| The
Sandakan Death March
The Sandakan Death Marches were a series of forced
marches from Sandakan to Ranau which resulted in the deaths of thousands
of Indonesian slave labourers and allied prisoners of war who were being
held captive by the Japanese during World War II. By the time the war
had finished only 6 Australians survived out of the thousands of the
prisoners who had been captured. The Sandakan Death Marches are considered
to be the single worst atrocity suffered by Australian servicemen during
the Second World War.
This trek retraces the steps of the second series
of marches which began on 29 May 1945 and involved approximately 536
POW's The prisoners were forced to march from the Sandakan POW camp
towards Ranau. They marched in groups of about fifty accompanied by
Japanese guards. The march lasted for twenty-six days. The prisoners
were fed little rations and often forced to forage for food. Only 183
prisoners managed to reach Ranau.
The
Kokoda Track
The Kokoda Track runs 96 kilometres through the Owen
Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea. The trail was first used by European
miners in the 1800's heading north towards goldfields but the track
is famous as the location of the World War II battles between Japanese
and Australian forces.
During the Pacific War of World War II a series of battles were fought
on the Kokoda track between Japanese and Australian troops in 1942-43.
The track, only passable on foot, starts 50 kilometres east of Port
Moresby and crosses rugged and isolated terrain reaching a height of
over 2000 metres before ending at the village of Kokoda. Hot, humid
days combined with cold nights and heavy rainfall make it a challenging
trek.
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The Kokoda
Track and Sandakan Death March Treks |
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