Anzac Day 2008 Dawn Service at Sandakan Memorial Park

It was tearful and sustained hugging at the Anzac Day 2008 Dawn Service at Sandakan Memorial Park, Friday, April 25, 2008 has to do with one of the most tragic closing chapters of the Death March.

A lot of the Death March stories had focused on the six Australian survivors out of 1,793 of POWs taken to Sandakan while all of the 641 British POWs died.

But few realised that even after Japan had surrendered in then North Borneo, 15 Australian soldiers were alive at a hidden jungle camp criss-crossed by roaring rivers, called the third Ranau camp. Of these 15, five were officers and the other 10 ordinary soldiers.

Allied war planes were all over Ranau dropping leaflets announcing the surrender and calling the Japanese Army to come out to lay down their arms. It looked like that 12 days after the end of the war when the five officers were told to walk out to the Kempetai - the Japanese Army's command post in Ranau.

According to Lynette Silver, author of "Sandakan - A Conspiracy of Silence", the five really must have thought they were going to discuss the terms of their release with the Japanese officers.

After a short walk, they stopped and everything looked like just taking a normal rest. Then all of a sudden, the Japanese soldiers walked to the other side of the track, raised their riffles and opened fire!

So the last five surviving Australian officers were shot dead.

One of the five officers executed was Dr John Oakeshott - an army doctor.

His surgeon son Dr Bob Oakeshott, 77, is seen here embracing his daughters Jane and Harriet and a family friend at the Sandakan Memorial Park.

"I feel very proud to be here and honour my father's memory today. My family is here and so are the people who he was fighting for.

"I also feel close to the people here. They are like our family now and I am very thankful to them," he said.

For Dr Oakeshott's family, this year's Anzac ceremony was especially meaningful because today (Friday) is also his father's birthday.

The 92nd Anzac Day was celebrated in many parts of the world to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey on April 25, 1915 during the First World War.

Australian soldiers and their allies were involved in liberating North Borneo during World War Two which ended 61 years ago.

Lynette said on Saturday (today) she will be bringing the whole Oakeshott family, including Bob's wife, Catherine and grandson, Alec, to the very spot in the Ranau jungle where Dr John was executed in late August 1945.

Dr John is listed as an unknown soldier at the Labuan War Cemetery.

All the while, apart from the official version that he was "missing" in action, the family never found out exactly what happened to Dr John. After tedious and tireless research, Lynette was recently able to crack the mystery of what happened to Dr John.

"I was able to identify his grave in Labuan. So after Ranau, I am taking them to Labuan where the family will be able to see not only Dr John's grave but also a brand new head stone," said Lynette.

My eyes got wet when I heard all this story live in that event, it was such a powerful and sincere speech by the Aussie but our Representative… Really Jah Lat!

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman do not think this event is important so he give it a miss and send the not so useful Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah to read his script that written by his political secetray and Musa himself didn’t even bother to have a read.

In January 1945, the Japanese army ordered 455 Australian and British prisoners of war to march from Sandakan to Ranau and in May 1945, another 800 were also made to do the same. Another 288 were left in the camp in Sandakan and later died.-Bernama