Berhala Island, Sabah

The island is approximately 5 hectares in size and has prominent cliffs at its northern end.

[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, her husband Harry Keith and Keith Wookey were held in the quarantine station which served as a makeshift internment camp, before being transferred to Batu Lintang camp in Kuching, Sarawak.

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.

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.