For Australia too, the fall of Singapore was a disaster. More than 15,000 Australian soldiers were captured. Of these, more than 7,000 would die as prisoners of war.
Australian prisoners of war: Second World War
Some 14,972 Australians captured at the fall of Singapore were imprisoned there(as drafts were sent away, the numbers at Changi declined, then after the completion of the Burma-Thailand Railway, numbers rose again).
There the Australian 22nd and 27th Brigades were the first British Empire troops on Singapore to meet the attack. The fighting was fierce, but by 15 February the Allied forces had lost control of the island's reservoirs.
Of the 22,376 Australian prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, some 8,031 died while in captivity. After the end of the war, War Crimes Trials were held to investigate reports of atrocities, massacres and other causes of death.
Over 22,000 Australians became prisoners of war of the Japanese in south-east Asia. The wave of Japanese victories, ending with the capture of the Netherlands East Indies in March 1942, left in its wake a mass of Allied prisoners of war, including many Australians.
More than 15,000 Australian soldiers were captured. Of these, more than 7,000 would die as prisoners of war. Controversially, the commander of Australian forces on the island, Major General Gordon Bennett, escaped the island with two staff officers on the night of the surrender.
Singapore fell to the Japanese military in February of 1942. More than 15,000 Australian soldiers were captured. Of these, more than 7000 would die as prisoners of war.
United States Army Colonel Floyd “Jim” Thompson, the longest held prisoner of war (POW) in American history, and his wife, Alyce, were products of the idealism of post-World War II America. When Thompson was shot down and captured, they began a journey that changed them forever.
They were imprisoned in camps throughout Japanese-occupied territories in Borneo, Korea, Manchuria, Hainan, Rabaul, Ambon, Singapore, Timor, Java, Thailand, Burma and Vietnam and also Japan itself. At the end of the war only 13,872 of the POWs were recovered: one-third of the prisoners had died.
Australians were captured as prisoners when undertaking hundreds of small-scale trench raids, patrols, and minor attacks throughout the campaign. The largest numbers were captured at: Fromelles between 19 and 20 July 1916 (470 prisoners) Bullecourt on 11 April 1917 (1170 prisoners)
The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Japanese Empire captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942.
By 31 January 1942, all British Empire forces had withdrawn from the Malay peninsula onto Singapore Island. On 8 February, the Japanese landed in the north-west of the island and within six days they were on the outskirts of Singapore city, which was also now under constant air attack.
An estimated 100,000 people in Singapore were taken prisoner, some 9,000 of whom were said to go on to die building the Burma-Thailand railway. The estimated deaths of those under Japanese control in Singapore range from a Japanese estimate of 5,000 to that of the Chinese of 50,000.
Declassified on the 1st January 1993, after a 50 year suppression under the UK Secrets Act, the Wavell Report made scathing allegations against Australian soldiers on Singapore Island leading up to the Fall of Singapore. Allegations that included desertion, indiscipline and failure to send out required patrols.
Most were captured early in 1942 when Japanese forces captured Malaya, Singapore, New Britain, and the Netherlands East Indies. Hundreds of Australian civilians were also interned.
The east coast of New Holland had been mapped by Captain James Cook on his voyage in 1770, so the British thought this territory — despite being inhabited by Indigenous people for 60,000 years — was the perfect dumping ground for their excess criminals.
As a temporary solution, prisoners were crammed aboard old rotting warships, called "hulks." The hulks stayed anchored on the Thames River, which links London to the sea. By day, the convicts labored on London's docks and other public works. The government considered several places to dump its glut of convicts.
Between 1788 and 1868 more than 162,000 convicts were transported to Australia. Of these, about 7,000 arrived in 1833 alone. The convicts were transported as punishment for crimes committed in Britain and Ireland.
Germany's 'Escape-Proof' Castle POW Camp Actually Had the Worst Record for Escapes. Situated just south of Leipzig, Germany, lies Colditz Castle. During World War II, it was used as a prison camp by the German Heer.
During World War II, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany (towards Soviet POWs and Western Allied commandos) were notorious for atrocities against prisoners of war.
In WWII, the U.S. Treated Nazi POWs Better Than Black Troops | Time.
In 1942, some of the soldiers captured at the fall of Singapore were sent to Sandakan in Borneo to build an airstrip. The prisoners were subjected to appalling conditions and repeated bashings.
The Japanese used many types of physical punishment. Some prisoners were made to hold a heavy stone above their heads for many hours. Others might be forced into small cells with little food or water. Tom Uren described how a young Aboriginal soldier was made to kneel on a piece of bamboo for a number of days.
About 850 POWs died during their internment in Changi during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, a relatively low rate compared to the overall death rate for POWs in Japanese camps.