Berhala Island, Sabah

Jock McLaren, one of the POWs who escaped from Berhala Island in World War II, returning there after the war. The high cliffs of the northern end of the island are visible.

The Berhala Island (Malay: Pulau Berhala) is a small forested island situated in Sandakan Bay in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia.

The island is approximately 5 hectares in size and has prominent cliffs at its northern end.[1][2] Many birds of prey can be seen on and around Berhala, including brahminy kites, serpent eagles and sea eagles.[3]

The island has a lighthouse at its highest point.[4]

In the period prior to World War II, the island was used as a quarantine station for labourers coming from China and the Philippines, and was also home to a leper colony. During the war, civilian internees, including Agnes Newton Keith and her husband Harry Keith were held in the quarantine station which served as a makeshift internment camp, before being transferred to Batu Lintang camp in Kuching, Sarawak. After the civilians left, POWs were interned in the camp. A daring escape took place from Berhala Island in June 1943, when several POWs who were due to be transferred to Sandakan POW camp managed to escape to Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines.[5][6]

Plans are currently in development to promote Berhala Island as a tourist attraction.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 September 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 July 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  3. ↑ Smythies, B. E., 1960, The Birds of Borneo Publisher: Oliver & Boyd.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  5. ↑ Peter Firkins, 1995, Borneo Surgeon A Reluctant Hero: The Story of Dr James P. Taylor Carlisle, WA: Hesperian Press,77-8
  6. ↑ AWM photograph 121749 caption
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
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