Encyclopedia

Australian prisoners of war: Second World War
prisoners of the Japanese

Over 22,000 Australians became prisoners of war of the Japanese in south-east Asia. The wave of Japanese victories, ending with the capture of the Netherlands East Indies in March 1942, left in its wake a mass of Allied prisoners of war, including many Australians. Most of the Australians (14,972) were captured in Singapore; other principal Australian prisoner-of-war groups were captured in Java (2,736), Timor (1,137), Ambon (1,075), and New Britain (1,049).

At the end of the war Australian prisoners of war were widely distributed: 5,549 on Singapore Island and in Johore (Malaya); 4,830 in Burma and Thailand; 265 in French-Indo China; 385 on Java; 243 on Sumatra; 100 on Ambon; 2 on Macassar; 7 on Bali; 150 at Kuching (British North Borneo); 2,700 distributed between Japan, Korea, and Manchuria; and 200 on Hainan Island.

Dates when various prisoner-of-war forces left Changi, Singapore, and their destinations

Force	Date departure from Changi	Destination
A Force	15 May 1942	Burma
B Force	8 July 1942	Borneo
C Force	28 Nov 1942	Japan
D Force	14–18 March 1943	Thailand
E Force	29 May 1943	Borneo
F Force	April 1943	Thailand
G Force	26 April 1943	Japan
H Force	May 1943	Thailand
J Force	16 May 1943	Japan
K Force	June 1943	Thailand
L Force	23 August 1943	Thailand
Senior Officers' Party	16 August 1942	Japan via Formosa and Korea
Senior Working Party	16 August 1942	Takeo (Formosa) and Seoul (Korea)

AIF units were split up between various forces and work parties. The prisoners-of-war reading list contains battalion unit histories covering this topic.

More about

• General information about Australian prisoners of war of the Japanese
• Ambon (Amboina , Gull Force)
• Borneo (Sandakan , Kuching)
• Burma–Thailand Railway
• Distances between camps on Burma–Thailand railway
• Hainan Island
• Japan
• Java and Timor
• New Britain (Rabaul) and New Ireland (Kavieng)
• Senior Officers' Party, Korea (Chosen, Jinsen), Manchuria, and Taiwan (Formosa)
• Singapore (Changi and Singapore Island)
• Sumatra (including nurses)
• Journal of the Australian War Memorial articles
  • "The historic war site of the Changi Murals: a place for pilgrimages and tourism"
  • "Commemorating and commodifying the prisoner-of-war experience in south-east Asia: the creation of Changi Prison Museum"
  • "A map to Paradise Road: a guide for historians"
  • "Sources on Australian investigations into Japanese war crimes in the Pacific"
  • "The life experience of partners of ex-prisoners of war of the Japanese"
• Professor Fran De Groen, "Japan Party B Bound for Korea, 1942"
• World War 2 crimes documents: National Archives of Australia fact sheet 61
• Australian Military Forces [AMF] Prisoner of War and Missing, Far East and South West Pacific Islands
• Researching Australian prisoners of war: Second World War – prisoners of the Japanese