Sandakan Memorial Service Program

SANDAKAN
COMMUNITY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Welcome to the
SANDAKAN REMEMBRANCE SERVICE
SYDNEY SANDAKAN MEMORIAL
BURWOOD PARK, BURWOOD
11AM · SUNDAY · 6 August 2006
Above: Professor Dick Braithwaite, Burwood 2005
Cover Photo: Trinity Grammar Cadet, Burwood 2005
Below: Photo taken at the Sandakan Memorial, Sandakan 2005.
Message from the Chairman
The Sandakan Community Education Committee seeks to increase public
awareness of Australia’s greatest war time atrocity, the infamous Sandakan
- Ranau Death Marches.
Each year the Committee holds a Remembrance Service at the Sydney
Sandakan Memorial located in Burwood Park, Burwood. The Service is
always held on the first Sunday of August at 11:00am.
This year the Committee, with the assistance of various organisations, has
produced Sandakan caps, memorial badges, framed photographs of
Local Boys and Remembrance Service booklets. A DVD of the Service will
also be produced and archived for future generations.
The committee is grateful for the ongoing financial support of Burwood
Council, local RSL clubs and Sub-branches. Grants have also been received
from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Mayors of Ashfield,
Burwood, the City of Canada Bay and Strathfield Council’s for which the
Committee is especially appreciative.
Local schools contribute greatly to the success of the Remembrance
Service. Burwood Girls High School, Homebush Boys High School,
St Patrick's College Strathfield and Trinity Grammar School provide music,
a Drum Corp, seating and a catafalque party respectively. The magnificent
contribution of each of these schools demonstrates that the youth of
today acknowledge the sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces
in the defence of our nation.
Thank you for attending. God bless those who
protect our freedom.
Cr David Weiley
Chairman Sandakan Community Education Committee
1
Sandakan Memorial Day
The year was 1945, the place Sandakan, then the capital of British North
Borneo (Sabah) where 2428 Japanese Prisoners of War (POWs) were
interned. They numbered 641 British and 1781 Australian military
personnel taken during the fall of Singapore. The POWs were now in their
3rd year of captivity by the Japanese.
They were used as labourers to build a military airstrip in Sandakan. In late
1944 as the Allied Forces won back much of the Pacific, the airstrip itself
was destroyed by repeated air operations.
At the beginning of 1945 the Japanese began moving the POWs, 260 kms
west into the mountains to the small settlement of Ranau. After enduring
starvation, overwork and beatings, the prisoners were forced on three
marches through the jungle and tracks from Sandakan to Ranau.
The losses were tragically high on these gruelling marches between
January and June 1945. During the first march from January to March, of
the 455 Prisoners of War who set out, over one hundred were lost to either
exhaustion or disease. Others were shot or beaten to death. The second
march, a ‘more brutal version of the earlier march’ (Laden, Fevered,
Starved) from May to June saw similar losses. On 29 May about 530
marchers set out to Ranau, yet only 183 reached Ranau on 27 June 1945.
There were no survivors at the War’s end, the remainder of the prisoners
having died at the Ranau and Sandakan camps.
By the end of August 1945, the only survivors were the six Australians who
had escaped from the death marches. The two who escaped into the
jungle on the second march in June 1945 were helped by locals before
being rescued by allied forces. The other four all escaped from Ranau in
July 1945 and were also helped by the locals in the area until they too were
rescued by allied forces in early August 1945.
2
Sandakan Memorial Day (continued)
The dead POWs are named on the Honour Roll at the Commonwealth War
Graves Cemetery at Labuan.
Six men escaped this most horrific atrocity, just six out of the 2428 men.
They were:
Bombardier Richard (Dick) Braithwaite 2/15 Field Regiment
Lance Bombardier William (Bill) Moxham 2/15 Field Regiment
Gunner Owen Campbell 2/10 Field Regiment
Private Nelson Short 2/18 Infantry Battallion
Warrant Officer William (Bill) Hector Sticpewich AASC
Private Keith Boterill 2/19 Battallion
Truly may it be said of these gallant men
Their name liveth for evermore.
Inscribed at the Labuan Memorial.
Acknowledgement
The Australian War Memorial is a unique Australian national institution
that combines a shrine, a world-class museum and an extensive archive.
Our most consulted resource is the Roll of Honour, which provides details
of the more than 102,000 Australian servicemen
and women who have fallen in all conflicts since
the Sudan commitment of 1885. The Australians at
War section of the site is a rich source of
information for anyone interested in Australian
Military History.
