Page 7 - eMuse Vol.9 No.11

If blokes just couldn’t go on, we shook hands with them, their loads being redistributed amongst the survivors to carry.
and said, you know, hope everything’s all right. But they knew The Formosan and Korean guards were allegedly the worst
what was going to happen. There was nothing you could do. and took great delight in their tasks. The first PoW to die on
You just had to keep yourself going. More or less survival of the rice march had travelled barely half a mile along the route.
the fittest. One PoW committed suicide as he could not face returning
Nelson Short: to Ranau.
“It was a one way trip when we started to hear shots, and A detailed report on the whole history of the men who were
you felt there was no hope for anyone who fell out.” sent to Sandakan was written by Lt. Col. H. W. S. Jackson
The following account summarises what is known of the after the war:
circumstances of the marches: The first P.O.Ws. began to fall out from the march after four
On 28 January 1945, the first of 455 PoWs, in nine groups, days which was near the Tankual Crossing, on the Maunad
set off from Sandakan to march to Ranau on the 164-mile trek River, a rest post about 40 miles from Sandakan and in a por-
through the jungle and swamps. The emaciated prisoners, in tion of the track that was knee deep, in mud.
ragged clothes, many with bare feet and the remainder in The ones who fell out were kept under guard until the main
disintegrating boots, suffering from malnutrition, disease and party had disappeared from view and then they were shot and
tropical sores, started out on the first of three marches that their bodies thrown into the jungle, at the side of the track.
became known as the Death Marches. The P.O.Ws. could hear the shots and so knew what would
The PoWs carried all the food including that for the guards. happen if they fell out.
The route of the Death March, climbing up to 1,000 metres “Fall Outs” would give away their personal belongings to
in some places, was along jungle tracks some of which the their mates when they realized they could no longer continue.
prisoners had to hack through thick jungle. The route crossed Those lucky enough to still possess leather boots would en-
and re-crossed rivers which, as it was the monsoon season, quire of foot sizes before giving them away and would pass
were full in full flow. on messages of farewell for their mothers, wives and families.
Humidity was extreme. There were no medical kits for the N0.1 Party reached Ranau on the 12th of February 1945
PoWs and drinking water was direct from the streams, riv- having lost thirteen of their men en route, a further two died
ers, swamps or puddles. It was a case of march or die, which on the day they reached Ranau. No. 2 Party reached Ranau
developed into march to die. Any prisoner that stopped was on the 15th. of February, No. 3 on the 16th., No. 4 on the 18th
shot, bayoneted or clubbed to death; there were also occa- and No. 5 on the 19th Nos 6, 7, 8 and 9 parties reached Pagi-
sional strangulations. natan (26 miles west of Ranau) around the 20th of February,
It was reported that there were instances of crucifixion and where they rested, the original 195 had been reduced to 160.
cases of cannibalism of PoWs – the prisoners being shot, The 260 P.O.Ws. of parties Nos 1-5 had arrived at Ranau
butchered and then eaten by the Japanese. with only 150 survivors. Yamamoto realized that they would
There were also stories of strips of flesh being cut from liv- never survive the trip to Tuaran, over even more mountainous
ing PoWs, the prisoners being regarded as “walking larders”, country that they had already traversed.
so that “fresh meat” could flavour the rice for the Formosan After a month the 160 men who had reached Paginatan
and Korean guards. There were local reports of two PoWs had been reduced to 60 only 30 of whom were fit to continue
who, having been killed by the Kempeitai, had their limbs re- to Ranau. The death rate at Ranau was equally as high, the
moved and the torsos taken down stream to a large Japanese strain of the march seemed to cause a rapid deterioration to
camp. The news of this atrocity travelled far and wide without their health.
alteration to the account. After the war the jailers were tried for war crimes. The
The local Sabahans also explained that the Japanese commandant was hanged but most went back to japan and
were short of food and were culling PoWs to boost their mea- Korea to live out their lives in safety and comfort.
gre rations. There were further instances of cannibalism of
Kadazan, Dusan and Murut tribesmen by the Japanese.
The first, and subsequent marches, were horrific beyond
description, undertaken by undernourished and sick men
suffering from dehydration, salt deprivation, and dysentery,
bloated by beriberi, meningitis, malaria and other jungle-relat-
ed illnesses and sores. In many cases, bones could be seen
through the suppurating fly-blown open wounds. Their bodies
were quite simply rotting.
Leeches, ticks, mosquitoes, fire ants, hornets and the cuts,
stings and abrasions from the clinging undergrowth only add-
ed to their parlous condition. Those too sick to undertake the
march were either later massacred at Sandakan or were sent
by ship to other PoW camps where most met a similar fate.
Against all the odds, by mid-February 1945, some PoWs
(all Australians) were still arriving at Ranau. Many had died
en route, whilst others succumbed after they arrived. A mix
of both Australian and British prisoners arrived at Paginan- Three of the six survivors of the Sandakan Death March, Pte.
tan, twenty-six miles short of Ranau, again many dying on the Nelson Short, WO William Sticpewich and Pte Keith Botterill,
way. Rice carrying details started out from Ranau to Paginan- North Borneo, 1945.
tan, a forced march of three days, carrying rice. Unencum-
bered, the return took two days. Lest we forget.
Parties of men each carried 44lb sacks of rice; anyone who
failed to keep up was either shot or executed by other means, They sacrificed their tomorrow for our today.
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