Of the 2434 prisoners incarcerated at Sandakan, 1787 were Australian. Anzac Day Tours: Those unable to undertake a trek tour, due to age or physical condition, may like to consider joining the annual  Anzac Day Tour which offers a high degree of comfort, and an optional short walk along the death march track. [4] 1 of the Sandakan camp was destroyed in an attempt to erase any evidence of its … Accession Number: 120491. It is generally assumed that the decision to call off the operation before the surveillance was completed was made by the Australian military. As each man collapsed from exhaustion, that man was shot by a Japanese guard. Tham’s Appreciation Plaque from the Australians. They had escaped into the jungle either during the death marches or at Ranau. The biggest misconception about the Sandakan Death Marches that there was a total of 2,428 Australian and British POWs died during the marches. AWM 042578 Inside cover: Drawing of the Sandakan POW Camp by Corporal Frederick Woodley, 2/10th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers. Welcome to our website and details on how you can retrace the route of the infamous Sandakan death marches with Lynette Silver, the renowned World War 2 historian, and Tham Yau Kong, Sabah’s premier trekking specialist and managing director of TYK Adventure Tours, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. The march lasted for twenty-six days, with prisoners even less fit than those in the first marches had been, provided with fewer rations and often forced to forage for food. Only six of the POWs, who were Australians, survived it. By 26 June, only five Australians and one British soldier were still alive."[5]. The untold story of the Sandakan Death Marches of the Second World War. However, as the route passes through highly protected Class 1 Forest, and part of it is subject to flash flooding,  trekking groups had always ascended Taviu Hill via a less environmentally intrusive, safer, and physically less demanding route, a short distance away. To sample some of the documentaries made on the POW story and our trek, two-day semi-adventure tours (Sandakan Track Mini-highlights), 2 April 2013 ~ 4 April 2013 :: Elizabeth Penn Leo Moggie, 25 April ~ 2 May 2012 :: Little Heroes Foundation 2012. Unlike the Kokoda, Gallipoli, and the Vietnam war for example, the Sandakan Death March is still a barely known episode of unimaginable horror of the three-year ordeal of the Sandakan prisoners of war (POWs) that happened at North Borneo in 1942. The rest died at their destination. In several groups the POWs, all of whom were either malnourished or suffering serious illness, started the journey originally under the intention of reaching Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu). (Right) Genaral Manager of Sabah Tourism Board Datuk Irene Benggon Charuruks. Gunpowder from Chinese crackers was poured into the barrel and brave men stood round the mouth and rammed it down hard with pieces of bamboo. … On 7 June 1945 Gunner Owen Campbell and four other POWs escaped from the second march of Australian and British POWs from Sandakan to Ranau. Another Death March, similar to the Sandakan one, happened in the Philippines in 1942. [14][15][16][17], After the war much of the information surrounding the event's of the marches were kept from the families and the general public. The Japanese had selected 470 prisoners who were thought to be fit enough to carry baggage and supplies for the accompanying Japanese battalions relocating to the western coast. All were members of a 2700-strong Allied contingent transferred to Sandakan by the Japanese in 1942-43, following Singapore’s fall. [25] In 2016, 27 Sutton Valence School (SVS) Combined Cadet Force (CCF) from the United Kingdom including seven girls visiting the route to mount a five-day trek through its forested section from Bauto to Muruk. Sandakan Death March . Approximately 250 people were left at Sandakan after the second march departed. Caused by ... Sandakan Death Marches: 1942–1945: Si Rat Malai: 1943–1945: Jesselton revolt: 1943–1944: Formative era . Unlike the prisoners of war, after the day’s walk you will be well fed and have comfortable board and lodging. The Sandakan death marches were arguably the cruellest act against Australians in modern history. Challenge Walkers will be emailed an outline of the fitness level recommended, along with other information, after you book a place on the tour. Scott Morrison (Federal Opposition MP), Lynette Silver, Hon Jason Clare (Assistant Minister for Defence), Tham Yau Kong and Robert Oakeshott (Federal Independent MP), on Taviu Hill, April 2011. Recently the death occurred of Orang Tua Impas’ wife. Memorial for the Sandakan Death Marches 1944-45, Ranau, Borneo, Malaysia. Unaware that it was to be used by POWs, the local headmen given the task of creating this track had deliberately routed it away from any habitation, across the most inhospitable and difficult terrain possible. Lynette’s detailed knowledge about Sandakan and the Death Marches bought to life the events and soldiers from our past. The Sandakan Track – Sandakan-Ranau Death March (1942–1945) Sandakan-Ranau Death March Sandakan Memorial Park Lynette Silver, who began assisting the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) with the development of the Sandakan Memorial Park in 1995, has been involved in a number of initiatives since that time. Labuan War Cemetery:  The three-day tour can be extended to allow participants to  visit Labuan War Cemetery, a one-day excursion from Kota Kinabalu. The Agas team would later, incorrectly, report that there were no prisoners left in the camp, leading to the official end of any planned operation.[9]. This important and harrowing audiobook narrates the full story of Sandakan, as told through the experiences of the participants. The march lasted for twenty-six days, with prisoners even less fit than those in the first marches had been, provided with fewer rations and often forced to forage for food. The first death march was the worst, according to Silver, as it was the rainy season and food supplies had not been adequately arranged for. Although no further access to the protected area is permitted, photos of the Lolosing-Monkilua section can be viewed by clicking onto ‘Lolosing Section’ on the menu bar on the home page. Only six – all Australians – out of about a thousand sent to Ranau survived the war. Of the 2700 prisoners originally sent to Sandakan, only six all of them Australians would survive. [10] Furthermore, it has been estimated that 16% of the population of North Borneo [1], The exact details of the proposed operation are unclear as the operation itself was top-secret but is said to have involved Australian paratroopers being dropped into the vicinity to evacuate prisoners. Of about 530 marchers, only 100 were in any condition to embark on such an ordeal. This was the area that Sandakan Death March survivor Keith Botterill witnessed atrocities to Australian POW’s. That all changed in 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, when the route of the march was first mapped out. To hear what Major-General Chris Chris Wilson, British Army, has to say about the outstanding support and organisation supplied by the TYK team, which he described as ‘second to none’, click onto the video below. The #SMBgirls experience An emotional walk The Death March trek was an incredibly moving experience for everyone involved. On 9 September 2011, audio excerpts of the original recording were played on ABC radio (WA Perth 720) for the first time since 1947, along with audio excerpts of the rerecording. We are all familiar with Gallipoli and Kokoda. Cycling is also available, on request, as an optional extra to private trekking groups. Of the 2,434 allied soldiers sent to Sandakan death marches and camps during WWII, only six survived. March 9, 2021 March 9, 2021 by Editorial Department. In 1942 and 1943, Australian and British POWs who had been captured at the Battle of Singapore in February 1942 were shipped to North Borneo to construct a military airstrip and prisoner-of-war camps at Sandakan, North Borneo (Sabah). In an area of No. It is also one of the most heroic. It was the first speech to the parliament by a Japanese leader. Conditions for the remaining prisoners deteriorated sharply following the officers' removal. Reports produced by the Agas team in May 1945 ruled the evacuation of prisoners by air infeasible due to the destruction of the Ranau airfields. We were doing this as a fundraiser for the laudable McGuiness-McDermott Foundation. After the war, Campbell related his dreadful experiences at Sandakan and as an escapee from a death march, and he provided an eyewitness account of the mass murders of many fellow POWs. The route of the Death March, climbing up to 1,000 metres in some places, was along jungle tracks some of which the prisoners had to hack through thick jungle. Those who were left behind during the March were either left to die on the route or killed. Second death march to Ranau May-June 1945. copied from http://www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/sandakan/sand05.htm. All remaining prisoners left at Sandakan who could not walk either were killed or died from a combination of starvation and sickness before the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945. While some books pertaining to the movements of these units during the war were released earlier, these did not pertain to the time that these units spent in captivity. Kundasang War Memorial Museum, Ranau, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, Southeast Asia. In late January 1945 the Japanese decided to move 455 of the fittest prisoners to Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) to