|
| |
Retracing the steps
By LCDR Cath Hayes
Volume 50, No. 17, September 20, 2007 |
| |
|
16 personnel from Armidale Class patrol Boat Crew Attack Five joined five Duke of Edinburgh Award participants to retrace the World War II Sandakan Death March in Borneo last month.
Day 1: Visit to Sandakan Memorial Park
Fittingly, the Sandakan Death March Expedition 2007 started in Sandakan with a tour of the Memorial Park. It was here that the group learned about the Prisoner of War Camp and commencement of the Death Marches. Each participant was given a POW to follow and as the trek progressed over the next six days we all gave a short eulogy about our POW in the location where he died.
Day 2: The Trek Begins (12km)
The group was transferred from Sandakan to Bauto through extensive Palm Oil plantations which today cover much of the Sabah landscape. The trek started at the bottom of a large hill and in a baptism of fire we ascended the steep bitumen road, within minutes we were all questioning what on earth we had just started. Our legs were burning and the heat from the road was like walking on a frying pan. We sweated like we had never sweated before. It was easy to understand why many of the starving and ill POWs did not make it past this hill. On reaching the top of the hill we diverted into the thick jungle to descend what seemed to be a vertical track. It was cooler under the cover of the thick foliage, but at times the muddy track required five points of contact (both hands, feet and backsides) to descend without falling. We emerged from the scrub caked in a combination of mud and perspiration, and grabbed a well-anticipated lunch before spending the afternoon on a hot, open undulating, rough and rocky track, where hydration and frequent rest breaks were the a necessity. By the end of the day we knew this was not going to be an easy week.
Day 3: Long, Flat and Hot (28km)
Constituting the greatest distance we would cover in one day, from Maliau to Kopuron, but would certainly not be the hardest. The challenge for today was the heat. The trek was relatively flat and open, but was broken by four river crossings, which were a welcome break from the heat. We took a break for lunch at one of the river crossings with most personnel seizing the opportunity for a swim.
Day 4: From River to Ridge (18km)
Starting with a fairly pleasant (flat) two-hour trek to the Taviu River where we commenced walking up stream for a couple of hours knee deep in the pristine water. The scenery was amazing and it was hard to believe that such atrocities had occurred here 62 years earlier. After stopping at a set of rapids for a lunch break, the group started a steep climb through the dense jungle from the Taviu Ridge. A number of the group cursed the terrain, the mud and their own fitness, taking frequent breaks. Others plodded along too breathless to speak. One group started singing, “...I would walk 500 miles…..” by the Proclaimers, while others threatened to throw themselves off the side of the ridge if the singing didn’t stop. It was understandable why so many POWs died climbing this one ridge. Then, after cursing, sweating and plodding our way up the ridge, the group suddenly emerged from the scrub on to a bitumen road to finish the day’s trek. On reaching this point something changed, exhaustion turned to elation, people emerged from the jungle to “high fives” and pats on the back, like a football team who had just won a grand final. The 32-strong group of Navy, Duke’s Participants, other trekkers and guides (aged from 17 to 60) shared a special team bonding moment.
Day 5: One More River
Our entire group was buoyed by the experience of Day 4 and set off on Day 5 in high spirits. Advised that there would be no river crossings today, everyone was completely ill prepared for the muddy swamp land that confronted them and what appeared to be a never-ending number of deep river crossings. The fittest of the group assisted the others by “piggy backing” them across the rivers. The days trek finished at Pagnitan Village where in World War II Groups 5-9 of the 1st Death March and 2nd Death March had stopped. Many POWs died at this sight as a result of maltreatment by their captors and illness.
Day 6: Tea Plantations
An easier day spent trekking through undulating Tea Plantations, fish farms and surrounding agricultural areas. We were able to keep our feet dry thanks to a number of wire suspension bridges which spanned the rivers in our path. That was until after lunch, when the second half of the day was spent trudging through the pouring rain, in what was a welcome break from the searing heat of the morning.
Day 7: Reaching Ranau
The last day of trekking started with a long, hot one and a half hour climb up a section of Marakau Hill. As the group crested the hill our destination was revealed. Ranau lay in the valley before us, under the shadow of the ominous looking Mount Kinabalu (highest mountain in South East Asia). It was easy to see why the POWs were haunted by the size of the mountain which trapped their path to freedom. We descended into Ranau and the group came together as we neared our final destination. We walked the final steps together entering the Ranau Camp.
That evening we all gathered at the Kundasang War Memorial where we held a service for the POW’s in whose footsteps we had just followed. The gardens and memorial pond at Kundasang were a fitting location for the service. With the trek behind us the group now had time to reflect on the journey that we had just made. We lined the edges of the memorial pond and one by one stepped forward to place a solitary rose on the pond stating the name of the soldier whom we had followed. One could not help but feel the emotion when one participant stepped forward to proclaim “2428 Lest We Forget”, the number and not a name was prophetic, it represented the number of POWs who had died between Sandakan and Ranau and signified that only a small number of the bodies recovered after World War II were identified and given a headstone, the rest remain forever lost to the jungle of Sabah or interred at Labuan War Cemetery with a headstone which reads simply “Known Only Unto God”. |
| |
|
 |
FOLLOW THE PATH: LSCK Corbin Dingle retraces the steps taken by POWs on the Sandakan Death March.
Photo: Tham Yau Kong |
| |
 |
FOLLOWING THE DEATH MARCH: The expedition makes its way through the Sabah Tea plantation.
Photo: Kay Fraser |
| |
 |
REMEMBERING: LCDR Cath Hayes, CO ACPB Crew Attack 5 throws a rose in the pond at Kundasang Memorial Park in mem-ory of the POWs.
Photo: LSPH Helen Frank
|
| |
|
 |
STEEP CLIMB: Members of ACPB Crew Attack 5 make their way up a mountain on the first day of trekking.
Photo: LSPH Helen Frank
|
| |
 |
COOLING DOWN: The Death March expedition stops at a river for lunch on the second day of trekking.
Photo: Tham Yau Kong
|
| |
 |
AUSSIE PRIDE: From left, back row – Mr Don McKinnon, Duke of Edinburgh Award leader, LEUT Hugh Simpson, XO Attack 5, Mr Damon Hunt, ABBM Jason Osment, ABBM Troy Norris, Mr Max Morris, ABMT Jonathon Jasinski, ABMT Scott Selkirk, Mr Matthew Sperling, LSCK Corbin Dingle, LSBM Timothy Kelk, LSBM Benjamin Beaven, LSMT Cameron Williams.
Front – LEUT Cath Hayes, CO Attack 5, ABBM Glynn Parry, ABMT Shawn Avery, ABET Anthony Butt, Miss Emma Collins, ABCK Jeffred Butta, LSCIS Meegan Davies. The scarves the walkers are wearing bear their own names and were hand-woven by local Malaysian people of the Dusan Tribe. They were presented at the end of the trek.
Photo: LSPH Helen Frank |
| |
 |
MEMORIAL: AB Scott Selkirk reflects on the atrocities committed at Sandakan.
Photo: LSPH Helen Frank |
| |
|
