The Cowra Breakout

tv show

poster for The Cowra Breakout

4 total episodes

-

1 seasons

First Aired April 16, 1985

Overview

In August 1944, 1104 Japanese prisoners of war at the Australian POW camp at Cowra stage a mass breakout. Four guards are killed in the escape, and 231 prisoners die by wounds sustained or suicide, while 334 prisoners are recaptured over the subsequent nine days.

Episode Three poster unavailable

Episode Three

Season 1 - Episode 3 - 2h 0m

Air Date

April 22, 1985

Overview

Stan has been placed in charge of security in the Japanese compound. His friend, Hayashi (Junichi Ishada) begs him to try to reverse the order to move some of the prisoners to another location. Stan desperately tries to understand what Hayashi seems to be saying – that a Japanese soldier should do everything in his power to be killed rather than bring shame on his family by being held in captivity. When Stan asks Hayashi what he will do, he replies simply, 'I am Japanese’.