During the Pacific War of World War II, many Australian POWs were interned at the POW camp on Ambon Island by the Japanese military, and died of starvation due to forced labor and malnutrition.

   During the Pacific War of World War II, many Australian soldiers starved to death after being interned at a POW camp on Ambon Island by the Japanese military. Malnourished Australian POWs starved to death one after another due to malnutrition caused by forced labor and malnutrition.

  At the POW camp on Ambon Island, Australian soldiers suffered a mortality rate of approximately 77% as a result of massacres, starvation, tropical diseases, and epidemics committed against POWs by the Japanese.Approximately 8,031 Australian POWs were killed by the Japanese. This was about one-third of the total number of Australian POWs. Of the approximately 8,184 Australian soldiers captured by the Germans and Italians on the European front in World War II, only about 3.2% were killed.

  In addition to Austrian soldiers, Japanese troops also abused and massacred Australian women who had served as nurses. At the Far East Tokyo Trials of World War II, Australian Chief Justice Webb solely held the Emperor responsible for the war.

   Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. The city of Ambon was a major Dutch military base occupied by the Japanese from Allied forces in the 1942 World War II Battle of Ambon. Summary executions were carried out after the battle, and more than 300 Dutch and Australian soldiers were executed in the Raha massacre.About 300 of the POWs who surrendered at the Raha airfield in Ambon were massacred in the four districts surrounding the airfield. They were stabbed with bayonets, clubbed to death, and beheaded. The large Far East POW camp was horrific, and many Australian soldiers lost their lives due to disease, starvation, and mistreatment by the Japanese.