The Japanese soldiers who risked death to break out of prison: Historic photos capture the biggest prisoner escape …

More than 1,000 Japanese men stormed barbed wire fences at Cowra prisoner of war camp in central NSW on August 5, 1944 Infamous breakout sparked a 10-day manhunt after 359 prisoners escaped The death toll reached 231 in the days following the escape attempt A Japanese man who took part in the breakout returned to NSW for the 70th anniversary held in Cowra earlier this month

By Emily Crane for Daily Mail Australia

Published: 19:10 EST, 22 August 2014 | Updated: 19:10 EST, 22 August 2014

In the dead of the night 70 years ago, more than 1,000 Japanese men stormed the barbed wire perimeter fences of Cowra prisoner of war camp in central NSW.

Armed with improvised weapons including baseball bats and sharpened kitchen knives, hundreds of Japanese prisoners overcame machine gun posts in what would become the biggest POW escape of World War II.

The mass breakout at the detention camp on August 5, 1944 resulted in a 10-day manhunt as Australian soldiers and police searched for hundreds of armed escapees roaming the Cowra countryside, 300km west of Sydney.

This Japanese prisoner of war was one of hundreds who were injured or killed when they tried to escape from the Cowra camp in central NSW in August 1944 - it was to become the biggest breakout of World War II

Japanese prisoners who overcame the machine gun fire of Australian soldiers threw hundreds blankets and clothes over the camp's barbed wire surroundings in a bid to escape

The mass breakout on August 5, 1944 resulted in a 10-day manhunt as Australian soldiers and police searched for hundreds of armed escapees roaming the Cowra countryside, 300km west of Sydney

A total of 359 Japanese prisoners escaped and the death toll reached 231 in the days following, including 31 suicides and 12 who perished in huts they had set on fire themselves.

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The Japanese soldiers who risked death to break out of prison: Historic photos capture the biggest prisoner escape ...