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Some
22,000 Australians became prisoners of war of the Japanese in south-east Asia.
Most of the Australians (14,972) were captured in Singapore; other principal
Australian prisoner-of-war groups were captured in Java (2,736); Timor (1,137);
Ambon (1,075); and New Britain (1,049).
At the
end of the war Australian prisoners of war were widely distributed: 5,549 on
Singapore Island and in Johore (Malaya); 4,830 in Burma and Thailand; 265 in
French-Indo China; 385 on Java; 243 on Sumatra; 100 on Ambon; 2 on Macassar; 7
on Bali; 150 at Kuching (British North Borneo); 2,700 distributed between Japan,
Korea, and Manchuria; and 200 on Hainan Island.
It is
believed that some 7700 (35%) died in Japanese captivity.
Source:
Australian War Memorial |
