Sandakan Memorial Day honoured during Ministerial visit to region
In Malaysia, 15 August is commemorated as Sandakan Memorial Day, with a service held at Sandakan Memorial Park, the site of the former prisoner of war (POW) camp, to remember the POWs who died in the region, and the local people who risked their lives to help them.
This year the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh and Secretary Liz Cosson AM CSC attended the service at Sandakan Memorial Park where the Minister delivered the commemorative address.
‘I am honoured to be here at Sandakan to be part of the service recognising the Australian and British POWs who suffered and died at the camp, and those who died on the Sandakan to Ranau death marches, as well as the local Sabahans who suffered under the Japanese occupation and risked their lives to help and save Allied POWs,’ Minister Keogh said.
About 2,700 Australian and British POWs, most of whom had been captured at the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, were brought to Sandakan by the Imperial Japanese forces in 1942 and 1943. There they were used as labour to construct an airstrip. As the Allied forces advanced in 1945, they were forced to march into the mountains – their destination was the small settlement of Ranau some 260 kilometres west.
About 2,400 Allied servicemen, including 1,787 Australians and 641 British soldiers died between January and August 1945 at Sandakan POW camp, along the track to Ranau and at Ranau itself.
Following the service at Sandakan, Minister Keogh travelled to Hellfire Pass in Thailand to pay tribute to the more than 60,000 Allied POWs who worked on the railway, and in particular those who endured terrible working conditions in Hellfire Pass.
‘I was honoured today to lay a wreath today at the Hellfire Pass Memorial in memory of the Australians, and all those who suffered and died at Hellfire Pass and on the Burma-Thailand railway during the Second World War,’ Minister Keogh said.
While at Hellfire Pass, the Minister also visited the interpretive centre, which is one of the most visited museums in Thailand, attracting visitors from around the world.
‘My visit to the interpretive centre today has been an overwhelming experience and I am humbled by the bravery and strength of the Allied prisoners and the labourers who suffered and died at Hellfire Pass,’ Minister Keogh said.
The Hellfire Pass Interpretive Centre and Memorial Walking Trail is located just above Hellfire Pass (Konyu Cutting). It was built and is maintained by the Australian Government.