Major General Steve Gower AO
Director, Australian War Memorial
www.awm.gov.au
3
Order of Service
CALL TO ORDER
ENTRY
Homebush Boys High School Drum Band
MOUNTING OF HONOUR GUARD
Trinity Grammar School
WELCOME
Mr Russ Kenny · Master of Ceremonies
REFLECTIONS
CALL TO WORSHIP
Fr. Joe Camilleri
READING ONE
POEM
READING TWO
REMEMBRANCE ADDRESS
Rusty Priest AM
4
Order of Service
PRAYERS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
TRIBUTE CEREMONY
Representatives and individuals to lay wreaths
ODE OF REMEMBRANCE
Mr John Walsh PSM JP
LAST POST
ONE MINUTE SILENCE
REVEILLE
SANDAKAN COMMITMENT
Mrs Mary Bryant - Committee Member
NATIONAL ANTHEM
FINAL BLESSING
HONOUR GUARD WITHDRAWS
CLOSING
Councillor David Weiley
Committee Chairman
5
WELCOME
MrMrRuss
RussKenny
KennyMC
REFLECTIONS
Kang
MrAlice
Rusty
Priest
CALL TO WORSHIP
Fr.Reverend
Joe Camilleri
???
We are assembled here in the presence of Almighty God to
remember before Him, with gratitude and pride, those who
perished at the Sandakan camp and on the Sandakan—Ranau
death marches, the honoured dead who gave up their lives for
their country.
Each of us has come this morning with deepened expectations:
Some to honour a loved one, a friend, or a Comrade-in-Arms.
Others to mourn a death or celebrate a life.
All of us to commit ourselves to live worthy of the suffering and
sacrifice which was the lot of so many in that tragic episode of
our nation’s history.
Let us pause in silence to ask God to fulfil His purposes in us and
to enable us to do our duty today in a manner befitting those we
honour and who have gone before us.
(A brief period of silence will be observed)
May we in this service give thanks to God for His goodness to us in
the past, remember the sacrifice of those who have helped preserve
what we enjoy in the present, and commit ourselves to the future,
praying that we might be worthy inheritors of all we enjoy.
6
READING ONE
Reader:
Passage from Sandakan POW survivor, Nelson Short
You saw these men every day when you were getting treated for ulcers.
The dead were lying there, naked skeletons. They were all ready to be
buried. Day after day they were just dying like flies in the camp, malaria,
malnutrition. And you thought to yourself, well, how could I possibly get
out of a place like this? Then when it came to the death march, you
thought, how can I get out of this? And even after escaping, you’d say to
yourself, well, right, we’ve escaped, now what are our chances, where are
we going? Nowhere. We’re in the middle of Borneo, we’re in the jungle.
How could we ever survive? Sydney was a long way from there.
http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/sandakan/sand09.htm
Reader:
POEM
From walking in the footsteps of the dead,
Feeling their presence in a rotten boot,
A blaze upon a tree that marks a grave,
A bullet scar still unhealed in the bark,
A scrap of webbing and an earth-stained badge,
A falling bamboo hut, a giant tree
They rested at, this creek,
This climb that runs the sweat into your eyes Though you aren’t laden, fevered, starved…
You tell yourself you know how they went by.
Colin Simpson, from script of Six from Borneo, reproduced by kind permission of the ABC.
http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/sandakan/sand10.htm
7
READING TWO
Reader
Passage from Sandakan POW survivor, Richard Braithwaite
I had nowhere to go because of the gloom, and the surrounding vegetation
was all heavy jungle, thorny. I just sat down on a log there and watched
those reptiles, insects, crawling past, thinking, well, this is where it
happens, mate, you’re finished. After about half an hour just sitting, all of
a sudden I thought, no, you’re not finished. You’re not going to die in a
place like this. And I became really angry. I just put my head down like a
bull and charged that jungle, and, I don’t know, it just seemed to part.
Maybe someone was looking after me.
http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/sandakan/sand09.htm
REMEMBRANCE ADDRESS
Rusty Dick
Priest
AM
Professor
Braithwaite
BSc(UQ), MSc(UQ), PhD(Monash)
PRAYERS
Fr.
