ABSTRACT
In terms of mortality rates, Borneo and Ambon represented the highest proportional loss of Australian lives of all Japanese camps. Across many locations the differences in climate, degree of geographical isolation, varied access to supplies, the treatment meted out by their captors, the types of physical labour and the stage of the war created extra medical complications the doctors had to manage. This chapter outlines the characteristics of a key group of these other camps, and explores some of the factors negotiated by Australian medical officers, while an exhaustive description of every camp is impractical. As in every Japanese camp, this varied greatly, with individuals capable of being both callous and sympathetic at different times. At Ofuna Camp in Yokohama, Stening was held for a time in a camp populated mostly by Allied officers, where they were subjected to violent and systematic interrogations by the Japanese. Periods of additional torture and solitary confinement caused psychological strain among the inhabitants.
