The Conversation

World War II ended 70 years ago – while the forgotten 'death railway' was completed

Author: The Conversation

Liberated prisoners distributing rice rations to campmates. Pakanbaroe, Sumatra, 1945. AWM 019382.Courtesy of Australian War Memorial.

It was midday, August 15 1945, when thousands of prisoners of war (POWs) and local slave labourers (romushas) lined up in the Sumatran jungle. There they watched a formal ceremony, performed by their Japanese...

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