was constructed in compound 8. When it was eventually discovered, it was found to contain beds for the night shift. It was also completely electrified and wood had been removed from many huts to shore up the tunnel and make it safe.
The most successful escape, was that of Colonel Edgardo Simone who after his escape trekked 80 kilometres to Baronial. He was recaptured in Melbourne 6 months later by a very observant policeman and gave up peacefully. During his period of freedom, he had been working as a salesman and even won an award for producing the best figures for one month.
Owing to the isolation of the camp, many of the internee's worked outside the camp with little or no supervision.
On numerous occasions the internee's would arrive back only to find the camp doors closed. They would hammer on the door until it was opened and allowed back inside. When the breakout at Cowra took place, some Japanese who had burnt their huts were transferred to Compound 7 with the Germans.
At one stage a similar breakout was feared. West Hay was issued with an order to evacuate the area and the towns folk spent the night in the Town Hall, returning to their homes only when it was considered safe. A murder took place in Compound 8, a man named Sinatra, and no relation to Frank was stabbed with a knife several times.
The knife was never found despite 3 thorough searches of the camp. Whilst metal detecting in Compound 8, the knife was finally unearthed by myself. In reality it was an old file that had been shaped into a knife but still capable of killing someone.
Having no value to myself it was handed to Mick Beckwith for display in the museum. Where it remains to this day. Now you're probably wondering after reading all this stuff, Where Does the Million Dollar Treasure come into all this history.
Well, I was lucky enough to bump into the friendly old guy who manages the show grounds at Hay. The Show grounds and racetrack are where the old internment camps used to be. Harry Cox had been sent there by the Army after he returned from New Guinea during the closing down stages of the camp.
During the many discussions I had with Harry, I asked a very important question? 'What did they do with all the internment camp money after the war Harry'? Looking at me straight in the eye but puzzled by my question he replied'. 'They (referring to the internee's) changed whatever money they had to Australian Currency.
They were not allowed Australian currency in the Compounds in case of escape. The coins would hopefully result in an early recapture.'' I then asked Harry what happened to the coins or tokens? to which he replied, ''Oh, the paper money was burnt, I burnt it myself in an old 44 gallon drum.
What actually happened was the Commonwealth Bank set up an office here and as the internee's handed over their tokens, they were given the equivalent in Australian Currency. The token's were then put into several 4 gallon Kerosene cans which I buried with a lot of old camp tools in a pit over there. I asked Harry to take me to the spot where he had buried the kerosene cans.
We stood on a spot that showed slight subsidence in the ground. 'This used to be one of the two water tanks, it was 30 foot long, 12 foot wide and eight to ten feet deep from memory' he said. 'We recently had to fill again owing to subsidence, this time we used 25 to 26 cubic yards. There I was dumbfounded, speechless standing on or rather above A Million-Dollar treasure hoard, just a little over 10 feet below me.
If you have access to Renicks Coin and Banknote guide, on the last page you will find the values of those internment camp coins. Then Penny is worth $60 each, the five shillings are worth $250.00. Simple calculations on this one to make it easy. 3000 internee's, if each one only had 6 coins, that's 18,000 coins.
A quick calculation 18,000 times $60 = One million and eighty thousand dollars. Wait on a moment, how about the other denominations there were four coins in the series a complete set is worth about a $1000. They earn't 18 pence a day those millions will just have to keep on appreciating. For despite all my efforts and the efforts of many other individuals seeking to dig up the treasure no one's allowed too.
You see, I told you it was now a racecourse, well million dollar thoroughbreds now train and run over the same pit where the coins were dumped many years ago. Who knows what the future might bring, one day I might return to Hay when I figure out a way to dig a tunnel to recover the treasure without the authorities knowing what's going on underneath the finish line.
It's enough to make you sick. Incidentally the treasure is till intact, several guys ended up in jail trying to dig it up. People do live on the site and very suspicious about strangers. if you enjoyed reading this let the author know?
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