Sandakan

The story of the Sandakan prisoner of war camp during the closing years of World War II. Of the 1793 Australian and 641 British servicemen held in the North Borneo camp and its surrounds, only six Australians survived. The Australians and British in the camp were mostly those captured by the Japanese during the fall of Singapore. The book details their last days of freedom in Singapore, their captivity, transfer to North Borneo and the appalling conditions in the camp, where they were forced to labour, day and day out, while being provided with little food. The Allies were aware of the location of these prisoners and the conditions under which they were suffering. A plan was put together towards the end of the war to rescue them, as it was known that the Japanese were eliminating prisoners of war as they were forced to retreat. The rescue attempt was bungled through incompetence. Almost all of the men died because of mistakes and stupidity in the senior ranks of the services back in Australia. More than 1000 could have been saved. The records were hidden so that the mistake would not be revealed.