How a simple game of baseball led to a prisoner of war breakout bloodbath at Cowra

A game of baseball to keep prisoners of war entertained proved to be a fatal mistake that ended with more than 200 people dead.

Baseball bats, iron piping and axe handles used as weapons by Japanese prisoners in the escape attempt. Picture: Australian War Memorial

For Japanese POWs imprisoned at Cowra, leisure options included a sumo wrestling ring, a theatre and — in a decision that came to haunt authorities — a plentiful supply of baseball bats.

It was one of many blunders that led to a bloodbath in 1944 when 234 Japanese POWs and five Australians were killed in what became known as the Cowra Breakout.

The story is told in a new episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters, with historian Mat McLachlan.

As McLachlan details in his new book, The Cowra Breakout, Japanese POWs were treated extraordinarily well, partly to protect the lives of Australian POWs overseas.

“In 1943, there were about 20,000 Australian prisoners in Japanese hands … and so Australia was extremely concerned about the wellbeing of those prisoners,” McLachlan says.

“We did go a very long way to make sure the Japanese were well looked after in our prison camps in the hope that the Japanese would reciprocate with Australian prisoners in their hands.”

Baseball gloves used by Japanese POWs to scale barbed wire fences in the breakout. Picture: Australian War Memorial

Japanese prisoners of war at Cowra in 1944 before the Cowra Breakout. Picture: Australian War Memorial

McLachlan says the 1100 Japanese POWs in Cowra, in central NSW, were given better beds and accommodation than the Australian guards, some of whom slept on straw on the floor.

They were also better fed, with a huge ration of 3753 calories a day, supplemented with fresh produce from their own vegie patches.

Japanese POWs built a sumo ring and a theatre.

“But most importantly, and what would have the biggest effect on the Cowra Breakout, is they were allowed to play baseball, and the Japanese built a proper baseball field in the camp,” McLachlan says.

New book The Cowra Breakout by Mat McLachlan.

Mat McLachlan, author of The Cowra Breakout.

Japanese prisoners of war playing baseball at Cowra prisoner of war camp. Picture: Australian War Memorial

In a decision that would have serious repercussions, camp authorities distributed dozens of baseball bats to the Japanese, far more than were needed to play the game, and didn’t keep a tally.

Despite decent living conditions, dissent was brewing as the Allies gained the edge in the war and the POWs wrestled with the shame of being captured, rather than killed in battle.

One of the breakout leaders was Hajime Toyoshima, a Zero pilot who flew at Pearl Harbour and became Australia’s first Japanese POW after he was shot down in the Battle of Darwin.

“The signal to launch the Cowra Breakout was made when Toyoshima blew a long mournful note on this army bugle,” McLachlan says.

About 900 Japanese stormed out of their huts, armed with knives, homemade clubs, and, of course, baseball bats, overwhelming guards and setting buildings on fire, with hundreds escaping into the night.

Japanese POWs also used baseball gloves to scale barbed wire fences in the Cowra Breakout.

To learn more, listen to the interview with Mat McLachlan in the In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.