Nowra historian set to reveal the inner workings of military police

The 26-year-old from Nowra spends much of his time with fitness mats and a fighting ring, as part of his job teaching martial arts for the past seven years.

But he is equally at home among dusty books and studying detailed war records as he established himself as a military historian.

Mr Dickie is in the final year of his PhD, as he works on his thesis about the Australian Military Police and their role handling prisoners of war during and after World War II.

He said it was a fascinating subject, that followed his Honours thesis on Australian policing history and civilian police, and doing an internship at the Australian War Memorial.

"While I was there I fell in love with military history," Mr Dickie said.

While delving into the history Mr Dickie has found topics "that constantly surprise me".

That included looking at "role of military police in the occupation forces after the war, Australian war crime trials, and discussing the home front and the process of sending enemy soldiers back to their countries of origin after the war", Mr Dickie said.

"This is one of those areas of history that don't get as much limelight as others," he said.

"There's some things in here that really need to be addressed."

Mr Dickie said studying the field "is a labour of love", that started withy a suggestion from others, "but it's kind of taken on a life of its own now".

Mr Dickie will speak about some of the things he has uncovered during his research during a session at the Nowra Library

He will explain the inner workings of this task, and look specifically at the roles of military police in North Africa and the Mediterranean, at the Nowra Library from 5.30pm on Tuesday, April 23.

It is free to attend, but people are asked to register at https://bit.ly/49MZltv or call (02) 4429 3705.