THE STORY OF ESCAPE AND FRIENDSHIP AT SANDAKAN - DICK BRAITHWAITE AND ABDUL RASHID @ LORETO PADUA

SEJARAH NORTH BORNEO SABAH

SPECIAL EDITION, SECOND WORLD WAR SERIES

"THE STORY OF ESCAPE AND FRIENDSHIP AT SANDAKAN"

DICK BRAITHWAITE AND ABDUL RASHID @ LORETO PADUA

Bombardier James Richard Dick Braithwaite, 2/15th Australian Field Regiment escape from the horrific Sandakan Ranau Death Marches. During the early stages of the second march Dick Braithwaite was so ill with malaria that his mates had to hold him up at roll call. For him it was a question of escape or die. Taking advantage of a gap in the column, he slipped behind a fallen tree until everyone had gone by. At nightfall he made his way back to a river they had recently crossed, hoping to follow its course to the coast. On his way he encountered a sick Japanese guard, whom he killed. Initially, Dick finished up in the middle of the jungle swamp feeling he was a beaten man.

Eventually he reached Labuk River where an elderly local man called Abing helped him. Abing took Dick in his prahau down river to his village, where he was looked after and hidden. The locals wanted to help him as they thought he might be able to get Allied planes on the hunt of Japanese to stop strafing the villages and the locals prahu. Hidden under banana leaves, Dick was paddled 20 hours downstream to Libaran Island by Abdul Rashid and friends where it was hoped he could be handed over to Allied forces operating in the area. On 15th June 1945 Dick Braithwaite was rescued from North Borneo by an American PT boat and taken to nearby Tawi Tawi Island, Philippines.

Abdul Rashid Bin Haji Arsah, a Filipino whose real name was Loreto Padua of Kampung Sapi, Sandakan escape from a Sandakan underground guerrilla movement, he spoke fluent English. Abdul Rashid had worked with one of the larger timber companies and was keen to become involved as the Japanese had murdered his wife and child. Abdul Rashid was wanted by the Kempeitai for his high profile pro guerrilla activities.

Being well acquainted with Willie, whose sons Francis, James and Thomas and son in law Winfield Sherman were all working for SOA, Abdul Rashid knew that Gort Chester, described as the man who come back to Borneo was now operating in the north of Sabah. Abdul Rashid and few others accompany Dick on the perilous journey to Libaran island. Dick Braithwaite knew that Abdul Rashid wish for some action recommended Abdul Rashid to PT's Commander Lt. James of USS Oyster Bay.

SANDAKAN POW CAMP

During the Second World War, on 18th July 1942, the YUBI MARU small decrepit, rusty tramp steamer with no potholes arrived at Sandakan after 10 days of nightmare voyage with 1500 prisoners, mostly Australian who had surrendered to the Japanese at Singapore. Most of them were sick.

It was not until afternoon that about half of the prisoners were ordered to disembark and line up at the Town Padang. At about half past five the Australian were formed into batches of 44 and march under the heavy guard uphill to St Michael Church of All Angles where they spent the night. The next day the POWs were marched to the mile 8 camp site, which was a colonial agricultural and forestry station on Labuk Road. More arrived in 1943, this time mainly British. They were forced to build a military airstrip.

At first they were treated reasonably well. But after escapes, resistance and removal of officers to other camps, rations were reduced and violence against them increased, until the prisoners were subjected to daily harsh physical abuse from their captors.

In late 1944 the airstrip the prisoners of war had been building was destroyed by Allied bombing. Then in early 1945, within sight of Allied victory, the Japanese decided to move the surviving POWs, even though the majority of them were sick and injured to march 260 km to the west in the mountains to the settlement of Ranau. The POWs had to endure one of the most horrific war time atrocities at Sandakan

SANDAKAN UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT POW CAMP

Before the war, Sandakan was the administrative centre of North Borneo, and most key European personnel were based there. After the Japanese occupied North Borneo, the island was turned into a detention camp almost all European was interned, initially on Berhala Island.

Berhala Island, located three miles off the shore of Sandakan, could be approached from the towns via boats. The island was previously a quarantine station for leprosy settlement under the British North Borneo Chartered Company rule. The Chartered Company used it to intern Japanese national.

