The Cowra Breakout: The only WWII battle fought in Australia

The Cowra Breakout: The only WWII battle fought in Australia
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Today we will hear the riveting story of a missing piece of Australia’s history. In the town of Cowra in central New South Wales, Japanese prisoners of war were held in a POW camp. By August 1944, over a thousand were interned and on the icy night of August 5th they staged one of the largest prison breakouts in history, launching the only land battle of World War II to be fought on Australian soil. Five Australian soldiers and more than 230 Japanese POWs would die during what became known as The Cowra Breakout.
Our guest is Mat McLachlan, one of Australia’s leading war historians and battlefield guides who appears regularly as a historian on the ABC, The History Channel, Channel 7’s Sunrise and Radio 2GB.
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[@georgewnewman3201]

Woody (and all viewers), I have found out that there was some 100+ raids on Australia by the Japanese during World War II starting with the 19 Feb 1942 Darwin air raid you just mentioned and continuing until November 1943, including a naval raid on Sydney Harbor in May 1942. The raids continued until the Japanese forces were either pushed back north or were so starved for supplies they were unable to continue.

[@WW2TV]

Yep, Darwin was bombed repeatedly .

[@georgewnewman3201]

@@WW2TV And not just Darwin, I have found references to attacks on several locations along the northern and western coasts of Australia. The May 31-June-1, 1942 midget sub raid on Sydney Harbor (The Battle of Sydney) and Newcastle the float plane scouting mission that preceded them and a bombardment of Sydney and Newcastle on Jun 8, 1942, are the only missions I have found so far along Australia's east coast out of some 110-115 raids. Most seem to have been either IJN carrier-based aircraft raids or land-based aircraft from Malaya/Singapore/Burma and maybe western New Guinea. The sub raids listed above seem to have originated from the IJN base at Truk and involved fleet boats carrying the midget subs to a point offshore of Sydney.

[@ozatwar]

www.ozatwar.com/bomboz.htm

[@GrantRoemerhUUa]

The initial attack on Darwin was heavier than the attack on Pearl Harbour by the same fleet but with more planes

[@bobleicht5295]

Appreciate Mat’s passion for the history, and his emphasis of the reconciliation role Cowra plays today. And Woody, you continue to amaze by offering such compelling stories. Good on you both.

[@adrianrussell-smith748]

great telling of an interesting event thank you

[@guyh9992]

It is interesting to walk around the site today. The layout was suitable to house the more compliant Italian prisoners rather than the more hard core Japanese

[@deanmurphy5735]

Woody. WW2TV is one of the best ways to see war histories of many nations. I have learnt so much from your channel it’s unbelievable.

[@WW2TV]

Thanks Dean

[@crunchytheclown9694]

Thanks Mat and Paul, a new must near a regular path

[@mynamedoesntmatter8652]

You are working hard. Great show - but you always have the best shows! Thank you for this!

[@WW2TV]

My pleasure!

[@KevinJones-yh2jb]

This was an excellent presentation by Mat, another topic I knew nothing about. Thanks Mat and Paul for another WW2TV top notch subject/ presentation.

[@WW2TV]

Much appreciated!

[@davewalter1216]

I'd heard of the Cowra Outbreak, but only vaguely - I thought it was Italians that had escaped and had no idea about the death toll. Thanks for that - very informative and interesting. Next time Cowra will be more than a petrol stop.

[@williamarthurfenton1496]

Honestly I'm a bit dubious about looking at it as a cultural misunderstanding. Those Japanese soldiers were a special kind of victim in they lived in a generation of indoctrination to the point of extreme brainwashing. It was an abberation-- which is why in fact everyone else was clearly at a loss to understand them, and indeed let's not forgot other East Asians - say the Chinese who suffered horrendously at their hands - to nail the point we ain''t talking about a racial matter here. It's even more tragic that the normal humanity was clearly rising up and conflicting with that indoctrination by enjoying the comforts of sports and gardening.

[@simonvirus6417]

As a kid i went to school at Bathurst which is about 30 mins drive from Cowra, at least once a year we went to the Japanese Gardens in Cowra. That as well as my Father making models of Messerschmitt BF 109 's, Spitfires that were so good my mates didn't believe my Dad made them. Today i am all things of WW2 due to that, great Show

[@steveinthemountains8264]

What an awful story....but also fascinating!

[@1089maul]

Paul/Mat. Thanks for such a great presentation! I knew of The Great Escape, Colditz and Franz Vin Werra’s escape but had not heard of Cowra. A complete presentation from beginning to end. Thanks, Bob

[@WW2TV]

You are very welcome Bob

[@alandean3472]

Terrific episode on a subject I knew nothing about , great work by Mat and yourself !

[@MtDanharvey]

G'day Woody and Mat This show was tops I knew about the Cowra breakout but never seen it as a battle so thanks Mat. The show got me thinking that if the Japanese POW's seen them selves as ghost that would eventual have do them selves in. How where they repatriated back to Japan and were they welcomed back or just outcast?

[@1psychofan]

Very interesting ~I knew nothing of this….this episode really broadened my horizons! Gotta get this book and the memoirs mentioned!

[@therealuncleowen2588]

This event reveals one weakness we who live in open tolerant societies such as Australia, Britain, and the USA tend to have. We tend to think that because we are tolerant and moderate in our views, that people from other cultures will also be tolerant and moderate. I wouldn't want us to be any other way, generally. The trouble is that when we run up against people from cultures that aren't so tolerant and moderate in their views, we can be slow to recognize that. Typically, cultures like WW2 Japan that become so extreme in their views, are extreme for relatively short periods of history, and there's always individuals who have more humanity than others. That's why we must continue to treat everyone as an individual, regardless of their background, and judge people based on their own words and actions rather than where they come from. Keeping our own humanity is the key thing. Now in this particular case, the Australians should have been more careful about how they guarded these Japanese prisoners. There was probably room to guard them more carefully and still treat them humanely. The Australian civilians who shot the escaped Japanese, well that's shameful. Should have at least given them a chance to surrender. Although one suspects the Japanese didn't mind too much because they were killed while free and thus died with their honor restored.? I suspect that's true but as a Westerner, it is so difficult to wrap one's mind around it.