Joe Camilleri
Chaplain:
Our Father God, as we remember especially on this day those
who were prisoners of war and used as forced labour at Sandakan
and on the forced marches to Ranau, we give thanks for their
courage, their devotion to duty, and the sacrifice of life itself, that
we may have the opportunity to live in peace and freedom. We
thank you for their lives and for what they meant to families and
friends, for the love, joy and, on occasions, the tears some among
us shared with them and for them.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
8
(say together)
These many years later, please continue to give comfort and to ease
the hurt from their loss. As we commit ourselves to the ideals for
which they died, we join in praying together:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace (say together)
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy:
Grant that we ourselves may seek not so much to be
consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is by losing that we find;
It is by forgiving, that we are forgiven;
And it is by dying, that we rise again to eternal life,
In Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
(‘The Prayer of St Francis’, source unknown)
Reader:
Lord, as we are surrounded by memories of the grim reality of war,
we pray for peace in our world. Prosper the efforts of all those who
labour to bring understanding and reconciliation between nations,
that all people may learn to live peaceably together, to the honour
of your name.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
9
(say together)
Reader:
Almighty God, direct the hearts and minds of those who bear
responsibility for the government of the nations of the world. May
they seek honour and justice, restrain evil and oppression, and seek
the true prosperity of their people and the welfare of all peoples.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
(say together)
Reader:
We pray for those currently serving in our defence forces, especially
those in peace keeping roles, that all may be given courage in the
face of danger and may always seek to uphold that which is right,
even in the midst of conflict.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
(say together)
Acknowledgement
The Sandakan committee greatly
appreciates the generous financial
support of the Granville Sub-Branch R.S.L.
10
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Mr John Murphy MP
Member for Lowe
The Committee Patron will lead the Assembly in prayer.
Accept our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught
us to pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
(say together)
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
The power and the glory
For ever and ever. Amen.
TRIBUTE CEREMONY
Representatives and individuals to lay wreaths
(Families, friends and members of the public who wish to lay tributes are invited
to report, on arrival, to the Wreath Marshal. An invitation to lay private tributes
will be announced as part of the ceremony.)
11
ODE OF REMEMBRANCE
Mr John Walsh PSM JP
With special
acknowledgement
to the
lateCampbell
Owen Campbell
(1914-2003)
With special
acknowledgement
to the late
Owen
(1914-2003)
last of the six
last of the six Sandakan survivors
Sandakan survivors
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.
We will remember them. (say together)
Lest we forget. (say together)
BUGLE WILL SOUND ‘THE LAST POST’
ONE MINUTE SILENCE
BUGLE WILL SOUND ‘REVEILLE’
SANDAKAN COMMITMENT
Mary
Bryant
MrMrs
John
Walsh.
PSM
Let us give thanks for this Sandakan memorial and all that it
stands for. May those who come to this place find peace and
hope in moments of solitude. May they remember the service
and sacrifice made by our fellow citizens in defence of this great
nation. May they be reminded of duty, service beyond self and
tender care for those who suffer.
12
THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
‘Advance Australia Fair’
Led by Councillor Ernest Wong
Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our lands abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history’s page, Let every stage
Advance Australia Fair
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.
FINAL BLESSING
Fr. Joe Camilleri
HONOUR GUARD WITHDRAWS
CLOSING
Mayor of Burwood · Councillor David Weiley
Committee Chairman
Thank you for attending today’s Remembrance Service.
To ensure you receive an invitation to attend next year’s service,
please sign our guest book.
13
Acknowledgement
The Sandakan committee is very grateful for
the financial support of the Concord District
Sub-Branch R.S.L and the Concord R.S.L and
Community Club Limited.
Acknowledgement
The Sandakan Caps were produced to commemorate the 2006 Service.
Distinctive in appearance, these caps feature the Sandakan badge and are
coloured Green and Gold, our national colours.
The Committee is grateful for the support of AUGA Travel who assisted in
the design and production of these magnificent caps.
AUGA TRAVEL SERVICE P/L
SUITE 1005, LEVEL 10,
370 PITT ST SYDNEY NEW 2000
TEL: 02 9283 6886
FAX: 02 9283 6880
14
Private Lance Wilton Maskey
Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of NX27883 Private Lance
Wilton Maskey, No. 2 Company, Australian Army Service Corps. He was
one of over 2000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) held in the Sandakan POW
camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a
part of B Force. The 1494 POW's that made up B Force, were transported
from Changi on 7 July 1942 on board the tramp ship Ubi Maru, arriving in
Sandakan Harbour on 18 July 1942. Private Maskey, aged 27, was shot,
along with 16 other sick and dying prisoners, by the Japanese on 1 August
1945. He was the son of Wilton and Florence Mary Maskey, of Burwood,
NSW. He is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial Panel 24.
Source: Australian War Memorial Negative Number P02467.180
15
The Catafalque Party
A catafalque is a raised structure supporting a stand, upon which a coffin is
placed for display before burial. People may then file past and pay their last
respects to the deceased person.
Legend has it that the first catafalque (cat-a-falk) parties guarded important
and wealthy people’s coffins from thieves and vandals.
Today vigils, or catafalque parties, are mounted as a sign of respect around
personages as they lie in State and around memorials on occasions of
remembrance such as Anzac Day. (It could be said that a memorial is a
‘symbolic coffin’ for those who have fallen).
A catafalque party consists of four sentries, a waiting member in reserve and
a commander.
If a catafalque party is requested to be mounted for an extended period of e.g.
‘lying in state’ then a series of ‘watches’ divided into ‘vigil’ periods will be
provided.
