Sandakan Memorial Park

The Sandakan Memorial Park is a memorial site built in the former grounds of the former Sandakan camp in the Malaysian state of Sabah. The site is dedicated as a memory for all prisoners in the camp who died during the Sandakan Death Marches, and to those died during a march to Ranau. It is also recognises the suffering and sacrifice of the native population.HistoryAs the Japanese were succeeded during the early stage of World War II, a large numbers of Allied soldiers were detained in a various camp in the pacific. In July 1942, already 1,500 Australian prisoners of war were transferred from Singapore to Sandakan as a forced labour to build a military airfield. The number getting increase in 1943, with about 2,500 prisoners has been housed in the camp site.At the end of the war, all of the remains of the prisoners of war who were found during investigation at the site were transferred to a military cemetery in Labuan. Those who can be identified were buried in a grave and marked with a name, while those who cannot be identified were listed on a corresponding plaques in Labuan and also in Singapore.In 1995, an agreement between the state government of Sabah, the government of Australia, the veterans association Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL) and the Sandakan Municipal Council resulted in the creation of this memorial site. The Australian government built the pavilion with an obelisk was erected on the memory site and restored the remains of the technical equipment of the facility with a digger, steam generator and other generator. The opening ceremony of the memorial site was held on 18 March 1999.