From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cowra breakout
Cowra breakout
panese military, and Indonesian civilians detained at the
request of the Dutch East Indies government.[1]
By August 1944, there were 2,223 Japanese POWs in
Australia, including 544 merchant seamen. There were
also 14,720 Italian prisoners, who had been captured
mostly in the North African Campaign, and 1,585 Ger-
mans, mostly naval or merchant seamen.
Although the POWs were treated in accordance with
the Geneva Conventions, relations between the Japanese
POWs and the guards were poor, due largely to signifi-
cant cultural differences.
A riot by Japanese POWs at Featherston prisoner of
war camp in New Zealand, in February 1943, led to secu-
rity being tightened at Cowra. Eventually several Vickers
Cowra POW Camp, 1 July 1944. Japanese POWs practice base- and Lewis machine guns were installed to augment the
ball near their quarters, several weeks before the Cowra break-
rifles carried by the members of the Australian Militia’s
out. This photograph was taken with the intention of using it
22nd Garrison Battalion, which was composed mostly of
in propaganda leaflets, to be dropped on Japanese-held areas
in the Asia-Pacific region. old or disabled veterans or young men considered physi-
cally unfit for frontline service.
The breakout
In the first week of August 1944, a tip-off from an infor-
mer at Cowra led authorities to plan a move of all Ja-
panese POWs at Cowra, except officers and NCOs, to an-
other camp at Hay, New South Wales, some 400 km to the
west. The Japanese were notified of the move on 4 Au-
gust.
In the words of historian Gavin Long, the following
night:
At about 2 a.m. a Japanese ran to the camp gates
and shouted what seemed to be a warning to the
sentries. Then a Japanese bugle sounded. A sentry
fired a warning shot. More sentries fired as three
Japanese POW cap, which was originally maroon, is the only mobs of prisoners, shouting "Banzai", began
known clothing relic from the Cowra POW camp breaking through the wire, one mob on the
northern side, one on the western and one on the
During World War II, a prisoner of war (POW) camp near southern. They flung themselves across the wire
the town of Cowra in New South Wales, Australia was the with the help of blankets. They were armed with
site of one of the largest prison escapes of the war, on 5 knives, baseball bats, clubs studded with nails and
August 1944. At least 545 Japanese POWs were involved in hooks, wire stilettos and garotting cords.[2]
the breakout.
The bugler, Hajime Toyoshima, had been Australia’s first
Japanese prisoner of the war.[3] Soon afterwards, most of
The camp the buildings in the Japanese compound were set on fire.
Cowra, a farming district, 314 km due west of Sydney, was Within minutes of the start of the breakout attempt
the town nearest to No. 12 Prisoner of War Compound, Privates Benjamin Gower Hardy and Ralph Jones (GC)
a major POW camp, where 4,000 Axis military personnel manned the No. 2 Vickers machine-gun and were firing
and civilians were detained. The prisoners at Cowra also into the first wave of escapees, but they were soon over-
included 2,000 Italians, Koreans who had served in the Ja- whelmed by the sheer weight of numbers and killed.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cowra breakout
However, Private Jones managed to remove and hide the Hill, to commemorate these events. The garden was de-
gun’s bolt before he died. This rendered the gun useless, signed by Ken Nakajima in the style of the Edo period.
thereby preventing the prisoners from turning it against
the guards.
