Sandakan Memorial Park, Malaysia

History 

The Sandakan Memorial Park commemorates a war-time tragedy. Between January and August 1945, within sight of Allied victory in the Pacific War, approximately 2,400 Australian and British Prisoners of War (POW) perished, while held prisoner by the Japanese in the Sandakan POW camp, North Borneo. An atrocity – death inflicted upon these men by their captors through starvation, overwork, beatings and punishments, and the enforced ‘death marches’ of over 1,000 sick and weak POWs under brutal physical conditions. 

In 1942 and 1943 the Japanese brought to Sandakan about 2,700 Australian and British POWs, the great majority of whom had been captured at the surrender at Singapore in February 1942. These captured men were used as a labour force to construct a military airstrip for use by the Japanese. In late 1944, as the Allies advanced in the Pacific, the airstrip was bombed and destroyed. Early in 1945 the Japanese decided to move the POWs 260 km west into the mountains to the small settlement of Ranau. On three forced marches between January and June approximately 500 prisoners died. The remainder died at the Ranau and Sandakan camps. 

Of those who had been alive in January 1945, by the end of August only six survived – all Australian. Two of the six escaped into the jungle during the second march in June 1945. Assisted by local people, they were eventually picked up by Allied units. Another four escaped from Ranau in July and again, with the help of local people, were fed and hidden from the Japanese until the end of the war. 

Today the recovered bodies of the POW dead are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Labuan War Cemetery. Those who could not be identified or who have no known grave, are commemorated on Memorials to the Missing at Labuan and Singapore. 

Sandakan Memorial Park 

Sandakan Memorial Park is located on the site of the former Sandakan POW camp. Within the park, an interpretive pavilion provides information on the history of the park. A path winds through the park past preserved wartime relics. Signs and seats around the pathways provide rest points, and at points of significance there are numbered posts linked to the park brochure providing information on the former POW camp. The brochure may be obtained from the Visitor Information Centre at the entrance to the park, or download it here. 

An obelisk of black granite commemorating those who died is also located within the park and is the site of various events including the annual Anzac Day (25 April), and Sandakan Day (15 August) services. 

The motif used in the park depicts flowers representing people of the three nations who suffered at Sandakan during the Second World War: Australia’s Waratah (Telopea speciosissima), United Kingdom’s English Rose (Rosa gallica ‘Versicolor’), and Malaysia’s Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis). The design is taken from the stained-glass window created by Australian glass artist Robin Seville within the pavilion and is repeated on the black granite obelisk. 

Audio Guide 

An audio guide, developed in consultation with ex-prisoners of war, Sandakan family members and historians, incorporates first-hand accounts of the camp. The guide takes visitors on a tour of the park, bringing the story of Sandakan to life. You can download the audio guide and transcript here. 

Visitor information 

Address: 4, Jin Taman Rimba 1, Jalan Labuk, Sandakan 90000 MALAYSIA 

Opening hours: From 9:00 am until 5:00 pm, 7 days