Author: Lee Rippon
Rippon, Lee, 2023 Prisoner of War Diplomacy: Australian Prisoners of War in Italy and Australian Foreign Policy, 1939-1947, Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Often called our “forgotten soldiers”, thousands of Australian soldiers were captured between 1940 and 1942 in North Africa and the Mediterranean and transferred to prisoners of war camps in Italy and other parts of Europe during the Second World War. As the number of prisoners grew, belligerent governments, including the Australian government, were presented with a number of diplomatic and political challenges. At the beginning of the war, the Australian government relied on British prisoner of war policy and international law to ensure the proper treatment of its captured soldiers. However, the prisoner of war issue proved to be complex given that the management of POWs was not just a military, but also a political and diplomatic issue. One of the risks that arose when dealing with prisoners of war was the abandonment of the observation of international law and a descent into a series of tit-for-tat reprisals. Consequently, a foreign policy problem for states at war was how to protect their POWs being held by belligerent powers with which no direct international relations were maintained. Therefore, the challenge was to ensure the proper treatment of prisoners of war despite the heightened risk to their well-being.
This thesis, by examining whether Australia’s response was driven by its international responsibilities under the Geneva Convention, the practicalities of war or national interest, seeks to explain the Australian government’s response to the captivity of thousands of Australians in Italy and the even greater number of Italian prisoners of war detained in Australia. Furthermore, by exploring Australia’s relationship with Britain, this research positions the prisoner of war problem within international diplomatic and foreign policy debates, particularly in relation to the question of whether Australia demonstrated a growing level of independence in foreign policy through its interventions in prisoner of war matters.
Through the examination of archival material in Australia and the United Kingdom, this research adds to the current debates in international history regarding Australia and its wartime relations with the United Kingdom. It presents a new way of exploring the prisoner of war narrative and makes clearer the Australian government’s response to the issue of prisoners of war in an international context.
Keywords: Second World War, Prisoners of War, Italy, Britain, Australia, Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Law
Subject: Humanities thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2023
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Professor Peter Monteath