LABUAN WAR CEMETERY, NORTH BORNEO
Borneo is a large island on the Eastern Archipelago, immensely rich in oil and rubber. The southern and larger part of the island was formerly a Dutch possession, but now forms part of Indonesia. The northern part of the island, which was formerly the colony of British North Borneo, consisted of Sarawak and North Borneo, the latter now being known as Sabah and including the island of Labuan.
Labuan is a small island in Brunei Bay, to which there are air services from Singapore and Australia. The only town, Victoria, is also a seaport and is the main port for Sarawak.
Labuan War Cemetery is about 3 kilometres from Victoria, on high ground overlooking the harbour. It is the only war cemetery in Sabah and contains, as well as the graves from Sandakan, about 500 from Kuching where there was another large prisoner-of-war camp. The total number of burials is 3,905. The preponderance of unidentified graves is due to the destruction of all the records of the camps by Colonel Suya, the Japanese commandant, before the Australians reached Kuching, his headquarters.
In this cemetery, forming a forecourt immediately inside the main entrance gate, stands the Labuan Memorial commemorating 2,327 officers and men of the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Air Force and the local forces of North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei who died while prisoners of war in Borneo and the Philippines from 1942 to 1945, and during the operations for the recovery of Borneo, and have no known grave. This is the subject of a separate register. Beyond this forecourt, in an open grassed space in the centre of the cemetery, stands the Cross of Sacrifice. The graves are in level mown turf, each marked by a bronze plaque on a sloping concrete stool. Throughout the cemetery grow flowering trees and shrubs, adding colour and beauty to the peaceful scene.
ISBN: 978-0-908492-89-3
A4 Comb Bound with laminated covers. 52 pages