act as coolie labourers – only to halt them at Ranau, owing to Allied air activity on the west coast. Although the route took nine days, they were given enough rations for only four days. New Farm Park, Brisbane, Australia: Memorial to the victims of the Sandakan Death March in World War 2 Photographs of some of the soldiers who died on Sandakan death marches during WWII. The Sandakan Death Marches have been dramatised in the 2004 oratorio Sandakan Threnody — a threnody being a hymn of mourning, composed as a memorial to a dead person. Soldiers were forced to walk under extremely bad conditions with little food and drinking water. More than 60 years later, I set out to retrace that event and to help bring the story home. Until recently, little had been known about the Sandakan death march. Opening clip of Chum Television production 'Backspace' that follows Frank Wolf and Kevin Vallely as they cover the story of the Sandakan Death March in Borneo for Outpost Magazine. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. The world was able to receive eyewitness accounts of the crimes and atrocities committed. However it was not just the POW who suffered, with many Japanese soldiers also dying of starvation with some even turning to cannibalism in order to preserve their fighting effectiveness. Facebook … Most prisoners were so ill that the Japanese initially intended to let them starve to death forcing many to scavenge in the surrounding forest for food. The biggest misconception about the Sandakan Death Marches that there was a total of 2,428 Australian and British POWs died during the marches. Their heroism, their determination and their indomitable spirit are testimony to the strength of the human spirit and an inspiration to all. The national Covid-19 death toll currently stood at 1,313. Captain Hoshijima was found guilty of war crimes and hanged on 6 April 1946. The details of the event were so shocking that it was easier for the Australian government to withhold information than go public. As trekkers deal directly with Tham’s company, TYK Adventure Tours offers by far the best value for money, as well as great flexibility to cater for groups with individual needs. [19][20][21] The argument was set to rest as Lynette's evidence was supported by two of the last remaining trail cutters, Tuaty Akau and Zudin, who lived at the time to establish the route under forced labour for the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) as well witnessing the horror of the death march. Those who were left behind during the March were either left to die on the route or killed. Retrace the poignant route of Sandakan death marches with the renowned World War II historian, Lynette Silver and Sabah’s Borneo trekking specialist, Tham Yau Kong during your stay in Borneo.. After construction had been completed, the prisoners initially remained at the camp. On 21 August 2011, a team of British soldiers made history by being the first, and only, trekking group to successfully climb the most difficult and gruelling section of the death march track, while undertaking a full march along the death march route from Sandakan Camp to the Last Camp at Ranau. Some 20,000 soldiers who'd survived the march and made it to the camp soon died there thanks to disease, sweltering heat, and brutal executions. The historical services of his honorary consultant, Lynette Silver, who is domiciled in Australia and is available to answer any particular queries not covered on the website, are exclusive to TYK. Clad only in ragged loin-cloths, over 500 skeletal creatures, barely recognisable as human, struggle to their feet at the Sandakan POW Compound, on Sabah’s north-east coast. No British prisoners survived. There was no medical assistance and little food. A War Memorial and Gardens of remembrance were built at Kundasang, Sabah in 1962 to commemorate those who had died at Sandakan and Ranau.[12][13]. On the 26th of January 1945 the evacuation of the Sandakan POW camp began. Labelled as one of the greatest wartime acts of cruelty against Australians, the Sandakan Death March saw 800 Aussie troops trek through the thick of Borneo’s jungles. Sandakan prisoner of war camp, Sandakan, North Borneo. Upon their arrival on 24 June 1945, participants of the second marches discovered that only six prisoners from the first series of marches during January were still alive. The Sandakan Death Marches have been dramatised in the 2004 oratorio Sandakan Threnody — a threnody being a hymn of mourning, composed as a memorial to a dead person. In 2011, Year 9 and 10 Drama Students at Toodyay District High School, in Western Australia, re-dramatised an updated version of the original 1947 ABC Radio play 'Six From Borneo' with help from the Toodyay community, including Toodyay Community Radio, the Shire of Toodyay and Toodyay RSL. The Australian and British POWs on the second march to Ranau left Sandakan camp on 29 May 1945. [24], In 2011, the now Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (appointed in 2018) is known to be the sole highest ranking politician to have personally retraced a major part of the route where he decided to complete the track all the way from Telupid to Ranau together with two fellow Australian politicians, then Defence Minister Jason Clare and Independent Rob Oakeshott in the six-day walk from Telupid to the Last Camp site in Ranau together with Lynette Silver, husband Neil Silver and a group of 20 Australian students. All that is required is to ensure an adequate level of fitness for the tour you select. 