Hell On Earth – a tale of cruelty, bravery amid the Death Marches

by Winnie Kasmir. Posted to a Borneo newspaper on August 16, 2013, Friday

SANDAKAN: The book ‘Hell On Earth’, written by Michele Cunningham, was launched during the Sandakan Day welcoming dinner hosted by the Sabah Tourism Board at Sandakan Municipal Council president Datuk Ir. James Wong’s residence here Wednesday night.

The book tells the heart rending story of Australians who suffered brutal imprisonment in a Japanese POW (prisoner of war) camp in Sandakan, the very name of which has come to symbolise cruelty and ill-treatment.

In the middle of 1942, after the fall of Singapore, almost 3,000 Allied prisoners of war were sent from Changi to Sandakan and Kuching - and out of all them, 2,500 men had lost their lives.

Some of these unfortunate pows lost their lives in Sandakan on the infamous death marches (and also at Kuching) . Fearing that the war was being lost in early 1945, the Japanese decided to move the prisoners inland from Sandakan to Ranau; the forced marches are known as the Sandakan Death Marches. Whether from sickness, starvation, torture, appalling violence, or at the hands of their guards, all the while as they were forced to keep moving along a seemingly never-ending track.

Only six Australian POWs survived the death marches, out of nearly two and a half thousand who were incarcerated there.  Michele Cunningham’s father, was one of the Australian Officers removed from Sandakan in October 1943 and sent to Kuching. The Japanese considered the Officers' influence on the POWs was impeding progress on the airfield construction at Sandakan.

Through the mateship and common bond of the survivors of both Sandakan & Kuching, Michelle gained access to their stories and gives an account of their courage: men who refused to break no matter how harsh they were treated. It is a story of the depths to which the Japanese had sank. ‘Hell on Earth’ is a remarkable story of bravery, brutality, camaraderie and survival.

The ceremony was attended by Special Tasks Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang, who represented the Chief Minister of Sabah, Australian High Commissioner Miles Kupa, British Deputy High Commissioner Ray Kyles, Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, Burwood Council deputy mayor Ernest Wong, Boyup Brook Council, Western Australia Shire President Micheal Giles, Sandakan Municipal Council president Datuk Ir. James Wong, local leaders and family members of the POWs.