Index, ill, maps, p.715.non-fictionStory of the 8th Division in the campaigns in Malaya, Singapore, Rabaul, Ambon and Timor where most of the Division was captured by the Japanese in 1942. Also the story of the Australian Prisoners of the Japanese, including Changi and the Burma-Thailand Railway.world war 1939-1945 - australian involvement, world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - south west pacific

On the night of 30-31 January 1942 this small force of 1131 Australian soldiers were stationed at Ambon, an island which formed part of the Netherland East Indies (now Indonesia). An invasion of approximately 20,000 Japanese overwhelmed Gull Force and the majority of the Australian soldiers were taken prisoner. The execution of 229 at Laha, starvation, over work, disease and the absence of medical supplies led to horrific loss. At the cessation of hostilities only 352 of the original 1131 had made it back to Australia. 779 members of Gull Force made the supreme sacrifice and now lie in foreign fields. The Battle of Ambon (30 January – 3 February 1942) occurred on the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), during World War II. Japan invaded and conquered the island in a few days, facing Dutch, American and Australian forces. The chaotic and sometimes bloody fighting was followed by a series of major Japanese war crimes. Allied casualties in the battle were relatively light. However, at intervals for a fortnight after the surrender, Japanese personnel chose more than 300 Australian and Dutch prisoners of war at random and summarily executed them, at or near Laha airfield. In part, this was revenge for the sinking of the Japanese minesweeper, as some surviving crew of the minesweeper took part.. Three-quarters of the Australians captured on Ambon died before the war's end. Of the 582 who remained on Ambon, 405 died. They died of overwork, malnutrition, disease and one of the most brutal regimes among camps in which bashings were routine. Blood Oath, a 1990 Australian feature film is based on the real-life trial of Japanese soldiers for war crimes committed against Allied prisoners of war on the island of Ambon, in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), such as the Laha massacre of 1942.Brown timber frame with gold coloured inner edge containing badge and tribute on grey backgroundGull Force 2/21 Battalion Ambon Laha In memory of and tribute to the Officers and Men of "Gull Force" comprising of 2/21 Battalion and attached Units.gull force, 2/21 battalion, ambon, ww2

Photograph of Private later Corporal Sperry Bodsworth born 27/8/1909. In 1940 aged 30 years he enlisted in the Army and assigned to the 2/21 Battalion. On 13/12/1941 the Battalion was deployed from Darwin to Ambon in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, to form part of "Gull Force". The Battle of Ambon occurred between 30 January to 3 February, 1942. In April 1942 Bodsworth was listed as missing and on 1/6/1942 was reported as a Prisoner of War. Bodsworth was awarded a Mention in Despatches.The Battle of Ambon (30 January – 3 February 1942) occurred on the island of Ambon in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), during World War II. Japan invaded and conquered the island in a few days, facing Dutch, American and Australian forces. The chaotic and sometimes bloody fighting was followed by a series of major Japanese war crimes. Allied casualties in the battle were relatively light. However, at intervals for a fortnight after the surrender, Japanese personnel chose more than 300 Australian and Dutch prisoners of war at random and summarily executed them, at or near Laha airfield. In part, this was revenge for the sinking of the Japanese minesweeper, as some surviving crew of the minesweeper took part.. Three-quarters of the Australians captured on Ambon died before the war's end. Of the 582 who remained on Ambon, 405 died. They died of overwork, malnutrition, disease and one of the most brutal regimes among camps in which bashings were routine. Blood Oath, a 1990 Australian feature film is based on the real-life trial of Japanese soldiers for war crimes committed against Allied prisoners of war on the island of Ambon, in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), such as the Laha massacre of 1942.Brown timber frame containing black and white photograph of WW2 Soldier wearing slouch hatww2, gull force, ambon, sperry bodsworth, pow

Index, ill, p.530.non-fictionOnly six escapees survived the Sandakan death marches of 1945 in North Borneo, the worst atrocity ever inflicted on Australian soldiers. 1787 Australian and 641 British POWs perished. Previous descriptions of the numerous violent acts have yielded little understanding of a situation where the real struggle was to keep one's humanity when so many were losing theirs, whether Allied POWs, local residents of Borneo, Javanese slave labourers, or Japanese soldiers. Understanding this extraordinary story is aided by reference to a wide range of sources in different countries and disciplines, and by examining the perspectives of all players in this terrible game of survivalworld war 1939-1945 - prisoners of war - sandakan, world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese

Index, ill, maps, p.402.non-fictionHistory of Australian POW's in Borneo during WWII. world war 1939-1945 - prisoners of war - sandakan, world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners - japanese

Black paperback book with white and orange writing on cover and spine and colour photograph on front covernon-fiction'In 1942 a group of sixty-five Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya a few days before the fall of Singapore. Two days later their ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Of the fifty-thre survivors who scrambled ashore, twenty-one were murdered and the remaining thirty-two taken prisoner. White Coolies is the engrossing record kept by one of the sisters, Betty Jeffrey, during the more than three gruelling years of imprisonment that followed. It is an amazing story of survival amid deprivation and the harshest of conditions. The women's ingenious and entertaining attempts ot make their lot more tolerable, and their comradeship as they suffered so much anguish, display their incredible endurance and strength in the face of adversity.' Back cover of bookworld war two, wwii, ww2, australian army nurses, agnes betty jeffrey, betty jeffrey, paradise road, bangka island

