Refurbishment of Surrender Point Memorial

DVA builds and maintains official Australian overseas memorials commemorating the service and sacrifice of Aus­tralia’s service men and women at sites of significance. These memorials are located in a number of countries, often in remote locations with limited access.

Surrender Point in Malay­sia is one such memorial. The site on Labuan Island marks the spot where, on 10 Septem­ber 1945, Lieutenant-General Masao Baba, Commander of the 37th Japanese Army surren­dered to Major-General George F Wootten of the 9th Australian Division. This led to the end of the Second World War in the Pacific.

Constructed almost 20 years ago, the memorial is in need of major refurbishment to bring it in line with the quality and standard of Australia’s other official overseas memorials.

Following approval of a new memorial design by the local council and landowner in April 2022, DVA travelled to Labuan to meet with key stakeholders and contractors.

Demolition works have now begun and DVA is looking for­ward to officially dedicating the new memorial in the first half of 2023.

To find out more about DVA’s overseas memorials, visit the memorials page of the DVA website.