Index, bib, ill, maps, p.224.Within three months of the Japanese entering World War II on December 8, 1941 over 22 000 Australians had become prisoners-of-war. They went into camps in Timor, Ambon, New Britain, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Singapore and Malaya, and a few were scattered to other points in what was briefly part of the Japanese empire. Later most of the prisoners were to be shifted further north into South-east Asia, Formosa, Korea, Manchuria and Japan itself. They were captives within lands and cultures and to experiences alien to those known to all other Australians. At the end of the war in August 1945, 14315 servicemen and thirty service women were alive to put on new, loose-fitting uniforms and go home. One in three of the prisoners had died. That is, nearly half of the deaths suffered by Australians in the war in the Pacific were among men and women who had surrendered. Another 8174 Australians had been captured in the fighting in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: but of these men only 265 died as a result of wounds, disease or execution.By any quantitative measure the imprisonment of so many Australians is a major event in Australian history. For many soldiers it was living --and dying --in captivity which made World War II different from that of World War I. But the prisoners have received no permanent place in Australian history. Their story is not immediately recalled on celebratory occasions. In a general history of the nation in which a chapter is given to the war the prisoners might be mentioned in a sentence, or part of a sentence. Where the horror, stoicism and gallantry of Gallipoli have become part of a common tradition shared by all Australians, the ex-prisoners are granted just the horror. The public may be sympathetic; but the horror is for the prisoners alone. To make another comparison: in five months of fighting on the Kokoda Trail in 1942 the Australians lost 625 dead, less than the number who died on Ambon. Yet the events on Ambon are unknown to most Australians. There were no reporters or cameramen on Ambon and, for the 309 who defended Ambon's Laha airfield, no survivors. How many of them died in battle or died as prisoners will never be known. But there are more than just practical reasons why the record of the prisoners of war is so slight and uneven in the general knowledge of Australians. They have not tried to find out. No historian has written a book to cover the range of camps and experiences, and only in specialist medical publications has anyone investigated the impact of prison life on subsequent physical and mental health. The complexity of the experience and its impact on particular lives have not been expressed in a way to give them significance for other Australians.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – japanese, world war 1939-1945 - personal narrativies - australia

Ill, map, p.449.non-fictionHistorian Hugh Ambrose deepens the experience of the HBO miniseries The Pacific, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks and broadcast on the Seven Network. These are the true stories of the men who put their lives on the line for their country, who were dispatched to the other side of the world to fight an enemy who preferred suicide to surrender; men who suffered hardship and humiliation in POW camps; men who witnessed casualties among soldier and civilian alike; and men whose medals came at a shocking price. Covering nearly four years of combat, with unprecedented access to military records, letters, journals, memoirs, photographs and interviews, this volume offers a unique historical perspective on the war against Japan-and ultimately the triumphant yet uneasy return home. world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - pacific area, world war 1939 – 1945 – personal narratives – united states

Ill, p.336.non-fictionIn the harsh Libyan desert in the middle of the second world war, Private Jim Moody, a signaller with the First Australian Machine Gun Battalion, found a starving puppy on a sand dune. Moody called the dog Horrie. Much more than a mascot, Horrie's exceptional hearing picked up the whine of enemy aircraft two minutes before his human counterparts and repeatedly saved the lives of the thousand-strong contingent. The little Egyptian Terrier's ritual of sitting, barking, then dashing for the trenches, had the gunners running for cover before their camp was strafed and bombed. Where Moody went, Horrie went too, through the battle zones of the Middle East and far beyond. As the Japanese forces began their assault in Asia Moody and his soldier mates joined the fight, but not before they had smuggled Horrie onto a troop ship and a harrowing journey back to Australia where they thought their little friend would be safe. The war over, Moody brought Horrie out of hiding to raise money for the Red Cross, and the brave little dog's story became widely known. When quarantine officers pounced and demanded that the dog be put down there was a huge public outcry. Horrie had saved a thousand lives. How could a cruel bureaucracy heartlessly kill him? But defying the authorities would mean gaol for Moody and certain death for Horrie. Was Horrie, the gunner's hero, condemned to die or could Moody devise a scheme to save him? animals - war use, australia - armed forces - mascots

