Australia Remembers 1945-1995, 50 cents coin
On 3 September 1939 Australians leant that their country was at war. During the next six years men and women were called upon to serve their country in difference ways. People’s experience of the war varied widely. It was particularly difficult for prisoners of war. Some 15,000 Australians were amongst the Allied troops who were taken prisoner by the Japanese at the surrender of Singapore on 15 February 1942. They were used as working parties in Singapore and later dispatched to other parts of the Japanese empire. In all, one in three died in captivity of hardship, disease, malnutrition or harsh treatment. The medical officers, on whom life depended, were confronted by harrowing responsibilities. The most famous of them is Weary Dunlop.
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