A dedicated amateur historian has devoted years to finding and recording the stories of German and Italian prisoners of war held in a forest camp south of Perth during World War II.
Ernie Polis had always had a keen interest in military history, but it wasn't until recovering from a bout of double pneumonia in 1992 that he turned his attention to an element of Western Australia's World War II history.
"I had three weeks off work and got a book out from the library called Stalag Australia, and in there were one or two lines about Marrinup [prisoner of war camp] and its commandant, Major Hector Stuart Foley," Mr Polis told Christine Layton on ABC Radio Perth.
