The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (NX76223) Captain John Bernard Oakeshott, 10 Australian General Hospital, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by R5chard Cruise, the story for this day was on (NX76223) Captain John Bernard Oakeshott, 10 Australian General Hospital, Second World War.

NX76223 Captain John Bernard Oakeshott, 10 Australian General Hospital
Execution 27 August 1945

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain John Bernard Oakeshott.

John Oakeshott was born on 25 April 1901 in the Sydney suburb of Burwood, the son of George and Fanny Oakeshott.

He married Enid Thompson on 27 December 1928, and the couple went on to have two children: a son, Robert, and daughter, Betty. The Oakeshott family lived in Lismore, where John worked as a medical practitioner.

With the coming of the Second World War, John Oakeshott’s medical experience proved too important an asset for him to ignore.

He joined the 10th Australian General Hospital, later to be known as the 2/10th AGH. His leadership abilities were soon evident, and by late July 1941 he had been promoted to captain and was preparing to join the Australian forces at Singapore.

The assault against Singapore began with amphibious landings in early February. During the week of heavy fighting that followed, the defenders were unable to stem the Japanese advance. On 15 February Singapore was surrendered.

About 80,000 British, Indian, and Australian troops in Singapore became prisoners of war, joining 50,000 taken by the Japanese in the earlier Malayan Campaign.

Most of the Australians captured in Singapore were moved into Changi, where they occupied Selarang Barracks. For many, this was just a transit stop, as working parties were soon dispatched to other camps in Singapore and Malaya.

Oakeshott left Singapore with a labour group known as “E Force” in late March 1943. The men first disembarked at Berhala Island, where they were accommodated in a prisoner of war camp. Conditions were described as “pretty good”, and the prisoners were allowed to swim under the supervision of guards.
In early June preparations were ready to move to the mainland. Eight prisoners escaped during the night, and on reaching Sandakan the remaining prisoners were split into groups which the Japanese kept separated, with severe punishment for those found talking to different groups.

At Sandakan, the men worked to construct an airfield and prisoner-of-war camps. In October E Force was amalgamated with the 1,500 men of B Force, the numbers of guards at Sandakan increased, and the process of stockpiling food began.

Allied air raids on Sandakan began in October 1944. The airfield was bombed and strafed, and about 60 Japanese aircraft on the ground were destroyed. On Christmas Day 1944, B24 Liberators finally put the airfield out of commission.

The prisoners were now in very poor health. Minimal food and brutal treatment at the hands of Taiwanese guards and Japanese soldiers exacerbated the impact of tropical diseases. The death rate climbed.

On 28 January the first forced march began, starting at Sandakan and ending near the village of Ranau some 260 kilometres to the west.

Four-hundred and seventy prisoners thought fit enough to carry baggage and supplies for the Japanese battalions relocating to the western coast were selected. They were all malnourished or suffering serious illness, and had meagre rations for the trip. Those who collapsed from exhaustion or sickness were killed or left to die.

The next group of 536 prisoners, including Oakeshott, left in late May, arriving at Ranau a month later.

On 9 June another 75 men were sent. They were so weak that none survived beyond 50 kilometres. As each collapsed from exhaustion, he was shot by a Japanese guard. Those left at Sandakan who could not walk were killed or died of starvation and sickness.

By the end of July there were 38 prisoners left alive at Ranau. Two days after the Japanese surrendered on 15 August 1945, aircraft dropped leaflets with the news into the jungle. Only 15 prisoners were now alive.

On 27 July 1945, a Japanese guard warned Warrant Officer William Sticpewich that the Japanese were planning to execute the surviving prisoners. Sticpewich told four men, including Captain Oakeshott, and offered them the opportunity to escape with him. All four turned down his offer.

Oakeshott chose to stay with the sick and dying handful of men, knowing he faced certain death. He handed over his boots to another prisoner to aid in his escape.

John Oakeshott and the 14 other survivors of the infamous Sandakan Death Marches were shot by Japanese guards on 27 August 1945. The war had ended, but Allied forces had not arrived to liberate the prisoners at Ranau.

It would be many years before his family would discover the truth about his death.

In late 1942, Oakeshott’s family received a Red Cross message from him. The 25-word postcard reported that he was a prisoner, and was fit and well. Nothing more was heard until two months after Victory in the Pacific Day celebrations, when a telegram in a sealed envelope was hand delivered to the Oakeshott’s home in Lismore.

The family anticipated good news and were ready to celebrate. The telegram read:

It is with deep regret that I have to inform you that Captain Oakeshott died on 1st of August as a Prisoner of War and the Minister desires to convey his profound sympathy.

Desperate for more information, Enid Oakeshott gained access to a hospital ship in Brisbane and was introduced to one of six men who had escaped from Ranau. On hearing her name he broke down and was unable to speak.

In late 1947 family received a second telegram from the Minister for the Army, notifying that Japanese records stated he had died from enteritis at Ranau on the 1st of August 1945, and that his grave could not be identified.

It wasn’t until 1998, when Lynette Silver’s work A conspiracy of silence was published, that the family learnt about the execution of the survivors at Ranau.

John Oakeshott’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Captain John Bernard Oakeshott, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section