| Tatura Victoria |
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Tatura
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| Population: | 3,533[1] | ||||||
| Postcode: | 3616 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 114 m (374 ft) | ||||||
| Location: |
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| LGA: | City of Greater Shepparton | ||||||
| State District: | Shepparton | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Murray | ||||||
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Tatura is a town 17 km west-south-west of Shepparton in Victoria, Australia located 3 km off the Midland Highway, forming part of the City of Greater Shepparton. At the 2006 census, Tatura had a population of 3,533,[1] however the true figure is believed to be close to 4,400[2]. Attractions include the Cussen Park wetlands and the Wartime Camps and Irrigation Museum. It is home to Tatura Milk Industries, Goulburn-Murray Water's head office and the Tatura Research and Extension Centre of the Victorian Department of Primary Industry located at Tatura East. In addition, Unilever has one of its food processing plants situated in the Northern half of the town. The town is associated with the water wheel or dethridge wheel, a device used to measure the amount of irrigation water released from a channel to a farmer's property.
The name of the town is an Aboriginal word meaning "small lagoon".
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The Post Office opened on 1 February 1875.[3]
Several internment camps were set up around Tatura, Rushworth and Murchison (Dhurringile) during World War II. Four of these were for civilians, and 3 were for prisoners of war. There were 10,000 to 13,000 people in the camps at different times from 1940 to 1947.
Before the war, Britain was home to around 73,000 Germans, who had left German due to the rising tensions and the rise of the Nazi regime in the country. Many of these were also young male Germans who had been in schools in Britain before the outbreak of WWII. It was believed that many of these refugees were spies, and were shipped out of the country, predominantly to Australia on the HMT Dunera and Canada.
In 1941, German Templers were shipped from Palestine and interned for the duration of the war, which led to the establishment of the Temple Society Australia. After arriving in Australia on the 25th of August 1941, The Templer's established themselves in Camp 3 in Tatura. They were experienced in Interned living from their previous internment in World War I( which lasted until the late 1920s), and established a School and a Kindergarten, and established work routines to prevent depression in the camp. After the War, the majority of Templer families remained in Australia.
In 1943, Major Jullian Leyton arrived from England on a mission. Leyton, a Jew like many of the Dunera Boys, managed to secure the release of many of them if they enlisted in the British or Australian Army. At the end of the war all of the Dunera Boys were released.
The crew of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran were also interned following the battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. 351 German civilians and servicemen who died during internment (WWI and WWII) are buried in the Tatura German Military Cemetery.
There were also German detainees from the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.
The Tatura Show is held yearly in March and International Dairy Week (which is the second largest dairy show in the Southern Hemisphere) in January each year attracting over 6,000 exhibitors, vendors and onlookers from Australia as well as overseas.
Tatura Hot Bread, a local bakery, has won prizes in the Professional Section of The Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph in 2006 and again in 2007 [4]. The Taste of Tatura Food and Wine Festival is held on the first Sunday in March drawing many of the regions locals.
Tatura has many sporting facilities located around town, including Australian Rules football ovals, Soccer fields, Cricket pitches, Tennis courts, Lawn Bowls greens, a Multipurpose Indoor Stadium and the 18-hole Golf course of the Hilltop Golf Club[5]. The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Goulburn Valley Football League, the Tatura Bulldogs.[6].
Tatura has a horse racing club, the Tatura & Shepparton Racing Club, which schedules around eight race meetings a year including the Tatura Cup meeting in March or April.[7]
Tatura has three primary schools serving both the town and surrounding areas including Byrneside. Tatura Primary School is a Public School located south of the town's main street whilst Sacred Heart School and Bethel Christian College are both private schools located on the main street. Due to Tatura not having a secondary college most student opt to study at the surrounding Mooroopna Secondary College, Notre Dame College, Shepparton, Goulburn Valley Grammar School, Wanganui Park Secondary College, Shepparton High School or McGuire Secondary College.
Tatura is also located 20 minutes from La Trobe University Shepparton Campus as well as the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE which both offer a range of tertiary and TAFE courses to the Goulburn Valley.
In Tatura, two notable print publications are produced, the Tatura Guardian is released weekly, and the Tatura Bulletin is released monthly.
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