This
Kundasang memorial garden was built and funded in the late 1950s by the
people of Sabah and local expatriates, many of whom had served with the
allied forces during the war. It was dedicated to those men and women of
all races who gave their lives for and in Borneo during the war. The
terraced construction symbolisms, each of the main nations involved in
the struggle: Britain, Australia and north Borneo (Sabah). This site was
selected as here, in the shadow of mount Kinabalu, many of the prisoners
of war perished and, according to the local custom, the cloud enshrouded
mountain harbours the souls of all those who have died.
Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp
During the Second World War, Australian and British prisoners of war
were imprisoned at Sandakan by the Japanese army. The first prisoners
arrived from Singapore to build a military airstrip in July 1942 and by
mid 1943 over 1800 Australians and 750 British were at work. Harsh
living and working conditions existed. The Japanese and Formosan guards
became increasingly hard and prisoner deaths increased through 1943 and
1944. The local people tried to help the defenceless prisoners, often
defying the death threats of the Japanese. By 1945 the Japanese feared
that the allies would invade east Borneo, consequently 1066 surviving
prisoners were moved, in a series of futile marches, 265km to the west.
The 290 hospitalised prisoners left behind at Sandakan all died. Over
1000 prisoners died on either the marches or at Ranau camp. Incredibly
six of the starving and emaciated prisoners escaped to survive and
reveal the story of this tragic episode of the war. Only these six came
home from the 2500 prisoners at Sandakan.