Index, ill, p.352.non-fictionShares the story of Judy, the first-ever animal to gain formal status as a prisoner of war, who during World War II saved countless lives and became a friend and protector to Allied soldiers in the Japanese prison camps in Indonesia.animals - war use, dogs - war use - great britain

Index, ill, bib, p.559.non-fictionFor months during 1943 there was no night in Hellfire Pass. By the light of flares, carbide lamps and bamboo fires, men near-naked and skeletal cut a passage through stone to make way for a railway. Among these men were some of the 22,000 Australian soldiers taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II. In camps across Asia and the Pacific, they struggled, died, and survived with a little help from their mates. 'Hellfire' was researched in Australia, Japan and across South-East Asia. It draws on 50 first-person interviews, ranging from former prisoners to an old Mon villager deep in the Burmese jungle, and from Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew to veterans of the Imperial Japanese Army. The result is a tour de force, a powerful and searing history of the prisoners of the Japanese. world war 1939-1945 - prisoners and prisons - japan, burma - siam railway

Index, ill, maps, p.184.non-fictionAn account of the experiences of Allied POW's held in Buchenwald concentration camp. concentration camps - buchenwald, world war 1939-1945 - prisoners of war - germany

Index, ill, ,maps, p.380.non-fictionIn the Second World War, thousands of Australian boys lied about their age and volunteered for a war the scale of which they could never have imagined. Like many of their fathers in the Great War, they went with their eyes wide shut: under-trained, under-equipped and under-age. Some were as young as thirteen - too young even to shave. Many did not grow old; others came back broken. A handful are still alive to tell their tales. This extraordinary book captures the bold and untold stories of forty Australian children who fought in the deadliest war in history. Follow these boys through Libya and Palestine, Greece and Crete, to the jungles of Malaya, Papua New Guinea and Borneo, fighting for their lives, their country, their mates. Many of the photographs have never been seen. Haunting images of youths in training camps and behind the lines stand beside moving portraits of old men who have not forgotten.world war 1939-1945 - australia - under age soldiers, world war 1939-1945 - personal narratives - australia

Ill, maps, p.359.non-fictionHell′s Heroes is the story of the POW camp that never was − so dubbed by one old soldier because the atrocities that occurred there went largely unreported at the time. For while the Burma−Thai railway‚ the Bataan death march and events at Changi and in many other parts of Asia became synonymous with Japanese brutality‚ most of the camps which were set up to provide slave labour for the enemy military machine at home were slowly forgotten in the aftermath of World War II.world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese, atrocities - japan

This card was sent to Australia during World War OneBlack and white photographic postcard of camels watering at wells in the desert in Egypt.Verso: Egypt September 14th 1916 To Mother This is very fine view of Camels watering taken a few hundred yards from our camp & is in what we call a dry salt lake, the top of the sand being damp is quite hard, You will notice a clear patch marked x this is a football ground. You will also notice the heavy sand & camps in the background. Billieworld war one, egypt, camels, salt lake, desert, mmm

The document was written by Marian Kennedy, a signalwoman in the Australian Special Wireless Group in Brisbane in World War Two. This group intercepted Japanese Morse Code messages and their transcriptions were sent to Central Bureau for deciphering. The sheet contains a list of procedure signals for messages in Japanese Kana code. These procedure signals enabled wireless operators to assess the context of the messages and their probable importance. Secrecy was paramount as the Japanese military were unaware that their Kana code had been broken. Marian Kennedy was born at Bright Vic and grew up in Smoko in the Ovens Valley.Colour, scanned, A4 copy of sheet from Australian Military Forces Wireless Diary with list of Procedure Signals of Japanese Kana Code hand-written in pencil, in English.Signed "Marian Kennedy VF396623" in pencil in top margin.war, wwii, wireless, morse code, code, japanese kana code, codebreaking, aswg, kennedy

