Laha Massacres

On This Day: Far East Prisoners of War February 6

On this day, we remember the suffering and sacrifice of the Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOWs) during World War II. Among the countless atrocities, today marks the beginning of one of the darkest moments in the history of Australian prisoners The Laha Massacre.

Between February 6 and 20, 1942, over 200 Australian and Dutch prisoners were executed by Japanese forces on Ambon Island. Captured after the Japanese invasion, these men were forced to dig their own graves before being brutally murdered. No trial, no mercy ”just cold-blooded slaughter. It was not war; it was extermination.

Their fate was shared by thousands of FEPOWs across the Pacific. Those not executed were subjected to years of forced labor, starvation, and relentless brutality. In jungle camps, on the Death Railway, in the coal mines of Japan, they endured hell on earth. Their captors saw them as expendable, and the world too often forgot them when the war was over.

Today, we honour those who never came home and those who did but were forever changed. Their suffering should never be erased, and their sacrifice should never be overlooked.

We remember them. We will not forget.

#lestweforget #vjday80