More than 200 attend Boyup Brook’s memorial service to Second World War’s Sandakan soldiers

Veterans, school students and shire and RSL representatives gathered in Boyup Brook on Tuesday morning to remember the soldiers who lost their lives during the Sandakan death marches during World War II. More than 200 representatives and veterans attended the service, held at the town’s Sandakan Prisoner of War Memorial on Abel Street, where the 2400 Australian and British soldiers who lost their lives during the marches in Sabah, Malaysia were remembered. The 2011 and 2023 Ted Mclaughlin Sandakan Scholarship recipients Taylah Jones and Jessica Bennett both gave speeches, while Amalia Cailes was announced as this year’s recipent. Mr Hales commemorated the life of Collie WWI soldier William Herbert Beard during his address “The Collie Boys”, alongside fellow Collie soldiers Private George Lake and Sergeant Ian Stuchbury. Busselton’s Private Bubbles Holmes and Private Jim Goldie were also highlighted in the address. “We celebrate (Mr Beard’s) bravery and sacrifice and acknowledge the collective courage of all those who served with such valour,” Mr Hales said. “His story reminds us of the enduring spirit of bravery and the high cost of our liberty.” Mr Hales said the service went well, noting the tragedy of the loss of lives in Sandakan. “The Sandakan story is a tragic story of WWII, where prisoners of war were ill-treated by the Japanese,” he said. “Red Cross supplies were taken off them and they were forced to build an aerodrome for the Japanese in North Borneo under duress, and when the Japanese started to lose the war, they took them to Ranau and put them through the death marches.”