Cowra Breakout in Australia during World War II

Escapes from Australian camps

Some 12,000 foreign nationals from enemy countries were interned in Australian camps during the war.

Authorised under the National Security Act 1939, many of these camps were built in isolated regional and rural areas, such as outside the country town of Cowra, in the central west of New South Wales.

There were few escapes from Australian internment and POW camps. Newspapers at the time reported occasional breakouts:

• German internees
• Italian internees.

But these were few in number. They usually involved only one escapee or a small number.

One Italian POW gained notoriety for his many escapes and recaptures, Edgardo Simoni. Simoni was a lieutenant in the Italian army who was captured at the Battle of Bardia in Libya and sent to Australia in August 1941.

Also known as 'La Volpe' or 'The Fox', Simoni made several escape attempts from camps at Murchison, Hay and Myrtleford. Local civilians of Italian heritage helped Simoni while he was on the run.

After the war, Simoni was repatriated to Italy and retired from the army as a colonel. He visited the site of the Hay POW camp as a tourist in 1974.

Cowra prisoner of war camp

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Cowra POW camp opened in 1941. It was built to hold Italian POWs captured by the Allies in the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa.

Britain funded the construction of the camp. It was part of an arrangement with the Australian Government to take Axis prisoners captured overseas by Allied forces.

The first Italians began arriving in October 1941. They lived in tents while working alongside local labourers to build the camp.

Japanese POWs and internees began arriving at the camp in January 1943. The Allies were capturing Japanese personnel from the fighting in:

• Indian Ocean and South East Asia
• South West Pacific Area.

Other internees included Albanians, captured Indonesian civilians and merchant seamen, Chinese and Koreans.

By 1944, the overcrowded camp held some 4,000 POWs and internees.

Cowra POW camp was divided into 4 sections to hold the main nationalities:

• 'A' and 'C' compounds for Italians
• 'B' compound for Japanese non-commissioned officers and other ranks
• 'D' compound for Formosans (Taiwanese indigenous peoples) and Koreans, as well as Japanese officers.

Thick, entangled barbed wire almost 2.5 m high surrounded the complex. The 6 watchtowers were equipped with powerful searchlights, which gave the guards vantage points around the camp's perimeter.

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Guards' views before the escape

The 22nd Garrison Battalion guarded the POWs and internees. Members of the battalion were mostly older men from the army reserve. Many had served in World War I, including veterans of New Guinea who were no longer fit for service. They were equipped with older-style rifles and 2 Vickers machine guns.

One guard on duty during the breakout was Sergeant Ashley Phillip Joseph Cooper.

Cooper said prisoners and internees were treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. The International Red Cross visited regularly. Detainees were given fresh fruit, fish, rice and pasta. A still to make alcohol was later found in the Italian section of the camp. In short, most enjoyed a reasonable level of freedom within the confines of the camp.

Cooper said most guards thought it unlikely there would be any escapes from the camp:

The Italians knew they had no way of getting back to their families until the war was over, and they were quite content to just sit back and - as the expression is - ride it out.

[Ashley Cooper, oral history interview, Australian War Memorial]

Camp authorities heard rumours of a planned breakout by Japanese prisoners 6 weeks before the mass escape occurred. But they dismissed it as unlikely.

Of course, the general consensus of opinion to that attitude was that why would they want to break out. They've got no hope of ever getting back to Japan from Cowra. It's too far, the distance is too far. They're treated as well as what we're treated, the Australian soldier was treated. Their food and clothing was the same as ours. All they've got to do is sit and wait like the Italians were until the war was over, and that was all there was to it. Well, we'd never ever thought they'd even try it, it was such a ridiculous thought on our part, that they would even try it.

[Ashley Cooper, oral history interview, Australian War Memorial]

The camp guards had underestimated the shame the Japanese prisoners felt about their captivity.

What we didn't stop to think about was the mentality of the Japanese of that time. You see, of that time, the Japanese soldier, his god was the Emperor. And to die for the Emperor was to reach heaven, Valhalla, whichever way you like to put it. And for that soldier to die for the Emperor was to reach eternity - full happiness. And we could not comprehend this attitude. To us - I mean, alright, we gave our allegiance to the Queen, we gave our allegiance to our country, but we didn't think it was necessary to stupidly give our life for our country. Okay, if we had to, fair enough, but not to stupidly do it, but this was the way the Japanese thought. It didn't matter how they gave it, they reached happiness. And this is something we couldn't comprehend at the time, that the Japanese of that particular era was quite happy to die for his Emperor - more than happy, you could have called it jubilant that he died for his Emperor, for his god.

[Ashley Cooper, oral history interview, Australian War Memorial]

'Bushidō' code of honour

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The code of honour for Japan's Samurai warrior class is called Bushidō. Dating back many centuries, the code honoured and encouraged:

• bravery in battle
• warrior skills of fitness
• military prowess
• filial piety (respect for family and ancestors)
• honesty
• integrity.

In many ways, Bushidō was like the medieval Europeans' understanding of chivalry and the honourable behaviour of knights.

