Sandakan Memorial Service - Boyup Brook
SANDAKAN 2025 Memorial Service – Boyup Brook
The Sandakan POW Camp was established during WW2 by the Japanese, eight miles inland from Sandakan, on the east coast of North BORNEO (Sabah). In 1942 and 1943, 2500 Australian and British POWs who had been captured in the disastrous fall of Singapore, were shipped to North Borneo to construct a military airstrip and the prisoner of war camps at Sandakan. As on the Burma Railway the prisoners were broken, beaten, worked to death, thrown into bamboo cages on the slightest pretext, starved and subjected to the most hideous tortures by their captors. But this was only the beginning of the nightmare. In late 1944, Allied aircraft were attacking the coastal towns of Sandakan and Jesselton. In January 1945, with only 1900 prisoners still alive, to escape the bombardment the Japanese resolved to abandon Sandakan Prison Camp, and move 250 miles inland to Ranua. Surviving prisoners were taken with them as slave labour, carriers and draught horses. Their journey became known as Sandakan Death Marches. Of the 1000 plus prisoners sent on the death marches, only six, all of the Australians, survived. By 15 August 1945 the remaining POWs at the Sandakan camps, too weak to march, were either killed or died of illness/starvation.
Boyup Brook was the first place in Australia to erect a Sandakan Memorial. Each Year Collie-Cardiff RSL Sub-Branch attend the service and lay a wreath in honour of the four Collie Boys who died at Sandakan. This year sub-branch President, Gary Benton and Vice President Marco Crescenzi attended the service on Tue 9 September.
The four Collie Boys were:
WX7883 Private William Herbert BEARD (died 10 July 1945, age 34 yrs, Sandakan No2 Camp).
WX16416 Private Charles HOLME (died 07 June 1945, age 23 yrs, the second Sandakan-Ranua death march).
WX17582 Private George LAKE (died 08 April 1945, age 23 yrs, Sandakan No1 Camp).
WX8548 Staff Sergeant Ian STUCHBURY (died 17 November 1944, age 42 yrs, Sandakan No 1 Camp).
Since its inception in 1993 the sister of William Beard, Mrs June Edwards, who lives in Collie, has attended the service in recognition of her brother. Mrs Edwards, now 100 years of age, was again at Boyup Brook in honour of her brother. She is shown sitting in the centre of the attached photo.
‘Lest we Forget’