The Australian Ex-POW Memorial honours and pays tribute to more than 36,000 Australians who were Prisoners of War of the enemy during the Boer War, World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean War. There were no Australian Prisoners of War in the Vietnam War. The Memorial acknowledges the deprivation, the pain and suffering of those that returned and also those that remain on foreign shores and have no known grave.
The Trustees acknowledge all those personnel that served Australian during all conflicts including the Vietnam War, the Gulf Wars and Peacekeeping activities throughout the World. Prior to the establishment of this Memorial, no definitive list of names of Australian ex-POWs was available from any official government source. Over six years of research by dedicated committee members and in collaboration with the Australian War Memorial, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the National Archives, RSL branches, Unit historians, newspapers and websites produced a list of names that are now inscribed on the Granite walls of this magnificent Memorial. Our researchers continue to research the names of potential Prisoners of War and upon verification and confirmation, they are engraved on the Memorial Wall.
The Memorial remembers those men and women who, while captured, suffered appalling hardship and horrendous atrocities but maintained their dignity, courage and mateship.