The Last Camp

In 1945 while Sabah was still under occupation by the Japanese,  1047 Australian and British prisoners of war were held at a camp in Sandakan. The tide was turning for the Japanese and they marched the prisoners 240 kms through the jungle and mountains to Ranau. This became known as one of the Death Marches and by the time they reached Ranau only 189 were still alive. " The Last Camp" was made beside a river tucked out of sight of the allies who were now searching for the prisoners. Over the next few weeks all perished there apart from six Australians who managed to escape and were cared for by the local people. The final fifteen, including the last four British were murdered twelve days after the war had ended and Japan had surrendered.
 On Thursday 25th August, a team of soldiers from the Royal Artillery arrived in Ranau after completing the Death March in 12 days- the same time as the POW's. A memorial was laid yesterday at the Kundasang War Memorial in rememberance of the British Soldiers who lost their lives. I was very fortunate to be invited to visit the Last Camp by the historian Lynette Silvers who has written many books on the subject and has been very involved in the reseach and uncovering the evidence. The Last Camp is set in the most beautiful setting about 8 kms from Ranau and just to make it more poignant it also happened to be the anniversary of the murder of the final fifteen. If you would like to read more about it here is the site.
http://sandakan-deathmarch.com/