(3rd from left) Major John Tulloch, Datuk Christina Liew, Datuk CL Chan and other guests for the ribbon cutting at the book launch.
KOTA KINABALU: The ordeal of prisoners of war (POWs) walking miles in water-filled boots as a form of torture, confined in tiny bamboo cages and even massacred are all searingly recounted in a new book launched here on Monday (Feb 27).
Titled "The Borneo Graveyard 1941-1945", the 492-page book also describes life during the Japanese occupation, how some Dutch women who helped POWs were gang-raped, and how locals risked their lives to help in secret whenever possible.
The author, Major John Tulloch, was inspired to write the book after a 1999 visit to Sandakan, where he learnt about the Sandakan Death March and stories of POWs' suffering.
"After going back to the UK, I did more research and found that half of those who perished were from my regiment," he said at the launch.
He added that many people, including himself at first, were not aware of what actually happened back then and he felt something had to be done to get the full story out.
Tulloch spent about 12 years travelling the world locating survivors and making repeated visits to Sabah to interview locals for the book, published with the collaboration of Opus Publications Sdn Bhd.
The company's managing director Datuk CL Chan described The Borneo Graveyard as an important part of history.
He said the book covers the raising of five Royal Artillery air defence regiments in 1939, their deployment in late 1941 to South-East Asia during World War II, their short campaign in the Netherlands East Indies and its members' eventual captivity as POWs in Java and North Borneo.
"It then describes the subsequent four years of Japanese occupation. It depicts the sadistic treatment of Australian, British, Dutch and Indian POWs in camps in North Borneo; Jesselton, Sandakan, Ranau, Labuan and Batu Lintang.
"And there were the three Death Marches from Sandakan to Ranau," he said.
Chan said the account focuses on men, women and children from all over Borneo who were eventually imprisoned in Batu Lintang.
He added that it also told of the locals' suffering with torture, executions and massacres commonplace.
"The book portrays their extraordinary bravery in assisting the POWs and internees, at great personal risk to themselves and their families," he said.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Datuk Christina Liew said this book was supposed to have been launched in 2020 during the 75th Anniversary of Sandakan Day.
However, she noted that Tulloch was reluctant to launch the book as he felt Sandakan Day was about remembrance, to honour those who died in the Japanese Occupation.
"It was a day to honour their sacrifice. His belief was that launching a book right after the (memorial) service would be disrespectful to the victims and their families," she added.
She said the ministry would work with the Sabah Cultural Board to translate the book, which she described as being told with "great compassion and authority", so more people would have access to its contents.
Tulloch was born into a British military family. In January 1965, he joined the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment as a private soldier and in 1966, attended officer cadet school in Victoria, Australia.
He transferred to the British Army and the Royal Artillery in March 1973 and retired from the military in 2003.
He then served in the Ministry of Defence until his retirement in 2015.
