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. The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project, driven by the need for improved communication to support the large Japanese army in Burma. [44], The construction camps consisted of open-sided barracks built of bamboo poles with thatched roofs. Altogether, some 35,000 parachute and glider troops were involved in the operation. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. [45], The prisoners of war "found themselves at the bottom of a social system that was harsh, punitive, fanatical, and often deadly. The rice was of poor quality, frequently maggoty or in other ways contaminated, and fish, meat, oil, salt and sugar were on a minimum scale. Votes: 1,734. Thinking back, she recalls the Australian man who made a great sacrifice to aid her and her fellow prisoners of war. Max Heiliger-Laundering money for the Nazis. In October 1942 a similar-sized group of British POWs left Singapore for Thailand and were employed around Kanchanaburi and on building the steel bridge at Tha Markam which would later become known as The Bridge on the River Kwai. The bulk of these forces were captured with the fall of Singapore, an event widely characterized as the worst military defeat in British history. Many are now held by the Australian War Memorial, State Library of Victoria, and the Imperial War Museum in London. Parts of the abandoned route have been converted into a walking trail.[28]. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from On the Thai/Burma Railway and in the mines of Formosa, blast injuries were encountered. The vast majority of the men of the 2nd AIF were of European descent. He was taken to Ambon and apparently died in 1944 on board ship returning from Ambon to Java, After the war he was officially reported to have died on 6th September 1944 and buried at sea. [77], Hellfire Pass in the Tenasserim Hills was a particularly difficult section of the line to build: it was the largest rock cutting on the railway, it was in a remote area and the workers lacked proper construction tools during building. The majority of the army personnel were from the 8th Division. Australians were not the largest national group on the railway. [37] British doctor Robert Hardie wrote: "The conditions in the coolie camps down river are terrible," Basil says, "They are kept isolated from Japanese and British camps. Lt Col Coates the greatest doctor on the Burma Thailand Railway. The full year membership runs from August to the end of July the following year. Death Railway . Chungkai War Cemetery, near Kanchanaburi, has a further 1,693 war graves. This gave rise to the name of "River Kwai" in English. Another thirteen letter parties, L to X, soon followed, taking the number of British working on the railway at the end of 1942 to around 20 000. Taff suffered from dysentery, malaria, beri beri and cholera but, unlike so many, he survived. Since 1945 prisoners of war and the Burma-Thailand railway have come to occupy a central place in Australia's national memory of World War II. Konkoita is approximately 263 kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk), or 151 kilometres south of Thanbyuzayat. Part Two: Capture Examines the shock of capture for Australians, with first-hand accounts describing the physical circumstances of internment, and the feelin. Flanagan's 2013 book The Narrow Road to the Deep North centres on a group of Australian POWs and their experiences building the railway as slave labour, and was awarded the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Steve White-do-not-use. At the same time the 'Sweat Army' of labourers from Burma, ostensibly volunteers but many conscripted by the puppet Burmese government, toiled on the construction work. [19], As an American engineer said after viewing the project, "What makes this an engineering feat is the totality of it, the accumulation of factors. In his book Last Man Out, H. Robert Charles, an American Marine survivor of the sinking of the USS Houston, writes in depth about a Dutch doctor, Henri Hekking, a fellow POW who probably saved the lives of many who worked on the railway. Work on the railway started at Thanbyuzayat on 1st October 1942 and somewhat later at Ban Pong. A great deal of equipment was improvised by the medical officers and orderlies, and food and medicines were clandestinely obtained. The longest and deepest cuttings in the railway occurred at Konyu, some 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Kanchanaburi, Thailand. At both camp and base hospitals, for the greater part of the time, the doctors had only such drugs and equipment as they had been able to carry with them. A bridge was not built until the Thanlwin Bridge (carrying both regular road and railroad traffic) was constructed between 2000 and 2005. These POWs, day after day, have their bodies pushed to extremes in an effort to complete the construction of the railway. [12][13] The projected completion date was December 1943. These were men from the 7th Division who had been brought back from the Middle East to help defend the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) from the Japanese attack in early 1942. Construction was extremely difficult, with the route crossing through thick, mosquito-infested jungle and uneven terrain while monsoon conditions prevailed. The estimated number of civilian labourers and POWs who died during construction varies considerably, but the Australian Government figures suggest that of the 330,000 people who worked on the line (including 250,000 Asian labourers and 61,000 Allied POWs) about 90,000 of the labourers and about 16,000 Allied prisoners died.