[@scottgrimwood8868]

An outstanding presentation. Living in the US I never heard of this event until this show. I am sorry I missed the live show because I would liked to ask if the Japanese prisoners in the camp were originally captured by the Australians or by the US.

[@WW2TV]

Captured by Aussie, American and British forces

[@scottgrimwood8868]

Thanks Woody!

[@patrickshanley4466]

Have there been any studies on how the Japanese POW’s were actually treated in Japan 🇯🇵 in the years immediately after the end of WWII?

[@TraceyYardley]

My husband grandfather was Charles Sheppard

[@skatedd2451]

They made their own baseball bats carved out of timber bet you someone was spewing no more music stole their guitar

[@juhopuhakka2351]

I remember there were some tv series in finland about this when I were young,maybe 88

[@lynndonharnell422]

The gardens and camp site is a great place to visit.

[@TheVigilant109]

Great presentation by Mat. Look forward to seeing more. Thank you

[@willpinder1229]

EXcellent !

[@Baskerville22]

Those who were re-captured weren't punished for the killing of the Australian guards ? I believe they were entitled to attempt escape, but once they became 'guests', well-treated, of Australia, any killing of Australian guards or civilians should have received the direst punishment for all involved in the 'common enterprise'. If the Allied POWs in Stalag Luft 111 had killed a few camp guards or Police Reservists hunting them, would we think the execution by the Germans of the re-captured escapees be that remarkable or evil ?

[@grahamy3400]

Two Japanese leaders were charged and tried for murder under the Common Law precept of Joint Criminal Enterprise but were found not guilty.

[@therealuncleowen2588]

That's a grey area, I would think. The Japanese went for the machine gun. True, had they gotten there first, they were going to use it against the guards. As events played out, the guards got to the gun first and killed 100 Japanese. The guards had every right to fire on the Japanese, but once they did, the Japanese killing the guards is, somewhat, understandable. I would say, had the Japanese reached the gun first and killed their guards, that might have been murder, but the guards were also uniformed combatants. In any case that isn't what happened. For my money, the two guards were rightly decorated posthumously for bravery. May they rest in peace. The Japanese who charged the guards under machine gun fire, that became fair combat the moment the guards started firing. The Geneva convention allows for breakout attempts. I don't see a civilian crime here. I do feel some anger towards the Japanese, but that's not what decides criminal cases, or at least, it shouldn't be. Apparently the Australians at the time didn't see a civilian crime either, because the two ring leaders wound up being acquitted.

[@Teagirl009]

I haven't watched yet. But I'm a bit confused by the title. How can it be the only WW2 battle in Australia when Darwin was bombed many many times in 1942?. People on the ground were bravely fighting and firing back with all they had. Nearly 300 died. Not to mention a further 1700 in the subsequent attacks over the northern parts of the country for the following 20 months. Sydney harbour was also attacked by Japanese midget subs in 1942 and there was shelling of the coast. Or to clarify, are you only counting ground battles with both sides? Edited to add - have now seen full description which does say ground battle. Thanks for the replies👍

[@WW2TV]

Read the full description: "launching the only land battle"

[@Teagirl009]

@@WW2TV Sorry I didn't see the expanded section! Vid.was suggested by YT and I only saw the caption/thumbnail. I'll give it a watch after 👍

[@WW2TV]

Okay, and we have covered Darwin, Fremantle and lots of other Australian subjects on the channel. Check this playlist kzbin.info/aero/PLDG3XyxGI5lBt8GeHrYoTE4RlKdBg15Tk

[@Teagirl009]

@@WW2TV Thank you. Have saved the playlist link.

[@philbosworth3789]

Another interesting episode. Only seen anything referring to this on Wiki. Much more detail from Matt & WW2TV here.

[@stephenbrooks4713]

Another great show about an event I’d never heard about. Thanks Paul for continuing to highlight those lesser known WW2 areas that deserve to be better known and understood.

[@guyh9992]

On the issue of the nationalistic retelling of history, the two distinguished British historians hosting The Rest is History podcast belled the cat in their several episodes on Australian Prime Ministers. They admitted that they literally knew nothing about Australian history because they assumed that it was boring. They were not even ashamed to admit it. If Australian historians do not tell Australian stories then who will?

[@zaynevanbommel5983]

my comment was deleted lol

[@WW2TV]

Not by me, did it break the KZbin rules somehow?

[@zaynevanbommel5983]

@@WW2TV dont think so o just added some info on the NZ Featherston Breakout

[@canowindrahistory9133]

@@WW2TV Our comments re Harry Doncaster commemorations got deleted too. Can't imagine that broke any rules...

[@WW2TV]

@@canowindrahistory9133 Maybe because it included a link? I certainly didn't delete anything, but sometimes YT does weird things

[@matthewstephenson7173]

Thank you very Paul and Matt for this talk.Paul enjoying all your videos due to fact I already have the Books in your videos.Your details are what I have been looking for on YT for WW2 history in the Pacific.On a side note in 2019 another book was written called “The Man inside the bloodiest outbreak” by Author named Graham Apthorpe dealing with the Cowra Outbreak.I will go out and definitely purchase Matt’s Book as well