Qualla: Starcevich Monument https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/f/q/starcevich-monument-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Starcevich Monument https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument Starcevich Monument: Introduction https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. It is barely a metre tall, a plain stone stele with a metal plaque, standing in the town that a young soldier helped liberate. The Starcevich Monument in Beaufort, Sabah, would be easy to walk past without understanding what it represents. But the citizens of this small Malaysian town built it with purpose. They raised it not for a general or a politician, but for Private Tom Starcevich of Australia's 2/43rd Battalion, a man who charged Japanese machine-gun positions with a Bren gun on the morning of 28 June 1945 and changed the course of the battle for their home.

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/f/q/starcevich-monument-wp/w8fq-starcevich-monument-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Starcevich Monument: The Morning Everything Changed https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. By late June 1945, Australian forces were closing in on Beaufort as part of the broader Borneo campaign. The town sat at the junction of two railway lines along the Padas River, making it strategically vital. On 27 June, the 2/32nd and 2/43rd Battalions launched their attack agai...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/f/q/starcevich-monument-wp/w8fq-starcevich-monument-the-morning-everything-changed.mp3 0:06 2 full Starcevich Monument: A Cross for Valor https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. For his actions at Beaufort, Tom Starcevich was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for bravery in the face of the enemy in the Commonwealth military system. He was one of only twenty Australians to receive the award during World War II. Starcevich was born in 1918...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/f/q/starcevich-monument-wp/w8fq-starcevich-monument-a-cross-for-valor.mp3 0:06 3 full Starcevich Monument: Gratitude in Stone https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The monument was erected by the citizens of Beaufort themselves, a gesture of gratitude to the Australian forces who had liberated their town from Japanese occupation. Originally placed in front of the police station, it takes the form of a rectangular stele that tapers slightly ...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/f/q/starcevich-monument-wp/w8fq-starcevich-monument-gratitude-in-stone.mp3 0:06 4 full Starcevich Monument: A Second Plaque, a Final Honor https://qualla.com/starcevich-monument/ Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. Tom Starcevich returned to Western Australia after the war and lived quietly until his death in November 1989, at the age of 71. The following year, at the suggestion of his wartime comrade Stanley Toomey, a second metal plaque was added to the monument. Beneath the regimental ch...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/8/f/q/starcevich-monument-wp/w8fq-starcevich-monument-a-second-plaque-a-final-honor.mp3 0:06 5 full