Surrender Point Memorial re-opened
The public are invited back to the iconic Surrender Point Memorial on Labuan Island, Malaysia, following the Memorial’s significant refurbishment works.
Located in a small beach-side park overlooking the South China Sea on the western side of Labuan Island, Surrender Point Memorial is one of four memorials in Malaysia commemorating the trials endured by Australians and Australia’s ultimate triumph.
On 10 September 1945, Major General George F Wootten, Commander of the 9th Australian Division, accepted the unconditional surrender from Lieutenant-General Masao Baba, Commander of the 37th Japanese Army, at Surrender Point, one of several such ceremonies concluding the war in the Pacific, subsequently ending the Second World War.
The Surrender Point Memorial was constructed on the site of the surrender.
The original memorial required significant refurbishment to adhere to the quality and standard of other Australian official overseas memorials. In August 2021, DVA appointed Architect Guida Moseley Brown to undertake the refurbishment design. The old memorial's demolition was completed in early October 2022, with construction of the new memorial beginning shortly after.
The story of Surrender Point is both etched into the memory of many Australians and through the graphic design on the surface of granite panels mounted on the memorial’s curved wall.
The panel design combines a specific Australian granite, used in similar commemorative designs and official Australian buildings, with local Malaysian stone, retained and re-used from the original memorial. Such complementary elements reinforce the symbolic link between Malaysia and Australia and honour and remember those who served and gave their lives in the pursuit of victory and the peace that followed.
The Australian Government is grateful to the Labuan Corporation and the people of Labuan for their support during the refurbishment and the ongoing preservation of this important site.
The work of the appointed architect, Guida Moseley Brown Architects, and the construction contractor, First Reign Sdn Bhd, is also acknowledged.
To learn more about Australian commemorative memorials in Malaysia, visit Malaysia | Department of Veterans' Affairs.
