mile from the various petrol depots, electricity substations and water channels in the Irrigation Area" and that he was "known to wander about at night" and it was decided that he should be interned. He was arrested on 3 May 1942 at his cave and moved to Liverpool Prisoners of War and Internment Camp and then transferred to Cowra Internment Camp and then transferred to Loveday Internment Camp, South Australia on 21 April 1943. Part of his internment duties included building roads in the area and with his skills he was able to assist guards with ways to improve their road-building methods. Ricetti was released eight months later, taken to Sydney and there nominated his place of abode (as part of the register requirements) as Farm 219 Yoogali, Griffith which was the Ceccato farm. A year later on 30 November 1944, he officially nominated the location of Crown Reserve (now called Scenic Hill) – the place of his cave as his place of abode. No one is absolutely sure if Ricetti lived in the cave exclusively from that time although for the rest of World War II it is likely that he was not allowed to live back in his cave. It is known that he worked on Valentino Ceccato's farm until 1948, and then on the farm of Valentino's son. Ricetti is said to have always been a loner, working away from others and as necessary sleeping in the pruning shed. Death and legacy Despite being employed by old friends at Griffith and becoming more sociable, Ricetti apparently was troubled by an illusion of "a man and a woman in the sky" who demanded that he do more and more work to his cave utopia. By May 1952, he was in bad health but he had saved £1400 which allowed him to return to Italy, partly with the intention of seeing his brother with whom he had hitherto lost contact. It is clear that he intended to return to Australia because he purchased a return ticket and left his savings in the local bank. In November 1952, Bruno Ceccato (son of Valentino Ceccato) received a notice from the Municipality of Sondrio Valtellina that Ricetti had died. Ricetti's cave home became known as Hermit's Cave and has now been preserved with a listing on the State Heritage Register. References and notes Sources () External links Caves of Australia Australian hermits