The goal for the Underground movement were initially humanitarian but expanded into smuggling food and medicine, smuggling of radio parts, collecting of money, gathering of intelligence and eventually military. The underground turned into a dangerous organisation. With the help of these and other courageous locals, a cache of small arms was organised. This include some British equipments mainly weapons brought in from the Philippines. There were about a hundred weapons including three machine guns, hidden about three kilometres from the camp near mile 6. The plan was to use this weapons as part of a general prisoners insurrection to either seize the camp and town or undertake a mass escape of all prisoners and become guerrilla fighters.

Connected to the insurrection plan was the building of a transmitting radio. This would be used to contact American Guerrillas in the Philippines and submarines with a view to obtaining more arms and other support. This development was not just about escaping; it was a challenge to the Japanese position in North Borneo, and one that inevitably would invoke most violent Japanese response.

All racial groups were involved in the underground : Europeans, Chinese, Indians and Locals. All groups are represented.

Berhala Island was where the first and second team of the allied POW escaped. The first team comprised R.K. Mc Laren, Private R.N. Butler and R.J. Kennedy. They arrived at Batu Batu, Philippines on the 13rd June 1943 and was greeted by Colonel A Suarez. The second team consisted five colleagues Lt. Rex Blow, Lt. L.N. Gillon and Sgt. W. Wallace, Captain R.E. Steele and Lt. C.A. Wagner followed thereafter and arrived Tawi Tawi, Philippines on 30th June 1943. They were all integrated into the Philippines guerrilla forces.

Their escape from Berhala Island was successfully executed by the WW2 members of the underground intelligence organisation directed by an intelligent officer, Captain Lionel Colin Matthews. He was responsible with the delivery arrangement of food, medical supplies and money to the POW. He introduced secret radio links with the outside world and organised the British North Borneo Constabulary for armed uprising against the Japanese. The underground intelligence movement was soon discovered by the Japanese. He was arrested by the Kempeitai and was subject to brutal treatment and starvation of which he refused to reveal and information to implicate his associates. He was tried by the military court at Kuching. Dr JP Taylor was the co founder of the underground movement in Sandakan. On the 23rd July 1943, he was arrested and brought to Kuching for trial. Dr Taylor was the inspiration for others during the whole period of internment. Both Captain Lionel Colin Matthews and Dr JP Taylor successfully organised the escape of (8) Eight allied POW to the Philippines.

The Japanese ordered their guards in combination with the local Police Force to search for the Australian. They hunted frantically all over the island but could not locate them. The Japanese military police offered enormous sums of money as rewards for the recapture of the Australians.

The Japanese took all who were involved in the Underground movement of which among others they planned to arm the POW in Sandakan to overpower the Japanese.

Those capture composed of international group of Chinese, Europeans, Eurasians, Kadazan, Sikh, Murut, Filipinos, Suluk, Javanese and MY Cohen a wealthy Jewish women, together with 19 Australian POW and five civilians and their wives. Some of those who were involved in the underground movement was Mananai, Puloro, Wong Yun Siew, Ngui Ah Kui, Oi Seng Chau, Simon Yong, Goh Tek Chai, Goh Teck Seng, Chan Tian Joo, Henry Chang Ting Kiang, Lau Bueh Ching, Ng Ho Kong, Cham Ah Ping, Peter Leong, Peter Lai, Felix Tan, Chin Piang Sinn, S/Major Yangsalang, Sgt Yusof, Inspector Guriaman, PC Gorokan, PC Lumatop, PC Mohammad Tahir, M Damoodaram, Mat Salleh, Lamberto Apostol, Dick Maginal, Jakariah, S Aruliah, Dahlan, Rice Oxley, Suratmin, Jumadi and Sgt Koram Bin Andaur. They were interrogated and tortured for their involvement in the movements. Some of them were shipped to Kuching on the 25th October 1943.

On the 2nd March 1944 the gallant Australian Captain L.C. Matthews and 8 others namely, Alexander L.C. Funk, Ernesto Lagan, Jemadar Ojagar Singh, Sergeant Abing, Felix Azcona, Wong Suk Ming, Heng Ju Meng and Matusop Gungau were condemned and shot dead by a Japanese firing squad.

