Sandakan Memorial Park

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Sandakan Memorial Park (Taman Peringatan Sandakan)

Sandakan Memorial Park is in Sabah, Malaysia, on the site of the old Sandakan camp. It memorializes all prisoners of war who died in the Sandakan Death Marches and on the march to Ranau, and it honors the suffering of the local people.

During World War II, many Allied POWs were kept there. In July 1942 about 1,500 Australian prisoners were moved from Singapore to Sandakan to build an airfield. By 1943, around 2,500 prisoners were housed at the camp. After the war, remains found at the site were sent to Labuan cemetery. Those identified were buried with names; unidentified ones were listed on plaques in Labuan and Singapore.

In 1995, Sabah’s government, the Australian government, the Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL), and the Sandakan Municipal Council agreed to create the memorial. Australia built a pavilion with an obelisk, and the site opened on 18 March 1999. It is about 1.5 kilometres southwest of Sandakan Airport, on land that was part of the former Australian B Force camp.

The park has six stations connected by a circular path. An excavator once used to build the airport was sabotaged by POWs and never worked again. The camp was powered mainly by a wood-fired steam generator. The Great Tree, a large Mengaris tree, stood where the obelisk now stands but burned after the war. A new Mengaris tree was planted near the entrance on 25 April 2008.

The park preserves a concrete food depot and kitchen and a water tank from the camp. The main entrance is on the east side. The Mile 8 Road from Sandakan to Ranau runs by the park, and all three death marches began there. The Sandakan Memorial Pavilion opened in 1999 and hosts a permanent exhibition in English and Malay. The black obelisk, the Sandakan Memorial, stands on a circular cobbled square and bears the inscription commemorating those who suffered and died here, on the death marches and at Ranau. The park is the first stop on the POW Route from Sandakan to Ranau, with each station marked along the way.