Ralph Frederick Churches as a sergeant, 2/48 Battalion, POW, and guard at Camp 18 Murchison Tatura, 1940-1945, interviewed by Alison Viney Houghton.

Interview with SX5286 Sergeant Ralph Frederick Churches (AKA 'The Crow'), 2/48 Battalion, conducted by Alison Viney Houghton for her "The Age of Innocence 1937–1947" oral history project. The interview touches on his experience as a prisoner of war in Yugoslavia (Slovenia), and his aiding in the escape of 100 prisoners from a camp in Maribor. The interview discusses in depth Churches' views on the political and economic situation leading up to the war, and the postwar political and economic environment in Australia; his service as a guard at the Camp 13 Murchison POW internment camp in Tatura, Vic; his capture in Greece; Germans in Australia's internment camps; his pre-war work as a bank clerk, and post-war employment and pay conditions at the State Bank of South Australia; life as a returned serviceman and his post-war career in insurance; and postwar migration to Australia and changes in Australian food and culture. A transcript of this recording is available. For further information please contact the Sound section.