In 1942, under Japanese occupation, Australian prisoners of war were sent to Sandakan in Borneo, Malaysia, to build an airstrip.
By late 1944, as Allied forces advanced towards Borneo, the Japanese forced more than 2000 Australian and British prisoners to march west towards Ranau.
After three years in captivity, the weak and sick prisoners of war were forced to walk through Borneo’s rugged jungle interior. Many died along the way; some were far too weak to march; some were executed when found to be conspiring with the local resistance. Their bodies littered the track.
Of the 1787 Australian prisoners on the death march, only six survived the war.
Eighty years on, personnel from Rifle Company Butterworth rotation 144 were honoured with an opportunity to spend four days retracing the steps of the Australian soldiers that came before them.
Second in command Captain Luke Gollschewski said it was humbling and confronting for them.
“It was an eye-opening experience,” he said.
“The Sandakan Death March is not something that is widely known, nor is it something that the majority of Australians have fully grasped the significance of.
“We only completed a fraction of what they did, and we had water, food and regular breaks. To reflect upon what they went through, in worse conditions, makes you wonder how they even did it.”
‘Throughout the walk, you felt a range of emotions, from anger at realising how they suffered, to sadness at thinking about what they went through and what their families had to come to terms with at the end of the war.’
Living up to its name, the Sandakan Death March is not for the fainthearted. Soldiers of today, with their equipment and fitness training, would find its gruelling 260km of terrain a significant challenge.
“You’d be lying to say it wasn’t tough. There were steep ascents, slippery descents and dense jungle,” Captain Gollschewski said.
“It was a challenge for myself, and for the rest of the company. However, the conditions forced us to reflect upon those who had come before us, and just how deeply they suffered at the hands of occupying forces during World War 2.”
The soldiers of Rifle Company Butterworth 144 undertook a series of historical lessons along their portion of the march to deepen their understanding of how the soldiers lived and died, but they also learned of the enduring spirit that lives on today.
“It was extremely sad, but in a way, it also highlighted the resilience of Australian soldiers throughout World War 2. The stories passed down by the locals of Sabah show that the Australian prisoners never stopped fighting, even in the face of death,” Captain Gollschewski said.
“Throughout the walk, you felt a range of emotions, from anger at realising how they suffered, to sadness at thinking about what they went through and what their families had to come to terms with at the end of the war.”
The Sandakan Death March remains the greatest single atrocity committed against Australians in a wartime conflict.
