Allied prisoners of war in the Asia–Pacific Of the 2500 Australian and British POWs sent to the camp at Sandakan in Borneo in 1942, only six survived, all Australians. The Japanese moved Allied prisoners, including Australians, around the region on what became known as 'hell ships'.
Of the 267 Australians, only 73 survived, and they were taken to Nagasaki . On 1 July 1944, a group of 2,250 (including 1,000 Australians) under Major R. Newton left Singapore for Japan. They arrived in September 1944; some 200 were sent to Nagasaki to work on the docks.
Members of RAAF aircrews, who had bailed out during operations over Germany, occupied Europe or North Africa, also became POWs. Of the 8,000 Australians taken prisoner by the Germans and Italians, 265 died during their captivity.
Others, often starved and treated brutally, worked for months under shellfire close behind German lines. In camps in Germany conditions were better, but prisoners suffered increasingly from shortages caused by the British blockade. Many survived only because of regular Red Cross parcels.
By the end of WWII, almost a third of these Australian POWs in the Pacific had perished and many of those who survived would live with lifelong scars, both physical and psychological.
The most common form of punishment was face-slapping, often done with a hard instrument, such as a bamboo stick or a shovel. More severe beatings were also common.
Captive or POW Pay and Allowance Entitlements: Soldiers are entitled to all pay and allowances that were authorized prior to the POW period. Soldiers who are in a POW status are authorized payment of 50% of the worldwide average per diem rate for each day held in captive status.
A typical meal was a thin broth of rice and vegetables. The prisoners were paid a small wage with which they supplemented this diet.
Most of the Australians (14,972) were captured in Singapore; other principal Australian prisoner-of-war groups were captured in Java (2,736), Timor (1,137), Ambon (1,075), and New Britain (1,049).
Those Germans in charge of the Prisoner of War camps for first British and Canadian and then American prisoners devised a ration that would keep Allied prisoners alive without breaking Germany's economic back: Each Anglo-American POW would receive 9 pounds of potatoes per week, augmented by 5 pounds of bread, and 2-1/2 ...
During World War II, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany (towards Soviet POWs and Western Allied commandos) were notorious for atrocities against prisoners of war.
United States Army Colonel Floyd “Jim” Thompson, the longest held prisoner of war (POW) in American history, and his wife, Alyce, were products of the idealism of post-World War II America. When Thompson was shot down and captured, they began a journey that changed them forever.
The Western Australian records we've been using for our recent research and digitised for the Digital Panopticon project reveal the story of Samuel Speed, the last living Australian convict. He was transported to Western Australia in 1866 and died in 1938, just short of his 100th birthday.
Landing at Anzac Cove
Neither side succeeded. Some 8,700 Australians lost their lives and some 18,000 were wounded during the campaign. The most successful operation of the campaign was the evacuation which ended on 19–20 December 1915, conducted under a well-planned deception operation.
Living conditions and treatment varied between work parties, but treatment could be harsh. The barracks in the camps were sometimes overcrowded, filthy and susceptible to disease outbreaks. Australian prisoners in contact with the Red Cross Society could survive on food consignments sent from London every 2 weeks.
According to a study by family search website Ancestry and YouGov, 7800 remain.
The east coast of New Holland had been mapped by Captain James Cook on his voyage in 1770, so the British thought this territory — despite being inhabited by Indigenous people for 60,000 years — was the perfect dumping ground for their excess criminals.
As a temporary solution, prisoners were crammed aboard old rotting warships, called "hulks." The hulks stayed anchored on the Thames River, which links London to the sea. By day, the convicts labored on London's docks and other public works. The government considered several places to dump its glut of convicts.
Germany's 'Escape-Proof' Castle POW Camp Actually Had the Worst Record for Escapes. Situated just south of Leipzig, Germany, lies Colditz Castle. During World War II, it was used as a prison camp by the German Heer.
Food found in the bags of dead Australian soldiers was a special treat for the starving men, and some of them went even further, resorting to acts of cannibalism. The number of men who died of starvation was increasing. They were not only fighting the enemy, but also fighting for personal survival.
The POWs suffered frequent beatings and mistreatment from their Japanese guards, food was the barest minimum, and disease and injuries went untreated. Although the POWs finally received Red Cross packages in January 1944, the Japanese had removed all the drugs and medical supplies.
The Third Geneva Convention governs the treatment of prisoners of war, effective from the moment of capture. This includes obligations to treat them humanely at all times. It is a war crime to willfully kill, mistreat, or torture POWs, or to willfully cause great suffering, or serious injury to body or health.
Article 13. Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention.
A prisoner of war can legitimately try to escape from his captors. It is even considered by some that prisoners of war have a moral obligation to try to escape, and in most cases such attempts are of course motivated by patriotism.