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The battle within : POWs in postwar Australia / by Christina Twomey.

The battle within : POWs in postwar Australia / by Christina Twomey.
battle within :
"This landmark and compelling book follows the stories of 15,000 Australian prisoners of war from the moment they were released by the Japanese at the end of World War II. Their struggle to rehabilitate themselves and to win compensation and acknowledgement from their own country was just beginning. This moving book shows that ‘the battle within’ was both a personal and a national one. Prize-winning historian Christina Twomey finds that official policies and attitudes towards these men were equivocal and arbitrary for almost forty years. The image of a defeated and emaciated soldier held prisoner by people of a different race did not sit well with the mythology of Anzac. Drawing on the records of the Prisoner of War Trust Fund for the first time, this book presents the struggles of returned prisoners in their own words. It also shows that memories of captivity forged new connections with people of the Asia-Pacific region, as former POWs sought to reconcile with their captors and honour those who had helped them. A grateful nation ultimately lauded and commemorated POWs as worthy veterans from the 1980s, but the real story of the fight to get there has not been told until now."--Back cover.

Item Information
Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Branch Status Due Date
994.4/TWO
Adult Non-Fiction   Port Macquarie . Available .  
. Catalogue Record 577583 ItemInfo Beginning of record . Catalogue Record 577583 ItemInfo Top of page .
Catalogue Information
Field name Details
Record Number 577583
ISBN 9781742235684
Author Twomey, Christina
Title The battle within : POWs in postwar Australia / by Christina Twomey.
Other title Battle within : Prisoners of Wars in postwar Australia
Publication details Sydney, NSW NewSouth Publishing, 2018.
Pagination etc. xviii, 302 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map, portraits, facsimiles ; 24 cm.
Summary Note "This landmark and compelling book follows the stories of 15,000 Australian prisoners of war from the moment they were released by the Japanese at the end of World War II. Their struggle to rehabilitate themselves and to win compensation and acknowledgement from their own country was just beginning. This moving book shows that ‘the battle within’ was both a personal and a national one. Prize-winning historian Christina Twomey finds that official policies and attitudes towards these men were equivocal and arbitrary for almost forty years. The image of a defeated and emaciated soldier held prisoner by people of a different race did not sit well with the mythology of Anzac. Drawing on the records of the Prisoner of War Trust Fund for the first time, this book presents the struggles of returned prisoners in their own words. It also shows that memories of captivity forged new connections with people of the Asia-Pacific region, as former POWs sought to reconcile with their captors and honour those who had helped them. A grateful nation ultimately lauded and commemorated POWs as worthy veterans from the 1980s, but the real story of the fight to get there has not been told until now."--Back cover.
Subject Ex-prisoners of war -- Australia
Ex-prisoners of war -- Australia -- Social conditions
World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Australia -- Social conditions
Ex-prisoners of war -- Rehabilitation -- Australia
Ex-prisoners of war -- Family relationships
World War, 1939-1945 -- Social aspects -- Australia
World War, 1939-1945 -- Veterans -- Australia -- Social conditions
History
Prisoners of war -- Australia
World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Australian.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons, Japanese
Australia -- History -- 20th century
Australia -- Social conditions -- 20th century
Australia -- History
Australian
Links to Related Works
Subject References:
Authors:
Catalogue Information 577583 Beginning of record . Catalogue Information 577583 Top of page .