Cowra NSW

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After packing up in Orange, we headed for Cowra, stopping off on the way for morning tea in the historic hamlet of Millthorpe. The town dates back to 1823, and is classified by the National Trust. The majority of the town’s buildings have been fully restored to their original condition, and it was interesting to walk around the streets. It was actually the decline of the town after WW1 that saved many of the buildings from the redevelopments that the larger country towns suffered.

We drove on to Cowra, which had it’s beginnings in 1844, known at that time as "Coura Rocks". Around 1847, the township site became known as Cowra, and in 1849, was proclaimed a village.

We set up our caravan at the Cowra Van Park, and then walked across the low level bridge to the Visitor Information Centre, where we watched a hologram about the Cowra Breakout. During World War II, Cowra was the site of a prisoner of war camp. Most of the detainees were captured Japanese and Italian military personnel. On 5 August 1944, at least 545 Japanese POW’s attempted a mass breakout from the camp. Simultaneously, other Japanese prisoners committed suicide, or were killed by their countrymen, inside the camp. The actions of the POWs in storming machine gun posts, armed only with improvised weapons, came after being told the previous day that they were going to be separated from their officers, and moved to the town of Hay. They regarded their imprisonment as a great shame, and would prefer death than dishonour, even giving false names to their guards so that their families back in Japan would not know of their shameful capture.

Within minutes of the start of the breakout attempt, Privates Benjamin Gower Hardy and Ralph Jones ran to and manned the No. 2 Vickers machine-gun, and began firing into the first wave of escapees. They were soon overwhelmed by a wave of Japanese prisoners who had breached the lines of barbed wire fences. Before dying, Private Hardy managed to remove and throw away the gun's bolt, rendering the gun useless. This prevented the prisoners from turning the machine gun against the guards. They were later awarded the George Cross for their brave actions.

Some 359 POWs escaped, while some others attempted or committed suicide, or were killed by their countrymen. Some of those who did escape also committed suicide to avoid recapture. All the survivors were recaptured within 10 days of their breakout. During the escape and subsequent round-up of POWs, four Australian soldiers and 231 Japanese soldiers were killed and 108 prisoners were wounded. The leaders of the breakout ordered the escapees not to attack Australian civilians, and none were killed or injured.

The Cowra Breakout remained a closely guarded secret until the end of the war, in case of reprisals by the Japanese on our POW’s (their treatment of our soldiers could hardly get any worse), and to avoid frightening the Australian public. We were surprised how large the Internment Camp was.

The dead Japanese were buried in Cowra in the specially created Japanese War Cemetery, which we visited. This is the only such cemetery in Australia, and also holds some of the Japanese dead from the World War II air raids on Darwin.

The township of Cowra and Japan have become great friends since the end of WW2, and in 1979, the first stage of the Japanese Gardens were opened. The rocky hillside, manicured hedges, waterfalls and streams, and the two lakes provide a serene environment for a myriad of birdlife. Special features of the Garden include a Bonsho Bell, a traditional Edo Cottage, an authentic open air Tea House and a Bonsai House. They are designed to show all of the landscape types of Japan. At five hectares, the Cowra Japanese Garden is the largest Japanese garden in the Southern Hemisphere, and each year stages a Cherry Blossom Festival. We have been to several Japanese Gardens, but this is far and away the best gardens we have seen, with the design and maintenance of the gardens outstanding.

The painting of silos and town water supply tanks is a common practice in country towns, and we were fortunate to witness the painting of the Cowra Water Tanks.

We visited the World Peace Bell near the Town Library, which is the only Peace Bell in the world to be located outside a major city. The bell is rung each year on World Peace Day.

The caravan park we were staying in was completely submerged in the recent floods, with the site our caravan was on being roughly two metres under water. I recall Wyangala Dam, just upstream from Cowra, pouring out over the top of the spillway into the Lachlan River, and subsequently causing major flooding in the town. It is a tribute to the Caravan Park Caretakers that the park was in such good order, despite the recent floods. We were happy to support the town after having endured a major recent flood.

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