A Day at Cowra with Lou and Tony

Be prepared for a long post.

We spent a beautiful autumn day at Cowra with Lou and Tony.  Cowra is about 100kms west of us, situated on the Lachlan River.  Mick and I really like the town, but usually just pass through.  We have been wanting to play the tourist for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity.

I’ll start with a bit of history.  Being on the river, Cowra has been a productive area for food production.  There is quite a lot of granite outcrops and apparently the name Cowra is aboriginal for “place of rocks”.

The main part of the town’s history we were focussed on is during World War Two.  An army training camp was established just out of town in 1940.  This was converted to an internment camp in 1941 for Italian, Japanese and Indonesian civilians.  This was soon changed to a Prisoners of War camp, as the war progressed.  They were mainly Italian and Japanese.  

On the morning of 5 August 1944, the Japanese prisoners mounted an escape from the camp, with many of them dying and five Australian servicemen also lost their lives.

Since that time, there has been a strong link between Cowra and Japan.  There is a Japanese War Cemetery, Japanese Gardens and a Peace Bell.  The town is a perfect example of reconciliation.

We started our day at the lookout overlooking the town and surrounding district.  

You can see why it is the place of rocks.  You can also see that it is still a fertile agricultural area.

Our next stop was the Japanese Gardens.  They were established in the 1970s and designed by a Japanese landscape designer. They are magnificent. Two of the main features are the lake and the rocky outcrop.

Let’s just enjoy some random photos.

A very pleasant way to spend the morning.

There is a cultural centre as part of the visitors centre, which had some interesting items.

Of course I am drawn to the textile objects.  I have a Temari ball that my Japanese friend made for me when we were in our teens.  Mine has rice husks in the centre.  I hang it on the Christmas tree every year.

After a delicious lunch we ventured out to the site of the former POW camp.  All buildings were sold off and removed in 1947, after the final detainees were repatriated and the land sold.  So, you have to use your imagination and the information boards to work out what was where.  Coincidentally, one of those army huts was our back yard shed when I was a kid. 

This reconstruction of a guard tower was built as a memorial to guards of 22 Garrison Battalion, who served at Number 12 Prisoner of War Camp, Cowra.

This diagram and old photo gives an indication of the camp layout.

Sections A and C were the Italians.  Other than a small minority of Fascists, they were generally well liked and well behaved.  Many worked on local farms.  They also had a love of music, and had many skilled tradesmen who helped the locals and passed on their skills.  

They even created a grotto with a small replica of the Colosseum and two fountains.  There are still some remnants of the fountains remaining.

The Japanese were mainly held in Section B, while their officers, some Indonesians, Koreans, and Fascists were held in Section D.

The Japanese prisoners had a different demeanour to the Italians, in that it was very dishonourable to be captured and held prisoner. 

The day before the breakout, the Senior Japanese POW was informed that the Japanese prisoners were to be split up and some transferred to another camp and be separated from the rest of the men.  It is believed that this was the main trigger for the breakout, as there had already been a growing restlessness among them.

The camp did not have very high security around its perimeter and not many guards, so those that were there were fairly easily overrun. 330 men escaped, with 231 losing their lives as well as five Australian servicemen.  Once outside the camp, they discovered they had nowhere to go and there was no orderly leadership.  Some were killed in the escape, while others chose suicide rather than be recaptured.  This honoured their military code of Death Before Capture.

Many of the survivors never told even their families upon their ultimate return to Japan that they had been prisoners. While incarcerated, they believed that on their return to Japan the army would take them to some deserted place and they would be shot.  Over time, some of the survivors did form the Cowra Kai (Cowra Society) and several have returned to visit Cowra.

It is a sombre part of our history.

On a lighter note, next to the POW Camp site, there are some painted water tanks.

We next visited the Japanese and War Cemeteries, adjacent to the Cowra General Cemetery.

Firstly, the Australian War Cemetery, which holds 27 graves from the Second World War, including those who lost their lives in the Cowra Breakout.

Beside this cemetery is the Japanese War Cemetery.  This is where the 231 who lost their lives in the break out have been laid to rest, along with any other Japanese who died while at the POW camp.  After the war ended the local RSL cared for the cemetery. 

(English Translation)

In 1963 the Japanese government submitted a proposal to the Australian government for a Japanese War Cemetery, which was agreed.  All other Japanese who died in Australia during the war, military and civilian alike, had their remains moved to here.

It is a very peaceful place.

Our final stop was to see the Peace Bell in the centre of town.  You can read about it here. 

It was a really lovely day of learning more about our local area and sharing it with our friends.