1.Not all 2,428 died during the Sandakan Death Marches. This included collecting bodies for the war graves commission and the recovery of the camp records. Their knowledge of the track is unparalleled and they have received many accolades and awards from the Australian, Malaysian and Sabah governments for excellence in their respective fields. Sandakan Death March merupakan satu tragedi yang berlaku ke atas tahanan-tahanan perang di Sandakan, Sabah yang mana tahanan-tahanan tersebut terdiri daripada tentera-tentera British dan tentera-tentera Australia. [1] By the end of the war, of all the prisoners who had been incarcerated at Sandakan and Ranau, only six Australians survived, all of whom had escaped. The blame for the operation's failure was the subject of much controversy once the full reports of the camps death toll were received. However, while this sector is not suitable for trekking groups, Tham Yau Kong has created a specially designed  four-day/three-night mountain biking/cycling tour, which allows participants to visit historical POW sites not readily accessible to trekkers. The original Death March route was left to become overgrown and inaccessible for many years after the atrocities occurred, however in 2005 Tham and Lynette were able to identity the route and … 1 of the Sandakan camp was destroyed in an attempt to erase any evidence of its existence. As on the Bataan Death March, any POWs who were not fit enough or collapsed from exhaustion were either killed or left to die en route. In the interests of protecting this beautiful and environmentally precious area, TYK fully endorses and supports this decision. ", The Sandakan Track – Sandakan-Ranau Death March (1942–1945), Laden, Fevered, Starved: Remembering Sandakan, Australian Prisoners of War of the Japanese, History of the War Memorial Park next to Sibuga FR, Sandakan Death March: Japanese Inhumanity. However, such reports imply that the Allies were on the brink of action and have been proven to be inaccurate. In the beginning this was attributable to the conflicting information between the records provided to the Army and those recovered at the camp, as well as the conflicting survivor testimonies. The launch of the Six From Borneo Project was attended by the Malaysian Consul General Puan Hamidah Ashari, Member for Moore Grant Woodhams MLA, Military Historian Lynette Silver, relatives of Sandakan POWs and Toodyay community members. As both sea and air were under the complete control of the Allies, a track had been cut through the mountains, linking existing bridle-trails. At the War Memorial Museum in Canberra, NSW, Australia. Please advise at time of booking if this option is required. The AIF section of a cemetery at Sandakan prisoner-of-war camp. AN INVESTIGATION. Sandakan Death March. Sandakan Death March trek Led by Wayne Wetherall and Paul Chief Harragon 14-23 August 2016 Imagine this… It is mid 1945 the days of the Japanese Occupation in Borneo are numbered. The remaining 641 were British. As these well-publicised claims were seriously undermining the integrity of the death march story, and as the tour operator was promoting treks via part of this supposed route, Ms Kathy Upton-Mitchell, the Deputy Director of the Office of Australian War Graves (the Government authority responsible for the POW Park at Sandakan) ordered the Australian Army History Unit to undertake a complete and independent audit of all the available evidence to determine the route of the death … Botterill trekked up this hill 6 times lugging 20kg bags of rice to keep himself fit and also give him a chance to pinch some rice to help his escape. The results of this inquiry, after investigations concluded in 1947, were released to the relevant government agencies to be sealed for a minimum of 30 years. Despite appalling conditions, the prisoners never gave up. Web Design and Web Hosting by suria.biz. It was during this period of the “death marches”, as they came to be known, that brutalities at Sandakan climaxed. This site has gained notoriety as the Sandakan Death Marches started from here. The details of the event were so shocking that it was easier for the Australian government to withhold information than go