Australian ABC radio POW show

Mike Kelly · #1 01-01-07, 13:14

For the Aussies out there ,

Radio National , the ABC's second AM network , is currently playing Tim Bowdens 1984 series AUSTRALIANS UNDER NIPPON . It's an 18 part series made in 1984 , Tim interviews the veterans of the 8th Division who became POW's . It airs at 11 am each morning right across the continent . Many of the interviewees are no longer with us unfortunately . Some of them had been in the army only 4 weeks before being sent to Malaya , and had never fired a rifle even .

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/summer/summer2002/pow.htm

Mike

Phil Waterman · #2 01-01-07, 17:20

Worked my way through their website to find the listen online
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/listenlive.htm now all I have to do is figure out how to catch the programs.

But the live radio online is interesting inits self. Back to old days listening to the rest of the world on short wave.

Cheers

Mike Kelly · #3 10-01-07, 13:26

Been listening each morning .

The episode today centred on the Sandakan death march 1945 .

Of the approx. 2000 Australians and 500 British soldiers transported to Borneo to build an airfield , only six survived . They were doing OK until mid 1945 when they were force marched into the interior of Borneo , along the way they were shot and bayoneted to death . Four of the survivors were interviewed during 1984 . They ate snakes , snails, rats , dogs . After the war some of the guards were prosecuted for war crimes , they were Koreans and Taiwanese as well as Japanese . I think a few of the higher ranking officers were sentenced to death , some of them got jail terms , but were released in the 1950's .

Mike