Java held the the second-largest concentration of Australians captured by the Japanese in 1942.
After the allied surrender of the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) on 9 March, about 3,000 Australians stayed on the island.
Many were from the 7th Division. They had been brought back from the Middle East in early 1942 to help defend Java from the Japanese attack. Some were captured trying to escape as Singapore fell on 15 February 1942. Others survived the sinking of the HMAS Perth in the Battle of Java Sea on 28 February 1942.
Meanwhile, the Japanese interned about 60 Australian officers and men for much of the war at Palembang in Sumatra.
Camps in Java
The thought of the day is that all men en masse are shites (or super shites) … I would dearly have loved to see a few people with socialist convictions watching the conduct of this camp [Bandung] and knowing the inner story.
[Lieutenant-Colonel Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, 30 October 1942, The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop, Melbourne, Nelson, 1986, p 109]
The prisoners' experiences on Java were diverse.
In the first months, some Australians remained at large. They were scattered around villages near Bandung (Bandoeng), including Garut and Leles.
Conditions were often lax, and the prisoners had considerable freedom.
Over time, the Japanese concentrated the allied prisoners of war (POWs), including Australians, in 2 major camps:
- No. 12 PW Camp at Bandung
- Bicycle Camp in Batavia (Jakarta).
At first, Australians shared Bicycle Camp with Dutch and British POWs, as well as US naval personnel who had survived the sinking of the USS Houston at the same time as the Perth.
In mid-May, the Japanese moved British and Dutch troops, apart from senior British officers. This made room for Australians who had been held in Boei Gloduk prison and a congested Chinese school in Batavia, and another group of US prisoners.
From early August, some of the 2/40th Battalion captured on Timor arrived at Bicycle Camp. The senior commander was now Brigadier Arthur Blackburn, the Australian who had led the multinational 'Blackforce' during the defence of Java,
No. 12 Bandung camp was also multinational, with:
- Ambonese and Menadonese from the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
- Australians
- Britons
- Canadians
- New Zealanders
- Dutch
- Portuguese.
Much of the camp administration fell to the Dutch officers who had strong connections with the local community.
There were constant tensions between the national groups about the allocation of accommodation, and the distribution and cost of food sold in the camp canteens.
After the Australians took possession of quarters previously occupied by the Dutch, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Dunlop of the 2/2nd Casualty Clearing Station, wrote:
Crowning annoyance reached when Maj. Morris in my company took back a box from [the Dutch] area which was previously ours. Dutch officer rudely seized this from him. … I gave [the Dutch] the full blast of my wrath, comparing his officers to carrion birds.
[24 May 1942, The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop, Melbourne, Nelson, 1986, 29.]
Conditions in Java camps
Although conditions across Java varied, in general they were far better than what the POWs would experience later in the war.
The accommodation was often substantial, such as the large brick barracks huts at Bicycle Camp.
The food supply was also reasonably good. Trade with the local community was allowed and the camps had well-stocked canteens. Sometimes, it seems, to the financial benefit not just of POWs, but of the Japanese.
The manual labour demanded of the troops wasn't onerous. It included:
- cutting grass
- moving stores
- cleaning streets
- fixing cars.
If anything, the problems were boredom and internal camp discipline.
To address this, educational programs and recreational activities were developed. Australian officers imposed formal systems of punishment.
Yet since the daily caloric intake was inadequate, by mid-1942 many POWs were showing symptoms of malnutrition. This included beri-beri, pellagra and scrotal dermatitis.
The Japanese regularly slapped and beat POWs for minor offences. They executed several prisoners who tried to escape. They also brutally interrogated Allied officers to get information.
In August, the Japanese also demanded, as they did elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, that the POWs sign a pledge to not escape.
When the prisoners refused, the Japanese closed the camp canteens, stopped recreational activities, and confined officers or removed them from the camp.
Under duress, Blackburn authorised his troops to sign. From then on, discipline from the Japanese and Korean guards was noticeably stricter.
In September, the Japanese announced that a large-scale movement of troops from Java was planned 'to a better land where food would be available'.
The first contingents moved from the Bicycle Camp in early October, leaving only senior officers. Some 360 Australians who left on 11 October joined A Force in Burma.
Perhaps 1,000 Australians remained at Bandung until November, when they were moved to Makasura, a staging camp of bamboo huts near Batavia.
At Makasura, with Dunlop in command, the Japanese need little work from the POWs. Food supplies were reasonable and the Japanese guards were fairly decent. The POWs even sent and received radio messages from home.
However, on 4 January 1943, about 900 Australians in the Dunlop Force were ordered to move. Sailing to Singapore, they stopped briefly at Changi before being transported to the Burma-Thailand Railway in the Konyu and Hintok regions of Thailand.
Some remained on Java where their numbers increased with more arrivals of the 2/40th Battalion from Timor.
In the months that followed, they moved between camps at Makasura, Tanjong Priok, the Bicycle Camp and Boei Gloduk prison. They shared these camps with POWs of other nationalities.
Early in 1944, most POWs, including some 400 Australians, were concentrated in the Batavia area. Some, however, were employed at Adjick and about 70 were sent to Serang.
In October, most of the officers were concentrated at Bandung.
Then in January 1945, many of the Australians remaining on Java were sent to Singapore, some occupying the River Valley camp.
Those still on Java were held in an overcrowded local jail at Bandung.
Palembang camp in Sumatra
The Japanese interned about 60 Australian officers and men for much of the war at Palembang in Sumatra.
They had been captured there with POWs of other nationalities after escaping from Singapore.
By 1944, conditions for prisoners had deteriorated to the point where they ate anything that was remotely edible, including snails, rats, dogs, snakes and iguanas.
Finally, in May 1945, about 1,400 POWs were shipped to Singapore in 'hell ships'. They were so overcrowded that many prisoners had to stand for the whole journey, and some died.