Sandakan War Memorial

The Sandakan Memorial is on the exact site of the Sandakan POW camp. It’s there to remember the Australian and British POWs but also the Sabahans who helped the POWs a LOT. 

There was great information there which helped me understand even more. I have already written a bit about the POWs when I was in Ranau.  There was a map to show all the WW2 POW camps in SE Asia. 

It is described as one of the greatest Australian military tragedies and atrocities. 

It was a tragedy because:

• The most deaths of POWs were between Jan to Aug 1945 when the war had almost ended.
• The Australian military’s rescue mission “Operation King fisher” failed badly when they were told the POWs had moved camp (but they hadn’t), the military then aboughted the mission.

It was an atrocity because:

• of the way the POWs were killed, it was so brutal and inhumane.
• The Japs had enough food purposely starved the POWs
• POWs were over worked building the airstrip 
• the POWs were ill & very weak with malaria, beriberi, dysentery, malnutrition and tropical diseases. They had no medical supplies and Red Cross was prevented from entering the POW camp.
• the Japanese tortured them cruelly and punished them in horrific ways.

The Japanese in charge of the POW camps were put on trial after the war for war crimes. Some were executed by one the main Japanese soldier, Major Suga, committed suicide before he was tried.  [There's so much more that I could write about WW2 in Borneo, but this is all for now).

October 1945, after the Japanese surrendered, Australian army went to look for the remains of the Sandakan camp to find anything that belonged to the POWs or the Japanese.  

Australian army looking for POW graves

The local Sabah people helped the POWs who escaped. They also worked in the underground network to help the Allies (eg Australia & Britain and US)

Here are some quotes from Aussie POWs: