Petagas War Memorial and the surrounding garden was built to honour local heroes who sacrificed their lives to defend Sabah during the Japanese occupation in World War II. The Memorial is built on the location where members and sympathisers from 'The Kinabalu Guerrillas' were executed on 21st January, 1944 as well as the remains of those who were executed elsewhere but relocated here. The "Kinabalu Guerrillas" is a group of local heroes who launched a surprise attack on the Japanese Police Station and Military Police Headquarters in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) in September 1943 to prevent the forced conscription of about 2000 North Borneo youths into the Japanese army front line defense. The surprise attack by the mostly machete armed men was led by its Commander-in-Chief, Albert Kwok who was born in Kuching, Sarawak. In this attack, they managed to kill about 60 Japanese soldiers and more importantly, the attack managed to derail the Japanese conscription plan.
With the help of reinforcement from Kuching, the Japanese army launched an attack to capture all those who were involved in the attack against them in Jesselton. Members of the "Kinabalu Guerillas" were forced to retreat to Menggatal town after suffering heavy casualty due to lack of supplies and support from the relevant allies. Later, they are forced to surrender after the Japanese army threaten to kill innocent women and children of the surrounding villages. Of the 300 men captured, 176 prisoners were tortured and killed while still at the 'Batu Tiga' prison or were later executed in Petagas on the 21st January 1944. The remaining 131 guerillas were sentence to prison in Labuan and of this, 117 perished due to torture and starvation.
The names of all those who have fought and died in the uprising against the Japanese Imperial Army were engraved in a memorial block at the end of the garden. Every year, on the 21st January, an official memorial ceremony to honour and respect the sacrifices by the members and symphatisers of the "Kinabalu Guerillas" who lost their lives while fighting the Japanese Imperial Army will be held here.
The Cache
As the opening hours of the Memorial Garden is not consistent, I have decided to place the cache at a spot where you don't need to go inside to find it. The cache is a small magnetic cylindrical container placed at appropriate host. Watch out for the trains while searching for the cache as they DO ply along the tracks. The cache container is too small for a pen. Please bring your own.
Appreciation
Congratulations to yihherny for the FTF
Thanks to geo_alex, Timke48 and Wandelsloefke for the Favourite Points given. Much Appreciated.
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