[30]. [25][26] After the accident, it was decided to end the line at Nam Tok and reuse the remainder to rehabilitate the line. ", "Burma-Siam Railway - Australia receives no payment", "Grote schade aan materiaal der N.I. The only cover for the prisoners was that afforded by the flimsy bamboo and thatch huts, where they were made to shelter while the raids were in progress, and the inevitable casualties were heavy. The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by British, Australian, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project inspired by the need for improved communications to maintain the large Japanese army in Burma. [68] In February 1943, 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war were added to Tamarkan. Contact our Media sales & Licensing team about access. Nearly all our Australian POW Books are true stories many written by the Australian POW who worked on the Thai Burma Railway during WW2. A newly wealthy English woman returns to Malaya to build a well for the villagers who helped her during war. [42][43] Workers were moved up and down the railway line as needed. The Japanese kept no records and it was impossible for anyone else to do so, nor were the graves marked, but between 80,000 and 100,000 perished. The rail line was built along the Khwae Noi (Kwai) River valley to support the Japanese armed forces during the Burma Campaign. In 1943 Dutch prisoners were sent to Thailand where they suffered the same hardships as other Allied POWs. The Battle of Sidi Barrani (10-11 December 1940) was the opening battle of Operation Compass, the first big British attack of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Records of the Army Staff, RG 319. Over 22 000 Australians were captured by the Japanese when they conquered South East Asia in early 1942. He served 11 years. 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. RM 2CYBAYN - Military personnel and people attend a dawn memorial service for soldiers who died during World War Two on ANZAC Day at Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi province, Thailand, April 25, 2015. Estimates vary but the number who worked on the railway was possibly as high as 18 000. Map Created by Philip Cross July 2000. The remains of the notorious F-Force camp in Thailand. Records of Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II, RG 331. The first cut at Konyu was approximately 1,500 feet (450 metres) long and 23 feet (7 metres) deep, and the second was approximately 250 feet (75 metres) long and 80 feet (25 metres) deep. [64] Hiroshi Abe, a first lieutenant who supervised construction of the railway at Sonkrai where 600 British prisoners out of 1,600 died of cholera and other diseases,[65] was sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison, as a B/C class war criminal. 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. On 24 June 1949, the portion from Kanchanaburi to Nong Pla Duk (Thai ) was finished; on the first of April 1952, the next section up to Wang Pho (Wangpo) was done. This video is sponsored by Ground News - The world's first news comparison platform. The Death Railway is only one of the names describing the Japanese project built in 1943 to provide support to its forces during World War II. On 26 October 1942, British prisoners of war arrived at Tamarkan to construct the bridge. In 1941 these were adjusted to 19 and 40 years. The wooden bridge was reused for pedestrians and cars. It was built from 1940 to 1943 by civilian labourers impressed or recruited by the Japanese and prisoners of war taken by the Japanese, to supply troops and weapons in . This route was vulnerable to attack by Allied submarines, especially after the Japanese defeat at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. When the Japanese were not satisfied with the pace of work, prisoners were forced to endure atrocious physical punishment, and some 700 Allied prisoners died or were killed at Hellfire Pass. Khwae was frequently mispronounced by non-Thai speakers as kwai, or 'buffalo' in Thai). Dutch chemist Van Boxtell. More than 22 000 Australians were taken prisoner in the Asia-Pacific region in the early months of 1942. A large number of the British and Australian captives were sent to Burma (Myanmar). 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. IWM collections, This media is not currently available. Among the Allied POWs were some 30,000 British, 13,000 Australians, 18,000 Dutch, and 700 Americans. Most recruits were in their twenties. [57][58], In addition to malnutrition and physical abuse, malaria, cholera, dysentery and tropical ulcers were common contributing factors in the death of workers on the Burma Railway. Navy and the auxiliary forces of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. 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]. It completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma. In mid-1942, large numbers of POWs began to be transported to Thailand and Burma for the construction of the Thai-Burma Railway. Used with permission of the author, Lilian Sluyter. [7] The Japanese began this project in June 1942. Since the 8th Division was raised during the crisis of the fall of France in mid-1940, these men would also have chosen to play a role in averting Allied defeat. Lieutenant General Eiguma Ishida, overall commander of the Burma Railway, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. 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. During its construction more than 16 ,000 prisoners of war died - mainly of sickness, malnutrition and exhaustion - and were buried along the railway. Alternatively, search more than 1 million objects from $14.00 View Detail 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 A second air-raid by the RAF on 24 June finally severely damaged and destroyed the railroad bridges, and put the entire railway line out of commission for the rest of the war. description Object description. Most of the camps were right alongside the railway track and some were near bridges and other vulnerable points. [72] 493.8 Records of the Peiping headquarters Group 1946-47 493.1 Administrative History Related Records: Records of U.S. Army Service Forces (World War II), RG 160. On 8 December 1941, Japan invaded Thailand which quickly surrendered. Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, at Thanbyuzayat, 65 kilometres south of Moulmein, Myanmar (Burma) has the graves of 3,617 POWs who died on the Burmese portion of the line. 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. Frequently men were sent to work on the line long before their accommodation was completed. Under Australian legislation prior to 1943 conscripts could be used only for the defence of Australian territories. (Publisher) [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. The railway has been purchased by the Thai Government from its starting point at Ban Pong to the Burmese border, and it is now part of the Royal State railways. 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. Its route was through Three Pagodas Pass on the border of Thailand and Burma. 321 relations. What mattered in captivity was not so much a mans nationality but the particular circumstances and location of the places in which he worked, his access to food, medicines and medical care, his genetic inheritance, and even his luck and will to survive. Over 60,000 prisoners worked on its construction, the majority of whom were British, and some 20% died before release in 1945. More than a third of these men and women died in captivity. The living and working conditions on the railway were horrific. Show more. They were joined in captivity by three hundred survivors of the sinking of the HMAS Perth in the Battle of Java Sea in late February 1942. The newer steel and concrete bridge was made up of eleven curved-truss bridge spans which the Japanese builders brought from Java in the Dutch East Indies in 1942. The higher deaths in F Force were probably attributable to the fact that British workers contained a high proportion of men who were already ill when they left Singapore. Whatever tensions there may have been during captivity, the Dutch, British and Australians who died on the ThaiBurma railway were buried together after the war. A further 354 were from the Royal Australian Navy and 373 from the Royal Australian Air Force. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}140227N 993011E / 14.04083N 99.50306E / 14.04083; 99.50306, This article is about the railway constructed by Japan during World War II. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Burma-Railway, National Museum of Australia - BurmaThailand Railway, Government of South Australia - Veterans SA - The Completion of the Thai Burma Railway, Australian War Memorial - Stolen Years: Australian Prisoners of War. The book Through the Valley of the Kwai and the 2001 film To End All Wars are an autobiography of British Army captain Ernest Gordon. Four prisoners of war with beri-beri, Nam Tok, 1943 Life and death on the railway The railway took 12 months to build, with final completion on 16 October 1943. The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by British, Australian, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project inspired by the need for improved communications to maintain the large Japanese Armv in Burma. [23] On 1 February 1947, two people including Momluang Kri Dechatiwong[th], the Thai Minister of Transport, were killed on an inspection tour because the bridge near Konkoita had collapsed. More than 12,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and tens of thousands of forced labourers perished during its construction. More commonly called the Burma or Thai-Burma Railway, it was a major project during Allied Far East imprisonment under the Japanese. Photo taken on Aug. 19, 2020 shows the bridge over the River Kwai, the most notable part of the "Death Railway," in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. 0 9 4 minutes read. In due course the inevitable happened - a cholera epidemic broke out. They were treated brutally by the Japanese, and struggled with tropical diseases and the effects of malnutrition. Sidi Barrani, on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt, had been occupied by the Italian 10th Army, during the Italian invasion of Egypt (9-16 September 1940) and was attacked by British, Commonwealth and imperial . It is also the case that Australians distinctive national characteristics did not give them a greater chance of survival, as is sometimes assumed. At main camps such as Chungkai, Tamarkan, Non Pladuk and Thanbyuzayat were "base Hospitals" which were also huts of bamboo and thatch, staffed by such medical officers and orderlies as were allowed by the Japanese to care for the sick prisoners. Sixty-nine men were beaten to death by Japanese guards in the twelve weeks it took to build the cutting, and many more died from cholera, dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion. [59], Several museums are dedicated to those who perished building the railway. These became more and more frequent when, towards the end of October 1943, trains full of Japanese troops and supplies began to go through from Thailand to Burma. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The Burma Railway, also known as the SiamBurma Railway, ThaiBurma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a 415km (258mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). Prisoners were made to work around the clock, with individual shifts lasting as long as 18 hours. "About a dozen on the Burma side and more again on the Thailand side of the railway, in camps like F-Force and D-Force, and about eight men who were with 'Weary' Dunlop at Hintok," he said. The final route was between Bangkok in Thailand and Rangoon, Myanmar (Burma). 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