Cowra () is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 8,254. of the state capital, Sydney, and north of the nation's capital, Canberra. The town is situated at the intersection of three state highways: the Mid-Western Highway, Olympic Highway and the Lachlan Valley Way.
Cowra is included in the rainfall recorder and weather forecast region for the Central West Slopes and Plains division of the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts.
History
Prisoner of war camp
During World War II, Cowra was the site of a prisoner of war (POW) camp. Most of the detainees were captured Japanese and Italian military personnel. However, in July 1942, Indonesian political prisoners from the Dutch Tanahmerah prison on the Digul river, in West Papua, were transported as "prisoners-of-war" to the Cowra prison camp, at the behest of Netherlands East Indies government-in-exile (with others who were ill being sent to Liverpool).
The Cowra breakout
On 5 August 1944, at least 545 Japanese POWs attempted a mass breakout from the camp. Simultaneously, other Japanese prisoners committed suicide, or were killed by their countrymen, inside the camp.
The actions of the POWs in storming machine gun posts, armed only with improvised weapons, showed what Prime Minister John Curtin described as a "suicidal disregard of life".
During the breakout and subsequent recapture of POWs, four Australian guards and 231 Japanese died, and 108 prisoners were wounded. The dead Japanese were buried in Cowra in the specially created Japanese War Cemetery. This is the only such cemetery in Australia, and also holds some of the dead from the World War II air raids on Darwin.
An Avenue of Honour also commemorates those who died in World War I. There is an annual ceremony to commemorate the breakout, involving local school students, council members, local dignitaries and guest Japanese visitors.
Heritage listings
thumb|[[Cowra railway station]]
Cowra has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
- Blayney-Demondrille railway line: Lachlan River railway bridge, Cowra
- Blayney-Demondrille railway line: Cowra railway station
- Evans Street: Cowra Prisoner of War Camp Site
According to the 2016 census, there were 10,063 people in Cowra.
- Italian people made up 5% of the population.
- 85.2% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 1.4%.
- 89.0% of people spoke only English at home.
- The most common responses for religion were Catholic 29.7%, Anglican 26.0% and no religion 16.0%.
Transport
Cowra lies at the intersection of three highways: the Mid-Western Highway, Olympic Highway, and the Lachlan Valley Way.
Cowra was a major rail centre, being the focal point of the Blayney-Demondrille railway line as well as the junction for branch lines to Eugowra and Grenfell.
The Cowra to Blayney section was closed in the 1980s by the State Rail Authority, before being reopened by the Lachlan Valley Railway as a heritage railway in September 1993, before closing again in April 1997 after a bridge was destroyed by fire. In April 2000, the section reopened in a project funded by the Government of New South Wales. It closed again without ever having gained a regular source of traffic. The Cowra to Demondrille section closed in 2007.
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Cowra has a humid subtropical (Cfa) climate, with a cold semi-arid (BSk) influence. Average maximum temperatures ranging from in high summer to in mid winter, while minima range from to .
Cowra sits on the border zone between the cool, wet highlands of the Great Dividing Range and the hot, dry plains of western New South Wales. As a result, Cowra experiences climate characteristics of both regions: with cold sub-10 °C maximum temperatures, frequent frost and even snow in winter, and frequent 40+ °C temperatures in summer. Other towns that experience this "border" climate are Inverell and Mudgee further north, Yass and Tumut further south, Corryong in Victoria and Dalby in Queensland.
Rainfall is mild and distributed fairly evenly all year round, however it slightly peaks in summer with thunderstorms and again in winter with cold fronts. The average annual rainfall is , while Cowra's wettest month on record was January 1984, with recorded. Extreme temperatures have ranged from to . Cowra is considerably sunny, having 145.8 clear days on an annual basis.