The Axis powers in Europe (Germany and Italy) captured 8,591 Australian personnel. In the Middle East campaigns of 1941-42, 7,116 AIF officers and men were taken prisoner.
In the North Africa campaign:
- 1,941 Australians were captured.
- During the siege of Tobruk, 467 were captured.
- In 1942, during action in the Western Desert , 946 Australian were captured, including 489 members of the 2/28th Battalion taken prisoner in the attack on Ruin Ridge.
- In Greece , 2,065 Australians were taken prisoner
- In Crete 3,109 were taken prisoner. Of these, 242 died while prisoners of war.
- Captives were moved to camps in Germany , Austria or Poland.
- 1,476 RAAF personnel were captured and imprisoned.
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Map of prisoner of war camps in Europe during the Second World War.
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Map of prisoner of war camps in Europe during the Second World War. Arrows indicate movement of POWs from one camp to another.
More about:
- Barton Maughan, Tobruk and El Alamein, Australia in the war of 1939-1945, Series 1 - Army, Vol. 3, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1966, pp. 755-822, appendix 1"Australian prisoners of the Germans and Italians"
- Remembering 1942: Ruin Ridge
- Researching Australian prisoners of war: Second World War - Europe
