Sandakan Memorial

Sandakan Memorial Park in Sandakan, Sabah, is dedicated to the memory of the Allied prisoners who died at the former Sandakan POW camp and on the Sandakan Death Marches, and recognises the suffering and sacrifice of the native population. Built following a 1995 agreement between the Sabah state government, the Australian government, the Returned & Services League of Australia and the Sandakan Municipal Council, it was officially opened on 18 March 1999, about 1.5 km southwest of Sandakan Airport on the old camp grounds. A memorial service is held each 15 August (Sandakan Memorial Day). A circular route links six stations - including the Great Tree (a Mengaris tree), a concrete water tank and the original camp entrance - and the Sandakan Commemorative Pavilion houses a permanent exhibition on the camp and the death marches; it is the first stop of the POW Route to Ranau.