People from Japan and Australia have held a memorial ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of an unsuccessful mass breakout by Japanese prisoners of war during the Pacific War.
On August 5, 1944, more than 1,100 Japanese POWs broke out of their prison camp in Cowra in the southeastern Australian state of New South Wales but were re-captured or died in the escape attempt.
The incident left 231 Japanese soldiers dead, including those who were shot by guards.
At around 2 a.m. on Monday, the time when the breakout took place, an event was held at the site of the former prison camp to remember the dead.
It was explained that the Japanese soldiers planned the escape because they considered it shameful to be prisoners of war.
The escape was reenacted. The sound of a bugle signaled the start.
After daybreak, a ceremony was held at a cemetery where Japanese soldiers, and others, are buried. About 300 people attended, including visitors from Japan. People offered flowers to remember the soldiers.
Asada Hiroaki from Hiroshima City said his father-in-law was one of the prisoners involved. He said his wife’s father told him he thought the Australian troops would kill him when he was re-captured, but that they didn’t.
He said he was glad to have come because his father-in-law would often say he was grateful to Australia, and that he wanted to visit the graves of his fellow soldiers.