During World War II Cowra was the site of a prisoner of war (POW) camp. Most of the prisoners were captured Japanese and Italian soldiers, sailors and airmen. On August 5, 1944 about 545 (some sources say over 1000) Japanese POWs attempted a mass escape from the camp. This is perhaps the largest prison escape in the world. At the same time, other Japanese prisoners killed themselves, or were killed by their countrymen, inside the camp.