Given to former prisoners in Japanese camps in the former Dutch East Indies after liberation 1946. Dutch colonists suffered incarceration under the Japanese occupation of former Dutch East Indies. Post-war many returned to The Netherlands where they suffered from the cold. It was difficult for them to settle in and this gift would have been a welcome gesture of acceptance.Hollow cylindrical copper tube with copper screw top with circular handle. Handwritten label says: Warm water kruik aan ons gegeven toen wij koud en berooid uit de Japanse kampen kwamen Jan 1946 (Hot water bottle given to us when we came out of the Japanese camps, cold and destitute, Jan 1946).hot water bottle

The battle, code-named Operation Attleboro, began with a simple purpose: to block a Vietcong attack on an Americian base camp that was expected to occur in time to attect elections in the United States.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - campaigns, vietnamese wars battle of dau tieng, the battle of dau tieng, the battle of dong minh chau, operation attleboro, american base camp, vietcong

These are the stories Vietnam vets tell over beers at Legion halls and VFW posts - stories of young men tangled up in the chaos of landing zones and nameless jungle hill, in the boredom of base camps, in the confusion of a controversial war.vietnam war, 1961 - 1975, personal narratives, american, soldiers - united states - biography - ancedotes

Two days after Saigon fell to the communists, Hao Minh Truong walked along the path leading to the Tan Xuyen village council filled with fear. He had been there many times during his army service, but it was different now. This was no long a friendly place.vietnam war, 1961-1975 - biography, soldiers - vietnam - biography

At the end of August 1940 the Hired Military Transport Dunera, a boat carrying around 2,500 European male internees, the majority of which were Jewish, arrived on Australian shores after two arduous months at sea. Although many had made England their home, their German or Austrian background caused these men to be classified as ‘enemy aliens’ by the British Government and sent to Australia without their families. The ‘Dunera Boys’ were interned in camps at Tatura and Hay. Although some internees were released after two years because they possessed specific industry skills which would aid the nation, others were interned for the entire duration of the war. This collection brings together objects, personal effects and documents relating to the journey, internment and subsequent military service in the 8th regiment experienced by the ‘Dunera Boys’. Also included are artworks and poems created by the internees during their interment, which express the thoughts and feelings of the men and document the daily life in the camps. Velvet, silk, silk embroidery thread, cotton thread, silk cord, leather, cotton and wood

This diary was handwritten by Alfred Broch over the course of four months in 1940. It was kept while Alfred Broch was travelling on the HMT Dunera and then during his detainment in the Hay internment camp.Bound with cotton and handwritten in pencil. Bound with cotton and handwritten in pencil.[selected passage translation from German, further translation available] : “Dunera” 10.VII – 6.IX.1940 First impression very depressing. Fears. Confusion with prisoners of war. Never mind. Corrected. Continuing further bad treatment. Boarding the ship assisted by rifle butts. Robbed as soon as we reached the deck. Impression of a death ship. Complete helplessness. No sleeping facilities. All sleep on the floor, on tables etc. Intended accommodation taken up by luggage cases. (barbed wire). Food good but only spoons. Next day: robbery from the cases. Own people steal. Purloined objects even include toothbrushes and toothpaste. Much to eat. Small convoy with one cruiser. In the same convoy a women’s transport which soon leaves us as it is bound for Canada and we are quite surprised. The English soldiers and officers have another side. While in the danger zone they only had a webbing belt and slippers. In case of torpedoes – expecting certain death. Bad air as all vents are closed. Other Inscriptions: Front page, upper right, underlined: "Alfred Broch" Front page, upper, underlined: "Notitz Buch" Front page, centre, underlined: "Hay 1941" Page 1, upper right: "Mittwoch 10. VII." Page 3, upper right: "10. VII. - 6. IX. 1940 Page 4, centre: "[...] ARANDORA STAR" Page 11, upper, underlined: "Von Liverpool Nach Hay / Mittwoch 10 VII" dunera, wwii, internment, jewish history & people

