Memorial sites along the route of the railway include the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, where nearly 7,000 Allied dead are interred, and . [30][31][32] During the initial stages of the construction of the railway, Burmese and Thais were employed in their respective countries, but Thai workers, in particular, were likely to abscond from the project and the number of Burmese workers recruited was insufficient. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from It is also the case that Australians distinctive national characteristics did not give them a greater chance of survival, as is sometimes assumed. POWs and Asian workers were also used to build the Kra Isthmus Railway from Chumphon to Kra Buri, and the Sumatra or Palembang Railway from Pekanbaru to Muaro. Rivers and canyons had to be bridged and sections of mountains had to be cut away to create a bed that was straight and level enough to accommodate the narrow-gauge track. Votes: 1,734. When Britainwent to waron 3 September 1939 there was none of the 'flag-waving patriotism' of August 1914. These pages are dedicated to my father Ken Heyes (Lance Corporal, 1st Aust Corps Troop Supply Column AIF, POW), his good friend, Ernie Badham and all the other brave soldiers who spent so many years in the hell-holes that were the Japanese P.O.W camps during World War II. More than 12,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and tens of thousands of forced labourers perished during its construction. Jun 9, 2015 - Explore Samm Blake's board "Burma Thai Railway Prisoners of War - Historical Footage / Photos", followed by 2,370 people on Pinterest. Notebook kept by Captain Harold Lord, regular officer in the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC), whilst a Japanese prisoner of war working on the Burma-Thailand railway in 1943, listing neatly and chronologically the names of the British prisoners of war who worked on the railway, May - December 1943, together with the following information about each: rank, serial number, regiment, date of birth, home address, next-of-kin, religion, date on which arrived at the camp, and date of leaving because of illness (the type of illness is stated in each case) or, as in many cases, death. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, in the city of Kanchanaburi, contains the graves of 6,982 personnel comprising: A memorial at the Kanchanaburi cemetery lists 11 other members of the Indian Army, who are buried in nearby Muslim cemeteries.[94]. Much of the excavation was carried out with inadequate hand tools, and, because work on the railway had fallen behind schedule, the pace of work was increased. [47] Coast's work is noted for its detail on the brutality of some Japanese and Korean guards as well as the humanity of others. Stolen banknotes and jewelry along with Holocaust victims' dental gold, wedding rings, and even scrap gold melted down from spectacles-frames flooded into the Max Heiliger accounts, completely filling several bank vaults by 1942. Little detailed research has been done on the background of Australian POWs and how this affected their chances of survival. Ron Arad Israeli fighter pilot, shot down over Lebanon in 1986. . [71], A first wooden railroad bridge over the Khwae Yai was finished in February 1943, which was soon accompanied by a more modern ferro-concrete bridge in June 1943, with both bridges running in a NNESSW direction across the river. The railway was overworked carrying troops and military supplies, and local traders seldom visited the camps of the working parties, small compared with those of 1943 and therefore not so profitable; so that supplementary food supplies were scanty, and again sickness took its toll. When Britainwent to waron 3 September 1939 there was none of the 'flag-waving patriotism' of August 1914. Under Australian legislation prior to 1943 conscripts could be used only for the defence of Australian territories. [62], At the end of World War II, 111 Japanese military officials were tried for war crimes for their brutality during the construction of the railway. .mw-parser-output .RMbox{box-shadow:0 2px 2px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.14),0 1px 5px 0 rgba(0,0,0,.12),0 3px 1px -2px rgba(0,0,0,.2)}.mw-parser-output .RMinline{float:none;width:100%;margin:0;border:none}.mw-parser-output table.routemap{padding:0;border:0;border-collapse:collapse;background:transparent;white-space:nowrap;line-height:1.2;margin:auto}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMcollapse{margin:0;border-collapse:collapse;vertical-align:middle}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMreplace{margin:0;border-collapse:collapse;vertical-align:middle;position:absolute;bottom:0}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMsi{display:inline;font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMl1{padding:0 3px;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMr1{padding:0 3px;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMl{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMr{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMl4{padding:0 3px 0 0;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output table.routemap .RMr4{padding:0 0 0 3px;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output table.routemap>tbody>tr{line-height:1}.mw-parser-output table.routemap>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output table.RMcollapse>tbody>tr>td,.mw-parser-output table.RMreplace>tbody>tr>td{padding:0;width:auto;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .RMir>div{display:inline-block;vertical-align:middle;padding:0;height:20px;min-height:20px}.mw-parser-output .RMir img{height:initial!important;max-width:initial!important}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMov{position:relative}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMov .RMic,.