Australian prisoners of war: Second World War - Prisoners of the Japanese, Senior Officer's Party, Korea (Chosen or Jinsen), Manchuria and Taiwan (Formosa)

The Encyclopedia entry Australian prisoners of war of the Japanese Second World War contains general information about the capture of Australian troops as well as entries on each location of imprisonment.

Use these resources to identify further information or particular items in the collections relevant to your interests:

Collections Search: includes photograph and art images, film, private records and sound collections
Roll of Honour records the names of service men and women who died during or as a result of service with Australian military forces
AMF Prisoners of War and Missing in the Far East and South West Pacific Islands
RecordSearch: database of official records held by the Memorial and the National Archives of Australia
Books database: search for published material including books, journal articles, maps, microfilmed collections and websites
Stolen years: Australian prisoners of war online exhibition

Official records held by the Memorial include:

[8th Division in Captivity - Senior Officer's Group (Formosa and Manchuria)] Memorandum to Lieutenant-General J. Northcott, from Major-General C.A. Callaghan, written from Chungking 31-8-45, Brief notes on Mukden Camp, Armistice and Release, Mukden to Chungking. AWM54 554/14/2
[8th Division in Captivity - Senior Officer's Group (Formosa and Manchuria)] The Story of No 1 Camp, Kankaseki Taiwan, (Formosa) by Major J.F. Crossley. AWM54 554/14/1
[War Crimes and Trials - Affidavits and Sworn Statements:] NX34723 Maj-Gen CA Callaghan. AWM54 1010/4/27
Records of Australian Military Forces prisoners of war and missing, Far East and South West Pacific Islands . Contains nominal rolls and paybook photographs arranged by name, theatre of war and unit, location of POW camp. AWM232 The nominal rolls can be searched online.

Private records held by the Memorial include:

Sir Wilfred Kent-Hughes (Colonel), Administrative papers relating to appointments and promotions of AIF while prisoners of the Japanese. Includes nominal rolls, correspondence, routine orders, appeals. PR00017

Horace Hayden Drexel (Private). Papers from Hoten Camp Manchuria and Chosen POW Camp Korea, including POW letter cards, nominal roll and hand-drawn illustrations. PR00188
Peter Healey (Driver) and Timothy Healey (Private). Includes nominal roll of officers and ORs in Jinsen Camp 1942-45. 3DRL/6318
Alex R.C. Johnstone (Corporal). Typed transcript of diary including his POW experiences in Changi, Jinsen camp in Chosen and Keijo camp, Korea. PR01044

Books held in the Research Centre include:

Sir W.S. Kent Hughes, Slaves of the Samurai : an Australian odyssey (Melbourne : Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, ( Melbourne :Ramsay Ware Publishing), c1946) Gives an account of the life and thoughts of a slave of the Samurai, during his three years and seven months as a prisoner of war in the hands of the Japanese.
Allan S. Walker, Middle East and Far East, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 5 (Medical), vol II (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1953)
Lionel Wigmore, The Japanese Thrust, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 1 (Army), vol IV (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1957)

Check with your local library for availability of these books.

Further research