By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, July 21: Today was a historic and memorable day as the Long Nawang memorial plaque was unveiled at the Batu Lintang Teachers’ Training College’s World War II memorial square here in honour of British civil servants from Sarawak who were assassinated by Japanese troops during an attack on the remote Dutch outpost of Long Nawang in Kalimantan in 1942.
According to Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) president Audry Wan Ullok, the Long Nawang memorial plaque was successfully installed on January 18, 2021, with the assistance of Sarawakian stonemasons supported by the Batu Lintang Institute.
“This is the extraordinary effort made by Melissa Murphy, a descendant of the then-police deputy commissioner, Desmond Vernon Murphy, of the Long Nawang group, to install the memorial plaque in Kuching,” she said.
Meanwhile, Melissa stated that her investigation into her missing grandfather, Desmond, who was the police deputy commissioner at the time, led to the discovery of records indicating that her grandfather was among the victims of the Long Nawang massacre.
Melissa considered erecting a plaque to commemorate the victims during her research but was unable to find a suitable location at first.
She revived the idea during the Covid-19 lockdown and contacted STF heritage adviser Datuk Lim Kian Hock, who suggested the Batu Lintang site.
In addition, Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts (Tourism) Datuk Sebastian Ting stated that the unveiling of the Long Nawang memorial plaque was to honour the fallen heroes who fought for Sarawak during the Japanese occupation.
“It is fitting to pay tribute to the memory of the Long Nawang victims,” he said after unveiling the plaque.
He also described how, on January 22, 1942, a group of British officers and their families led by Andrew McPherson, then the Resident of Sibu, fled the Japanese invasion of Sarawak to Long Nawang.
“In April 1942, 40 Dutch and Indonesian soldiers arrived at Long Nawang, escaping from the Japanese advance.
“On August 19 that year, two Kenyah reported that 70 Japanese troops were advancing towards Long Nawang fort. Next morning, the Japanese attacked with rifles and light machine guns.
“McPherson and a few members were wounded and put into two cells of the fort for interrogation.
On August 26, 1942, the Japanese troops planned the execution of the male prisoners and carried out the executions at 5pm.
“Their remains were later found in two mass graves while their women and children were held in the two houses for two weeks and later moved to be imprisoned in the fort cells for a further two weeks until September 23, 1942. Then they were taken out and killed.
“After the Japanese troops left Long Nawang for Samarinda, the Kenyah inspected and found them buried in two mass graves which they called “Liang Belanda” (Dutch grave),” Ting explained.
He also thanked Professor Bob Reece and Dr Julitta Lim for their excellent and informative historical accounts of the Long Nawang massacre in the books “Masa Jepun” and “Pussy in the Well”.
Following the unveiling of the Long Nawang memorial plaque, Ting placed wreaths on behalf of the ministry, while Melissa did the same for her grandfather Desmond, and Edward Lakin Mansel for his father Francis Lakin Mansel.
Every guest was also invited to place a single flower on the plaque. — DayakDaily
