Date: 10 November 2008 - 30 April 2009 2008
Venue: Newcastle Gaol
“Sandakan: the story that must be told”
The Shire of Toodyay, in conjunction with the Borneo Exhibition Group WA Inc, presents a new display in the courtroom of Newcastle Gaol.
The exhibition, “Sandakan: the story that must be told”, retells the tragedy of soldiers who were interned at Sandakan prisoner of war camp in Borneo during World War II. Under the brutal control of the Japanese nearly 2500 men perished during what is now referred to as the Sandakan – Ranau Death March.
From Toodyay’s small population four men perished in Borneo. The Dorizzi family lost three sons, Herbert, Gordon and Tom, and the Ferguson family lost their son, Reginald. All four men died as a result of the first marches in early 1945. Herbert and Gordon died together on 11 February amidst the swampy marshlands and dense jungle of Mount Kinabalu. Tom and Reg Ferguson endured to reach Ranau, but both men died in the camp; Tom died one month after his brothers and Reg on 23 March. By the end of June that year only six of 470 men were still alive.
The exhibit is defined by an amazing mural painted by Perth artist Non Meston, whose father died at Sandakan. The mural depicts the starved soldiers travelling from Sandakan into the mountains of Borneo.
Other objects of interest include a tabletop diorama of the region showing points of interest, military memorabilia and books about Sandakan and the war in Borneo.
Panels of news clippings, interviews with the survivors, Japanese ex-soldiers and locals who helped the prisoners provide intricate details into the disastrous history of Sandakan. Much of the information on display is accounts from the clean up team that entered Borneo in 1946 and what could be gleaned from the war crimes trials that followed.
The exhibition will be running until April 2009.
Visit Newcastle Gaol on Clinton Street, Toodyay
Open weekdays 10.00am – 3.00pm
Open weekends 10.00am – 3.30pm.
For enquiries contact Toodyay Visitor Information Centre on 9574 2435.
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