Teo laying a wreath, followed by Miles Kupa at Sandakan Memorial Park yesterday morning.
SANDAKAN: One of the survivors who was forced to work for the Japanese during World War Two recalled his experience yesterday at the Sandakan War Memorial Park, after 68 years.
Losoh Sodikormoh, 83, said he was playing in the morning in one of the villages in Java.
“It was 1942. I was only 12 years old then. All of a sudden, the Japanese forces caught me and took me away in their truck. After that I was taken to Singapore and later to Sandakan by ship,” he told the media while relating his horrific experience.
He was brought to work at the airstrip that the Japanese were building near the Prisoner of War camp where the memorial park is located. There were more than 1,000 prisoners of war (POW) at the camp then.
“I was asked to collect the dead bodies of those prisoners who had died of starvation, torture and illness. I had to dig holes to bury them. At other times I was asked to collect vegetables and do other menial work,” Losoh told reporters.
He also said the locals who were helping the POWs by giving food, if found guilty, were decapitated. There were two decapitation centres specially for this purpose.
During the Sandakan- Ranau march, about 1,000 prisoners were selected to march to Ranau. All of them died, except the six men who escaped, he said.
“The Japanese army were very cruel. I worked here for three years before they surrendered to the British in 1945,” Losoh recounted his experience after the memorial ceremony.
The Sandakan Day Memorial Service is an annual event organised by Sandakan Municipal Council and Sabah Tourism Board to commemorate the fallen heroes during World War Two in Sabah, then known as North Borneo.
The event was attended by Special Tasks Minister Datuk Teo Chee Kang, who represented Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, Miles Kupa, deputy British High Commissioner to Malaysia, chairman of Sabah Tourism Board Datuk Joniston, families of fallen heroes from Australia and other invited dignitaries.