Death March

Forgotten British Death March Honored. 

Britain finally got their "Act of Remembrance" together in honour of the 641 British Prisoners of War who died in connection with the 1945 Sandakan-Ranau Death March.

The occasion saw a Royal Artillery Memorial Unveiling and Dedication attended by top brass from the British Army and a crowd of special persons.

The memorial dedication marked the climax of the first such British effort by 14 members of the Royal Artillery that completed a 12-day trek over the entire 250km Death March traail between Aug. 15-25 led by Tham Yau Kong and his boys.

"This is a simple yet very important ceremony to remember all those who sacrificed their lives for a Sabah that we now cherish," said Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Minister of Resource Development and Information Technology, Datuk Yee Moh Chai.

Yee said from the Sabah perspective, it was "fitting" to pay tribute to the 641 British and 1,787 Australian prisoners of war who lost their lives here in the State.

Anglican Archdeacon, Moses Chin, officiated at the ceremony in the English Garden of the Kundasang War Memorial, in perfect weather.

Also present was Datuk Ellron Angin, Assistant Minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Permanent Seretary, Michael Imban, as well as the Assemblyman for Kundasang, Joichim Gunsalam.

Australian historian Lynette Silver, known for her extensive research writings on the Death March, was also present. Brigadier DRK Francis of British Embassy Beijing, represented the Director Royal Artillery.

The highest ranking British Military Officer present, Major General CC Wilson, the Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery, said he experienced a "very moving ceremony."

"It is a tribute to all these people that we have forgotten for so long and at long last, we are able to remember them."

"Sixty six years is too long because we hadn't really understood what the ordeal was in the past until Major Tulloch (John) did all this research that it came to our attention, that the Royal Artillery suffered very badly (over 400 of the 641 dead came from the Royal Artillery Regiment)," Major General Wilson said.

"The Death March is a terrible thing to have happened," he added.

"I think what people are most concerned about is not the fact that people are PoWs because that happens in war. It's the way in which PoWs are treated which is not acceptable.

"Every war has prisoners but they have to be treated in a humane manner and that didn't happen in this case," Major General Wilson noted..

" I think that's the piece that we really want to remember," added Wilson who described the 14 British Royal Artillery trekkers as remarkable.

"I met them on the last day when they walked into the Last Camp and they looked still fit and well as if it was the first day."

British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Simon Featherstone, cited "a very moving morning because this is a period of history which is very sad."

"But I think it is very important that we don't forget the people who suffered so terribly during the war and remember it as a spur to work for peace in our own time," Featherstone said.

On why it has taken Britain so long, Featherstone said: "I think it's never too late to remember people who have given everything for the cause of freedom," he said, commending the efforts of a "few determined individuals" who made it happen.

On possibilities to raise British awareness, Featherstone said he's "sure" the publicity surrounding the event will "increase the visibility of what happened."

"The ultimate sacrifice of the British soldiers mostly of the Royal Artillery, has to be recognised and appreciated, " said Tengku Datuk Dr. Zainal Adlin, Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board, who said credit must go to Major Tulloch who realised not much was known about the ultimate sacrifice by his own Regiment and is out to make it known.

Meanwhile, Major Tulloch said he was "absolutely and emotionally delighted" by the turnout and the conducive weather.

Tulloch's wife, Victoria, said she was "glad to see it was finally so successful" an event that had taken very long to organise and put together.

'I am very proud of my husband," Victoria said.

Story Arrangement By: Harry George

Sources: Daily Express

Picture: Sabah Tourism.

Free Lance Writer

A Story From Borneo.

I came across of an article from Daily Express yesterday, I wonder why Sabahan cannot write back this story with their own perspective? Do the Sabahan cannot be a good writer? The outsider use to write about Sabah, Borneo and Sarawak. Did they know that we also can write this story by our own people. Million copies of book sold outside and a lot of money pouring inside the outsider pocket. We as the new generation of Sabahan should take this opportunity to learn how to write about our own country. Try to write a simple article with your own idea and publish it through the net and see the feedback from the audience. 

There are so many story about Sabah and Borneo and, was written by the Englishmen, American and Australian. The true thing is, I asking the Sabahan to develop their skill in writing so that their can express their feeling through writing. To express your feeling, we need to write, try to write simple journal first and dairy first then you came out with simple article. You can publish your article through the newspaper or create your own website. Just for reminder it can enrich your knowledge about anything you want write because before you start writing, you need to read, observe and investigation first unless you know about the story you want to write.  

Never enough on Death March

 Sources Daily Express, 7th April 2011

Kota Kinabalu: Several detailed books have been written on Sabah's 1945 Death March. Will another on the same subject be one too many?Paul Ham, a veteran Australian journalist and a former Sunday Times London correspondent, doesn't think so.

"History is never complete," Paul Ham argued, especially when the perspective of many local people have not been sufficiently tapped about the Japanese occupation of North Borneo and its impacts on the local community.

So he is going ahead with a new book about the Japanese occupation of North Borneo, setting the Death March in the context of the overall picture, Paul said.

"My aim is to set it in the context of the local people and the impact of the Japanese occupation on the local community," explained Paul who paid generous tributes to authors before him, citing Lynette Silver, for instance.

The Survivors, Sandakan DM

"I greatly admire the amazing pioneering research job done by Lynette, I don't pretend to improve upon her research, but I would like to just give a slightly different perspective," added Paul who trekked tough sections of the Death March trail in March with several friends from Sydney, guided by trail blazer Tham Yau Kong and group.

He said he had spoken to a number of local people who related a very familiar story of Japanese occupying their villages, taking their food and driving them into the jungle, from where they launched hostile reprisals.

"And there are some amazing stories of courage and heroism which are independent of the Death March," Paul noted.

"It's an illuminating experience for me just talking to so many local people," he added. "I think the problem often with Anglo Saxon reading of history is they tend to be rather egocentric and we need to balance that with a local perspective.

"I am not directing that on any particular historian, just saying that we do tend to look at the past through our own prism." But he is not new to writing books, though.

He has already done three, namely, Kokoda, the first land defeat of the Japanese over the Kokoda track between July-December 1942.

"That was a story of the struggle. Again, I went to Japan to interview many Japanese veterans to get their perspective as well," Paul Ham reiterated his emphasis.

"My second book was Vietnam War and Australian involvement in our longest war - 12 years and 50,000 marines," he said.

"I spent three years working on 'The Defeat of Japan' which is coming out this year," said Paul.

After working five years full time with Sunday Times in London, Paul enrolled in the London School of Economics to study history and earned a Masters in Economic History. "No I am a full-time historian."

War is often rooted in economics, Paul says.

Japan's stated mission in its invasion of Southeast Asia was to dislodge the British Empire to liberate Asians from whites.

But liberation here, in fact, was enslavement in a way that did not occur to such an extent under British colonialism, he said.

Story Arrangement By: Harry George

Sources: Daily Express

Picture: Google Images
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