Bushidō became associated with Japanese nationalism and militarism during the 1930s. Since the early 1900s, it had been taught in schools and military training. The code of honour now included an expectation of emperor-worship and patriotism. Surrendering to the enemy was shameful. Regaining honour was only possible through death.

Many detainees were influenced by this code at the time of the breakout, according to former Japanese POWs in oral history interviews. Some even kept their true identities secret when captured. They did not want their families to know they were prisoners.

The breakout

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Official war historian, Gavin Long, said camp officers had heard rumours of a possible escape attempt. As a precaution, all Japanese POWs, except officers, were to be sent to the POW camp at Hay.

The Japanese POWs were given 24 hours' notice of their planned move from Cowra to Hay, in line with the 1906 Geneva Convention. The men gathered to discuss their response. It was put to the vote. Some, like Marekuni Takahara, voted 'yes', although he admitted afterwards he'd wanted to vote 'no'.

Plans for the mass escape were hastily coordinated, and the Japanese prisoners made the decision that no local civilians were to be hurt. According to Masayoshi Yamada, it was expected that escapees would commit suicide if injured or caught.

Bugle sounded the call to arms

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In the early hours of 5 August 1944, the sound of a single bugle cut through the frosty night air.

Japanese fighter pilot and POW, Toyoshima Hajime, played the bugle as a call to arms for the camp's 1,104 Japanese prisoners. Hajime was the first Japanese airman to be captured on Australian soil. He committed suicide once outside the camp perimeter.

The Japanese set fire to 20 camp barracks.

Armed with sharpened kitchen knives, baseball bats and other makeshift weapons, prisoners launched themselves en masse at the camp's barbed wire fencing. They wrapped themselves in blankets and coats for protection. Some wore baseball mitts to protect their hands. A loud cry of 'Banzai!' pierced the air.

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Guards began firing shots into the groups of prisoners.

Privates Ben Hardy and Ralph Jones of the 22nd Garrison Battalion forced their way through a group of prisoners to get to the camp's Vickers machine gun. They were knifed and clubbed by prisoners. Both men died, but the Japanese were unable to get the gun working. Hardy and Jones were posthumously awarded the George Cross (GC) for their bravery.

Another guard from the 22nd Garrison Battalion, Private Charles Shepherd, was stabbed by a prisoner and died.

Lieutenant Harry Doncaster, 19th Australian Infantry Training Battalion, was killed later when he was trying to catch a group of escapees.

Another 3 guards were injured.

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Hunt for escapees

Hundreds of Japanese prisoners escaped, and a huge search of the Cowra district followed.

The outbreak made news around the country, with major and small-town newspapers reporting the mass breakout. On 7 August 1944, The Sydney Morning Herald made the story front-page news.

In Melbourne, The Argus newspaper reported that Cowra residents heard of the escape at 7 am Saturday morning, 5 hours after the breakout. Farmers helped with the search. Many prisoners were found hiding in the countryside around Cowra.

Siblings Margaret and Bruce Weir were schoolchildren at the time of the breakout. They recalled meeting some of the escapees. Three Japanese internees turned up at their farmhouse, looking for food.

There was my Mum calmly pouring tea and being the perfect hostess, as always, and chatting away to these strange looking gentlemen, all dressed alike, in their maroon coloured prison clothes, and all wearing old felt hats which we later suspected they had found in our shearing shed. They finished their meal and thanked my mother, and then they just sauntered off down towards the creek, where they were resting when the army arrived to recapture them.

[Margaret Weir, oral history interview, Australian War Memorial]

Margaret was invited to the family home of one escapee some 40 years later. Her mother had given tea and scones to the Japanese man.

Bruce found an escapee while out rabbit hunting. The prisoner was lying so still that the Cowra schoolboy thought him dead. He did not worry about telling anyone what he had found until that evening.

The Argus reported that no homes in the area were broken into, and no civilians were hurt.

Within 9 days, over 300 Japanese had died or been wounded, and some 300 were recaptured.

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After the breakout

Discipline at the camp was toughened after the breakout. All the guards' leave was cancelled for 6 weeks afterwards, according to Sergeant Ashley Cooper.

The Japanese prisoners were split up and sent to other camps.

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Reconciliation

In 1952, Cowra RSL began caring for the graves of the Japanese POWs who lost their lives during the breakout. Branch president, Albert Oliver, was also instrumental in raising money for a commemorative Japanese garden in Cowra during his term as town mayor.

In a public move towards reconciliation between Japan and Australia, in 1964, the Australian Government opened:

• Cowra Japanese Garden
• Cowra War Cemetery.

The 75th anniversary of the Cowra Breakout was commemorated in 2019. The day included wreath-laying ceremonies, Japanese religious ceremonies, speakers and an art exhibition.

There have also been many visits between both nations. Several books, non-fiction and fiction, have been published on the subject.

Student research questions

• Why was the Cowra Breakout significant?
• What factors led to the mass escape by Japanese prisoners of war?
• Why is it important to commemorate events such as the Cowra Breakout?