Title: Fighting monsters : an intimate history of the Sandakan tragedy /
Authors: Braithwaite, R. W.
Year: 2016
Subjects: Death marches Borneo.; Death march survivors Australia Biography.; Prisoners of war Australia Biography; Prisoners of war Borneo Biography.; Labor camps Malaysia Sandakan (Sabah); World War, 1939-1945 Prisoners and prisons.; Death march survivors; Death marches; Labor camps; Prisoners of war; Australia; Borneo; Malaysia Sandakan (Sabah)
Abstract: "Only six escapees survived the Sandakan death marches of 1945 in North Borneo, the worst atrocity ever inflicted on Australian soldiers. 1787 Australian and 641 British POWs perished. Previous descriptions of the numerous violent acts have yielded little understanding of a situation where the real struggle was to keep one's humanity when so many were losing theirs, whether Allied POWs, local residents of Borneo, Javanese slave labourers, or Japanese soldiers. Understanding this extraordinary story is aided by reference to a wide range of sources in different countries and disciplines, and by examining the perspectives of all players in this terrible game of survival."--Page [4] of cover.
Contents: 1. Beginnings -- 2. The opening round -- 3. The long journey to Sandakan -- 4. Prison camp life at Sandakan -- 5. Colonial Borneo and the coming of the Japanese -- 6. Camp life slowly falls apart -- 7. The death marches -- 8. Resolution and repatriation -- 9. Revenge and retribution -- 10. Surviving the peace -- 11. Responses to the Sandakan tragedy -- 12. The journey to understanding and reconciliation.