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Sandakan Prisoner of War MemorialPrint Page
The monument commemorates prisoners of war who died at Sandakan and Ranau and on death marches during World War Two.
After the fall of Singapore and Borneo to the Japanese, a prisoner of war camp was established just outside of Sandakan to house approximately 750 British and more than 1650 Australian prisoners who were sent to the camp during the period 1942-43. In 1945, when the Japanese started to realise that the war may have been lost, and the Allies were closing in, the emaciated prisoners were force marched, in three separate marches, to the village of Ranau in the jungle, 250 kilometres away, under the shadows of Mount Kinabalu.
Only six Australians of the 2400 prisoners survived the "death march" - they survived because they were able to escape from the camp at Ranau, or escaped during the march from Sandakan. No British prisoners survived.
Location
Address: | Bridge & Winton Streets, Tumbarumba, 2653 |
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State: | NSW |
Area: | AUS |
GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -35.777477 Long: 148.011111 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
Monument Type: | Monument |
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Monument Theme: | Conflict |
Sub-Theme: | WW2 |
Actual Event Start Date: | 03-September-1939 |
Actual Event End Date: | 15-August-1945 |
Dedication
Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Saturday 12th November, 2011 |
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Remembering those who perished at Sandakan, Ranau and on the Death Marches
Especially :
Gordon Burgun +
Charles Perrott +
Robert McEwan +
1787 Australian servicemen perished
Only 6 survived the death marches