A catafalque party must not be senior in rank to the deceased over whom it
is mounted.
The origin of the tradition of resting on reversed arms is lost in time. However,
it was used by a Commonwealth soldier at the execution of Charles I in 1649,
with the soldier being duly punished for his symbolic gesture towards the
King's death. It is later recorded that at the funeral for Marlborough, in 1722,
the troops carried out a formal reverse arms drill, which was especially
invented for the service, as a unique sign of respect to the great soldier.
The ‘modern trend’ of sticking rifles upside down into the ground as a
temporary memorial to a fallen soldier (with a helmet or a hat over the butt)
originated with the introduction of tanks. When a soldier fell during an
advance his comrade would pick up the rifle and stick it into the ground, by
the bayonet, as a marker to indicate to the tanks that a wounded or dead
soldier lay there. This was an attempt at ensuring that the armoured vehicle
would not accidentally run over the body.
http://www.anzacday.org.au/education/tff/catafalque.html
http://www.defence.gov.au/Army/ASOD/
16
Trinity Grammar Catafalque Party
The Local Boys Photographic Exhibition
was proudly sponsored by:
Mayor John Faker
Mayor Rae Jones
Burwood Council
Ashfield Council
Mayor Angelo Tsirekas
Mayor Bill Carney
Canada Bay Council
Strathfield Council
Father Joe Camilleri, Burwood 2005
Trinity Grammar Cadets, Burwood 2005
Rusty Priest AM, Burwood 2005
Sen. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Prof. Dick Braithwaite, Cr David Weiley - Burwood 2005
Prisoners of the Japanese
Over 22,000 Australian servicemen and almost forty nurses were captured by
the Japanese. Most were captured early in 1942 when Japanese forces
captured Malaya, Singapore, New Britain, and the Netherlands East Indies.
Hundreds of Australian civilians were also interned.
By the war’s end more than one in three of these prisoners – about 8,000 –
had died. Most became victims of their captors’ indifference and brutality.
Tragically, over a thousand died when Allied submarines torpedoed the
unmarked ships carrying prisoners around Japan’s wartime empire.
In 1945 survivors were liberated from camps all over Asia: some in the places
they had been captured, others in Burma and Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and
even Japan itself.
Source: http://www.awm.gov.au/stolenyears/ww2/japan/index.asp
Godfrey Eugene (Rusty) Priest AM – Guest Speaker 2006
Rusty Priest was born on 27 June 1927 in the Melbourne suburb of Armadale.
Rusty was the NSW State President of the Returned and Services League of
Australia (1993-2002), and the National Deputy President (1997-2002). He was
made a Life Member of the League in 1994.
His Primary school education was at St James Gardenvale, followed by a scholarship
to St Thomas Moore School before finally moving to Christian Brothers College East
St Kilda, where he attained the Leaving Certificate (Victoria), passing in English,
Latin, Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics 2 and 3.
On 2 July 1945 Rusty enlisted in the 2nd AIF in Melbourne and was posted to
Cowra, NSW for initial training with 5 Australian Recruit Training Battalion and then
on 3 October joined the Australian Training Centre at Canungra, Queensland for
further training in Jungle Warfare.
On 2 Jan 1946 he was promoted Temporary Corporal and transferred to 22
Australian Line Maintenance Section, Australian Corps of Signals for onward
movement to Japan as a member of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces.
Rusty served in Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF)
from 24 April 1946 until 21 December 1948 when he returned to Australia. During
this period he was a Corporal Linesman with 22 Line Maintenance Section,
attended the 8th United States Army School of Signals at Yokohama for 6 months,
qualifying as a Skilled Wire Chief.
Rusty then attended and qualified at a Small Arms Weapons Instructors course at
the BCOF Central Army Training School, Matsuyama. On 2 November he was
transferred to A Field Battery Royal Australian Artillery at Hiro, and returned to
Australia with the 34th Infantry Brigade in December 1948.
During this period Rusty decided to make the Army his career and over the next 22
years was to enjoy a variety of postings in Artillery and Infantry.
In 1965 he was posted to the Directorate of Artillery at Army Headquarters in
Canberra from where he retired in September 1967 with the rank of Warrant
Officer Class 1. In this period he was to specialise in the fields of Artillery Survey,
Sound Ranging, Flash Spotting and Field Artillery Radar.
Rusty continued to serve in the Australian Regular Army (ARA) Emergency Reserve
until 9 August 1975. During his service he qualified as an Army Light Aircraft Pilot.
17
"To the best of my knowledge I was the only Warrant Officer Pilot that the Army
ever had", said Rusty.
Rusty’s father, William Joseph Priest (1894-1979) set the very high standards of
ethics and morality that proved to be a benchmark for Rusty to observe during his
future years.