During the Japanese military trial the following underground intelligence members were sentenced to imprisonment for various years depending the crime, Dr JP Taylor, Sgt Major Yangsalang, Gerald Mavor, Damodaran, Sgt Yusof Basinau, Allan DR, Amat, Lt RG Well, Peter Raymond Lai Kiu Fook, Mehamet Salleh Bin Madang, Lt AG Weynton, Ng Ho Kong, Ng Ah Kui, Sastroh, Lamberto Apostol,Inspector Guriaman, Chin Piang Sinn, Amigau Bin Hassan, Yong Cha Ming, Soh King Seng, Peter Leong, Dick Majinal, Sgt A Stevens, Paddy Funk, Kassim Bin Jumadi, Cpl J Richards, PC Kassiu, Henry Chang Ting Kiang, Chan Tian Joo, Foo Seng Chow, Jakariah, Sidek Bin Simoen, Spr. DG Marshall, Johnny Funk, Patrick Funk, Felix Tang, Chan Ping, PC Gorokon, PC Lumatop, SIG FJ Martin, Mr Philips, Samuel Aruliah, PC Mohammad Tahir, Lau Bui Ching, Ng Ah Kui, Cpl. CC Mills, Spr. CE Jensen, SG Davis, Suratmin Mandur Kassim, Cpt TG Graham, Cpl Roffely, Cpl AL Small, Spr R Davis, Sgt RB Holly, S Sgt JH James, Sgt AM Blain, Goh Tek Seng, Goh Teck Tshi, Dahlan, Major Rice Oxley, PC Kai, Dr JF Laband, Sgt WJ Mc Donough and EH Rumble.

This listing does not include many more civilians, those executed, those that has been fined, SOA agents, helpers and many others who helped at Sandakan.

DEATH MARCH SANDAKAN RANAU SURVIVOR

More than seventy years ago more than 2428 Australian (1787) and British (641) Prisoners of War were killed in North Borneo, in one of the worst military atrocities in our nation's history. The prisoners suffered starvation, disease and brutality at the Sandakan camp and the infamous death march to Ranau in North Borneo in 1945. In the final stages of world war two, the serviceman were forced to march from Sandakan to Ranau, in thick marshland and jungle unaware of their fate.

When the Japanese started to realize that the allies were closing in and that they may be defeated, the Australian and British prisoner of war from Sandakan camp were force to 260 KM march to Ranau.

The first Sandakan Death March began in late January 1945 with 455 prisoners. About 75 percent or about 340 reached their destination at Paginatan or Ranau, while about 115 who died en route were disposed "disposed of". For every 15 POWs who died, the Japanese lost 10 soldiers.

Despite the high death toll, the second Sandakan Death March was organized on the 29th May 1945, with 536 prisoners. About 100 were used as labourers to carry rice etc between Sandakan and places along the lower end of the track.

The march lasted twenty six days with an even higher death toll due to poor condition of the POWs. 181 prisoners reached Ranau. Survivors were murdered on the 27th August 1945 near the Muanad River.

Incredibly, 75 prisoners were forced to make the death march on 15 June 1945. None made it beyond 50 kilometres of Sandakan, being too weak and ill.

Only Six Australians survived the horrific imprisonment and death march though many did attempted escape. Owen Campbell escaped by swimming into a 300 yard of wide river. Dick Braithwaite escaped into the jungle during the second march and was brought by his bodyguards Abdul Rashid @ Loreto Padua and others to Libaran Island eventually sailed to Tawi Tawi, Philippines; reached friendly locals and were rescued. Nelson Short, Keith Botterill, Bill Moxham and Bill Sticpewich escaped and hide at Ranau, discovered, assisted by Baragah, Adong Ajak and taken to AGAS party rescuers at Silad about 15 km from Ranau. These men stared death in the face yet managed to defy the odds, exhibiting pride, courage and patriotism. Those who do not perish during these marches, died at Sandakan POW camp or murdered at Ranau.

THE FILIPINO ABDUL RASHID BIN HAJI ARSAH @ LORETO PADUA

From the British point of view, all non-whites were part of ethnically diverse group of lesser importance. However, there were families that had more money, education and status in the colonial society. Some like Johnny Funk's father, a magistrate, had positions of serious responsibility. While the story of the Funk family and how it was affected by the war is well known, there are many other family stories which are not. These were community leaders in their different ethnic groups.