public. This soldier was shot while trying to escape and his body was buried by a local gardener about 12 kilometres from the Sandakan POW Camp. The fittest of the POWs were to march with them, probably to be used as labour. Clad only in ragged loin-cloths, over 500 skeletal creatures, barely recognisable as human, struggle to their feet at the Sandakan POW Compound, on Sabah’s north-east coast. Premium Treks : Challenge Highlights / Challenge…, 15 ~ 24 Nov 2016 :: Ex Tartan Sabah Salute, 26~29 July 2016 :: Sutton Valence Cadet School,…, 30 June ~ 16 July 2016 :: Exercise Tiger Sabah Sapper…, 2 April 2013 ~ 4 April 2013 :: Elizabeth Penn Leo Moggie…, 24 Sept ~ 5 Oct 2012 :: Sandakan-Ranau Death March…, 17~26 August 2012 :: Burwood Sandakan AUG12, 25 April ~ 2 May 2012 :: Little Heroes Foundation…, 19th to 21st Nov 2011 :: Mr and Mrs Craig Sheather, 4 ~ 11 November 2011 :: Mr. Stephen McCarthy and Mr.…, 20~31 August 2011 :: Sandakan Death March, 24 Aug – 1 Sept 2010 :: Sandakan Death March, 28 Sept – 7 Oct 2010 :: Lyndisfarne Anglican Grammar…, 23~25 June 2012 :: Kristina Peterson – Sandakan…. After sixty years, you too can now walk in the footsteps of the Death March heroes. Imagine this. The PoWs carried all the food including that for the guards. At the time of the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945, only six prisoners had survived the horrors of the Sandakan prisoner of war camp and the Sandakan Death Marches. Your guarantee of authenticity is TYK’s unique logo. Three long years in captivity, half of them on starvation rations and with little or no medical attention, have taken their toll. With increased interest in the Sandakan Track after the successful British expedition, Sabah’s Forestry Department investigated the possibility of opening the area to other trekking groups. The grimy, wasted bodies of these once fit and strapping Australian and British servicemen are covered in sores and scabies, their filthy hair and beards matted and lice-infested. During the second marches, Gunner Owen Campbell and Bombardier Richard Braithwaite managed to escape into the jungle, where they were assisted by locals and eventually rescued by Allied units. Governor General of Australia launches Lynette Silver’s book, ‘Blood Brothers’, 2010. The first 100 km, from Sandakan to Bauto, is no longer forested, and has been heavily planted with oil palms. The oratorio was written by Australian composer Jonathan Mills, whose father survived a term of imprisonment at Sandakan in 1942–43. [19][20] Dr Smith claimed that at Telupid, the track veered to the right towards Miruru via the Liwagu Valley but Lynette argued that it never went to Miruru according to the hand-drawn map found by the Australian Body Recovery team of the Office of Australian War Graves and later audited in 2012 by the Australian Army History and Mapping units. While investigating the POW route, the TYK team had identified this section, from a Japanese Camp site on the Lolosing River to the summit of Taviu Hill, some time previously. [6] The new Sandakan camp commander, Captain Takakuwa Takuo, ordered the prisoners towards Ranau in groups of about fifty with accompanying Japanese guards. Sandakan Death March (B/L/D) Distance 12kms, walking time 6 hours Transfer to Muruk village by bus before we commence a steep ascent up Marakau Hill, also known as Botterill’s Hill, named after Sandakan Death March survivor Keith Botterill. Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia 88400. Clusters. The original map, examined  and endorsed by the relevant authorities, is on public display in the Australian Government’s Commemorative Pavilion at Sandakan Memorial Park, and at Kundasang War Memorial. Following the Sandakan Death March track 8 days and nights TYK Treks along the route of the infamous Sandakan death marches honour the many hundreds of prisoners of war who were force-marched through the jungle from Sandakan to Ranau in 1945. His enthusiasm for history, the local communities, Sabah’s jungle, and care towards his team and us made the trip very special. Page TransparencySee More. … A second series of marches began on 29 May 1945 with approximately 536 prisoners. That’s understandable. The Japanese had selected 470 prisoners who were thought to be fit enough to carry baggage and supplies for the accompanying Japanese battalions relocating to the western coast. That all changed in 2005, the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, when the route of the march was first mapped out. [8], Operation Kingfisher was a planned rescue operation for the Sandakan Camp that was abandoned in early 1945. The Sandakan Death Marches were a series of forced marches in Borneo from Sandakan to Ranau which resulted in the deaths of 2,434 Allied prisoners of war held captive by the Empire of Japan during the Pacific campaign of World War II in the Sandakan POW Camp. The