Getting There

Getting here

Escape the rush of city life and retreat to the peaceful setting of country Benalla, with a comfortable two-hour drive from Melbourne on the Hume Highway. Benalla railway station is on the north east railway line and is served by V/Line services between Melbourne and Albury, as well as a twice daily Countrylink XPT service to and from Sydney. A coach and train network service the Benalla region and taxi services operate within the town itself.

V/Line bookings: 136 196 Countrylink XPT bookings: 132 232 Benalla taxis: 03 5762 3333 Greyhound: 1300 473 946

Benalla is also equipped with an airstrip that can be utilized by private aircraft owners.

Benalla is the gateway to the High Country, which makes Benalla the perfect base to discover the sites and delights of the surrounding region and Victorian snowfields.

Distance from Benalla to:

Melbourne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 km Albury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 km Sydney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682 km Beechworth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 km Bright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 km Glenrowan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 km Mansfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 km Wangaratta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 km Shepparton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 km Violet Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 km Yarrawonga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66km

Weather

Emergency contacts

Temperatures range from an average winter minimum of 3°C to an average summer maximum of 31°C. Rainfall is within 600–700 mm average with most rain falling in the spring and winter. • Benalla’s average maximum temperature — Summer 31.0°C,

Winter 12.8°C.

• Average minimum temperature — Summer 14.9°C, Winter 3.2°C.

• Average rainfall — Summer 114.1 mm,

Winter 213.5 mm.

Emergency 000 Fire, Ambulance and Police

Benalla Police Station 03 5760 0200

Benalla Health Service 03 5761 4222

SES 132 500

Poisons Hotline 131 126

Our famous sons

HECTOR MACDONALD LAWS (HEC) WALLER: DSO AND BAR, RAN

EDWARD ‘WEARY’ DUNLOP – AC, CMG AND OBE

Hailed as ‘one of the finest captains who ever sailed the seas’, Hec Waller had a distinguished naval career. It ended with him being lost at sea in 1942. The youngest of 10 children, Hec Waller was born on April 4, 1900. He was educated at Benalla East and No. 31 state schools, later attending Benalla High School. Hec joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1913, was awarded the King’s Medal in 1917, and rose through the ranks to captain at the start of World War II.

He was awarded two Distinguished Service Orders (DSO) in less than a year for his role in battles and took command of the cruiser HMAS Perth in 1941.

Despite destroying at least four transports and a minesweeper, both the HMAS Perth and the USS Houston were sunk by the Japanese in the early hours of March 1, 1942. A lasting memorial at the cenotraph Hec Waller was unveiled in March 2010, featuring a granite base with a bronze swirl, depicting the disturbance made by a ship after sinking below the water. A brass sailor’s and captain’s cap are partially submerged in the rock with remembrance poppies, in honour of not only Captain Waller, but of others lost at sea.

Soldier, surgeon and war hero Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop was born in 1907. Growing up on the family farm, Weary attended Benalla High School and was a brilliant student and sportsman. He played rugby for Australia and studied medicine at Melbourne University before enlisting in World War II as a surgeon. A prisoner of war in Thailand, his outstanding courage, leadership and care of his fellow POWs made him a legend in camps along the Burma Railway. He scrounged food for the sick, built makeshift hospitals and operated with hand-made instruments. After returning to Australia, Weary dedicated his life to research and caring for former POWs. Weary bore no hatred towards the Japanese and became deeply devoted to the people of Asia. He was Australian of the Year in 1977. To mark Weary’s achievements, a bronze memorial sculpture was erected on the edge of Benalla’s Botanical Gardens in 1996 and unveiled by Prime Minister John Howard.

Our Story

Benalla Migrant Camp

Benalla is a farming district known for its livestock, grazing and grain production. It was named after an Aboriginal Tribe who once lived in the area.

It has a rich history through the gold-rush of the 1850’s where gold seekers travelling to Beechworth made Benalla an important supply stop and mining also began in Reef Hills. To the Ned Kelly story where Ned himself was charged in the Benalla Courthouse, to Joe Byrne who was part of the Kelly gang being buried in Benalla Cemetery. To our connection with QANTAS with the first QANTAS chief engineer, Arthur Baird being born in Benalla. Benalla itself was proclaimed a city back in 1965.

After World War II the former RAAF pilot training base at Benalla Airport was turned into a migrant holding centre to house displaced persons from Europe, who came to Australia as part of the Assisted Migration Programme. Benalla Migrant Camp was commonly referred to as the ‘Balt Camp’. Before it was largely demolished in the 1990s, the camp infrastructure was extensive including four school buildings, a hospital, kindergarten and crèche, chapel, shop, a cinema hall and youth recreation centre as well as several administration and staff buildings. At full capacity the camp was able to house and feed 500 individuals.

Over the 18 years of its operation (1949–1967) 60,000 migrants made the camp their home, many for several years. In May 2015 the nine remaining huts on the former camp site, as well as its original entrance gates and roads, received state heritage listing as a result of a community-driven campaign, in recognition of its significance in showcasing an important part of Victoria’s cultural and social history.

www.benallamigrantcamp.com.au