Kota Kinabalu, September 09, 2009: The Office of Australian War Graves has officially recognised the Last Campsite Death March Memorial at scenic Pialungan five miles (8.3km) south of Ranau which was unveiled on 27 August.
"I am very excited and very pleased," Lynette Silver said.
"It is good to know that the Australian Government is publicly supportive," she said.
"With the official recognition we now qualify for a grant. I'll apply for a special grant scheme operated by the Australian Government through the Office of Australian War Graves to enhance and improve whatever we want at the site," said Lynette, who has spent 16 years researching the Death March.
She managed to finally trace the landowners of the Last Camp Site to Dr Othman Minudin and wife Dr Lungkiam in February 2008, through the determined efforts of famed trekker Tham Yau Kong.
"Hopefully, we'll get good funding to put up the Information Pavilion which will house information boards and artifacts dug up at the campsite and a place (accommodation) for a full-time caretaker," she said.
The official recognition came less than two weeks after the unveiling.
"I spoke to the War Graves about it. Though they weren't able to send a representative to the unveiling, they were very interested in what I was doing and had been watching its progress. They assured me they can help once the memorial is an established fact."
The memorial with the names of 183 prisoners of war inscribed is a joint initiative between Lynette, Dr Othman and Dr Lungkiam who have donated the land.
The actual site would be preserved in perpetuity. It overlooks the valley where the Last Camp was sited.
The memorial's funding came entirely from relatives of the POWs and other interested members of the public.
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Absolute proof of the campsite was found on 20 August 2008 when Lynette's husband Neil, using a metal detector, unearthed a cache of Australian Army Haversack adjustable brass buckles and a brass button pressed with the words: Australian Military Forces and a map of Australia.
Lynette's close local working partner Tham Yau Kong was "very happy" that Sabah was finally rewarded "with Australian Government recognition after five years of blood and sweat on the Death March project.
Tham recalled the most important part being meeting Dr Othman in the nick of time during a recee for the Death March Whitewater at the Liwagu River in February 2008," he said.
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"To me that was a miracle because for years who the land owners were had been a mystery," he added.
"Initially we thought it was State land requiring official response but when that didn't happen I felt the urgency to locate the owners to discuss the importance of conserving the site," Tham recalled.
"Had I not found them in time to explain the historical significance, the land could have gone to the National Service Training Centre developers because they had offered to buy it outright just recently," Tham said.
"I and all my boys feel very honoured to have played a key role in this very beautiful ending and also to see that Lynette's heart's desire has been fulfilled.
"Getting the Australian Government recognition is really no joke," he said, and thanked Daily Express for all the coverage it has done 
since the days when Sabah Society initiated the 60th anniversary project they called "Retracing the Death March ' in 2005," Tham noted.
Meanwhile, Lynette said both the Last Campsite Memorial at Pialungan and the Allan Quailey Memorial at Sabah Tea have been listed in the Australian National Register of Memorials.
"This means they will be officially disseminating information on the two memorials in a widespread manner," said Lynette.
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