From: Sandakan, North Borneo
To: Kota Kinabalu
Duration: 6 Days / 5 Nights
Departs: 23rd April 2026
Departure: Guaranteed
Tour type: ‘Join-in’/ Small Group
Attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Sandakan, the site of the start of the infamous Sandakan Death Marches in WWII. In the following days, learn the story of the death marches and visit Ranau, the POW’s destination. Visit the Kundasang War Memorial nestled near the foot of Mt Kinabalu and on your last day, honour these gallant men at the Labuan War Cemetery.
Following the Fall of Singapore in February 1942, about 2,700 Australian and British POWs were sent by the Japanese, to North Borneo (modern-day Sabah, Malaysia). About 2,400 were to be located at Sandakan to be used as labour to construct an airfield for the Japanese military.
Once the airfield was completed, the Japanese had no further use for the POWs. Their rations were reduced and starvation became a deliberate strategy. The appalling conditions led to disease and beatings by their captors were common.
By early 1945, with Allied forces advancing in the Pacific, the Japanese decided to move the fitter POWs to the west coast to be used as wharf labourers. This decision led to the infamous Sandakan Death Marches, three forced marches covering over 260 kilometres through dense jungle and rugged terrain to the town of Ranau in the highlands of Sabah. Those remaining at Sandakan, were either starved to death or executed. The few who made it to Ranau, like those at Sandakan, wre starved to death or executed. Of the 2,400 POWs sent to Sandakan, only six Australians survived.
Honour the fallen and attend the Anzac Day Dawn Service at Sandakan. Discover the essence of Sabah, its people, its food, its magnificent scenery and its unique wildlife. But above all, discover Australia’s rich but tragic, wartime history on this 6-day tour.
Anzac Day Dawn Service & Gunfire Breakfast
Sandakan Memorial Park (the site of the Sandakan POW Camp)
St Michael’s and All Angels Church, Sandakan
Sandakan City Tour
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
Sun Bear Conservation Centre
Kundasang War Memorial
1st POW Campsite & Gunner Albert Cleary Monument, Ranau
Last POW Campsite Memorial, Ranau
Labuan War Cemetery
Surrender Point Memorial, Labuan
If you find that you are unable to join a tour that has been booked, confirmed and paid in part or in full, the paid amount of that tour less any unrecoverable costs, may be converted to a voucher. The value of that voucher may be used towards the same tour with a later departure date or any other HWT tour.
If a refund is requested, the following cancellation fees may be deducted from the paid amount:
• Greater than 45 days prior to tour start date - 10% of total tour amount + any unrecoverable costs
• Greater than 14 days but less than or equal to 45 days prior to tour start date - 50% of total tour amount + any unrecoverable costs
• 14 Days or less (including ‘no show’) prior to tour start date – No refund
Day 2:
• Sepilok Orangutang Rehabilitation Centre - Low-Moderate
• Sun Bear Conservation Centre - Low-Moderate
• English Tea House - Low
• Agnes Keith House - Low
• Sandakan Liberation Memorial - Low-Moderate
• Sandakan Memorial Park - Low-Moderate
• St Michael’s and All Angels Church - Low
Day 3:
• Anzac Day Dawn Service – Low-Moderate
• Gunfire Breakfast - Low
Day 4:
• Kundasang War Memorial – Low-Moderate
• 1st POW Campsite Memorial - Low
• Cleary Monument – Low
• Last POW Campsite Memorial – Low-Moderate
Day 5:
• Labuan War Cemetery – Low-Moderate
• Surrender Point Memorial – Low
(SDK Only)
Registration with the Australian Department of Veteran Affairs, for the Anzac Day Dawn Service, is required.
All customers must have comprehensive travel insurance for the duration of the tour.
This tour is conducted in accordance with the Terms, Conditions and Policies (Terms) of Historic War Tour Pty Ltd (HWT). By booking a tour with HWT, you acknowledge that you have read and understand these Terms and accept them.
Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu & Kota Kinabalu to Labuan return
for tours
2 Nights
3 Nights
Note: Drinks not included
experienced. English-speaking
comfortable, air-conditioned
as per program
before & after the tour
not mentioned
insurance
e.g. telephone, internet, laundry, drinks, souvenirs etc.
to guide & driver
Thursday, 23rd April 2026
Arrive Sandakan where you will meet your driver for your transfer to your hotel. The rest of your day is free.
Hotel included: Sabah Hotel, Sandakan - Superior Room (or similar)
Friday, 24th April 2026
Depart Hotel: 8:15am
Return: about 5:00pm
Travel about 25 minutes west of Sandakan, to visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre where the orangutangs are prepared for introduction back into the wild. Walk along the boardwalk through the jungle and look out for these amazing animals. Arrive at the ‘Nursery’ where you will see firsthand, mothers and babies undergoing their daily routine. Next door, visit the Sun Bear Conservation Centre and observe the smallest of the bear species.
