A prisoner of war (POW) is a combatant or non-combatant—whether a military member, an irregular military fighter, or a civilian—who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Renmark is a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area, and is located 254 km (157.83 mi) northeast of Adelaide, on the banks of the River Murray. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered in South Australia when driving this route. It is 31 m (101.71 ft) above sea level. At the 2016 census, Renmark had a population of 4,634.
The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of 9,386 square kilometres (3,624 sq mi) along the Murray River from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria downstream to Blanchetown. The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie, Barmera and Monash, along with many minor townships; the population is approximately 35,000 people.
The Raid on Los Baños in the Philippines, early Friday morning on 23 February 1945, was executed by a combined U.S. Army Airborne and Filipino guerrilla task force, resulting in the liberation of 2,147 Allied civilian and military internees from an agricultural school campus turned Japanese internment camp. The 250 Japanese in the garrison were killed. It has been celebrated as one of the most successful rescue operations in modern military history. It was the second precisely-executed raid by combined U.S.-Filipino forces within a month, following on the heels of the Raid at Cabanatuan at Luzon on 30 January, in which 522 Allied military POWs had been rescued. The air/sea/land raid was the subject of a 2015 nonfiction book, Rescue at Los Baños: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II, by New York Times bestselling author Bruce Henderson. The history of the airborne rescuing force, the 11th Airborne Division, is covered in the 2019 book, When Angels Fall: From Toccoa to Tokyo, the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II by author Jeremy C. Holm.
A civilian internee is a civilian detained by a party to a war for security reasons. Internees are usually forced to reside in internment camps. Historical examples include Japanese American internment and internment of German Americans in the United States during World War II. Japan interned 130,000 Dutch, British, and American civilians in Asia during World War II.
Camp Forrest, located in a wooded area east of the city of Tullahoma, Tennessee, was one of the U.S. Army's largest training bases during World War II. It was an active army post between 1941 and 1946.
Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian internees. The camp, which operated from March 1942 until the liberation of the camp in September 1945, was housed in buildings that were originally British Indian Army barracks. The original area was extended by the Japanese, until it covered about 50 acres. The camp population fluctuated, due to movement of prisoners between camps in Borneo, and as a result of the deaths of the prisoners. It had a maximum population of some 3,000 prisoners.
The Renmark Paringa Council is a local government area located adjacent to the Victorian border, in the Riverland, South Australia. The area is known for its various fruit production, and is heavily dependent on the River Murray as a water source. The council seat is at Renmark.
The Gerard Community Council is a small, aboriginally controlled local government area located in The Riverland, South Australia. The community is dependent on the River Murray, with some horticulture and grazing in the district. Traditional crafts are also produced in the community, with part of the community economy derived from the sale of these to tourists.
Camp 14 was one of three main prisoner of war (POW) and internee camps, located at Loveday, in South Australia's Riverland, approximately 30 kilometres from Renmark. This camp was divided into four compounds and held Axis prisoners from various locations around the world, including Papua New Guinea, the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa. The camp guard was provided by members of 25/33 Garrison Battalion, a militia unit of the Australian Army.
Katarapko Wood Camp was a World War II prisoner of war camp, located on Katarapko Island, on the River Murray near Loxton, in South Australia's Riverland. It was officially part of the Loveday POW Camp complex, and housed Italian prisoners of war, who were employed as wood cutters for the Allied war effort. It was similar to wood camps throughout South Australia at the time, including two others attached to the Loveday POW camps - Moorook West and Woolenook.
The Changi Chapel and Museum is a war museum dedicated to Singapore's history during the Second World War and the Japanese occupation of Singapore. After the British army was defeated by the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Singapore, thousands of prisoners-of-war (POWs) were imprisoned in Changi prison camp for three and a half years. While interned there, the POWs built numerous chapels, one of which was named St George's Church.
Camp 10 was one of three main prisoner of war (POW) and internee camps, located at Loveday during World War II, in South Australia's Riverland, approximately 12 kilometres from Renmark. This camp could hold up to 1000 people and also held the camp headquarters and 39 buildings, including the hospital. The first Italian prisoner arrived at the camp on 12 August 1941. The camp guard was provided by members of 25/33 Garrison Battalion, a militia unit of the Australian Army.
