OAKESHOTT INDEPENDENT
OAKESHOTT TO VISIT GRANDFATHER'S DEATH SITE FOR ANZAC DAY
Independent MP for Port Macquarie, Robert Oakeshott, today confirmed he will be officially laying a wreath on behalf of the 'relatives of prisoners of war' at the Dawn Service, St Michaels Church, Sandakan, Malaysia, on the 25th April this year.
"As a consequence of this, I will not be attending local ANZAC Day services for the first time in eleven years as a local MP, instead, attending services at the Sandakan death-march site, Mr Oakeshott said.
Mr Oakeshott will be attending two church services at Sandakan on the 24th April and the 25th April along with his father, mother, and his three sisters.
"My Grandfather, Captain John Oakeshott, was one of five commissioned officers and 15 'other' ranks to be shot and killed two weeks after the Japanese surrender at the end of World War 2. This was done as the Japanese were fearful of the true stories of the Sandakan death-marches being released, a war atrocity that saw nearly 2000 Australian soldiers die in the most horrific of conditions, said Mr Oakeshott.
"And for a long time, this strategy of silence seemed to work. It is only in the past decade that historians have been able to start to picture together what happened at Sandakan. It is only in the past two years that the Sandakan death-march trail has been mapped as a walkable trail, and it is only very recently that the location where these final 20 men were shot after the peace declaration has actually been identified, said Mr Oakeshott
"For our family, this will be a significant moment to visit this newly discovered site, as well as visiting newly opened parts of the death-march trek, along with the war graves at Labuan, where my Grandfather's body has recently been identified and is no longer an unnamed grave site, Mr Oakeshott said.
"As well, largely through the work of local historian Lynette Silver, the Sandakan Memorial Church will hold a dedication service for their new stain glass windows that recognise the loss of life by the three nations involved, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia. This has been possible through donations from many people from these three nations, including from our family, said Mr Oakeshott.
"I have informed the local Port Macquarie RSL Sub-Branch of these movements, and they have kindly donated poppies for our family and we will wear these with pride over the two days of reflection and memory for the lives lost at war, and, in our families case, the loss of life after the war was supposed to be over. I thank the RSL Sub-Branch for their kind gesture, Mr Oakeshott said.
"Part of the visit will also be a reconnaissance mission to see whether a group of us from the Mid-North Coast could actually walk the trek, in honour of the fallen, sometime in the future. It is approximately 220 kilometres of extremely difficult terrain, and would take approximately eight days. I know a lot of interest from the region has been shown in the Kokoda trek, so I will find out more about the Sandakan trek and possibly start putting a team of walkers together in the future. Anyone interested is free to contact my office on 65-840977.
10 April 2008