Georg Chodziesner made this chanukiah in Hay Camp in 1940. It was made to celebrate the Jewish festival of Chanukah. Georg was born in 1900 in Berlin to a prominent Jewish advocate Justizrat, Ludwig and wife Elise. Fearing arrest at the outbreak of war, Georg fled Germany to the United Kingdom. His wife, Dorothea, and son, Wolfgang Benno, emigrated to Chile. Like many German Jewish men, Georg found himself on board the HMT Dunera, bound for interment at Tatura. On release, Georg joined the Australian Army 8th Employment Company in which he served for the remainder of the war. Georg sought permission for his son to join him in Australia, and the pair were reunited in Melbourne in May 1945. Dorothea had passed away from illness in 1943. After settling in Australia, Georg worked as a Patent Attorney and remained working at the same firm until his death in 1981.This Chanukiah was cut from a kerosene tin using nail scissors and mounted on a wood block base. Medium: Wood, tin and ink The Chanukiah is embossed with a Magen David, the Star of David, and the wooden base has a poker work inscription: "Hay 5701 / 1940".dunera, wwii, internment, jewish history & people

Diary kept during Prof. Rainer Radok's internment in Australia, following his arrival by ship on the HMT Dunera.At the end of August 1940 the Hired Military Transport Dunera, a boat carrying around 2,500 European male internees, the majority of which were Jewish, arrived on Australian shores after two arduous months at sea. Although many had made England their home, their German or Austrian background caused these men to be classified as ‘enemy aliens’ by the British Government and sent to Australia without their families. The ‘Dunera Boys’ were interned in camps at Tatura and Hay. Although some internees were released after two years because they possessed specific industry skills which would aid the nation, others were interned for the entire duration of the war. This collection brings together objects, personal effects and documents relating to the journey, internment and subsequent military service in the 8th regiment experienced by the ‘Dunera Boys’. Also included are artworks and poems created by the internees during their interment, which express the thoughts and feelings of the men and document the daily life in the camps.This is an A5 size notebook of 90 pages, all handwritten in German. Pages are numbered on the upper corners and each entry is dated. Back cover is titled: "Arithmetical Tables" and "Multiplication Table". The blue cover is attached with yellow adhesive tape and is very loose from the inner pages. There are a few drawings throughout.Handwritten in ink on the front cover is the inscription "Radok 1940-1941." Written below in pencil is the address "16 Grove St. Passaie N.J."

62 pages, typewritten, on white paper with a brown paper cover. Bound along one side by 3 brass metal fasteners.non-fictionA detailed account of Pte Price's experience of WWI from his embarkation to his return. Sections include: Description of Journey (Arrival at Albany WA; From Albany to Cape Town; Cape Town to Vincent, Verde Island; The Village Blacksmith; Four Days Holiday in London; Back at Camp; Second Visit to London); Review by King George; Zeppelin Air Raids; Embarking for France; The Idea of a Raid; St Omer; Battle of Messines; Bombardment Prior to Advance on Messines; A Visit to France by King George & Prince of Wales; Five Days March from Senlicques; First Battle of Ypres; Preparation for Second Battle of Ypres; 14 Days Leave from France to England; 14 Days Sick Leavewwi, world war i, f g price

An example of tableaux drama. Ten 'scenes from the Empire' were presented: King Alfred Disguised as a Harper in the Camp of the Danes'; 'The Signing of the Magna Carta'; 'Queen Elizabeth Knighting Drake on the Deck of the "Golden Hind"' etc. Contains details of Executive of the Victorian Artists' Society and the St Kilda Executive Committee. Under the patronage and in the presence of, among others, the Governor of Victoria, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne and Madame Melba. To raise funds 'to provide an Ambulance for the Australian Wounded'.Yellowed cream cardboard, printed in black and gold, folded in half to form the cover. Inside two sheets of paper, printed in black and red and folded to make four pages, are fastened to the cover by stitched red string.wwi, world war i, victorian artists' society, wwi fund-raising