Experiences of Jesselton
prisoners of war Camps
during world war 2
By Jeneane and Juan
The Jesselton POW Camp is located in North Borneo.
Map of where the Jesselton
prisoners of war camp is
located in Borneo.
Pictures of the
Camp 
Living conditions in Jesselton
The beginning of their journey
• On the 13th of October 1000 men
disembarked the food for men left on board
was bad many used the red cross parcels they
had, to the Japanese Jesselton camp.
Informing Prisoners
• Major Suga, commandant of prisoner of war
camps in Borneo welcomes the prisoners and
informed them they could be going to
Jesselton and would be under Lt. Nagata’s
command.
Arriving at Miri
• The red cross rations were getting very low
for prisoners who stayed on board the ship
arriving at Miri.
First day of work
• On the 23rd of October 230 prisoners were
put to work at 7AM these included ten
officers. This continues until heavy rain stops
work.
The down sides
• The Japanese were getting more aggressive
towards the prisoners and plenty of bashings
and the death toll being rides.
Comrade cemetery in Borneo
• They left on the 6th of April and the prisoners
sailed back leaving behind 51 of their
comrades in the cemetery at Jesselton. Your
chances of dyeing was 20%
Explanation
Australian prisoners of war were held in four main camps
in Borneo: Sandakan, Kuching, Labuan and Jesselton.
Conditions were bad in 1942 and got worse and worse over
the years. In January 1945, as the rainy season came in, the
Japanese, were scared of an Allied invasion. So they began
a series of forced marches from Sandakan to Ranau – a
distance of 260 kilometers along the jungle tracks. The
weak and sick prisoners starved to death on the way
because food became scarcer and people had to savior
every last crumb because the journey was so long. They
had no medical supplies and the terrain was muddy and
treacherous. If a man collapsed and could not get up, he
was usually shot dead by the Japanese.
Autobiography
His name is Ivan Quartermaine from Australia at
the time, working as a Civil servant who
fought in Malaysia.
What he experienced in the camp?
He thought the health of the prisoners was
really poor, he believed they had only three
months left to live. “We were in bad shape,”
he said. After liberation, he and other
prisoners sought weapons from Australian
soldiers, to take revenge on Japanese
personnel, but were refused.
Thank you =3
Bibliography
http://www.britain-atwar.org.uk/WW2/John_Wanless/html/jesselto
n.htm
http://www.dva.gov.au/commems_oawg/comm
emorations/education/Documents/full_POW_
P01913.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatsuji_Suga