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMov .RMtx{position:absolute;left:0;top:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMtx{line-height:20px;height:20px;min-height:20px;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMsp{height:20px;min-height:20px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMtx>abbr,.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMtx>div{line-height:.975;display:inline-block;vertical-align:middle}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMts{font-size:90%;transform:scaleX(.89)}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMf_{height:5px;min-height:5px;width:20px;min-width:20px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMfm{height:100%;min-height:100%;width:4px;min-width:4px;margin:0 auto}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMo{width:2.5px;min-width:2.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMc{width:5px;min-width:5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMoc{width:7.5px;min-width:7.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMd{width:10px;min-width:10px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMod{width:12.5px;min-width:12.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMcd{width:15px;min-width:15px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMocd{width:17.5px;min-width:17.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_{width:20px;min-width:20px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_o{width:22.5px;min-width:22.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_c{width:25px;min-width:25px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_oc{width:27.5px;min-width:27.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_d{width:30px;min-width:30px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_od{width:32.5px;min-width:32.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_cd{width:35px;min-width:35px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_ocd{width:37.5px;min-width:37.5px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMb{width:40px;min-width:40px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMcb{width:45px;min-width:45px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMdb{width:50px;min-width:50px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMcdb{width:55px;min-width:55px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_b{width:60px;min-width:60px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_cb{width:65px;min-width:65px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_db{width:70px;min-width:70px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_cdb{width:75px;min-width:75px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMs{width:80px;min-width:80px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMds{width:90px;min-width:90px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_s{width:100px;min-width:100px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_ds{width:110px;min-width:110px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMbs{width:120px;min-width:120px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMdbs{width:130px;min-width:130px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_bs{width:140px;min-width:140px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_dbs{width:150px;min-width:150px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMw{width:160px;min-width:160px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_w{width:180px;min-width:180px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMbw{width:200px;min-width:200px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_bw{width:220px;min-width:220px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMsw{width:240px;min-width:240px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_sw{width:260px;min-width:260px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RMbsw{width:280px;min-width:280px}.mw-parser-output .RMir .RM_bsw{width:300px;min-width:300px}. There is a popular perception that they also died at a higher rate than Australians. The Prisoner List is a compelling account of the experiences of a prisoner of the Japanese in WWII - from the humiliating defeat at Singapore, to forced labour on the Saigon docks and the horrors of life on the infamous Burma Railway. BBC News Bob Reynolds spent four years as a prisoner of war in Burma and Taiwan. In Burma, most of which had been reoccupied by British forces before the end of hostilities, 40 trials took place in Rangoon (now Yangon), Mandalay and Maymyo in 1946 and 1947. They were outnumbered by the British, the Dutch and large cohorts of Asian labourers (rmusha), particularly Burmese and Tamils from Malaya. The railway connected Thailand and Burma and was shut down in 1947, after the war. Records of Naval Operating Forces, RG 313. [9] Much of the construction materials, including tracks and sleepers, were brought from dismantled branches of Malaya's Federated Malay States Railway network and the East Indies' various rail networks. [60] However, authorities agree that the percentage of deaths among the rmusha was much higher than among the Allied military personnel. ARTICLE 29. Includes Changi, the Burma-Thailand Railway, Sandakan, Timor, Ambon, Rabaul and Japan, and the prisoners who died . This owes something to the fact that in F Force, where British and Australian numbers were roughly equal, some 2036 British died compared to 1060 Australians in the period up to May 1944. In 1941 these were adjusted to 19 and 40 years. A great deal of equipment was improvised by the medical officers and orderlies, and food and medicines were clandestinely obtained. Since the 1990s various proposals have been made to rebuild the complete railway, but as of 2021[update] these plans had not been realised. Second, the occupation of Burma would also put Japanese armies on the doorstep of British India. A copper spike was driven at the meeting point by commanding General Eiguma Ishida, and a memorial plaque was revealed. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also . The records of a million World War II Prisoners of War will be published online today. Javanese, Malayan Tamils of Indian origin, Burmese, Chinese, Thai, and other Southeast Asians, forcibly drafted by the Imperial Japanese Army to work on the railway, died in its construction. Jayma April 17, 2022. In one raid alone on the Non Pladuk area, where the camp was located amongst sidings holding petrol, ammunition and store trains protected by an anti-aircraft post, and prisoners were not allowed to leave the huts.95 were killed and 300 wounded. From late 1942 more than 13 000 Australians were sent from Singapore, Java and Timor to work on the ThaiBurma railway. Used with permission of the author, Lilian Sluyter. The line was abandoned beyond Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi;[27][22] the steel rails were salvaged for reuse in expanding the Bang Sue railway yard, reinforcing the BangkokBan Phachi Junction double track, rehabilitating the track from Thung Song Junction to Trang, and constructing both the Nong Pla DukSuphan Buri and Ban Thung PhoKhiri Rat Nikhom branch lines. Japanese Medical Orderly. The Prisoner List: The Film A short film about prisoners of the Japanese in WWII based on the book by Richard Kandler About the book The above film, made by Kate Owen and Danny Roberts, is based on Richard Kandler's book: The Prisoner List: A true story of defeat, captivity and salvation in the Far East 1941-45. Corrections? Records of the Army Staff, RG 319. They were some of 42 000 Dutch military and naval personnel and 100 000 Dutch civilians who were captured when the Japanese conquered the Netherlands East Indies in early 1942. A railway route between Burma and Thailand, crossing Three Pagodas Pass and following the valley of the Khwae Noi river in Thailand, had been surveyed by the British government of Burma as early as 1885, but the proposed course of the line through hilly jungle terrain divided by many rivers was considered too difficult to undertake. The Death Railway. Around 90,000 civilians died, as did more than 12,000 Allied prisoners. Many are now held by the Australian War Memorial, State Library of Victoria, and the Imperial War Museum in London. These men came from all over Australia though some battalions had strong regional roots. Frequently men were sent to work on the line long before their accommodation was completed. ", "Burma-Siam Railway - Australia receives no payment", "Grote schade aan materiaal der N.I. The rail line was built along the Khwae Noi (Kwai) River valley to support the Japanese armed forces during the Burma Campaign. 321 relations. The construction of the railway has been the subject of a novel and an award-winning film, The Bridge on the River Kwai (itself an adaptation of the French language novel The Bridge over the River Kwai); a novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, and a large number of personal accounts of POW experiences. These POWs, day after day, have their bodies pushed to extremes in an effort to complete the construction of the railway. Alternatively, send a cheque to our treasurer, Cheques should be made payable to COFEPOW and sent to the following address:-, Mr. David BrownCOFEPOW14 RidgecroftAshton-Under-LyneLancashireOL7 9TGUnited Kingdom, Choose between a single or joint membership. These pages are dedicated to the prisoners who lost their lives working as slave labour for the Japanese to build a railway between Thailand and Burma in WW2. [6], In early 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma and seized control of the colony from the United Kingdom. [61], Weight loss among Allied officers who worked on construction was, on average, 914kg (2030lb) less than that of enlisted personnel. Work began at both ends of the rail line in June 1942. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In October 1943, the railway station was finished. Altogether, some 35,000 parachute and glider troops were involved in the operation. Chungkai War Cemetery, near Kanchanaburi, has a further 1,693 war graves. Gradually more forces were sent to Burma and Thailand; in total more than 60,000 prisoners of war were transported to the railway project during 1942-3. Most recruits were in their twenties. The larger number of British deaths overall reflects the fact that there were simply more British working on the railway than Australians or Dutch POWs. Neither drugs or surgical instruments were supplied by the Japanese, and although later on certain medical supplies were made available they were always inadequate. Deel 8 De tragedie van de Birma-Siam Spoorweg", "The Railway Man: Australian keeps legacy of Thailand's 'Death Railway' alive helping relatives of POWs gain closure", Captive Audiences/Captive Performers: Music and Theatre as Strategies for Survival on the Thailand-Burma Railway 19421945, Works of Ashley George Old held by the State Library of Victoria. A large number of