Rusty’s mother, Patricia Brady Priest (nee O'Keeffe) (1902-1933) died when he was
aged 5 years. He has two brothers, the eldest Patrick Arthur served with the 3rd
Division Signals (Militia) in New Guinea during 1942-43 until wounded and
evacuated and a younger brother Gerald. Both are still living in Melbourne.
He married Gloria Merle in June 1955 and has a son Michael Patrick and a daughter
Carole-Anne. He has 4 grandchildren Hayley, Liam, Evin and Marlee.
Rusty's interests have always been directed towards the continuing need for
Australians to remember and commemorate the service of those who gave so
much in defence of their country.
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway at Concord Repatriation General Hospital is
a project, 'a living memorial', to which he has devoted much of his time and energy
to ensure that the story of this vital part of our history is available to our
schoolchildren.
The re-naming of the Glebe Island Bridge to the ANZAC Bridge and the large
bronze statue of "Digger" the World War 1 Australian soldier on the bridge are due
to his success in convincing the Premier of NSW Bob Carr of the need to ensure
that the memory of the ANZAC tradition is commemorated forever.
The inaugural International Service for Peace and Fallen Olympians became a reality
one week before the opening of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as a result of his
continued lobbying for some two years beforehand.
A Register of War Memorials NSW is now being compiled on a website so that yet
another vital part of our history does not disappear with the passage of time.
Rusty continues to devote much time and effort in photographing and recording
War memorials throughout NSW and at the same time endeavouring to convince
local schools to assist as part of their civic studies.
The Sandakan Community Education Committee is proud to have Rusty Priest AM
as Guest Speaker for the 2006 Remembrance Service.
18
19
Message from the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs
On 29 May 1945, some 530 Australian and British prisoners of war left the Sandakan
prisoner of war camp in Borneo, on a forced march to Ranau.
They were the second group of prisoners to be moved – another 470 had marched out in
January as the Japanese emptied the camp ahead of the expected Allied landing on Borneo.
Sandakan was a prisoner of war camp of Australian and British servicemen captured in Java
and Singapore during World War II.
The Japanese showed no mercy. The prisoners endured daily beatings, sickness and
starvation, and they were constantly surrounded by death.
As World War II came closer to conclusion the more extreme the conditions became for the
prisoners. Rice rations were reduced, and then completely ceased. Medical supplies were
also withheld leading to an immediate rise in deaths.
In all, more than 2,400 Allied servicemen were held at Sandakan. Many of them died of
malnutrition, exhaustion, disease and ill treatment. Some 300 who remained at Sandakan
following the second march were all dead by 15 August 1945. Of the 1,000 men who took
part in the two marches just six, who managed to escape, survived.
The stories surrounding Sandakan prisoner of war camp are tales of courage, mateship and
endurance despite the horrendous circumstances and acts of cruelty that the Australian and
British soldiers were forced to endure.
Their suffering is unimaginable. The stories of the treatment of these men, the mindless and
needless brutality imposed upon them, is also unforgettable once heard.
There are images of the beaten and abused men, of emaciated shuffling figures forced to
walk hundreds of kilometres along jungle tracks to their eventual death. There are also
many tales of kindness, mateship, selflessness and courage.
The tragedy of Sandakan is heightened in that the marches occurred in the months before
the Japanese surrendered ending World War II.
It has taken a long time for the story of Sandakan to be told.
Even now, we cannot fully imagine the suffering, the utter
inhumanity that they endured, the horrific conditions and the
cruelty with which they lived and died.
Today, we remember and honour them all.
We grieve for their memory – young men taken from their
families to defend our ideals of peace and freedom and end up
a part of the darkest chapter in our wartime history.
The Hon Bruce Billson MP
20
A message from Hon. Paul Keating
It was only since the memorial to those who perished at Sandakan was built in 1993
that the country has known, with clarity, the appalling atrocity which Sandakan
represents and the toll it took on Australian and British servicemen. Of the 2500 who
were captured by the Japanese, we know that only six survived. And that the losses
exacted at Sandakan against Australian servicemen was three times the number lost
in the battles of Papua New Guinea. These men died as prisoners and slaves unable
to glean any hint of human mercy. And they died ingloriously while their fight; the
fight for Australia, was as glorious as any one in our national history.
It was perhaps the ingloriousness and abject indecency of it that led the Australian
armed forces and the remembrance organisations to either pass over Sandakan or
diminish its moment or see it as something which failed to define it as part of the
battle history of Australia.
Naturally, this was never good enough for the relatives of those who lost sons,
brothers, husbands, uncles, who only knew ‘when’ but not ‘how and why’ those
who, for so long, could not get at the truth.
