Friendship as former foes honour Cowra Breakout fallen

Australian and Japanese dignitaries are marking the 80th anniversary of the Cowra Breakout. (HANDOUT/AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL)

As a full moon lit the sky and heavy frost settled on the countryside, Private Alfred Rolls stood watch over a prisoner-of-war camp.

In the early hours of August 5, 1944, a crying and shivering Japanese inmate approached Pte Rolls from the shadows in the camp at Cowra in the NSW central west.