The Biggest Prison Breakout of WW2

The Biggest Prison Breakout of WW2

During World War II, in the town of Cowra in central New South Wales, thousands of Japanese prisoners of war were held in a POW camp. On the icy night of August 5th they staged one of the largest prison breakouts in history, launching the only land battle of World War II to be fought on Australian soil. Five Australian soldiers and more than 230 Japanese POWs would die during what became known as The Cowra Breakout.


In this episode historian and podcaster Mat McLachlan joins Dan to tell him this extraordinary story of negligence and complacency, and of authorities too slow to recognise danger before it occurred - and too quick to cover it up when it was too late.


This episode was produced by Mariana Des Forges and it was edited by Thomas Ntinas.


If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!


To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Avsnitt(1507)

Churchill's Cook

Churchill's Cook

Annie Gray is a wonderful historian and broadcaster. Her latest project is a biography of the woman who cooked for Churchill. Georgina Landemare was one of the few people able to cope with the demands...

23 Feb 202023min

Georgian Musings on Homosexuality

Georgian Musings on Homosexuality

Eamonn O'Keeffe is a young Oxford Researcher in the midst of a PhD. He stopped off in Wakefield Library to look at a journal Yorkshire farmer Matthew Tomlinson to see if the author had any opinions on...

20 Feb 202015min

The Boundless Sea

The Boundless Sea

We are a land animal. But millions of us have taken to the sea to live, fight, travel, eat, escape and seek fame and fortune. I am obsessed with the sea. On how humans have built ever more efficient a...

19 Feb 202022min

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz

The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz

This is the most remarkable father and son story I have ever come across.We are still marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz here at History Hit and this time I am talking to hist...

17 Feb 202045min

West Africa before the Europeans

West Africa before the Europeans

Toby Green has been fascinated by the history of West Africa for decades after he visited as a student and heard whispers of history that didn’t appear in text books. Years later he wrote ‘Fistful of ...

16 Feb 202026min

Suicide at the Fall of Nazi Germany

Suicide at the Fall of Nazi Germany

There is almost no end to the dark secrets that emerge from the smashed ruins of 1945 Europe. Dr Florian Huber has spent years researching the fascinating story of the epidemic of suicide that spread ...

13 Feb 202022min

The Adventuress

The Adventuress

In the 1930s Lady Lucy Houston was one of the richest women in England and a household name, notorious for her virulent criticisms of the government, but politics had been far from her mind when, as y...

12 Feb 202021min

A Very Stable Genius

A Very Stable Genius

Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig are both Pulitzer Prize winning journalists at the Washington Post.They've written a new book with yet more revelations from inside the Trump White House so Dan seized ...

10 Feb 202022min

Populärt inom Historia

kod-katastrof
massmordarpodden
historiska-brott
p3-historia
motiv
olosta-mord
historiepodden-se
rss-historien-om
rss-seriemordarpodden
rss-historiska-brottslingar
historianu-med-urban-lindstedt
rss-massmordarpodden
krigshistoriepodden
mannen-utan-spar
obskyr-historia
nu-blir-det-historia
militarhistoriepodden
harrisons-dramatiska-historia
bedragare
rss-folkets-historia