The park memorial plate lists the names of men of various ethnic groups in North Borneo and from various islands in the Sulu Archipelago including the main resistance leader Albert Kwok and those who assisted or died in Labuan Military Prison.

With the persistent harsh rule during the occupation of northern Borneo by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), a Kuching-born Chinese doctor named Albert Kwok founded more than 300 members to form the resistance movement, after he moved to Jesselton on 15 May 1941.

[1][2] Already facing the limited supply of weapons, the resistance movement was forced to launch the revolt ahead of schedule on 9 October 1943 as the Japanese decree to seize any opposition towards their administration became imminent.

[6] Furious with the uprising by the local communities, Japanese reinforcement troops arrived in North Borneo from Kuching and began to launch a systematic retaliation on the civilian population.

They were initially imprisoned in Batu Tiga Prison before being executed at the Petagas War Memorial site on 21 January 1944 along with 175 others, who for the most part had nothing to do with the uprising.

[10] On 21 January 1946, the Chinese War Victims Relief Association (CWVRA) held a memorial service at the execution site as a second anniversary of the massacre.

The memorial continued to play an important role in North Borneo's historical consciousness even until the foundation of Malaysia in 1963 through the first Chief Minister Fuad Stephens and the Head of State Mustapha Harun, whose personal histories were closely linked with the resistance movement.

[12] In 1979, the memorial was renovated by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall with the financial support of the state government and extended with a parking space and a public toilet.

Following the discovery of the War Crime Document WO235/884 of the 1946 Trial Proceedings (held in Changi Singapore), the families applied for and received an official acknowledgement from the Kota Kinabalu City Hall that between 12 June and early July 1945, a Japanese kenpeitai had blacklisted the 8 civilians as detrimental elements supporting the allies and ordered them to be (unlawfully) killed.

To the left of the main entrance, beside park benches, is an information board with an overview of the history of the memorial in Malay and English languages.

The metal plate on the north side begins with the title "Epitaph for the Kinabalu Guerilla Movement Martyrs" and an altered quotation from the Gospel of John: