The World War II battlefields of Borneo are fast becoming the next place of pilgrimage for Australians trying to connect with the their ANZAC heritage.
While ANZAC Cove and the Kokoda Track are best known, and Long Tan now draws dozens of veterans each August and the Commonwealth War Cemetery on the island of Labuan is a unique place.
Almost 8,000 Australians and half as many Britons visit memorials in Malaysia each year. Those sites include locations along the terrible Sandakan Death March that killed almost 2,000 Commonwealth servicemen. The last major battles fought by Australians, within weeks of the war's end, were the liberation of Borneo by the 9th Division: Tarakan, Balikpapan and Labuan itself.
Continue reading at: Remembrance Day in Labuan, Borneo
No comments:
Post a Comment