cowra prisoner of war camp

It was great. The information supplied really gave you an insight into the camp and what the POW's interned lived through with the heat and the cold and the isolation being so far away from the coast. Great walks around. Parking is no problem and it's free.

The camp is about a 6 to 7 minute drive out of Cowra and about 1 to 2 kilometres away from the Japanese Gardens.Apart from a replica Guard Tower and some concrete blocks - which would have been the foundations of cell blocks and bathrooms - and an open covered shelter housing some very informative story boards there is nothing to see except open grassland. The camp covered an area of about 30 hectares and was split into 4 different sections. An audio giving a description of the camp and detailing the events on the night of the breakout commences as you pass the Guard Tower. The story boards, located about 20 metres away, add more detail. You can walk around some of the site on dirt paths - note there is no shade in this part. There are no toilet or refreshment facilities. It is amazing to think that over 4,000 people were held here including over 2,000 Italians (mostly captured in North Africa), some Koreans and Chinese (from Formosa) - both groups appeared to be working for the Japanese when captured, some Indonesians (imprisoned at the request of the Dutch Government) and the Japanese, most captured in fighting in and around the islands north of Australia. I had only heard of the Japanese being held here, probably due to the notoriety surrounding the breakout.The Italians occupied 2 of the 4 sections of the camp. Another was occupied by non-commissioned officers and ordinary soldiers of the Japanese army. The last was occupied by the Koreans, Chinese from Formosa, the Indonesians and the Japanese officers.The breakout occurred in the section housing the Japanese non-commissioned officers and ordinary soldiers. Over 1,100 attempted to break-out early one morning and 231 of these were either killed or committed suicide on this day and during the subsequent days it took to round-up those who were successful.4 Australians were killed, 3 on the morning of the breakout and one during the days after the break-out when the prisoners were being rounded-up. Two of the soldiers died whilst manning a machine gun that was overrun but one was able to disable it before he died - enormous bravery.In a shameful and disgraceful series of events, the wife of one of the other Australian soldiers stabbed to death during the break-out was denied a war widow's pension and had to subsequently foster out her 3 children. Worth a visit.

I was amazed at the extent of the camp area and the information supplied as we walked. Whole family enjoyed it.

One gets a true understanding of the Cowra breakout once you have visited the site. Reember to take water if walking around in summer as can be very hot.

The War Museum is located only a few kilometres out of Cowra.It not only houses the Prisoner of War display, but it also has a huge collection of war, rural, model trains, working steam engines, and rail memorabilia, including a big model train set up. At $15 for an adult entry is quite reasonable considering this includes your guided tour, a free tea/coffee and photo. You can spend most of the day here.

An easy walk from the Japanese Gardens to see the site of the Cowra Prisoner of War Camp in Sakura Ave. We walked back into town along a track that passed a fair mob of 'roos. The view from the hill across the town is worth the effort. The camp itself is in an open field and it appears that some recent interpretive work has been undertaken. A small part of our WW11 history and worth a visit if you are already in Cowra

On the off chance we visited this site and we were glad we did. The audio presentation that was broadcast from the recreated guard tour helped us to understand the events that had occurred at this site on August 5th 1944. The information boards also were full of excellent information.

Were pleasantly surprised to see the great improvements here. Well done to all concerned. Great history lesson.

The information boards gave a comprehensive view of what the area was like at the time of the breakout. Well presented!

We have been visiting this site for many years, and for much of this time it has been overgrown with little to see. The recent upgrade has made an enormous difference. It is now possible to walk all over what is a very extensive site, and the foundations etc of many of the buildings are now clearly visible. The wide range of explanatory plaques are excellent- full of fascinating information. It really demands quite some time to explore and contemplate the sad events in such a beautiful place, although I understand Alison's childrens' attitude. It requires concentrated imagination to really visualise the site as it was and what happened here. Quiet contemplation and time to explore. Combined with visits to the Visitor Centre Hologram, the Japanese War cemetery and the gorgeous Japanese garden, a must see for all Australians of any ethnic background!

With some trepidation about what we would find and whether anything "real" would be left, we visited the site of the POW camp in Cowra in order to give some genuine context to our later visit to the Japanese Peace Gardens. We had been led to believe there was nothing much really left from the camp. To an extent, that is true - there are only the foundations of buildings left but there are a lot of these, many with informative signage. The site is much larger than we expected and we adults could have spent an age exploring this site... our children at the end of a long day were not so keen so we spent about 3/4 of an hour at the site. The information pulls no punches but is respectful and takes into account the differing viewpoints of all the people involved. Our children said it was a sad, but not a scary place. The only thing is that it is difficult to reconcile the beauty of this site with the very sad events that happened here.

This place has recently had an upgrade clue to the 70th anniversary of the Cowra Breakout.its now open to walk around the camp among the ruins to get a sense of what the place looked like. Lots of informative boards to help you get a sense of the rich history of the place.

After visiting the hologram first the site made more sense. The history here is hard to imagine without seeing first hand the location. A little bit of history we should see and try and understanding other sides of the story's. Well worth the visit.

This was one of the places that was on my lifetime MUST see list as being an important part of Australian history, unfortunately, I did not have as much time as i had wanted, as I had visited the war and rural museum on the way in and therefore lost a bit of time.The main viewing area has been recently renovated, with many information signs which tell you of the breakout. There is a path that winds through the camp area, but i did not have the time to explore it. From what i could see, there needs to more signage at each location indicating its purpose, before the purpose is lost forever.

We visited here many years ago when it was pretty much just a paddock with a few signs. Unfortunately, despite apparently a million dollars being spent on the place ( according to Info Centre), not much has changed. It's tidier to be sure, with mown grass ( no snakes spotted this time), and better signage, but it's still a paddock with no meaningful orientation. It's confusing trying to work out where things actually happened - I gather the area open for inspection was not the whole camp( there are ruins in adjoining paddocks) so trying to superimpose the camp photos and maps provided is not helpful. There are very few physical remains. It would be helpful if the major points of interest were outlined with some pavers or similar. We found it frustrating.The views were beautiful .Just read the signs near the Guard Tower and look out over the countryside.A walk provides exercise, but no feeling of what happened here.