The Naval Association

The Naval Association

of Australia

VA050 Sunday, 29 May 2005
MINISTER REMEMBERS TRAGEDY OF SANDAKAN
Today, Australians recalled the tragedy of more than 2500 Australian and British prisoners of war who lost their lives after they were sent to Sandakan in Borneo during World War II, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, De-Anne Kelly, said in Canberra.
Mrs Kelly will unveil a plaque at the Australian War Memorial for the annual Sandakan Remembrance Day service, commemorating Australian and British prisoners of war who died or were killed working as slave labour or on death marches in the last months of the war.
"In 2005, as we mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, the story of Sandakan is a reminder of the grim price that Australia paid for peace," Mrs Kelly said.
"On this day in 1945, some 536 weak, malnourished and sick Australian and British prisoners set out from Sandakan on the second of the death marches to Ranau.
"The conditions were intolerable - many men died of illness or starvation, others too weak to carry on were killed. By the time the group reached Ranau 26 days later, only 142 Australian and 41 British PoWs were alive.
They joined the last six men to survive the first death march."
Back at Sandakan, the camp was burned to the ground by the Japanese and the remaining PoWs marched off and killed or left to die. At the end of this series of terrible ordeals, only six men - all Australians - had survived, escaping during the death marches or from Ranau before the last men were executed.
"The death marches from Sandakan to Ranau were among the worst atrocities to affect Australian servicemen and women," Mrs Kelly said.
"We honour these men but we do not dwell on the brutality they faced.
Instead, we reflect on their endurance, their bravery and their remarkable struggle for survival."
The Minister said the annual Sandakan Remembrance Day service was an important milestone in a year focusing on the 60th anniversary of the end of the war.
"Australia has a duty to continue to tell the story of Sandakan, so that future generations will come to understand the courage and dedication shown by men such as these in the service of our nation - and the price paid for the freedoms that we enjoy," she said.