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Stolen Years: Australian prisoners of war - Witnesses

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

If any of us get out of here this atrocity must be reported.
Captain Rod Jeffrey on witnessing the death of Gunner Albert Cleary at Ranau, March 1945

Captain Rod Jeffrey on witnessing the death of Gunner Albert Cleary at Ranau, March 1945

Prisoners had a fierce desire to live, and to make sure that even if they did not, their story would survive. Many kept diaries, invariably written in secret, often in minute writing. Discovery often meant punishment, even death.

Why did men and women go to such lengths to record their experiences? To record was a kind of resistance: to document was a kind of memorial. They made sure that even if they died, their writings, made on the backs of cigarette packets, on scraps and sheets of all kinds, would constitute a testament to what prisoners had endured and survived.

Today, those writings form the key evidence for our understanding of the prisoners’ experience.

A portion of a secret diary kept by Dr Rowley Richards on the Burma–Thailand Railway
A portion of a secret diary kept by Dr Rowley Richards on the Burma–Thailand Railway. (495.78 KB)

Japanese survey photo group

Japanese soldiers also felt the need to record the war. These images, taken on the Burma–Thailand Railway, most probably by a member of a Japanese film crew, must have first been intended as a record of achievement and service. In the 1970s, a member of a Japanese veterans’ tour gave prints from the original footage to an Australian ex-prisoner of war when they met by chance in Thailand. The photographs are now further evidence of what the men endured.

Last updated: 13 August 2020

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

 

Opening Hours

10 am to 5 pm daily (except Christmas Day)

 

In preparation for the daily Last Post Ceremony,

galleries are progressively closed from 4 pm.

 

Public entrance via Fairbairn Avenue, Campbell ACT 2612

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