Joan Beaumont - Beyond Surrender: Australian prisoners of war in the twentieth century

Beyond Surrender

Joan Beaumont, Lachlan Grant and Aaron Pegram

MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY PRESS

An imprint of Melbourne University Publishing Limited

1115 Argyle Place South, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia

mup-info@unimelb.edu.au

www.mup.com.au

First published 2015

Text Joan Beaumont, Lachlan Grant, Aaron Pegram, 2015

Design and typography Melbourne University Publishing Limited, 2015

This book is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 and subsequent amendments, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means or process whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publishers.

Every attempt has been made to locate the copyright holders for material quoted in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked or misattributed may contact the publisher.

Cover design by Phil Campbell Designs
Typeset by J&M Typesetting
Printed in Australia by Opus Group

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Beyond surrender: Australian prisoners of war, 191553/
Joan Beaumont, Lachlan Grant, Aaron Pegram.

9780522866209 (paperback)

9780522868784 (hardback)

9780522866216 (ebook)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prisoners of warAustralia.

World War, 19141918Prisoners and prisons, Australian.

World War, 19391945Prisoners and prisons, Australian.

World War, 19391945Prisoners and prisons, Australian.

Korean War, 19501953Prisoners and prisons, Australian.

AustraliaHistory, Military20th century.

Beaumont, Joan, editor.

Grant, Lachlan, editor.

Pegram, Aaron, editor.

355.1296

Joan Beaumont, Lachlan Grant and Aaron Pegram

Aaron Pegram

Jennifer Lawless

Kate Ariotti

Melanie Oppenheimer

Karl James

Peter Monteath

Seumas Spark

Lucy Robertson

Joan Beaumont

Lachlan Grant

Lachlan Grant

Jeffrey Grey, John MacKay and Ron Guthrie

Christina Twomey

The origins of this book lie in a two-day conference, which was sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and co-hosted by the Australian National University and the Australian War Memorial, on the subject Prisoners of war: Australian prisoners in the 20th century. We would like, foremost, to thank James Rogers and his colleagues whose support and interest made the conference possible.

Then we thank the speakers and audience at the conference, held on 56 June 2013. A particular mention must be made of Ron Guthrie and John MacKay, veterans of the Korean War, who shared their memories of captivity with us, in one case by Skype. The conference speakers later willingness to revise and extend their papers, and submit them to the process of peer review, has made this book possible.

We would like also to recognise that unique national institution, the Australian War Memorial, and particularly the Research Centre, on whose rich archives and photographic collections many authors have drawn. In particular, we acknowledge Ashley Ekins, head of the Memorials Military History Section, for his endless encouragement and enthusiasm for the study of military history. It was through Ashleys efforts that the Memorial was able to be involved in the conference on which this book is based. Lachlan and Aaron appreciate the efforts of Mark Small, who has always been a strong supporter of publishing new and original research, as well as colleagues in the Military History Section, particularly Christina Zissis for her editorial assistance. On a personal note, Lachlan would like to thank Amanda Wescombe for her endless enthusiasm and encouragement; Aaron thanks Erin Scotts patience and never-ending support.

Joan must acknowledge the unfailing support of Brendan Taylor, Director of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. A more congenial and supportive environment in which to research and write about the history of war is hard to imagine.

Jennifer Sheehan from CartoGIS at the Australian National University did a marvellous job producing the maps, which enrich this book. Glenda Lynch, as so often, provided excellent research assistance; Geoff Hunt assisted with editing, while Christina Twomey and Tristan Moss were source of astute scholarly advice.

We thank also the staff of Melbourne University Publishing particularly. Catherine McInnis, and our indexer, Trevor Matthews.

Kate Ariotti is a lecturer in Australian History at the University of Newcastle. Her PhD, awarded by the University of Queensland, focused on the impact of wartime imprisonment on Australians during World War I. Previously a sessional lecturer and tutor in Australian history, Kate has worked at the Australian War Memorial, presented her research at various national and international conferences, and has written for both academic and general audiences.