9 May 1944, Chronology of Events Related to Stanley Civilian Internment Camp

Edith Hamson is sitting on Tweed Bay Beach watching men trying to fish:

The atmosphere was always one of serenity at Tweed Bay, and visiting gave me brief respite from the realities of war.

I was absorbed in the tranquillity when all of a sudden I heard a commotion coming from the children’s wading pool. I will never forget the awful screams. I jumped to my feet and everyone else on the beach did the same.

Up at the pond, a young boy named Brian Gill, who was only three years old, had been found floating face down in the shallow water. Despite desperate attempts, Brian could not be revived.

The camp was filled with tremendous grief and shock, and the children were affected terribly.

The pool was a fresh-water man-made pool on the hillside a little above the beach, generally used for swimming wading by the younger children.

Soon after the beach at Tweed Bay was declared off-limits.

Source:

Allana Corbin, Prisoners of the East, 2002, 239-240.