Places | |
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Accession Number | REL30195 |
Collection type | Heraldry |
Object type | Flag |
Physical description | Cotton, Hemp, Wool |
Maker |
Unknown |
Date made | c 1942-1945 |
Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
Union Jack flown at Japanese POW camp, Ohama : Corporal T W B Turner, 2/19 Battalion, AIF
Wool bunting union jack with a cream coloured cotton hoist. A short length of hemp halyard runs through the hoist, ending in a loop at either end. The flag may be a composite made from several parts, as the fabric colours and method of assembly vary. Originally packed in a green cardboard shoe box, marked with blue ballpoint ink on the lid: 'THIS FLAG WAS THE FIRST TO FLY OVER JAPAN (OHAMA) JAPAN'.
Union Jack concealed in captivity by members of 2/19th Australian Infantry Battalion, and flown at the Ohama Japanese POW camp, (also known as 'Ohamma') the day the war ended.
Ohama was a coal mining centre at the northern end of the island of Honshu, and about half of men imprisoned there were put to work in the mines, where each man was required to dig 1.5 tons of coal a day. Other prsioners were sent out to work on farms Approximately 250 Australians (of a total of 390 allied prisoners) were held in the camp between September 1944 and the end of the war.
This flag was retained by NX35347 Private Thomas William Beresford ('Beres') Turner, who died in the 1990s. A photograph of Beres Turner can be found on page 733 of the regimental history 'The Grim Glory of 2/19 Battalion A.I.F.'