War and Pieces – Cowra NSW Australia

Overlooking the Cowra POW Camp, NSW Australia

Cowra POW Camp
Set in the peaceful pastoral countryside of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, the remains of the WWII Cowra Prisoner of War Camp is listed as one of the state’s top heritage sites.

Peace.

Is there such a thing?

At the moment – at least in my corner of the world – there is an absence of war.

Given the current political climates internationally, this absence of war does not feel like “peace”. It feels like a precarious balance of competing tensions: a temporary truce, while one holds ones breath. All around the world, there are military or authoritarian governments in power; there are people trying to live in cities that have been reduced to rubble; and there are people on the move, trying to escape conflict. And Australia, which is ostensibly “at peace”, has thousands of ADF (Australian Defence Forces) personnel deployed to various overseas and internal operations aimed at protecting Australian national interests and borders.

In her 1994 book Time on our SideDorothy Rowe, renowned Australian psychologist and writer, posited that true peace is not really possible while we raise children on what she considered “the violence” of bribes and threats, and while governments attempt to subdue each other through trade sanctions (bullying) and more powerful weaponry (force). I fear she is right, but I can’t see an alternative while we have such difficulty with finding common ground across so many domains.

These and other musings on the impossibility of drawing an agreed clear line between concepts integral to the human condition (nature vs nurture; the personal vs the societal; freedom vs responsibility; etc., etc.) whirled around my head after a visit to Cowra, a small town in the Central West of New South Wales, surrounded by fields of grain, orchards, vineyards, vegetable-growing and pastoralism. 

Cowra was the site of the bloodiest — and largest — prison escape[s] in British and Australian War history. At the behest of the British Government, Australia built 28 Prisoner of War camps across the country to house soldiers captured in North Africa and the Pacific. Camp Number 12 was built at Cowra in 1941, not far from a Recruit Training Battalion

At 1:50 in the morning of August 5th 1944, 1,104 Japanese Prisoners of War (POWs) staged a mass breakout from Compound B at the Cowra POW camp. Three hundred and seventy-eight Japanese POWs made it over or through the fence, and 231 died during or as a consequence of the attempt. Five Australians died; all of the escapees who survived were eventually rounded up.

This rather tragic episode was later attributed – in part – to a misunderstanding, but it also highlights some of the enormous differences possible in societal world-views. 

Even today, Japanese society is experienced as collectivistic by Western individualist standards; at the time of WWII this was even more the case. Although the country was not without anti-imperial dissidents, Japanese were raised to revere the Emperor as a living deity, and to see war – ideologically – as an act of purification. Following the practice of Bushido, the ancient samurai code of ethics, surrender to enemy forces was unthinkable. In the Field Service Code of 1941, General Tojo instructed: Do not live in shame as a prisoner. Die, and leave no ignominious crime behind you.

In practice, whether Japanese soldiers agreed with these views or not, they had little choice, and surrender would not only disgrace themselves but also bring shame to their families. Most fought until they were killed, or they committed suicide: those who were taken prisoner were often too ill or injured to kill themselves.

Although the captured Japanese in Allied POW camps were treated in accordance with the 1929 Geneva Convention governing the treatment of POWs, their country was not a signatory, and they were expected to vigorously resist incarceration.

This resistance led to the planned mass attack on the camp guards, the Australian soldiers of the 22nd Garrison. What we call the “Cowra Breakout” might better be referred to as the ‘night of a thousand suicides’.

Either way, like most episodes in war, it resulted in tragic loss of life.

Explanatory sign boards, Cowra Information Centre, NSW Australia

Cowra Information Centre
Visitors to Cowra are encouraged to follow “The Cowra Breakout Trail”, which starts at the Information Centre with a delightful 9-minute hologram and explanatory sign boards. (iPhone6)

Entry to the Japanese War Cemetery, Cowra NSW Australia

Entry to the Japanese War Cemetery
The Cowra War Cemetery includes a section for the remains of all Japanese prisoners of war who died in Australia during World War II. This includes those killed during the Battle of Darwin: the Japanese bombing of Darwin in the Northern Territory on 19 February 1942.