Loreto Padua, whose family was of minor Spanish aristocratic origin, had come from Manila in the Philippines to work with his uncle in his timber harvesting business near Lahad Datu in the 1930s. He worked as forestry-surveyor , and things had gone well until the Japanese arrived. He was friends with many in the Filipino community, and knew well the three Filipinos (Funk, Lagan and Azcona) who were executed for their involvement with the Sandakan Underground. Pressed into labour for the Japanese, he worked quietly as an anti- Japanese activist. It is now unclear just what he did but he was warned that he was being sought by the Kempeitai. It is possible that his name was given up during the torturing of local people that occurred in 1943 during the dismemberment of the Sandakan Underground. Loreto decided to disappear, but this was not going to be easy. 'The Japanese had spies everywhere'. He had a son from his first wife who had died in childbirth in 1942. He left his young son, Emelio, with his deceased wife's sister, Mary.

Padua went to Kampung Sapi and looked up his pre-war friend from his forestry surveying work, Sasau bin Haji Arsah. Haji Arsah agreed to hide Loreto but they determined that he would need to assume a new identity, one that was very convincing indeed. He was adopted by Haji Arsah as his long lost son. He assume the name Abdul Rashid, grew his hair and beard, and dressed as a Tidung villager. He mastered the obscure Tidung language and practised as a Muslim. He learned the Arabic script and developed good knowledge of the Koran. Haji Arsah's own children regarded him as a brother as he worked as a member of the Kampung, fishing on the river. He remained in hiding until the final terrible days of the war when he would help rescuing Dick Braithwaite.

COURAGEOUS RESCUE BY THE LOCALS

There was an unusual man in the Kampung Sapi a little distance off, perhaps a couple of kilometres down river at the mouth of the Sapapayau River where it joined the Sapi and ultimately the Labuk. Loreto Padua, who came from nearby Philippines. He had worked for the forestry company British Borneo Timber in Sandakan but wanted by the Japanese and now went by the malay name of Abdul Rashid, as a way of hiding. They wanted to arrest him in connection with activities concerning organising Filipino nationals in British North Borneo. Now he was approached by the villager Sapan who told him they were hiding escaped POW (Dick Braithwaite) that was rescue earlier by Abing Bin Luma and his son in law Amit with a neighbour Kuming. They do not know what to do with him. Loreto said he would take the POW to a place of safety but needed a boat. Loreto suggested they all meet to work out a plan and who was going to carry it out.

The Filipino called Loreto Padua was the only one who spoke English, and so he was crucial to conducting the discussion. Dick asked through Loreto if he could have some food so he could set off for the coast, explaining that it was not the villagers problem and he wished to take the risk himself. But they shook their head and said, 'You would never make it. You would not get 400 yards.' The following dialogue ensued :

Dick : 'Let me rest a little and I will risk it alone.'

Loreto : 'No, we will take you out to the Americans.'

Dick : 'How?'

Loreto : 'By prahau, at night.'

Dick : 'Who will do this?'

Loreto : 'The men of the Kampung.'

Dick : 'They do not have to run the risk.'

Loreto asked in local Tidung language who was willing to take Dick out to the Americans. They all volunteered. Dick was not happy at putting these people at such risk and asked, 'Do they know what it means if they are caught?'

Loreto :' Yes'

Dick : 'What will you do if we are cornered?'

Loreto : 'We will fight.'

Dick : 'What with?'

Loreto : 'Our Parang'

A plan was devised. There would be two prahaus, a larger one with Dick lying down on the floor covered with bananas leaves, rattan, cloth, and a smaller one to act as decoy if they were challenged. Every young man of the Kampung volunteered, it was agreed that Sapan, Omar, Sagan, Buang, Salim and Mangalong would go, four in the bigger boat with Dick and Loreto, and the other two in the smaller decoy boat. They paddled all night. Dick was telling Loreto that a man came and talked to him in the Kampung claimed to be also to be the only survivor who was working on the aerodrome. Loreto was concerned about this stranger and asked the others about him. They said he had gone. Dick worried that his short time in Sapi would bring trouble to these friendly, happy people.