Return to Sandakan late morning and have lunch (own expense) at the English Tea House. Perched on the side of a hill with spectacular views overlooking Sandakan, this colonial style restaurant serves a mix of English and Asian delights.
After lunch, walk next door and visit the Agnes Keith House, a museum dedicated to this famous American author who wrote about life in British North Borneo. Continue your local tour of Sandakan observing places of interest such as the stilt houses at Sim-Sim Water Village, the Puh Jih Shi Buddhist Temple.
Arrive at the Sandakan Memorial Park, the site of the Sandakan POW Camp in WWII and where the Anzac Day Dawn Service will take place the following day. Use this time free of crowds, to walk around this lush and serene park seeing relics that still exist today. Visit the park’s Interpretive Pavilion which tells the story of the camp and the infamous death marches.
Return to your hotel but on the way, visit St Michael’s and All Angels Church and discover the magnificent stain glass Windows of Remembrance and the Friendship Windows before having a moment of quiet reflection in the POW Chapel. Your evening is free.
Meals included: Breakfast
Hotel included: Sabah Hotel, Sandakan - Superior Room (or similar)
Saturday, 25th April 2026
Depart Hotel: 4:15am
Return: 8:15am
Travel to the Sandakan Memorial Park for the moving Anzac Day Dawn Service. After, attend the Gunfire Breakfast and mingle with other Anzac Day travelers, before leaving at about 8:00am to return to your hotel.
Depart Hotel: 11:30am
Arrive Hotel (Kota Kinabalu): 3:30pm
Check-out in time for your transfer to the airport for your afternoon flight to Kota Kinabalu. Arrive at Kota Kinabalu where you will be transferred to your hotel. With the early start to the day, the rest of your day is free.
Meals included: Breakfast
Hotel included: Grandis Hotel, Kota Kinabalu - Superior Room (or similar)
Sunday, 26th April 2026
Depart Hotel: 8:00am
Return: about 5:00pm
Depart your hotel but before leaving Kota Kinabalu, visit the Australian Armed Forces Memorial which commemorates the role that Australian Forces played in the liberation of Borneo in WWII.
Leave Kota Kinabalu on your day trip to Ranau, to learn more on the tragic story of the infamous Sandakan Death Marches. About 90 minutes into your journey, visit the Kundasang War Memorial. Established in 1962 and nestled in the highlands of Kundasang below Mt Kinabalu, this memorial was one of the first to honour those who perished during the death marches. Comprising of four interconnecting gardens – the Australian Garden, the British Garden, the Borneo Garden and the Contemplation Garden and Pool – each symbolises the peace that the POWs never found. A black marble Memorial Wall lists the names of all the POWs who died at Sandakan, on the marches and at Ranau.
Another 25 minutes on, arrive at Ranau, the destination of the death marches. Only about half the POWs who left Sandakan arrived at Ranau. The others had died along the route, from starvation, disease or execution, and their bodies left where they fell. Visit the 1st POW Campsite Memorial and beside it, the Cleary Monument which honours Gunner Albert Cleary who was brutally bashed by the Japanese and later died of his injuries.
Have lunch (own expense) at Sabah Tea Plantation, close to the march route.
After lunch, visit Quailey’s Hill, a memorial to another POW killed by the Japanese before travelling the short distance to the Last POW Campsite Memorial which commemorates the tragic end of the death marches.
Return to Kota Kinabalu late afternoon and your hotel. Your evening is free.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel included: Grandis Hotel, Kota Kinabalu - Superior Room (or similar)
Monday, 27th April 2026
Depart Hotel: 4:15am
Return: 6:30pm
Transfer to the airport and your early morning flight to Labuan. On arrival at Labuan, meet your guide and, with the early start, go for breakfast (own expense) at a local restaurant.
After breakfast, visit the Labuan War Cemetery and Labuan Memorial. Take time for a moment of quiet reflection and walk amongst the rows of graves. Perhaps find the grave or memorial listing of someone of interest to you.
Continue about 10 minutes, to the west coast of Labuan and visit the Surrender Point Memorial. Here, on the 9th September 1945, Major General George F Wootten, Commander of the Australian 9th Division formally accepted the unconditional Japanese surrender to end the war in Borneo.
Have lunch (own expense) at a local restaurant and then visit St Anne’s School. The school was occupied by the Japanese during WWII and was liberated by the Australians who are held in great esteem by the locals and the school, even to this day.
Return to the airport about mid-afternoon, to meet your return flight to Kota Kinabalu.
Hotel included: Grandis Hotel, Kota Kinabalu - Superior Room (or similar)
Tuesday, 28th April 2026
Your day is free until your driver arrives to take you to the airport to meet your outbound flight from Kota Kinabalu.
Meals included: Breakfast
