Bowls men commemorate
Everglades Bowling Club's president Kevin Phelps and immediate past president Stan Martin attended a commemorative ceremony held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on May 29.
National Sandakan Remembrance Day commemorates the deaths of 1786 Australians in Sandakan and Ranau and the infamous death marches between these two sites.
Mr Phelps' father died at Ranau on April 12, 1945.
Only six Australians managed to escape, one of which is still alive today.
His name is Owen Campbell and he lives in Queensland.
Lt. Gen. Peter Cosgrove gave the commemorative address.
The National Malaya Borneo Veterans Association, which has a branch on the Peninsula, supports the continuation of the annual service.
The remembrance day will have its 60th anniversary in 2005, where a monument will be erected.
A book written by Lynette Ramsay Silver, "Sandakan the Conspiracy", offers a comprehensive account of this part of our history.
Bruce McDonald, Everglades Mens Bowls, June 5