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Apart
from infrastructure repair the primary POW task was the building and repair of
forward airfields. Since most were on coral bases, the blinding white
reflections caused major sight problems, in addition to the usual hardship of
heavy manual work in the tropics.
The
islands were also far from major Japanese supply routes and suffered badly as
the tide of war turned. A number of atrocities occurred; the worst of which was
at Sandakan where a number of deliberate forced marches caused the death of all
but six (all escapees) of 641 British and 1787 Australian POWs.
See:
Sandakan – a Conspiracy of Silence by Lynette Ramsay Silver
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