former military airstrip is now known as Sandakan Airport, which serves Sandakan town. THE SANDAKAN-RANAU DEATH MARCH TRACK. Fearing an allied invasion, Japanese troops marched the a llied prisoners from the camp some 260km inland to Ranau in terrible conditions. Official logo of Sandakan Death MarchREGISTERED IN MALAYSIA BY THAM YAU KONGAND USED WITH THE PERMISSION OF THEINTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT  HOLDER,SALLY MILNER PUBLISHING, AUSTRALIA,PUBLISHERS OF 'SANDAKAN - A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE'. Sandakan Death March. Despite appalling conditions, the prisoners never gave up. Soldiers were forced to walk under extremely bad conditions with little food and drinking water. Of the 1000-odd prisoners who left on the death marches, about half died in the attempt. Topics: Battle of Singapore, World War II, Sandakan Death Marches Pages: 9 (3122 words) Published: September 19, 2013. Governor of NSW, General David Hurley, launching ‘Billy: My Life as a Teenage POW’, 2016. 18 March 2020 () (1 year, 3 weeks, and 3 days) End date: 8 April 2021 () Location : Malaysia. Every August 15 there is a memorial service. Last week, Bob returned to the site of the Sandakan PoW camp for the first time since the war. BUT Sandakan stands out as a particularly cruel and indecent act of abuse and murder of a large number of young Australians and Britons. The route begins in Sandakan and ends at the "Last Camp" at Ranau. Sandakan Death March. The official documents used to compile this article are all held in Australian National Archives or the Australian War Memorial Collection. Mon 10/06/2013 The thousands of Aussie soldiers, killed in Borneo in some of the worst atrocities of WWII, still haven't been given the recognition they deserve However, in mid 1943 the Japanese discovered that the POWs not only had a radio but were in league with a local resistance organisation. 2,400 Allied prisoners of the war, along with 3,600 Indonesian slave labourers, were forced to walk from Sandakan to Ranau. It is also one of the most heroic. Starving and weak, our soldiers were forced to walk the 250 km route carrying heavy bags and surviving on starvation rations. Now, part of the former site houses the Sandakan Memorial Park. This is the story of the three-year ordeal of the Sandakan prisoners of war – a barely known episode of unimaginable horror. This excursion is included in the 11-day tour. This track, identified by the 1945 Army team sent to recover the bodies,  was mapped. The original Death March route was left to become overgrown and inaccessible for many years after the atrocities occurred, however in 2005 Tham and Lynette were able to identity the route and … Their task? Eventually, after Japan’s surrender three years later, eight generals, including Masaharu Homma, were all executed for war crimes related to the unforgettable horrors of the Bataan Death March. Some 20,000 Philippine soldiers joined with about 1600 American POWs died during the 66-mile march from Mariveles to Camp O’Donell at the city of Capas. In August 1943, with the intention of controlling the enlisted men by removing any commanders, most officer prisoners were moved from Sandakan to the Batu Lintang camp at Kuching. Their heroism, their determination and their indomitable spirit are testimony to the … It is May 1945. Tham’s generosity and energy was unbounded. Mon 10/06/2013 The thousands of Aussie soldiers, killed in Borneo in some of the worst atrocities of WWII, still haven't been given the recognition they deserve Our areas of expertise include jungle and mountain trekking, including the renown jungle survivor expeditions led by the famous Miki family, mountain biking, wetland wildlife observation, historical Sandakan Ranau Death March and well as specialist birds watching and cultural tours. During the seven-day experience of the Sandakan Ranau Death March, we were honoured to have shared the same journey with a few descendants of the POWs – Mr. Graham Newhouse (Grandson of POW Francis “Frank” Newhouse), Fiona Strachan (Great Niece of POW Evan … During the funeral proceedings, when it is apparently customary to make as much noise as possible, a native brass cannon took pride of place among the noise contraptions. Copyright © 2005-2020  TYK Adventure Tours Sdn Bhd. At the end of May, there was a second march from Sandakan and in mid-June a third, comprised of only 75 men. Since opening up the route in 2006, Tham’s highly trained team has escorted many hundreds of trekkers along the route, without incident. [3] As on the Burma Railway the prisoners were forced to work at gunpoint, and were often beaten whilst also receiving very little food or medical attention. The Sandakan Death March went down in infamy as arguably the worst atrocity ever suffered by Australian soldiers, but it remains largely invisible on the historical map.