Autumn leaves on gravel, Japanese War Cemetery, Cowra NSW Australia

Fallen Leaves
Autumn leaves and dappled light add to the sense of respectful quiet.

Japanese stone lantern, Japanese War Cemetery, Cowra NSW Australia

Ishi-Dōrō
This is the only Japanese war cemetery maintained in Australia: the land was ceded to Japan in 1963.

Memorial : Japanese War Cemetery, Cowra NSW Australia

Memorial : Japanese War Cemetery

Markers of Japanese POWs, Japanese War Cemetery, Cowra NSW Australia

Japanese POWs
There are 523 graves here, including those of the 231 Japanese soldiers who were killed during the 1944 Cowra Breakout.

The Cowra General Cemetery, NSW Australia

The Cowra General Cemetery
The general town cemetery is at the same location, …

Headstones, the Cowra War Cemetery, NSW Australia

“Cause of Death: Illness”
… as are the markers for Australian WWII service personnel. These include those who died in training at the local Military Camp, and the four who were killed during the Breakout.

Large tree along Garrison Walk, Cowra NSW Australia

Garrison Walk
Nearby, a one-kilometre walk leads around the old garrison and the prisoner of war camp.

Remains of the Electrical Switching Hut, Garrison Walk, Cowra NSW Australia

Remains of the Electrical Switching Hut
Most of the buildings in the camp and garrison were rather make-shift and have long since disappeared, but this one was more sturdily build by Italian POWs from recycled materials scavenged in the area.

Tree over the ruined foundations of a POW hut, Cowra NSW Australia

Camp Ruins
It is a peaceful walk around the ruins: even on an Autumn day, the sun radiates heat through the clean air, while a graceful tree shades the foundations of a POW hut.

Burned out tree stump, Garrison Walk, Cowra NSW Australia

Nature’s Artworks : Almost Abstract

Lake: Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Japanese Gardens
My next stop was at the Japanese Gardens – an enduring symbol of reconciliation between Australia and Japan designed in Edo-period style by Ken Nakajima.

Duckling: Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Ducklings
At 12 acres (5 hectares), these are the largest Japanese gardens in the Southern Hemisphere.

Galahs on the grass, Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Galahs – Eolophus Roseicapilla
A variety of Australian native birds make themselves right at home here.

Eastern Rosellas on the grass, Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Eastern Rosellas – Platycercus Eximius

Red-Rumped Parrot on the grass, Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Red-Rumped Parrot – Psephotus Haematonotus

Waterfalls, Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Waterfalls
The first stage of the garden was opened in 1979, and a second section was opened in 1986.

Coi Pond, Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Coi Pond

Little Pied Cormorant, , Japanese Gardens, Cowra NSW

Little Pied Cormorant – Microcarbo Melanoleucos

Cowra from the Hill, NSW Australia

Cowra from the Hill
At the top of a small hill near the gardens, a lookout allows views over the Lachlan Valley and the town.

Cowra

World Peace Bell
Made from melted coins from the 103 member countries of the United Nations, Cowra’s Peace Bell is a symbol of the town’s commitment to international understanding. It is the only one of its kind outside a capital city.

Thomas William Wood

Thomas William Wood’s Portrait of Thomas Walker (Copy)
War and Pieced: The Annette Gero Collection of Quilts from Military Fabrics was in the Cowra Regional Art Gallery when I visited, and was a special treat! Often called “soldiers’ quilts” or “convalescent quilts” these stunning blankets pieced from remnants of uniforms from historical wars show that beautiful things can come from conflict.

Soldier On by Lucy Carroll: Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW Australia

Soldier On by Lucy Carroll
My favourite quilt was the modern artwork made in 2012 by Australian quilter Lucy Carroll in honour of the ANZACs (Australian New Zealand Army Corps).

That ANZAC quilt brought my Cowra visit to a perfect end: it was a reminder of the losses and sacrifices on all sides in times of conflict.

Text: Lest we Forget

Somehow, we never learn.

Lest we Forget

Pictures: 12-13April2019

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