Thousands of families waited eagerly on Australian shores in 1945 as the few surviving prisoners of war from Burma returned.

Among them was mother Marjorie Dent, who was awaiting the return of her son Lieutenant Corporal Roger Dent.

Lt Cpl Dent's daughter Marjorie Burrows, of Westbury, said the story of her father making it home alive was one she'll never forget.

"Being a mother, I'm thinking of when he came back in the first ship home from Burma ... he stood on the gangplank and you could imagine all the families on the wharf," she said.

"He heard his mother calling out to him out of all those people ... that's what I think is wonderful.

"These blokes and women sacrificed their youth, their lives."

Lt Cpl Dent enlisted in March 1941, and was subsequently deployed in Timor that August with the 8th Division.

Lt Cpl Dent, along with many stationed near Singapore, was forced into the jungle by Japanese forces. Ms Burrows' husband Henry said Lt Cpl Dent was forced from the bush and into the hands of Japanese soldiers.

"It must have been an ordeal to try to get away ... he couldn't do it," Mr Burrows said.

"He got malaria and they wouldn't have had access to medication."

After spending time as a prisoner in Java and Thailand, Lt Cpl Dent was taken to Burma's Changi Prison to work on the railway.

About 16,000 Allied prisoners of war died during the construction of the railway due to a number of diseases including malaria, cholera and dysentery among others as a result of abhorrent living standards.

"One of the stories he [Lt Cpl Dent] told, was about the hospital on a hill above the railway pass," Ms Burrows said.

"If you saw a bloke walk up that hill, you'd know he'd never come back, that was it."

Ms Burrows said her father would barely speak about his time at Changi to her.

"They didn't talk about it to the women because we were too delicate," she said.

Mr Burrows, on the other hand, was privy to some of Lt Cpl Dent's experiences at the hands of his captors.

"He was very equable and a happy man - generally a very positive person," Mr Burrows said.

"I think he thought life after the war ... any of it would be good fun. That's the way he looked at things, he could face adversity with a positive outlook."

Ms Burrows said due to the bare minimum in food that was served, Lt Cpl Dent was one of many that helped find sustenance for the prisoners to eat.

"It was one of his jobs to escape the prison camp at night and go catch monkeys to eat because they were only given one bowl of rice a day," she said.

From a daughter's perspective, one thing that did stick out for Ms Burrows was that positive demeanour of her father that shone through in spite of what he experienced.

"They went through so much but we didn't hear a lot except for what's been chronicled in books," Ms Burrows said.

"This sounds really silly but one thing he said to me was 'I'm glad for the experience' because he's learnt so much and made true lifelong friend."

Upon his return, Lt Cpl Dent settled a 3,000,000 acre property near Cloncurry in Queensland as part of the Soldier Settlement Scheme.

"When he got home, he fell in love with mum ... [he] drew a 3,000,000 [acre] property up Cloncurry way - took nine months to ride the boundaries," Ms Burrows said.

"That's when he started to party, which is understandable and good on him."

Lt Cpl Dent died in 2000 at the age of 78 due to complications from diabetes.