Fighting Monsters: An Intimate History of the Sandakan Tragedy

by Richard Wallace Braithwaite

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 laborers, 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.
An unusual and extreme POW story, the Sandakan tragedy had four active resistance in 1942–3, stubborn endurance in 1943–4, the collapse of civilized existence in 1945 and, finally, the postwar decades of torment for the six damaged survivors, the gradual assimilation of the story, the healing of the damage and the commemoration of the tragedy by the families and communities involved.

530 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Cassie Forsythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Late Richard Braithwaite fondly known as Dick, also a name his father went by, has written this account well, in depth and enticing.

He broke down the story to manageable chapters that also serves as easy reference.

May we never forget the war that took place in Sabah, Borneo and off those who one served in this land.