No stylised remembrance was good enough for them and, in the knowledge of what
had happened, nor should it have been.
Not that the death of these men was entitled to commemoration and remembrance
over any others who died in the same war, but their sacrifice and the circumstances
of their deaths was so profoundly sad and their testimonial belief in Australia so
strong, they were entitled to solemn and perpetual regard. And still are.
These men would have always known that they were overhauled and defeated by
an enemy of smaller force than that at their commander’s disposal. There would
have always been an ignominy in that for them. They
knew or quickly found out that the Japanese armed force
was a pitiless and cruel aggressor. And in that realisation
their only comfort could have been love of their loved
ones, love of Australia and regard and camaraderie for
and between one another.
For their sacrifice we owe them much. And while we say
‘Lest we Forget’ one only has to think about Sandakan for
a second, and wonder ‘how could we’.
The Hon. Paul Keating
21
Acknowledgement
BURWOOD
Westfield Burwood kindly donated a gift voucher to the committee.
Westfield is a generous supporter of a broad range of community events
across Australia and their donation is greatly appreciated by the
committee.
Reflection
In 1945 a group of over 2000 Australian and British prisoners of the
Japanese in Borneo were sent on a torturous 160 mile march from
Sandakan to Ranau.
The events at Sandakan and the subsequent death marches to Ranau mark
the worst wartime atrocity suffered by Australian soldiers and one of the
darkest chapters in our military history. Of the 2345 men, only six survived.
It has taken many decades for the story of Sandakan to be told. Even now,
we can only try to imagine the suffering, the utter inhumanity that the
men endured, the horrific conditions and the insane cruelty under which
they lived and died.
Today we remember the tales of selflessness, the courage shown in the
face of death, the tenacity, strength of character
and the great human spirit that kept these men
going day after day.
We owe it to these POW’s to tell their story – one
of the most tragic of the war and one of the least
known. Let us honour their memory and be
inspired by their example of courage, bravery and
fortitude.
Alice Kang
22
Ashfield RSL Sub Branch
Returned & Services League of Australia
374 Liverpool Road Ashfield NSW 2131 • Telephone (02) 9797 9036
SANDAKAN RECOLLECTIONS
Of the 8031 Australian servicemen and women who died as prisoners of war of the
Japanese during WW ll, 22.5%, 1787 died of starvation, disease, exhaustion and/or were
killed by their captors during the Sandakan death march and in the Sandakan and Ranau
camps.
Six Australian soldiers survived the death march because they escaped into the jungle and
were hidden and fed by local Borneo people. One of the six survivors, Private Nelson Short
(2/18 Battalion) lived in Ashfield for many years until he passed away in 1995. He was a
member of Ashfield RSL sub Branch for many years.
A very close friend Sister Maria Sullivan RSJ who has lived in Ashfield since 1983, had an
Uncle, Corporal Ron Sullivan (AASC) killed on the Sandakan march. “On 31 March 1945,
Easter Saturday, when shortly after noon, Gunner Wallace Alberts, one of five Aboriginal
soldiers to be sent to Borneo and Corporal Ron Sullivan blacked out while tackling the hill
near Seg-in-dai. Both men were unconscious, so the guard bayonetted them to death”.
(‘Sandakan - A Conspiracy of Silence’- Lynette Ramsay-Silver)
My family has always had a close association with the 8th Division - 2nd AIF, and we have
attended many ‘The fall of Singapore’ memorial services, which are celebrated each year
on the 15th February at the Martin Place Cenotaph. My Uncle, Private Bill Bruce (2/20
Battalion) was killed in action during the defence of Singapore on 9 February 1942. A
cousin Gunner Jim Ryan (2/15 Fld Regiment) died on the Sandakan march on 18 April
1945. His name is recorded on the Labuan Memorial and on the Sandakan Memorial in
Burwood Park. The serendipity of life is a mystery, my Uncle, by marriage L/Corporal
Rodney Parker (HQ AASC) was placed on both the Borneo B & E Force drafts but was
withdrawn from them at the last moment. He was eventually placed on the J Force draft
and sent to Japan. He will be eighty-eight in October.
In 1999 I was invited to join the Sandakan Community Education Committee, and I felt
very proud, but humble when the committee asked me to design the programme and
draft the format for the 1999 memorial service. The 1999 memorial service was the first
memorial service held at the Sandakan Memorial in Burwood Park, since the then Prime
Minister Paul Keating dedicated the memorial in 1993.
LEST WE FORGET
JOHN WALSH PSM JP
PRESIDENT
ASHFIELD RSL SUB BRANCH
23
Speech By Alex Khoo
delivered at Sandakan 2004
The Right Honourable the Chief Minister of Sabah, Your Excellency and all our
visiting guests and friends from Australia and ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning.
Thank you for the privilege of speaking here.
