Hugh Charles Sweeny from

Dalby, Queensland Dalby () is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Dalby had a population of 12,719 people. It is on the Darling Downs and is the administrative centre for the Western Downs Re ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. 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 The QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss or in French use Canon Hotchkiss à tir rapide de 47 mm were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1886 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. T ...

saluting gun on an improvised mounting, a reinforced

44-gallon drum A drum (also called a barrel) is a cylindrical shipping container used for shipping bulk cargo. Drums can be made of steel, dense paperboard (commonly called a fiber drum), or plastic, and are generally used for the transportation and storage of ...

. 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 (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

. 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 who is 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 w ...

(POW) during

. The three POWs from HMAS ''Hobart'' were recovered from Adi Ugri in Eritrea on 29 April 1941 after Italian East Africa fell to the British.

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Further reading