Dick felt nurturing comfort of these kind men. His fatigue and generosity of these people had caused him to surrender his trust to them completely. He was glad to be again in the company of brave , competent and trustworthy men. They continue paddling until they pulled in and landed on a small uninhabited island in the large estuary of the Labuk River. Their destination was toward Libaran Island. The next day they paddled on and landed at the northern end of Libaran Island, north east to the mouth of the Labuk river. They were greeted by local people and put Dick in the house of Kerani Bulah. Dick was taken to meet the headman, Sariori. An American PT boat come up to the beach with Lieutenant William Skade of the PT 143 and was told that they had an Australian soldier. The PT boat returned to its base at Tawi Tawi in the Philippines. Skade radioed the Australian contingent on Tawi Tawi, Flight Sergeant Rex Lewis.

The next morning the American PT boats appeared and told Dick Braithwaite that they need to went across and shot up a Japanese fort upstream from the mouth of the river, at Beluran. Dick recommended the service of Loreto Padua to act as local navigator to improve the odds. Dick said he could be trusted implicitly as there was a Japanese price on his head. The boats returned from the mission unscathed after several hours. Dick asked if he could have some cigarettes for his brave companions from Sapi and he also obtained some atabrine for Loreto who was now having an attack of malaria.

Then came the time for farewells. The men shook hands, hugged, and wept a little. Although they had been together only for two and half days, their relationship had been very intense. They had saved Dick's life at extreme risk to their own and their families. They had shown him the ultimate in hospitality. As the boat moved off, Dick wondered how could he ever repay the debt he felt he owed them.

On their returned journey to Sapi, Loreto and others learned that they had been betrayed. In helping Dick, Loreto had blown his cover. A Kempeitai casually asked him : Who is Loreto who helped the Australian?. He was not immediately identified and quickly got out of there and returned to Libaran. Major Rex Blow, now with the SRD (Service Reconnaissance Department), had briefly used Libaran as a base and instructed Loreto to bring out as many local as possible. He learned that someone indeed betrayed the Kampung to the Japanese. Loreto was betrayed by a fellow villager for money. Fortunately, the Sapi people were warned of the arrival of Japanese and were able to evacuate in time. In all, Loreto organised about 800 people in 200 prahu journeys to seek refuge. They resided for a time at Libaran Island off the North coast of Borneo.

POST WAR LETTER

Dick wrote several letters to his rescuer Loreto Padua without receiving a reply. He then wrote to Rex Blow to locate Padua. Rex located Padua in 1947 and Dick received a letter from Padua dated 14.3.1947. The letter expressed hardship of the war and the difficulty of the aftermath. Sapi Village had been betrayed and the Japanese had been told that the village had sheltered Dick. Some were killed by the Japanese raiding party but most escape to Libaran island.

Major Harry Jackson in a mission to reward local people of North Borneo for helping the allied forces wrote to Dick that Loreto Padua (alias Abdul Rashid) that he was impressed with Loreto as he was not seeking any reward. Loreto informed Major Harry Jackson that Lt. Col. Chester of the SRD given him hundred dollars for work he had done on Dick account.

On 1981, Dick was invited to Sabah and had hoped to catch up with Loreto Padua/Abdul Rashid. He asked about his rescuer but someone thought that he was dead. He was upset by the experiences of the trip.

FINDING THE PADUA FAMILY

Richard Wallace Braithwaite the son of Dick Braithwaite visited Sabah and continued to hope he might one day track his father rescuer, Abdul Rashid @ Loreto Padua. He did not know which name to look for. In 2013, he finally stumbled onto someone who knew the Padua family. He then met with daughter Arlene and she showed him Loreto's grave in the Catholic section of Sandakan Cemetery. They were both elated to have discovered each other. The following year he met more than thirty family members in Kota Kinabalu. Loreto had married another Filipino woman in 1949 and proceeded to have seven more sons and three daughters. When Johnny Funk was leaving to Australia in 1951, he suggested Loreto should come, but Loreto was deeply committed to Borneo. In spite of all that had happened, he love the place and its people. He was a man who wanted to help people, to do good, and felt he was needed there. After independence, he became involved with politics and was seen as having promising future. He was a protégé of the Chief Minister of Sabah, Tun Datu Haji Mustapha bin Datu Harun, but seriously fell out on a matter of principle. After that, he kept his head down and lived a quiet life. He was less assertive, but reflective.