Camp 9 was one of three main prisoner of war (POW) and internee camps, located at Loveday, in South Australia's Riverland, approximately 8 kilometres from Barmera. This camp could hold up to 1000 people, detaining Italian civilian internees, and later Italian prisoners of war. The camp began operations on 12 August 1940 and the first Italian POW arrived at the camp on 11 June 1941. The camp guard was provided by members of 25/33 Garrison Battalion, a militia unit of the Australian Army. Many internees were released from the camp in 1944.
Moorook West was a short lived World War II prisoner of war camp in the Australian state of South Australia, located in Loveday near the River Murray, in the state's Riverland. It was officially part of the Loveday POW Camp complex, and housed Japanese prisoners of war. They were employed as wood cutters for the Allied war effort. It was similar to wood camps throughout South Australia at the time, including two others attached to the Loveday POW camps - Woolenook and Katarapko. The camp was officially closed on 21 February 1943.
Loveday is a town and locality in the Riverland region of South Australia, located south of Barmera and near the Murray River. Administratively it is part of the Berri Barmera Council LGA. At the 2006 census, Loveday had a population of 1,071.
The Hay Internment and POW camps at Hay, New South Wales, Australia were established during World War II as prisoner-of-war and internment centres, due in no small measure to the isolated location of the town. Three high-security camps were constructed in 1940. The first arrivals were over two thousand refugees from Nazi Germany and Austria, most of whom were Jewish; they had been interned in the United Kingdom when fears of an armed invasion of Britain were at their peak. The British government then forcibly transported these refugees to Australia on the HMT Dunera. The internees were kept in conditions on board the Dunera that were cruel and inhumane, and after the war the Dunera story became quite infamous, leading the British government to apologise for their egregious mistreatment of innocent civilian refugees. The internees arrived at Hay on 7 September 1940 by four trains from Sydney. They were interned in Camps 7 and 8 under the guard of the 16th Garrison Battalion of the Australian Army. In November 1940 the other compound at Hay, Camp 6, was occupied by Italian civilian internees. Camps 7 and 8 were vacated in May 1941 when the Dunera internees left Hay; some were sent to Orange (NSW), others to Tatura in Victoria, and others to join the Pioneer Corps of the Australian Army. Upon their departure Italian prisoners-of-war were placed in Camps 7 and 8. In December 1941 Japanese internees were conveyed to Hay and placed in Camp 6. In April 1942 the River Farm began operating on the eastern edge of the township, enabling market-gardening and other farm activities to be carried out by the Italian internees and POWs. In February 1945, in the wake of the Cowra POW break-out, a large number of Japanese POWs were transferred to Hay and placed in the three high-security compounds. On 1 March 1946 the Japanese POWs departed from Hay in five trains, transferred to Tatura. During 1946 the Italians who remained at Hay were progressively released or transferred to other camps, and the Hay camps were dismantled and building materials and fittings sold off by June the following year.
Camp Douglas was an internment camp for Prisoners of War (POW) during World War II, located in the city of Douglas, Wyoming, United States. Between January 1943 and February 1946 in the camp housing first Italian and then German prisoners of war in the United States. While there are few remaining structures, the walls of the Officer's Club were painted with murals by three Italian prisoners. These paintings depicting western life and folklore are now registered with the United States Department of the Interior National Park Service on the National Register of Historic Places. The story of this POW camp is an important part of the history of the town of Douglas.
The Sandakan camp, also known as Sandakan POW Camp, was a prisoner-of-war camp established during World War II by the Japanese in Sandakan in the Malaysian state of Sabah. This site has gained notoriety as the Sandakan Death Marches started from here. Now, part of the former site houses the Sandakan Memorial Park.
Cowra Prisoner of War Camp Site is a heritage-listed former prisoner-of-war camp at Evans Street, Cowra, Cowra Shire, New South Wales, Australia. The camp was built from 1941 to 1944. It was the location of the infamous Cowra breakout in 1944. The property is owned by the Cowra Shire Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
