Linking with other organisations has long been at the forefront of our association’s yearly activities. Like minded organisations get-together for instance when planning ANZAC Day or VE Day, and there are a number of organisations that we share committee members with.
Former Governor- General of Australia, General (Retired) The Honourable David Hurley, presented a speech that included some harrowing detail of POW experiences (see transcript below).
A good crowd attended this years event and here are some more photos from the day - 1.General (Retired) The Honourable David Hurley chats with an attendee. 2. Susanne Bennett points out her Father's entry on the list of POWs. 3. Sue prepares to lay the Odd Bods wreath.
 |
| Thank you to Jan Dimmick for the Odd Bods wreath (blue flowers in the centre of the photo). |
General (Retd) the Honourable David Hurley AC CVO DSC
Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial
8 February 2026
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung People, and pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders gathered here today.
Acknowledgements
Hon Catherine King MP, Federal Member for Ballarat and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development & Local Government representing the Hon Anthony Albanese MP Prime Minister
Julianna Addison MP Member for Wendouree representing the Premier Hon. Jacinta Allan MP and Hon Natelie Suleyman
Councillor Tracey Hargreaves Mayor of the City of Ballarat
Captain Ben Esler RAN Senior Naval Officer Victoria representing Chief of the Defence Force Admiral David Johnston AC RAN
Ms Michaela Settle MP Member for Eureka and Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Victoria and Parliamentary Secretary for Community Sport
Mr Tokuro Furuya - Consul-General of Japan
Commander Dean Uren RAN – HMAS Ballarat Commanding Officer
Mr Michael Harper -Deputy Commissioner Victoria-Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Delighted to be invited to become Patron of the Memorial and for Linda and I to return for today’s service.
Today we are honouring a very special group of Australians – those who sacrificed their lives, their liberty and their health in service of their country and fellow Australians. And equally as importantly we give our sincere thanks to the families who endured years of uncertainty when little or no news about loved ones was available and those families who lived with the consequences of captivity on their loved ones.
The experience of our EX POWs is a story that continues to reveal itself. I recall during my last speech that I mentioned that in my family, my uncle on my father’s side had been a POW in Changi. I had memories of him as a child when we visited his home and, as children do, noticed something different in him, but could not understand what that might be and what had caused it.
I have since learned, in further conversation with my cousin, that Uncle Tup, as we called him, had not only been a POW in Changi but had slaved on the Burma railroad and that his captivity ended in Japan at the end of the war. He had also survived the submarine attacks on Japanese convoys sailing between Indochina and Japan– the convoys before and after his convoy were both successfully attacked – and he was sent into Nagasaki three days after the atomic bomb was dropped to participate in the clean-up. And I know that he would not be the only POW with this terrible set of experiences.
It is remarkable how widely the POW story extends in our society. I was mentioning to my nieces husband this week that I was coming to this service. His immediate response was that his grandfather, Phil Wynne, had been in Changi – his name is on this memorial. Similarly our driver, Tony Jones, was keen to tell his families POW story on our drive from Melbourne.
My thoughts on Uncle Tup led me to consider the experiences of two other Ex POWs that Linda and I have been fortunate to either meet or spend time with –Jock Cassells and Billy Young.
I met Jock at the presentation parade for the President of South Vietnam’s Presidential Unit Citation to 35 Sqn RAAF while I was the Governor of NSW. Some might say that the presentation was a bit late but apparently these things take time. I noticed Jock because of his medals. He wore a combination of World War 2 and Vietnam awards. Somewhat unusual. In discussion with him, Jock explained. As a young man he had been a Spitfire pilot in the RAF. He was shot down over Anzio, captured and sent to Stalag Luft, the main German camp for sir force POWs. Towards the end of the war, as the Russians advanced into Germany, he was forced marched to Berlin where at war’s end he was released. He returned to the UK and in time elected to continue his service with the RAF. In 1966 he saw a ‘wanted ad’ for pilots in the RAAF. A year or so later he found himself commanding the RAAF Caribou detachment in South Vietnam. Jock’s experience was different to his Australian brothers in Asia yet one that shared deprivation and the constant threat of death.
My memories of Billy Young will remain with me for life. I met Billy when I was asked to launch a book of his recollections of his time as a POW in Sandakan and as a prisoner in Outram Road Prison in Singapore. Billy’s book – ‘I was Teenage Prisoner of War’ – is a must read.
In the language of the day, Billy was a larrikin. Billy was orphaned at a young age and as a child and a teenager he lived by his wits and streetwise ways. In 1940, aged 14, he and a mate travelled to Melbourne by various means and stole some bicycles on which they intended to cycle around Australia. Their adventure ended on the Great Ocean Road when they were arrested. The following year Billy decided that the best way to avoid the consequences of his lifestyle, was to enlist in the Army. So at the age of 15 he joined up and was assigned to the 8th Division. After a short period of initial training, he found himself in Singapore three weeks before its fall. He was captured and shipped via Changi to Sandakan. Billy’s continuous mischief in that camp, driven I believe by a strong survival instinct, for example he would sneak out at night to steal food for his mates, lead him to repeated brutal beatings and finally to being declared by the Japanese to be a criminal thereby losing his status as a POW. At 16 years of age, he was shipped to Singapore and imprisoned in Outram Road Prison.
Billy’s experiences in Outram Road have to be read to be believed. Such were the conditions he endured that he described his occasional visits for medical treatment to the Changi hospital as ‘going to a holiday camp’. That he survived I can only attribute to the tough character he developed in the streets of South Sydney.
Billy was the final speaker at the book launch. He walked slowly with his walking stick to the lectern, propped himself up, and spoke quietly without notes. He recounted many of his experiences and concluded with this story: We had had a good day at the airfield (the prisoners at Sandakan were building an airfield for the Japanese). In the evening everyone was resting on their hut verandas before our evening meal. A group of five of us stood out in front of the huts and practised the song that we intended to sing at the Christmas concert.
In a soft whisper Billy began singing the song, first in Bahasa Malay then English and again in Malay. With tears rolling down his face he said: and now I am the only one left. Being a thief had meant that Billy was spared the Sandakan Death March. At that time of his book launch, he was the only one left.
It’s difficult to describe silence . At that moment there was no sound but there was an almost physical sense of emotion. In time soft crying could be heard. We had been privileged to be present as another story had revealed itself. And not from a book but in flesh and blood before us. Another reminder of why this memorial and this annual service are so important to our understanding of ourselves as a country.
Your work to support this memorial and your attendance here today will allow these stories to continue to reveal themselves. This annual gathering continues the work of correcting past behaviours towards our ex-POWs and to reinforcing a pride in service that they all must be allowed to share.
Our remaining ex POWs are very few in number. We, you, me, all carry the responsibility of revealing their stories to our fellow countrymen and women.
Lest we forget.