The actions of the Japanese POWs in storming ma-
Depictions in film and litera-
chine gun posts, armed only with improvised weapons, ture
showed what Australian Prime Minister John Curtin later
• Dead Men Rising, (1975, Angus & Robertson, ISBN
described as a "suicidal disregard of life". Nevertheless,
0207126542): a novel by Seaforth Mackenzie, who
359 POWs escaped. Some prisoners, rather than escaping,
was stationed at Cowra during the breakout.[5]
attempted or committed suicide, or were killed by their
• Die like the Carp, (1978, Corgi Books, ISBN 0726932434)
countrymen. Some of those who did escape committed
by Harry Gordon.[6]
suicide, or were killed, to avoid recapture. All those still
• The Cowra Breakout (1984): a critically acclaimed 4½-
alive were recaptured within 10 days of the breakout.[4]
hour television miniseries, written by Margaret Kelly
During the breakout and subsequent rounding up of
and Chris Noonan, and directed by Noonan and
POWs, four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese soldiers
Phillip Noyce.[7] [8]
died and 108 prisoners were wounded. The leaders of the
• On That Day, Our Lives Are Lighter Than The Toilet Paper:
breakout commanded their escapees not to attack Aus-
The Cowra Breakout (English translation) (2008): a
tralian civilians, and none were killed or injured.
2-hour TV-movie produced by Nippon Television as
The findings of an official inquiry into the events
a 55th anniversary special.
were read to the Australian House of Representatives by
Curtin on 8 September 1944. Among its findings were:
• Conditions at the camp were in accordance with the See also
Geneva Conventions;
• Japanese prisoners of war in World War II
• No complaints regarding treatment had been made
by or on behalf of the Japanese before the incident,
which appeared to have been the result of a References
premeditated and concerted plan;
[1] http://www.cowraregion.com.au/home/?id=2295
• The actions of the Australian garrison in resisting
[2] http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/cowra/
the attack averted a greater loss of life, and firing
doc.htm
ceased as soon as they regained control;
[3] S Thompson. Objects through Time: COWRA bugle,
• Many of the dead had committed suicide or been
c1930s. Migration Heritage Centre New South
killed by other prisoners, and many of the Japanese
Wales. 2006
wounded had suffered self-inflicted wounds.
[4] Wendy Lewis, Simon Balderstone and John Bowan
(2006). Events That Shaped Australia. New Holland.
pp. 175–179. ISBN 9781741104929.
[5] "Dead men rising / [by Kenneth Seaforth
Mackenzie"]. National Library of Australia.
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/693772.
Retrieved 11 August 2010.
[6] "Die like the carp : the story of the greatest prison
escape ever / Harry Gordon". National Library of
Australia. http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/
1589160. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
[7] "The Cowra Breakout - Curator’s notes + clips &
credits". National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA).
http://aso.gov.au/titles/tv/cowra-breakout/
notes/. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
The Japanese Garden (Spring 2004)
[8] "The Cowra Breakout (TV mini-series 1984)". IMDb.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135848/. Retrieved
Hardy and Jones were posthumously awarded the Ge-
24 November 2011.
orge Cross as a result of their actions.
No. 12 Camp continued to operate until the last Ja-
panese and Italian prisoners were repatriated in 1947. External links
Cowra maintains a significant Japanese war ceme-
• "The Cowra Breakout" David Hobson in World War II
tery, and a Japanese garden was later built, on Bellevue
1939-45 (Published by) the ANZAC Day
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Cowra breakout
Commemoration Committee (Qld) Incorporated. • "Uprisings remembered" S. Muthiah, in The Hindu
(1998) (Indian national newspaper). (13 February 2005)
• "Official Cowra Japanese Garden Home Page" • "Fact Sheet 198: Cowra outbreak, 1944 National
• "The prison breakout at Cowra, August 1944" Gavin Archives of Australia. (2000)
Long, in Australia in the War of 1939-1945 (Published by) • Blankets on the wire: The Cowra breakout and its
the Australian War Memorial. (1963) aftermath
• "Cowra POW Camp Slideshow", Cowra Shire Council Coordinates: 33°48′40.60″S 148°42′14.39″E / 33.811278°S
(no date) 148.7039972°E / -33.811278; 148.7039972
• Wal McKenzie, "Memories of the Cowra Breakout"
(no date)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cowra_breakout&oldid=466639104"
Categories:
• 1944 riots
• 1944 in Australia
• History of New South Wales
• World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Australia
• Prison uprisings
• Military history of Australia during World War II
• Military camps in Australia
• Escapes
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