Second World War
The Second World War was a defining event in modern Australian history. This topic explores the experiences of servicemen and women, civilians, prisoners of war and internees, and examines how the conflict transformed Australia's society, international relationships and national identity.
From Garage Experiment to Jungle Legend: How a young Australian created the Owen machine gun
List of war crimes tried at Morotai (Nov 1945 - Feb 1946)
This database lists the war crimes prosecuted by Australian Military Courts at Morotai between November 1945 and February 1946. Organised by individual case rather than by accused, it identifies where each offence was committed, the nature of the crime, and the corresponding trial references. The cases include the murder and mistreatment of Allied prisoners of war, the execution of captured RAAF airmen, torture, and other violations of the laws and customs of war committed across Ambon, Halmahera, New Guinea, the Talaud Islands and northern Celebes. Together, these records provide an overview of the offences investigated by Australian authorities as part of the first stage of Australia's post-war war crimes programme in the South-West Pacific.
Australia's first war crime trials
Ashes and Sakura: an Australian story of the making of a Pacific nation
Set against the remote Pacific island of Morotai and the ruins of postwar Japan at war’s end, Ashes and Sakura follows Tom Darcy, a young Australian soldier serving with the British Commonwealth occupation forces in Japan after the Second World War. As he encounters the devastation of a defeated nation and forms unexpected bonds with those on the other side of the conflict, the novel explores war, memory, love and reconciliation.
Sources for Japanese breakout from Cowra Prisoner of War Camp
Pacific reckoning - Australian war crimes trials (video)
War Crimes Trials on Morotai Island - WW2TV (video)
An Attractive Naivety: Australia as a new nation in a complex world (Revised Edition)
An Attractive Naivety is an epic work of Australian historical fiction spanning the first half of the twentieth century. Through the lives of ordinary men and women, it traces the nation’s journey from Federation and plague to Depression, war, and uneasy peace. Interweaving fictional characters with real events, the novel explores the humour, hardship, courage and contradictions that shaped modern Australia.
List of accused at Morotai war crimes trials
This database lists Japanese prisoners of war accused of war crimes in the Australian military trials conducted on Morotai between November 1945 and February 1946. It records the names, ranks, military units, charges, trial references, sentences and, where applicable, the dates and locations of executions, drawing on official Australian military records and contemporary historical sources. The database provides a valuable research tool for historians, genealogists and family researchers investigating Australia's early post-war war crimes programme and the administration of military justice in the South-West Pacific.
Note: Accused war criminals with a (2) against their name indicates that they were also tried for a second war crime at Morotai.
Italians Employed on Farms in the Coonabarabran District
More than 40 Italian prisoners of war were employed on farms in the Coonabarabran district to ease wartime labour shortages, with numbers expected to double. While local farmers reportedly praised the prisoners' work and conduct, the scheme drew criticism from some who argued that Australian servicemen with farming experience should have been released to work the land instead.
COWRA, NSW. 1944-07-01. JAPANESE PRISONERS OF WAR PRACTISING BASEBALL ON THEIR SPORTSGROUND
Japanese prisoners playing baseball in B Compound, Cowra POW Camp.
COWRA, NSW. 1944-08-05. THE MORNING AFTER THE OUTBREAK REVEALED DEAD BODIES LYING EVERYWHERE
Aftermath of mass Japanese POW breakout at Cowra - bodies entangled in barbed wire
COWRA, NSW. 1944-08. BLANKETS THROWN OVER THE BARBED WIRE IN B CAMP, (THE JAPANESE SECTION)
Aftermath of mass Japanese POW breakout at Cowra - blankets over barbed wire
Cinesound Review - first pictures of massacre survivors
An excerpt from Cinesound Review which shows footage of Australian army nurses in a Singapore hospital after their rescue in 1945.
Japanese prisoner-of-war camp Morotai
Japanese prisoners held in POW camp at Morotai
Wife Accused of Taking Italian POW as Lover
A Sydney company director petitioned for divorce, alleging that his wife had committed adultery with an Italian prisoner of war employed on his family's farm near Oberon. The wife denied the allegation, while the prisoner admitted to acts of familiarity but denied adultery. Evidence was heard from the farm manager and the case was adjourned for further hearing.
This is Your Life: Vivian Bullwinkel
An excerpt from the series This is Your Life, hosted by Roger Climpson with Vivian Bullwinkel.
Vivian Bullwinkel interviewed by John Clements [sound recording]
Vivian Bullwinkel interviewed by John Clements on ABC radio 1980
Every Inch of the Way: Vivian Bullwinkel
Documentary made for the Department of Veteran's Affairs - Vivian Bullwinkel discusses her experiences in being transferred from one camp to another.