Prisoners of war overseas during World War Two

An estimated 28,756 Australians were taken prisoner during the Second World War; of these 21,467 were captured while serving in the Asia-Pacific area. The hardships endured by Australians captured by the Japanese, and the prisoners' responses, have been described in published sources, such as The war diaries of Weary Dunlop: Java and the Burma-Thailand Railway 1942-1945, From Wayville to Changi and beyond, Neville Shute's novel A Town Like Alice (and the film derived from it) and the ABC television drama Changi.

The experiences of a number of South Australians taken prisoners are recorded in diaries, letters and records, which are now kept in the archival collection of the State Library. They tell stories of great courage, loyalty to comrades and the ability to retain a sense of humour even under the most extreme circumstances. One such record is the Prisoner of War Diary of Don McLaren, written while captive in Changi prison, and later in Burma and Japan. It contains many examples of the use of humour, for example Don's entry for 22 March 1942 reads,

I just can't believe the Japs. Today was the first time we had any food. None of us had a scrap to eat for three days. It's funny though, we just go past being hungry. We did grab some tufts of grass and chew on them, and equally amazing it tasted nice and sweet. This has also given us something to laugh about. Someone said, 'Where is Donny McLaren?' The answer was 'He's down the back paddock feeding.'

The experiences of approximately 7,000 Australians who were captured in North Africa and Europe are not as well known as those taken prisoner by the Japanese. The rise, fall and regeneration of the 2/7th Australian Field Ambulance, A.I.F. in World War II compiled by Gordon Hoff includes details of the experiences of members of the 2/7th Field Ambulance (many of whom were South Australian) when taken prisoner by the Germans.

Keith Dodd was one of the 1,476 members of the Royal Australian Air Force taken prisoner during World War Two. He kept a diary during captivity by the Italians, and later the Germans, that begins with a description of the events that led to his capture, and his initial hospitalisation in Astea, Tripoli,

The sisters in the hospital were rather strange, the orderlies lazy and useless, and the food consisted simply of rice with no flavouring whatsoever. We were issued with bread but nothing to spread it with, and so I was very discontented. There were Tommies in the ward, who had been captured in the desert. Of course, the Iti's went mad with delight upon hearing the day after we arrived, that Tobruk had fallen to the Axis troops.

In September 1943, when the Italians signed an Armistice with the Allied powers, Keith expected to be released. However, the Germans evacuated him, along with many Italians (also taken by the Germans as prisoners of war), to a succession of camps in Germany, where he remained until the conclusion of the war.