Sandakan Death Marches: The Worst WWII Atrocity in Borneo
What were the Sandakan Death Marches?
The Sandakan Death Marches were a series of forced marches in 1945 in which the Japanese moved Allied prisoners of war from the Sandakan POW camp in North Borneo (now Sabah) to Ranau in the interior. Almost 2,500 Australian and British prisoners were held at Sandakan. About 1,400 died at the camp, and the rest died on the marches or at Ranau. Only six Australians, all escapees who were cared for by local villagers, survived (Sabah Tourism Board, Sandakan Day, checked 7 October 2026).
Between January and June 1945, more than 1,000 malnourished prisoners were force-marched to Ranau, about 250 to 260 km from Sandakan (the Sabah Tourism Board gives 260 km; the Department of Veterans' Affairs gives 250 km, checked 7 October 2026). About half died on the way from the terrain, disease, starvation and brutal treatment, and anyone who could not keep up was killed. No British prisoner survived (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
The Australian War Memorial's then Director, Dr Brendan Nelson, called the Sandakan death march "the greatest single atrocity committed against Australians in war" (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026).
How did Allied prisoners end up in Sandakan?
After the fall of Singapore in 1942, the Japanese began moving prisoners from Singapore to Borneo, where they were forced to build a military airfield at Sandakan (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026).
The first group, known as B Force, of about 1,500 Australians arrived in July 1942. In early 1943 about 500 more Australians arrived from Singapore, along with more than 750 British prisoners transferred from Jesselton. About 2,700 Allied servicemen passed through the camp in 1942 and 1943, but some were moved elsewhere during 1943 and 1944 (most officers went to Kuching in October 1943), leaving 1,793 Australians and 641 British, according to Australia's Department of Veterans' Affairs (Department of Veterans' Affairs, Sandakan Memorial audio guide, checked 7 October 2026).
The prisoners were held at a camp near Mile 8, now the site of Sandakan Memorial Park (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
What conditions did prisoners face at the camp?
The camp was under the command of Captain Hoshijima Susumu. After the war, an Australian military court found him guilty of authorising and permitting close confinement and cruel beatings of prisoners, some of whom died; permitting torture and beatings by soldiers under his command; failing to provide proper medical care and food; and making sick and underfed prisoners do heavy manual labour (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026).
Malnutrition and disease killed many men in the camp itself. About 1,400 prisoners who were too weak or ill to be moved died at Sandakan in appalling conditions. The last man left alive at the camp was beheaded on the morning of 15 August 1945, five hours before Japan surrendered (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
What happened during the three death marches?
In January 1945, with the camp under heavy Allied bombing, the Japanese began forcing prisoners to march westward to Ranau. The marchers staggered along jungle tracks for more than 260 km. Those too weak or ill to continue were killed by the guards (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026).
| March | Departed | Prisoners | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | From 28 January 1945, in groups until March | About 455 | Survivors at Ranau were worked to death carrying rice. By 26 June, six were still alive at Ranau. |
| Second | 29 May 1945 | About 500 (DVA audio guide: 536) | 183 reached Ranau (142 Australians, 41 British) on 27 June after a 26-day march |
| Third | June 1945 | About 70 | None survived |
Sources: DVA Anzac Portal, "The marches" and DVA Sandakan Memorial audio guide, checked 7 October 2026.
The first march left in groups from late January to March 1945. Rations were minimal: rice, dried fish and salt. Keith Botterill, one of the six survivors, later said: "I've seen men shot and bayoneted to death because they could not keep up with the party." At Ranau, men were sent on rice-carrying trips to Paginatan and back; those who could not go on were killed (DVA Anzac Portal, checked 7 October 2026).
The second march left on 29 May 1945, after Allied bombing in May. The men were sicker and more malnourished than those on the first march. Only 183 reached Ranau.
The third march, of about 70 prisoners, left in June 1945. None survived (DVA audio guide, checked 7 October 2026).
By late July 1945 about 40 prisoners were still alive at Ranau. The remaining prisoners there were killed on 27 August 1945, twelve days after Japan's surrender (DVA Anzac Portal, checked 7 October 2026).
Who were the six survivors?
All six survivors were Australians who escaped, some during the marches and others from the camps at Ranau (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026). They were (DVA Anzac Portal, checked 7 October 2026):
- Private Keith Botterill, 2/19th Battalion
- Bombardier Richard "Dick" Braithwaite, 2/15th Australian Field Regiment
- Gunner Owen Campbell, 2/10th Australian Field Regiment
- Lance Bombardier William Moxham, 2/15th Australian Field Regiment
- Private Nelson Short, 2/18th Battalion
- Warrant Officer William "Bill" Sticpewich, Australian Army Service Corps
The survivors were helped and cared for by local villagers, who took great risks to do so (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026). Their testimony is a key part of the record of what happened to the more than 2,000 men who died. In 2016, Braithwaite's family donated his papers, including a map of the Sandakan camp, to the Australian War Memorial (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026).
How is the Sandakan tragedy remembered today?
Sandakan Memorial Park, about 11 km outside Sandakan, stands on the former POW camp site. It has a small museum, and the rusting remains of an excavator, a generator and a boiler still lie near the steps to the commemorative pavilion. Anzac Day (25 April) and Sandakan Day (15 August) are commemorated there every year (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
Local people also suffered terribly. Many who stayed loyal to the Allies were executed, and it is estimated that 14 per cent of Sabah's population died under Japanese rule from starvation and brutal treatment (Sabah Tourism Board, checked 7 October 2026).
Captain Hoshijima Susumu, the former camp commandant, was tried by an Australian military court at Labuan and sentenced to death by hanging; the list of confirmed sentences dates his case 20 January 1946 (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026).
In Australia, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra has a Sandakan memorial sculpture in its sculpture garden, designed as a sundial (Australian War Memorial, checked 7 October 2026). In Sabah, the Kundasang War Memorial near Ranau also honours the prisoners and the local people who helped them.