Sandakan
Sandakan was located in Malaysia. After the japanese captured australians they were sent to Sandakan in 1942 to build an airstrip. A handful of prisoners managed to escape from Sandakan in 1942, some of the very few Australians to escape from the Japanese.
Changi
14 972 Australians were taken prisoner when Singapore surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. There were contrasting experiences in the various prison camps on Singapore. Changi was a British peacetime garrison situated on the north-eastern tip of Singapore. It served as the headquarters for prisoners of war on Singapore during Japanese occupation. Unlike other POW camps, the Japanese administrators of Changi allowed the commanding officers of the British and Australians to discipline their soldiers and maintain order.
Burma-Thailand Railway
In 1943 Japan’s high command decided to build a railway linking Thailand and Burma, to supply its campaign against the Allies in Burma. The railway was to run 420 kilometres through rugged jungle. It was to be built by a captive labour force of about 60,000 Allied POW. They built the track with hand tools and muscle power, working through the monsoon of 1943. Relentless labour on inadequate rations in a deadly tropical environment caused huge losses. By the time the railway was completed in October 1943, at least 2,815 Australians, over 11,000 other Allied prisoners were dead.