Cowra NSW

Listed attractions for Cowra: Peace Bell, Japanese Gardens, Garrison Gates, War Cemetery and  Railway Museum. So of we went and followed the tourist trail:

Peace Bell. This is a replica of the one made from donated military medals and which is hanging in front of the UN headquarters. The plaque says that normally they hang in the Nations Capital, which most Australians and some foreigners might be able to identify as Canberra, but it failed to give any reason why it was here in Cowra. No mind, it's a great bell and a better cause: world peace.

Then on to the Japanese Gardens via the Bellevue Lookout. Sadly, the 'vue' from the lookout was probably the least inspiring we have seen and so we'll skip to the Japanese Gardens, which even now in Winter are truly beautiful and serene. You can wander around for hours and joust feel so relaxed looking at the wonderful plantings and water features. Hard to choose just one snap, but I managed somehow and here it is:

We went looking for the Garrison Gates (actually, just the two brick posts), but failed top find them, probably lost among the scourge of new houses that now threaten the Gardens and the Camp itself. No worries, we continued up to the site of the Prisoner of War Camp, one of the saddest events to take place on Australian soil during WWII. Apparently we completely misunderstood that the Japanese psyche demanded glory or death to captivity, and so the 1100 or so of the 2000 internees picked their time and took their chances against a single guard in the watchtower and an un-manned machine gun. Sadly for them, the gunners heard the alarm and ran to their post, reaching it in time to shoot several hundred of the escapees before they were over-run and bludgeoned to death. So sad, those that didn't make it died from wound or committed suicide, those that did get away were soon captured and returned. Anyhow, in past visits to this site we have seen nothing basically, this time there is a newly built recreation of a watch-tower and some memorials signage. There are also some new paths that wander down around the uncovered ruined footings of unidentified buildings. It's one of those places where you are just left wanting more information and leave feeling a bit let-down.

Hard to give you a picture that conveys the scene, so you'll have to accept the photo of the new tower instead:

All of those poor souls that perished are buried here in Cowra, plus a few others from the conflict in Darwin. It doesn't hurt to be reminded of the futility of it all and the sacrifices made by people on both sides of the conflict. We were reminded of a similar cemetery up in the Territory at Adelaide River. 

Last stop (apart from a coffee at M's) was the railway museum, last seen by me in 1991. My my my, it's an even sadder place, in a completely different way of course) than the POW camp and cemetery, all this history and heritage just falling to pieces, due to lack of funds, interest and demand. This is a very rare carriage used to carry greyhounds around the state. Most of the rest of the collection is in a bit better shape, but since they were cut off from the actual main railway line there seems to be little point in busting a boiler or frizzing a footplate to get it restored and going again. Oddly enough, some of the collection which was restored, they got out before the line closed and now they have to travel around the country to maintain their various engines and carriages.