World War II: Australian Prisoners of War

"About 8,600 Australians became prisoners of the Germans. They included 7,115 Australian soldiers captured in North Africa or Greece; 1,476 airmen, mostly bomber aircrew shot down over Germany in 1943–45; and a few sailors ... "

"... This article focuses on the work experiences of Australian POWs in Germany. It draws on official sources as well as first-hand accounts to establish the extent and conditions of Australian POW labour ... "

"Few people can begin a book thus: "I have lived for a century, and I know what it is to stare evil in the face. I have seen the very worst of mankind, the horrors of the death camps, the Nazi efforts to exterminate my life, and the lives of all my people. But I now consider myself the happiest man on earth." ... "

" ... there is no doubt though that a much lower proportion of Australian POW died in German than in Japanese captivity, where mortality rates stood at 35 per cent ... "

"About 8,600 Australians became prisoners of the Germans. They included 7,115 Australian soldiers captured in North Africa or Greece; 1,476 airmen, mostly bomber aircrew shot down over Germany in 1943–45; and a few sailors ... "

"The second half of 1943 brought chaos to Italy, with the collapse of Mussolini’s fascist regime and then, in September, surrender to the Allies ... "

"Japanese soldiers are widely remembered as being cruel and indifferent to the fate of Allied prisoners of war and the Asian rǒmusha ... "

"Over 22,000 Australians became prisoners of war of the Japanese in south-east Asia : Army (about 21,000); RAN (354); and RAAF (373). The Army prisoners were largely from the 8th Division captured at the fall of Singapore ... "

"Of the 30,000 Australian service personnel who became prisoners of war (POWs) in World War Two (WWII), 22,000 were captives of the Empire of Japan ... "

"It was more than 30 years after the end of World War II before Australian prisoners of war really began to tell the stories of what happened in the wake of the fall of Singapore ... "

"Seventy years after he was freed, an Australian prisoner of war looks back on his harrowing experience in the jungle in World War II ... "

"On 16 December 1943, I was sitting at the Navigator’s seat in a very noisy Lancaster bomber over Berlin when something occurred that changed the pattern of my life ... "