Ill, maps, index, p.654.non-fictionIn 1939, Ray Parkin was serving on the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth. At first glance he looked every inch the archetypal petty officer that he was - tough, practical and a model of naval discipline. Yet Ray was no ordinary sailor. Despite a lack of formal education, he had the soul of an artist and a philosopher's enquiring mind. As HMAS Perth was embroiled in war - in the Mediterranean and then in South-East Asia - Ray became both a witness and a chronicler of the conflict through his meticulous diaries and his minutely observed watercolours and sketches. When Perth was sunk off the coast of Java, Ray was one of the survivors. After a valiant attempt to sail back to Australia in a lifeboat, he surrendered and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese, first building the Thai-Burma Railway and then working as a slave labourer in a Japanese coalmine. The horrors and privations of those years saw some of his most memorable artwork - documenting both the beauty of the natural world and the savageries and humiliations of the POW ordealprisoners of war - japan - death railway, ex prisoners of war - biography

Index, ill, maps, p.225.non-fictionApproach to understanding the cultural dimensions of the behaviour of Japanese prisoners of war. world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – australia, prisoners of war - japan - escapes

Index, ill, p.335.non-fictionThe heart-rending story of the Australians brutally imprisoned in Sandakan, the Japanese POW camp in North Borneo, whose very name came to symbolise cruelty and ill-treatment. In mid-1942, after the fall of Singapore, almost three thousand Allied prisoners of war were taken by the Japanese from Changi to Sandakan. Of those, 2500 lost their lives. Men died at Sandakan and on the infamous death marches: they died from sickness and starvation, torture and appalling violence, or were killed by the guards as they were forced to keep moving along a seemingly never-ending track. Only six Australians survived the death marches, out of the thousand who left world war 1939-1945 - prisoners of war - sandakan, world war 1939 – 1945 - prisons and prisoners – australia

Book with a red dustjacket, had a photograph of a seated older man on cover and white text on cover and spinenon-fiction'More than forty years ago Sir Edward Dunlop, then a lieutenant-colonel, began these diaries at the start of his imprisonment by the Japanese in Java and on the Burma-Thailand Railway. His meticulous observations of prison camp life were concealed all through the war; by the time peace cam in 1945, he carried with him a unique record of the lives of prisoners-of-war. As a commanding officer and a surgeon, 'Weary' became a hero and a legend to thousands of Australian and allied prisoners, whose lives were saved with meagre medical supplies and the instruments the medical officers carried on their backs through Java and Thai jungles. He says himself: 'Of some 22,000 who entered captivity, more than 7,000 died or were killed. Of their sufferings... only those who were present can fully comprehend the seeming hopelessness of it all as their bodies wasted and their friends died.' Sir Edward describes how the cmps were organised; he records deaths, cholera epidemics, operations, and torture; his own - rare - despair; the movement of prisoners up and down the line; and his constant struggle to protect the sick from being drafted into Japanese work parties. From February 1942 he was in the following Japanese prison camps; Bandoeng, Tjimahi, Makasura, Changi, Konyu, Hintok, Tarsau, Chungkai and Nakom Patom.' [From inside front dust jacket]australian nurses, world war two, wwii, ww2, prisoner of war, japan

Book with a red dustjacket, had a photograph of a seated older man on cover and white text on cover and spinenon-fiction'More than forty years ago Sir Edward Dunlop, then a lieutenant-colonel, began these diaries at the start of his imprisonment by the Japanese in Java and on the Burma-Thailand Railway. His meticulous observations of prison camp life were concealed all through the war; by the time peace cam in 1945, he carried with him a unique record of the lives of prisoners-of-war. As a commanding officer and a surgeon, 'Weary' became a hero and a legend to thousands of Australian and allied prisoners, whose lives were saved with meagre medical supplies and the instruments the medical officers carried on their backs through Java and Thai jungles. He says himself: 'Of some 22,000 who entered captivity, more than 7,000 died or were killed. Of their sufferings... only those who were present can fully comprehend the seeming hopelessness of it all as their bodies wasted and their friends died.' Sir Edward describes how the cmps were organised; he records deaths, cholera epidemics, operations, and torture; his own - rare - despair; the movement of prisoners up and down the line; and his constant struggle to protect the sick from being drafted into Japanese work parties. From February 1942 he was in the following Japanese prison camps; Bandoeng, Tjimahi, Makasura, Changi, Konyu, Hintok, Tarsau, Chungkai and Nakom Patom.' [From inside front dust jacket]australian nurses, world war two, wwii, ww2, prisoner of war, japan

Paperback book with a yellow dustjacket that has a sepia photo on the cover and black writing on the cover and spinenon-fiction'Courageous men and women suffered and the lives of many were sacrificed when Rabaul fell to the Japanese in 1942. The Author was a civilian nurse from the Government Hospital in Rabaul and in Not Now Tomorrow she tells her story; a story of the Rabaul nurses - prisoners of the Pacific War.' [From back of dust jacket]australian nurses, world war two, wwii, ww2, rabaul, japan, prisoners of war

Paperback book with a yellow dustjacket that has a sepia photo on the cover and black writing on the cover and spinenon-fiction'Courageous men and women suffered and the lives of many were sacrificed when Rabaul fell to the Japanese in 1942. The Author was a civilian nurse from the Government Hospital in Rabaul and in Not Now Tomorrow she tells her story; a story of the Rabaul nurses - prisoners of the Pacific War.' [From back of dust jacket]australian nurses, world war two, wwii, ww2, rabaul, japan, prisoners of war

Paperback book with a red cover that has a colour photo of an elderly man on the cover and spine, and white writing on the cover and spinenon-fiction'Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop is known for looking after the men under his command during their time as prisoners of war. However, many would not know about his involvement in the Colombo Plan, his pioneering period in cancer surgery, and his time as a young and brilliant student who also represented Australia in rugby.' [From Trove record]world war two, wwii, ww2, japan, prisoners of war