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  4. Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war
  5. Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war - The Se...
  6. Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war - Prison...
  7. Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war - Surviv...

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Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war - Survival

  • Introduction
  • First World War
  • Second World War
  • Korean War
  • Prisoners of the Germans
  • Prisoners of the Italians
  • Prisoners of the Japanese

I had a wife and a little girl. And the will to live.

Snow Peat

I hated their guts, and I wanted to get home.

Geoff O’Connor

A strong emotion, hate or love, could help men get on the boat home.

Ray Mynors

Many prisoners of war asked how and why they had survived. Answers differed: some stressed military discipline, others individual initiative. Some stole and scrounged from guards and even from each other; most helped their mates and relied on them when things got tough. All needed luck.

Captain Rowley Richards, a medical officer on the Burma–Thailand Railway and in Japan, kept detailed notes and a diary documenting the experience of captivity. He used this material to write a memoir The Survival Factor. It is because of the determination of men like Richards to tell this story that we are able to understand what captivity was like.

Rowley Richards' diary

Rowley Richards' diary
During his last days in Thailand, Rowley Richards made a six-sheet summary of his diary, sealed it in a beer bottle, and buried it under the grave cross of Corporal Sydney Roy Gorlick while on a work party on an island off the coast of Singapore. The diary was recovered by members of the War Graves Commission after the war and returned to Rowley, two and a half years after it was buried.
RC00974

Records kept by Captain Rowley Richards
Records kept by Captain Rowley Richards

Records kept by Captain Rowley Richards while a doctor on the Burma–Thailand Railway.
RC00972–73

Prisoners of the Japanese

  • Surrender
  • Changi
  • The Burma-Thailand Ralway
  • Survival
  • Ambon & Hainan
  • Sandakan
  • Outram Road
  • Nurses
  • Civilian internees
  • Witness
  • War Crimes

Stories

  • HMAS Perth
  • Risk at Sea

Last updated: 15 November 2019

Explore the Collection

Explore the Collection

Our collection contains a wealth of material to help you research and find your connection with the wartime experiences of the brave men and women who served in Australia’s military forces.

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The Donations and bequests

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Your generous donation will be used to ensure the memory of our Defence Forces and what they have done for us, and what they continue to do for our freedom remains – today and into the future.

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The placesofpride

Places of Pride

Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is a new initiative designed to record the locations and photographs of every publicly accessible memorial across Australia.

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Visit the Australian War Memorial

Visit the Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is open for visitors as we work to expand our galleries. All visitors require a free timed ticket to enter the Memorial Galleries and attend the Last Post Ceremony.

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Canberra Highlands in Grayscale

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TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS

The Australian War Memorial acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and waters. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
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The Australian War Memorial

Treloar Crescent
Campbell ACT 2612
Australia
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The Australian War Memorial

Treloar Crescent

Campbell ACT 2612

Australia

 

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In preparation for the daily Last Post Ceremony,

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