Australian Prisoners Of War- 1939 to 1945
In World War 2, Australians were commonly captured and taken prisoner by the enemy's and gruesomely tortured in terrible ways. 30,000 Australian soldiers were captured and taken into POW camps all over the world during World War 2. This was very hard on the prisoners as they had to cope both physically and mentally while lacking in nutrients, water, food and general social interactions a human needs to stay sane. Prisoners of war ranged from men that went stray during the war and were found by the enemy or even led by traps. Overall in World War 2, there were 8,600 Australian prisoners of war in total for just the Germans. 7,115 Australian men were captured in North Africa and Greece, 1,476 airmen and very few sailors. Australians that were prisoners of war were called "Kriegesgefangener" though as this was too hard to say, they abbreviated it to "Kriegies". Australian men were often held in these prisoner of war camps for more than 3 years receiving torture and starvation. Although in some cases they were able to escape though many didn't get far as they were often found by Germans rather soon after their escape. The prisoners had to live in very harsh conditions such as cold climates in winter with very little clothing or shelter to keep them warm and out of the elements. Australian prisoners reached the German camps in many ways. If a soldier was captured in Greece, he would have to stay in a camps for a short period of time before he was placed on a train to Germany which sometimes would take up to a week in shipping containers without food and amenities. There was over 40 prisoner of war camps in Germany and sometimes men were transported from camp to camp by cattle trucks. The men would be all squished in the back of the cattle truck and have to endure all the bumps and heat of the summer days. They were put in trucks like pigs without amenities and seats with many Australian soldiers suffering from disease such as diarrhoea and anorexia and sometimes bleeding bowels.
The Japanese prisoner of war camps were much more violent and cruel than the Germans. Approximately 4,500 Australians were taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War 2. The treatment of Australian prisoners of war at the hands of the Japanese was brutal. Prisoners were forced to live in uninhabitable environments where they had to preform many hours of painful manual labour without medical treatment or food. They were often taunted, abused, maltreated, beaten by their Japanese leaders. One very famous event in the history of prisoner of war camps was the ' Sandakan Death March'. This was the Japanese's idea of slavery where they captured 2,000 Australian and British soldiers and walked them without food, water and shelter from Ranau to Sandakan to make an air strip. This involved walking through jungle from many weeks from 260 kilometres through thick jungle and tough terrain. Many prisoners got sick without nutrients in their bodies and became weak and died on way or were killed by the Japanese officials and left behind with their bodies never recovered. A young man named Albert Cleary tried to escape the death march though was recaptured after a week of walking around aimlessly in the deep jungle. Albert was brutally bashed and tied to a log. He was abused, spat on, urinated on and hit with bayonets for eleven days before other prisoners were able to untied him. The prisoners then took him down to a creek and laid him in a small hut though he died shortly after. Albert was not the only prisoner they did these horrible things to. They also used women for sexual pleasure and sometimes did acts of cannibalism. They used methods of torture to mess with the prisoners mind and physically beat them or in some cases buried them. The Japanese were very gruesome and committed a lot of crime during World War 2.
The Japanese prisoner of war camps were much more violent and cruel than the Germans. Approximately 4,500 Australians were taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War 2. The treatment of Australian prisoners of war at the hands of the Japanese was brutal. Prisoners were forced to live in uninhabitable environments where they had to preform many hours of painful manual labour without medical treatment or food. They were often taunted, abused, maltreated, beaten by their Japanese leaders. One very famous event in the history of prisoner of war camps was the ' Sandakan Death March'. This was the Japanese's idea of slavery where they captured 2,000 Australian and British soldiers and walked them without food, water and shelter from Ranau to Sandakan to make an air strip. This involved walking through jungle from many weeks from 260 kilometres through thick jungle and tough terrain. Many prisoners got sick without nutrients in their bodies and became weak and died on way or were killed by the Japanese officials and left behind with their bodies never recovered. A young man named Albert Cleary tried to escape the death march though was recaptured after a week of walking around aimlessly in the deep jungle. Albert was brutally bashed and tied to a log. He was abused, spat on, urinated on and hit with bayonets for eleven days before other prisoners were able to untied him. The prisoners then took him down to a creek and laid him in a small hut though he died shortly after. Albert was not the only prisoner they did these horrible things to. They also used women for sexual pleasure and sometimes did acts of cannibalism. They used methods of torture to mess with the prisoners mind and physically beat them or in some cases buried them. The Japanese were very gruesome and committed a lot of crime during World War 2.