- Title
- Between Death and Commemoration: The Treatment of Australian POW Dead on the Thai–Burma Railway, 1942–45
- Creator
- Ariotti, Kate
- Relation
- ARC.DE200100099 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE200100099
- Relation
- Australian Historical Studies Vol. 53, Issue 2, p. 327-347
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1031461X.2021.1981414
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Over 2,700 Australian prisoners of the Japanese died on the Thai–Burma Railway during World War II. This article examines how Australians on the Railway treated their dead and canvasses the work of the War Graves survey party charged with searching for POW remains in the immediate aftermath of the war. It reveals the emotional and logistical labour that underpinned the efforts of the POWs and, later, War Graves personnel, to mourn and honour the dead. Despite significant challenges, both groups strove to restore the dignity and humanity of those who had died in undignified and inhumane conditions, and ensured the preservation of the remains of their lost comrades for post-war commemoration. In examining the period between death and commemoration on the Railway, this article adds another affective dimension to understandings of this significant Australian POW experience.
- Subject
- Australian POW experience; death; commemoration; treatment of Australian POW
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1464840
- Identifier
- uon:47125
- Identifier
- ISSN:1031-461X
- Language
- eng
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