Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

The least well known Australian operated Prisoner of War Camp during World War Two, Camp 20 Lae Prisoner-of-War Camp was located at Lae, New Guinea. The camp open in February 1945 and closed down a little over a year later in April 1946.

In 1945, with the New Guinea and the South West Pacific campaigns taking their toll on the Japanese Army in both causalities and Prisoners of War, the Allies decided to open a new PoW Camp closer to the active front line. This move now meant that Japanese PoW’s had to be transferred over a shorter distance before being interned. It also meant that the expansion or opening of a new PoW Camp back in Australia didn’t have to occur.

Thus in February 1945, Australian forces opened PoW Camp 20 at Lae. The camp could roughly intern 1,000 PoW’s at any one period. Soon gardens began to spring up as internees were encouraged to grow both vegetables and other plants useful for medicinal processes. Chinese Cabbage and Corn were particular camp favourites.

The camp was constructed quickly and most of the PoW’s ended up sleeping in Hooverville style buildings. These were made mostly of corrugated iron and wooden slate for the lower walls, whilst large army tents were used for the upper walls and the roof of the buildings.

To help with spreading the camp out the PoW’s were split into various detachments each with their own camp compound and vegetable plot.

Guarding the PoW’s were men initially from the 22nd Garrison Battalion (later the Cowra Prisoner-of-War Group.) Initially, several detachments from the 22nd Garrison Battalion were transferred from New South Wales to Lae, however, after the camp guards came up to full strength (the size of one company) they were redesignated as the Lae Prisoner of War Garrison Company. This new unit retained the old colour patch of the 22nd Garrison Battalion – a black square on its point below a green vertical rectangle.

After war with Japan finished in the Pacific in August 1945 the slow process of repatriation of Japanese troops began. This process was finally finished in late March and early April 1946 and thus the camp – no longer required – was shut down and the Lae Prisoner of War Garrison Company disbanded.