SANDAKAN HISTORY DOC - Department of Veterans' Affairs

Sandakan POW Camp, 1942–1944
After the fall of Singapore in February 1942, numbers of Allied
POWs—Australian and British—were brought progressively to
Sandakan. The first large group of Australians—about 1500
men—to arrive from Singapore was ‘B’ Force. They steamed
along the east coast of Borneo on the Ubi Maru and arrived at
Sandakan on 17 July 1942. Lieutenant Rod Wells thought the
scenery beautiful:
From the sea it’s lovely. With the red chalk hills on the side of Berhala
Island it really is very impressive. I suppose for a split moment we
thought, with a sigh of relief, that here’s some beautiful, peaceful land
where there may not be any Japanese.
Once ashore, the Japanese marched them to Sandakan POW
Camp, which was under the command of Captain Hoshijima
Susumi. In April 1943, ‘B’ Force was joined by 776 British
POWs and, between April and June, by another group of 500
Australian prisoners—’E’ Force.
Captain Hosijima Susumi
(centre), Commandant,
Sandakan POW Camp,
1942–1945, talking with
his defence counsel outside
the courtroom where he is
being tried for war crimes at
Labuan, January 1946.
AWM 133913
17