Hugh Charles Sweeny from

Dalby, Queensland Dalby () is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Dalby had a population of 12,758 people. It is on the Darling Downs and is the administrativ ...

along with two other sailors were the first Australian POWs captured in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. They were captured during the initial outbreak of fighting in the East African Campaign. On 9 August 1940, three volunteers from HMAS ''Hobart'' went ashore in response to an urgent request for artillery support for the hard-pressed garrison. Petty Officer Hugh Jones from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Able Seaman William James Hurren from Sydney, New South Wales, and Able Seaman Hugh Charles Sweeny from Dalby, Queensland were landed with a QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss saluting gun on an improvised mounting, a reinforced 44-gallon drum. By early the next morning they were in position, manning the gun and dressed in military uniform on the main British defence line at Tug Argan Gap, some 60 kilometres south of

Berbera Berbera (; , ) is the capital of the Sahil, Somaliland, Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of t ...

. The fighting continued during the next five days but when the British evacuated between 15–19 August, the three Australian sailors were reported missing believed killed in action 15 August 1940. Instead, they had been captured by the Italians, the first members of an Australian unit taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POW) during

. The three POWs from HMAS ''Hobart'' were recovered from Adi Ugri in

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

on 29 April 1941 after Italian East Africa fell to the British.

References

Further reading