Today, we are gathered, from far and near, to commemorate the bravery and the
memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, 60 years ago, among them
the 1787 who perished in the Death March from Sandakan to Ranau. Where we
are standing now was also the camp from which the Death March commenced.
We are humbled by their sacrifice and by their greatness. Their names and their
ranks are engraved on walls and imprinted in hearts; their resting places are
memorial parks, preserved with pride for posterity, and for recall in perpetuity.
In gratitude, and with dignity, solemnity and silent grief, we once again bid them
farewell.
We can shed tears that they have gone. We may also smile that they have lived and
come to Sandakan. They have crossed the oceans to defend the territorial integrity
of North Borneo, now Sabah, Malaysia. They have come to liberate the subjugated
and the enslaved local inhabitants. They have set free a suffering humanity.
In the process, thousands of these fallen heroes have suffered untold misery and
pain. But they endured to the end.
They have lived and fought through the darkness of the night, so that we may live
to greet the glory of a new dawn, in peace.
The devastation and reality of wars are, in different way, shape or form, imprinted
in the minds of each and every one. Agnes Newton Keith describes them best.
In her book “Three Came Home”, referring to her husband’s letter to her, she
describes how North Borneo has been laid bare by friend and foe; how the land
has been burned clean by the Japanese, and bombed flat by the Allies. Whenever
you dig, she writes, there are bones and death sticks out of the soil. The Chinese
and the natives have been murdered or bombed accidentally, and the Eurasians
have been wiped out. The collaborators have been shot by one side for betraying
or by the other side for failing to betray.
Such was the reality of war.
24
There is, however, one other important truth for us to remember, that is the
existence of local resistance. Some bear arms. Others untiringly work to relieve or
reduce the sufferings caused by the man’s inhumanity to man, committed locally
and overseas.
The Massacre of May 27th 1945 in Sandakan is testimony of the unnecessary and
senseless atrocity and cruelty of the aggressors. (There are other incidences of
group murders.)
On that fateful day, May 27th 1945, no less than 28 top elites of the Sandakan
community were called together, under the pretext of a meeting, only to be
beheaded in the same night at a place, just a mile from the Town Centre. Among
them was my father, for the humanitarian work he carried out, which pleased not
the invaders.
But the day when the innocent die is also the day when heroes are born, both in
Australia and locally.
Many believe that the chance for peace is the readiness for war. I happen to
subscribe to that, but may I also pray that such readiness remains just readiness
always and need not be activated and turned into action.
Ladies and gentlemen, this episode in history, where the Australian and the British
forces liberated North Borneo, has created a lasting bond between Australia and
Sabah. Australia has gone further. Australia has gone further to nurture Sabah
after the war and offered Sabah students hundreds of tertiary scholarships under
the Colombo Plan Scheme at a time of greatest need, for the future development
of human resources in Sabah.
One of such scholars, who has excelled and returned to serve Sabah with high
distinction, is the President of the Sandakan Municipal Council, Datuk Adeline
Leong, who is among us and standing over there.
For all this, I take this opportunity to express profound thanks and gratitude to the
Australian Government and the Australian people.
To preserve freedom is to struggle, to suffer and to sacrifice. There is no other way.
The responsibility is now ours.
Today, we specially remember all those who have gone before us, having
discharged their duty and fulfilled their responsibility. We owe them. The proper
and grateful way of paying this debt is not only to perpetuate their memory but
also to strive to live up to the standard that they have laid down for us. No less.
What they have given us, we will give to those who come after us. No less.
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We will not forget.
We will remember.
We are forever grateful.
Thank you for coming to this commemorative ceremony.
Thank you everyone who made it happen.
Alex Khoo
15 August 2004
SANDAKAN
QX21581 Gunner John Costello
John was the son of Henry and Mary Christine Costello, of Strathfield, NSW.
Photograph details:
QLD. c. 1941. Studio portrait of QX21581 Gunner John Costello, 2/10th Field
Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery. Costello died as a prisoner of war of the
Japanese near Sandakan, Borneo, on or about 1945-06-21. He was aged 32.
(Donor R. Lathlean)
Source: www.awm.gov.au
26
Local Boys
The Local Government Areas of Ashfield, Burwood,
Canada Bay and Strathfield Council’s include the suburbs
of:
Abbotsford, Ashbury, Ashfield, Burwood, Concord, Croydon,
Croydon Park, Drummoyne, Enfield, Five Dock, Haberfield,
Homebush, Hurlstone Park and Strathfield.
List of local enlisted men who died at Sandakan:
Abbotsford:
1.
NX52096
Taylor D Bombardier
2.
NX58387
Waddington G Sergeant
3.
NX24461
Hunter A C A Staff Sergeant
4.