the British and Australian captives were sent to Burma (Myanmar). Work on the railway started at Thanbyuzayat on 1st October 1942 and somewhat later at Ban Pong. After the war ended some Australian POWs remembered their captivity as a time in which the typical qualities of the Australian soldier came to the fore. The two sections of the line met at kilometre 263, about 18km (11mi) south of the Three Pagodas Pass at Konkoita (nowadays: Kaeng Khoi Tha, Sangkhla Buri District, Kanchanaburi Province). The list contains over 1700 names and is particularly interesting as a record of the decimation, by disease or untreated wounds, of prisoners working on the Burma-Thailand railway. A Bill Aldag Fergus Anckorn Charles Groves Wright Anderson Ken Anderson (politician) Harold Atcherley B Henri Baaij Edmund W. Barker Theo Bot Russell Braddon Jim Bradley (British Army officer) Gerard Bruggink C John Carrick (Australian politician) Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis Forde Everard de Wend Cayley Fred Chadwick Jack Bridger Chalker Elsewhere in the Pacific some 10 000 British, Canadian and Indian troops were captured when Hong Kong fell in December 1941 and further 5000 in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) in early 1942. Prisoners of War 330,000 people worked on building the railway, including 250,000 Asian laborers and 61,000 prisoners of war (POWs). Burma Railway, also called Burma-Siam Railway, railway built during World War II connecting Bangkok and Moulmein (now Mawlamyine ), Burma ( Myanmar ). [8], The project aimed to connect Ban Pong in Thailand with Thanbyuzayat in Burma, linking up with existing railways at both places. Theatres of bamboo and attap (palm fronds) were built, sets, lighting, costumes and makeup devised, and an array of entertainment produced that included music halls, variety shows, cabarets, plays, and musical comedies even pantomimes. In 1943 Japan's high command decided to build a railway linking Thailand and Burma, to supply its campaign against the Allies in Burma. IWM collections, This media is not currently available. The overwhelming majority of Allied POWs were from Commonwealth countries; they included approximately 22,000 Australians (of whom 21,000 were from the Australian Army, 354 from the Royal Australian Navy, and 373 from the Royal Australian Air Force), more than 50,000 British troops, and at least 25,000 Indian troops. The first contingent of British to work on the ThaiBurma railway was sent to Burma (now Myanmar) from Sumatra in May 1942, as part of the 500-strong Medan Force. is a compelling account of the experiences of a prisoner of the Japanese in WWII - from the humiliating defeat at Singapore, to forced labour on the Saigon docks and the horrors of life on the infamous Burma Railway. [62], Workers in more isolated areas suffered a much higher death rate than did others. The movement of POWs northward from Changi Prison in Singapore and other prison camps in Southeast Asia began in May 1942. Those who stayed behind were accommodated in camp "hospitals" which were simply one or more crude jungle huts. Dutch chemist Van Boxtell. "[38], The first prisoners of war, 3,000 Australians, to go to Burma left Changi Prison in Singapore on 14 May 1942 and journeyed by sea to near Thanbyuzayat ( in the Burmese language; in English 'Tin Shelter'), the northern terminus of the railway. A former British Army officer, who was tortured as a prisoner of war at a Japanese labor camp during World War II, discovers that the man responsible for much of his treatment is still alive and sets out to confront him. This is ironic, since for most of the war in the Pacific Changi was, in reality, one of the most benign of the Japanese prisoner-of-war camps; its privations were relatively minor compared to those of others, particularly those on the Burma-Thailand railway. This is particularly true on Anzac Day (April 25), when Australians pay tribute to those who served and lost their lives during war. Max Heiliger did a lot more then just laundering money for the Nazis. [34] Approximately 90,000 Burmese and 75,000 Malayans worked on the railroad. However, the film and book contain many historical inaccuracies, and should be considered works of fiction. The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Siam-Burma Railway, the Thai-Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built by the Empire of Japan in 1943 to support its forces in the Burma campaign of World War II. During this time, most of the POWs were moved to hospital and relocation camps where they could be available for maintenance crews or sent to Japan to alleviate the manpower shortage there. This was the same time at which Australians in A Force left Changi for Burma. Of the 668 US personnel forced to work on the railway, 133 died. Some have even brought wives and children. It is also known from a study of the Australians who joined the army in World War II that they were generally young and unmarried. Show more. [78][79], In 1946,[89] the remains of most of the war dead were moved from former POW camps, burial grounds and lone graves along the rail line to official war cemeteries. Vegetables and other perishables long in transit arrived rotten. Sort by: POW Thai Burma Death. He was one of Dunlop's 1,000 the men under commanding . To these base hospitals desperately sick men - the weak supported by the less weak, since no fit men were allowed to accompany them - were evacuated from the camp hospitals, travelling by the haphazard means of hitch-hiking on a passing lorry or river barge.
Have any questions?
Free Sim: 207 243 1119
