town at night and worked secretly in the Doctor's garden. Dr Burrell caught him after a few visits and informed Ricetti that he was Government Medical Officer and that payment was not required. Even so, the two became good friends with the doctor visiting him at his cave home regularly bringing gifts of things such as shoes and clothes. Two years later, Ricetti learned through the visit of a Mr Agostini (another Italian in the community) that his old friends Ceccato and Bicego were in that same town and their friendship was renewed. They would pick him up on weekends to meet other people and while Ricetti became more sociable and they attempted to coax him from his reclusiveness he continued to live in his cave. Complexity of Ricetti’s cave After he was found it was learned that Ricetti had used the traditional artisan skill of dry stone walling, which he had learned during his apprenticeship in his North Italian homeland, creating what he referred to as his Garden of Eden. Ricetti's work, completed totally on his own, covers 160,000 square metres of rocky ridge atop Scenic Hill, using the natural landscape and materials found in the area to create a hermitage that stretched for over a kilometre. World War II internment With the arrival of World War II state authorities put in place the requirement for enemy aliens to register under the National Security (Aliens Control) Regulations, report to the local police station each week, and carry an identity card at all times. Ricetti was arrested on 4 March 1942 for failing to register and failing to report. His statement that he was unaware of the requirements was accepted by the local police, and the local police Officer-in-Charge reported that he did not have a concern with Ricetti, noting that he was a "harmless mental deficient who lives the life of a hermit". Military Police Intelligence of Sydney had different views however and demanded a search be conducted by local police of his cave premises. However they found no "literature of subversive or disloyal nature" or any "prohibited possessions". Nevertheless, it was alleged that Ricetti had lined the walls of one of his caves with newspaper reports concerning Hitler which had a swastika prominently displayed. Ricetti was interviewed by Military Police who noted that he lived "in the highest and most secluded locality in the District ... about a