NX10946
Knight H E Gunner
5.
NX68405
Board W E Driver
6.
NX67894
Elliot T A Corporal
7.
NX2140
Erwin L R Private
8.
NX66085
Harris L A Private
9.
NX19931
Harris R C Private
Ashbury:
Ashfield:
27
Ashfield continued…
10.
NX39588
Kline J Private
11.
NX7272
Soutar G A J Sapper
12.
NX32966
Walker J S Bombardier
Burwood:
13.
NX26263
Digby G H Signalman
14.
NX72868
Dyson R R Bombardier
15.
NX49847
Lister A W Signalman
16.
NX68763
Logan R W B Driver
17.
NX27883
Maskey L W Private
18.
NX39994
Child F T Private
19.
NX57478
Cook J T Private
20.
NX72666
Coy F T Lance Corporal
21.
NX57251
Shields R Private
22.
NX67623
Stanton A J Sergeant
23.
NX51640
Woodcroft K R Private
24.
NX60135
Young D G C Private
Concord:
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Croydon:
25.
NX53140
Fitzgerald G S Corporal
26.
NX65469
Johnston C S Private
27.
NX25816
Midgley J J Private
28.
NX27558
Whereat M C Sergeant
29.
NX54971
Whitehead B C Lance Sergeant
Croydon Park:
30.
NX59722
Davis J T Private
31.
NX43446
Fitzpatrick D A Private
Drummoyne:
32.
NX53537
Clyne E F Staff Sergeant
33.
NX21899
Bayley A E Private
34.
NX51926
Mitchell W E Sergeant
Enfield:
Five Dock:
35.
NX68904
McCarthy L Driver
Haberfield:
36.
NX65224
Blackie J W Warrant Officer Class 1
37.
NX68731
Trevillien R G Corporal
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Homebush:
38.
NX39989
Adams A M Private
39.
NX2555
O'Loughlan G J Private
Hurlstone Park:
40.
NX38428
Boustead M G Private
41.
NX59118
Smith R E Private
Strathfield:
42.
NX68428
Black J Private
43.
NX10791
Blatch W G Gunner
44.
QX22902
Cameron C M Private
45.
QX21581
Costello J Gunner
46.
VX39217
Davidson R R Sergeant
47.
NX58457
Ings J T Private
48.
NX49712
Marshall P O Sapper
49.
NX1797
Moore C G Private
50.
NX49336
Nicholls S T A Private
Please note: Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of these
records. The Committee sincerely regrets any errors in the compilation of
this information.
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Message from Burwood RSL Club
The Sandakan Memorial in Burwood Park honours the memory of all those
brave soldiers from our community who died on the infamous Sandakan
“death marches”. Lest we forget the "saddest story in Australia's war
history”. We salute their service and honour the contribution of Australia’s
service men and women in wars.
Those names on the honour roll at the Sandakan Memorial are recognised
and commemorated in a respectful manner not only by those gathered
today, but by past and future generations. We pay homage to the heroes
of Sandakan. Burwood RSL Club is committed to raising community
awareness of the service and sacrifice of Australian servicemen, educating
younger Australians about our wartime heritage and its importance in the
development of our nation.
Russ Kenny MC
Russ has been a foundation member of the Sandakan Community
Education Committee and has carried out the duties of Master of
Ceremonies since its inception thirteen years ago.
Russ is the President of Enfield RSL sub-branch,
also President of the District Council of the RSL.
He takes an active interest in all Veterans and their
dependants, has been awarded life membership of
the RSL, the Meritorious Medal and the Centenary
Medal for his services.
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Acknowledgements
The Sandakan Community Education Committee is grateful for
the support of the following:
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Burwood Council
Cr John Faker - Mayor of Burwood
Cr Rae Jones – Mayor of Ashfield
Cr Angelo Tsirekas – Mayor of the City of Canada Bay Council
Cr Bill Carney – Mayor of Strathfield
Burwood Girls High School
Homebush Boys High School
St Patrick’s College, Strathfield
Trinity Grammar, Summer Hill
Ashfield R.S.L Sub Branch
Burwood R.S.L Club
Concord District Sub-Branch RSL
Concord RSL and Community Club Ltd
Enfield R.S.L Sub Branch
Granville RSL sub-Branch
Homebush/Strathfield R.S.L Sub Branch
Croydon Park Ex-Servicemans Club
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Ability Badges
AUGA Travel
Boy Scouts – Burwood
MAD Design
Major Steve Gower AO from Australian War Memorial
Re-enactment Heritage Unit
R.M. Gregory Printers, Croydon Park
Rotary Club of Burwood
Salvation Army – Burwood
St John Ambulance
The Burwood Hotel
Westfield Burwood
Woolworths, Burwood Plaza
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MADABL457.1