Table of Contents
How many Australian POWs were captured by the Germans?
3,850 Australians
In all, 3,850 Australians were captured by the Germans on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. Nine per cent of these prisoners died in captivity. A total of 395 Australians died during captivity in the First World War.
How many Australians were POWs in ww2?
30,000 Australians
With the Australians captured in north Africa, Greece and Crete in 1941, over 30,000 Australians were prisoners of war. Nothing had prepared either the servicemen or the public for the disaster.
Did Australian soldiers fight in Germany?
Australian Army units were gradually withdrawn from the Mediterranean and Europe following the outbreak of war with Japan. However, Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Australian Navy units and personnel continued to take part in the war against Germany and Italy.
Where were Australian prisoners of war in Europe?
Australians in prisoner-of-war camps Those taken over from the Italians reached Germany by rail over the Alps. Prisoners were held in over 40 major camps all over Germany, from Lithuania to the Rhine. Officers and men were held in separate camps – Oflags and Stalags.
What happened to Australian prisoners of war?
They were imprisoned in camps throughout Japanese-occupied territories in Borneo, Korea, Manchuria, Hainan, Rabaul, Ambon, Singapore, Timor, Java, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam and also Japan itself. At the end of the war only 13,872 of the POWs were recovered: one-third of the prisoners had died.
How many Australian POWs were killed by the Japanese?
Of the 22,376 Australian prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, some 8,031 died while in captivity. After the end of the war, War Crimes Trials were held to investigate reports of atrocities, massacres and other causes of death.
What did German soldiers think of Australian soldiers?
The German soldiers feared and respected the skills of the Australians. In a letter captured and translated by the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade in May 1918, a German soldier wrote to his mother: We are here near ALBERT, I am in the foremost line, about 200 metres opposite the British.
What happened to the Australian POWs in ww2?
Why are Australian soldiers called Diggers?
Many Australian and New Zealand soldiers in the Second Boer War, 1899–1902, were former miners, and at the Battle of Elands River (1900), the Australian defenders earned a reputation as diggers, who hastily constructed dugout defences in the hard ground.