KG Sugud in Penampang, Sabah, is preparing to turn its long-kept secret – the wreckage of a World War 2 Japanese fighter plane – into a tourist attraction.
Some 3km from the village in the adjacent Kg Sugud forest reserve sits an unnamed hill where the Japanese airplane and its pilot met their end some 75 years ago.
The discovery of the wreck had never been reported to the authorities, although it was known to villagers, who, over time, cannibalised it for parts.
Village elders still remember the crash, which took place during the padi harvest season towards evening in 1944. It was the year before the Japanese occupation in North Borneo ended. – July 30, 2019.
Today, only two engines of the aircraft are left, protruding from the ground covered by wild vegetation and surrounded by jackfruit and rubber trees. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.Visitors looking at part of the engine of World War 2 Japanese fighter aircraft shot down in 1944 in Kg Sugud, Penampang, Sabah. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.Kg Sugud can be seen from the hill in Penampang. Some 3km from the village in the adjacent Kg Sugud forest reserve sits an unnamed hill where the Japanese airplane and its pilot met their end some 75 years ago. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.A giant headgear at the entrance of Kg Sugud indicating that a majority of folk are Kadazandusun. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.A church in Kg Sugud in Penampang, Sabah. The village is preparing to turn its long-kept secret – the wreckage of a World War 2 Japanese fighter plane – into a tourist attraction. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.Some 3km from the village in the adjacent Kg Sugud forest reserve sits an unnamed hill where the Japanese airplane and its pilot met their end some 75 years ago. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.A visitor at the site where a World War 2 Japanese fighter aircraft was shot down in 1944 in Kg Sugud, Penampang. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.Part of the engine of the Word War 2 Japanese fighter plane found at Kg Sugud, in Penampang. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.A signboard at the site reminding visitors not the take any part of the aircraft. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Irwan Majid, July 30, 2019.
Comments