The Jesselton Revolt 1943: Sabah's Multi-Ethnic WWII Uprising
What was the Jesselton Revolt?
The Jesselton Revolt, also called the Double Tenth Revolt, was an armed uprising against the Japanese occupation of North Borneo. On 9 October 1943 the Kinabalu Guerrilla Defence Force (KGDF), led by Albert Kwok Fen Nam, launched an attack on the Japanese and secured Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), Tuaran and Menggatal (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). During the occupation Jesselton went by its old local name, Api Api (New Straits Times, checked 7 October 2026).
The KGDF had about 300 members, and indigenous fighters were the backbone of the movement (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). "Double Tenth" refers to 10 October, China's National Day. The guerrillas celebrated their success on 10 October 1943 by raising flags in Jesselton (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
The rising lasted only three days before the Japanese hit back on 13 October 1943 (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). The reprisals that followed are estimated to have killed around 3,000 civilians (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
Who led the resistance?
The leader was Albert Kwok Fen Nam, a Kuching-born Chinese doctor who had served with the Kuomintang in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). Read more on our Albert Kwok page.
In 1942 Kwok, Jesselton Chinese trader Lim Keng Fatt and Lee Khum Fah founded the Chinese Defence Association, which led to the KGDF. Its headquarters was at Lee Khum Fah's home in Menggatal (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
Indigenous leaders ran their own resistance and agreed to work with the KGDF. The table below lists leaders named in the 2024 Universiti Malaysia Sabah study.
| Leader | Community or area | Role in the resistance |
|---|---|---|
| Albert Kwok Fen Nam | Chinese | Supreme leader of the KGDF; killed at Petagas, 21 January 1944 |
| Lim Keng Fatt and Lee Khum Fah | Chinese, Jesselton and Menggatal | Co-founders of the Chinese Defence Association |
| Panglima Alli | Suluk, Sulug Island | Burnt the rubber warehouse at Jesselton port on 9 October 1943; killed at Petagas, 21 January 1944 |
| Jamalul, Arshad, Saruddin | Mantanani Island; Kampung Oudar, Menggatal; Dinawan Island | Led their own followers alongside the KGDF |
| Pak Musah | Membakut and the south-west coast | Led resistance in the south-west |
| Datu Mustapha Datu Harun | Later Sabah's Head of State | Former guerrilla who fought alongside the KGDF |
Source for the table: Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026.
Did the Kinabalu Guerrillas have outside help?
Only a little. Kwok made contact with Filipino resistance groups (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026), and the KGDF drew support from the anti-Japanese movement in the Philippines led by Imam Marajukim and Alejandro Suarez (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). The guerrillas still had only a few firearms and relied mostly on spears, parangs and kris (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
What happened on 9 and 10 October 1943?
The KGDF attacked Tuaran town, Menggatal police station and Jesselton (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). Bajau and Suluk seafarers provided boats for attacks from the sea, while Dusun and Murut fighters and Indian and Sikh former police also joined in (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). On 9 October Panglima Alli and 33 followers set fire to the rubber warehouse at Jesselton port. They fought with barung (machetes) and spears against Japanese firearms (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
The guerrillas inflicted several dozen Japanese casualties (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). On 10 October they raised their flags in Jesselton (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). When Japanese reinforcements arrived from Kuching, Kwok and his fighters pulled back to the hills of Menggatal (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
How did the Japanese respond?
The Japanese hit back on 13 October 1943 (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). They bombed coastal towns and villages, machine-gunned fleeing civilians and burnt villages. Around 3,000 civilians were executed, and Bajau and Suluk people were singled out because of their role in the revolt (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026).
Panglima Alli and several followers were caught in mid-October 1943. On Dinawan Island almost the entire male population was arrested, jailed and tortured at Batu Tiga in Jalan Sembulan, then sent back to the island and shot in front of their families. In February 1944, 58 people from Mantanani who defied a Japanese ban on going to sea were detained and tortured in Jesselton, and many of them died (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
The Japanese threatened to execute 400 civilians unless Kwok gave himself up (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). He surrendered on 19 December 1943 (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026). On 21 January 1944 Kwok and 175 others, mostly civilians, were killed at Petagas (Free Malaysia Today, checked 7 October 2026). The Sabah Tourism Board puts the number killed there at 176 (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
How is the revolt commemorated today?
The main memorial is the Petagas War Memorial in Putatan. It stands on the spot where 176 people were killed on 21 January 1944, and plaques there carry the names of the dead (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
The memorial park was set up in 1946 by a multi-ethnic War Victims Caring Committee, at an abandoned Japanese mass burial site. Over 500 people, including victims' families, were invited to the first annual commemoration in 1948. On 29 April 1949 the remains of people killed by the Japanese in Labuan were reburied at Petagas (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
A memorial service is held at Petagas every year on 21 January (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026). It is an official state event organised by Kota Kinabalu City Hall, with formal guests including heads of state and of federal government departments, alongside victims' descendants and members of the public (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).
Not everyone feels the ceremony tells the whole story. The 2024 study argues that the annual service mostly honours the Chinese-led force and well-known families, and overlooks the indigenous fighters who were the backbone of the resistance (Md Saffie, Ramli and Eko (UMS), Kemanusiaan 31(2), 2024, checked 7 October 2026).