There was a photo of Dick Braithwaite in the Padua family photo album. When they were growing up, Loreto's young children used to point at it and say, 'Who is the orang putih [white man]?' He stood among all the Asian faces and to the children of that time these white people were not part of their circle of friends. Loreto simply said : 'He is my Friend'. He would never tell them more. He never said, 'I saved this man life at great cost of myself.' When they visited the Sapi-Beluran area as they were growing up, the family were surprised to learn that their father was so highly regarded. They were introduced to men in Sapi who called him their brother. To many there, he was still known as Abdul Rashid. People from Beluran would say :'Loreto took us away from Japanese danger'. The family did not understand what all this meant. Their father was such a modest man.

When Richard showed her the photos of Sapi and its people that Harry Jackson and Colin Simpson took in 1947 and sent to his father, Loreto's widow Paula recognised many of the people. They were regular visitor at their Sandakan house in the year after the war. However, when Loreto spoke of the war, it was if he were speaking about the activities of others, the family began to realise their father had been talking about himself. They always 'knew he was a fine man but not a hero'. Having come together to meet Richard, the family cross-referenced what they knew and all learned much from each other. It was fascinating to watch them collectively work out the answer to his questions. Daughter Charo said : 'Daddy was never acknowledged except by someone from far away'. In 2015, they spoke at the 15th August Sandakan Day memorial ceremony.

Loreto had seen the most terrible things. He saw the death marches and the suffering of the local people. After the war, he smoked heavily and drank Martell Cognac each evening, occasionally getting drunk. Sometimes he sat in the darkness quietly weeping, but would not tell his children why. He quietly talked of the war with Henry Chang, one of the survivors of the Sandakan Underground. He was a man of aphorisms, saying things like :'The good and the bad will surely reveal itself'; 'You have to marry the religion before you marry the woman'; 'If someone throws stones at you, you throw rice back at them'. He was an avid reader of nonfiction, a keen gardener, an intelligent poultry breeder, a meticulous note-taker, and a devoted family man.

The effects of the war are still felt by the family. Son James thanks often bewildered western clients of his diving business for what their countrymen had done to rescue them from the Japanese. Son Alex used to tell Japanese visitors to Sabah they were bad and cruel people. Most of the first generation continue to hate the Japanese.

Loreto died on 3rd December 1980 aged 67 years in Manila, about nine months before Dick Braithwaite came seeking for him in Borneo. Fifteen years later his remains were re-buried in the cemetery at Sandakan. The family were pleased Richard had found them and felt he had , in a sense, validated him. His family love him very much. His grandchildren are terribly proud of him. The paper poppy Richard had left on his grave in Sandakan was later moved by Loreto Jr to Sandakan church where his father had worshipped. We were all surprised to realise the two and half days in mid-June 1945 was all the time the two lifelong friends ever spent together, when their paths had crossed in a terrible time. During the brief time together they quietly exchanged stories and obviously grew to like each other very much.

LEST WE FORGET

Dick Braithwaite saw his prime post-war responsibilities as comforting those who had lost loved ones and then achieving recognition and help for the people of North Borneo. He championed the cause of the many local people who had risked their lives in helping Australia POW and the SRD people.

War is a terrible crime against humanity. We remember the soldiers who gave their lives whilst fighting to liberate Sabah. We remember the locals who help the soldiers in the POW camp and the Sandakan Death March. These are our heroes who have sacrificed so much so that we can live in freedom. A story of human dignity still survives above all human sufferings.

It is important that we continue to come together to honour the tragedy that occurring in Sandakan, in order to educate the younger generations and keep the stories of heroism and courage alive.

We must continue to increase the public awareness on a story of courage and heroism in order to pass on to the new generations the example set by those brave men who gave their own lives for honour, dignity and freedom for our.

Source and Photos :

1. Richard Wallace Braithwaite : Fighting Monsters An Intimate History of The Sandakan Tragedy

2. Lynette Ramsay Silver : Sandakan a Conspiracy Stories and Blood Brothers Sabah and Australia 1942-1945

3. Paul Ham : The Untold Story of Sandakan Death Marches

4. Don Wall : Sandakan The Last March

5. Arkib Negeri Sabah : World War Two - The Sabah's Story

6. Australia War Memorial

7. Interview : William Padua, Alex Padua and Linda Cabanlit

8. David Porter and Ktryn Chua : sharing of Materials such as Books, Anzac and Sandakan Memorial Booklets

Edited by : Kumis Kumis