They worked on airfields and other infrastructure initially before beginning construction of the railway in October 1942. [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. Some rosters show if living, dead or killed in action (KIA), cause of death and burial site. The 'Market Garden' plan employed all three divisions of First Allied Airborne Army. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [34] Approximately 90,000 Burmese and 75,000 Malayans worked on the railroad. 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. 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. ARTICLE 29. Memorial sites along the route of the railway include the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, where nearly 7,000 Allied dead are interred, and . The 75th anniversary of the infamous Thai-Burma Railway built by World War II prisoners of war will be marked today. [73], The two bridges were successfully bombed and damaged on 13 February 1945 by bomber aircraft from the Royal Air Force (RAF). Steve White-do-not-use. 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 graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except Americans, who were repatriated) have been transferred from the camp burial grounds and solitary sites along the railway into three war cemeteries. The bulk of these forces were captured with the fall of Singapore, an event widely characterized as the worst military defeat in British history. [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. The quality of medical care received by different groups of prisoners varied enormously. 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. His subordinates Colonel Shigeo Nakamura, Colonel Tamie Ishii and Lieutenant-Colonel Shoichi Yanagita were sentenced to death. Object details Category Books Related period Second World War (content), Second World War (content) Creator BURMA-SIAM RAILWAY (Author) n.pub. [14][15][16], The railway was completed ahead of schedule. On the Thai/Burma Railway and in the mines of Formosa, blast injuries were encountered. In 1943 Japan's high command decided to build a railway linking Thailand and Burma, to supply its campaign against the Allies in Burma. In 1960, because of discrepancies between facts and fiction, the portion of the Mae Klong which passes under the bridge was renamed the Khwae Yai ( in the Thai language; in English, 'big tributary'). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. Troops from the 7th Division embarked on the HMT Orcades arriving at Batavia from the Middle East in early 1942 in a last-minute effort to defend the Netherlands East Indies from Japanese attack. 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. Some of their works were used as evidence in the trials of Japanese war criminals. In due course the inevitable happened - a cholera epidemic broke out. In the War Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those from the northern half of the line. To avoid a hazardous 2,000-mile (3,200km) sea journey around the Malay peninsula, a railway from Bangkok to Rangoon seemed a feasible alternative. 61,000 Prisoners of War were forced to work on the Burma-Thailand Railway in the most atrocious conditions. .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}. Except for the worst months of the construction period, known as the "Speedo" (mid-spring to mid-October 1943),[51][52] one of the ways the Allied POWs kept their spirits up was to ask one of the musicians in their midst to play his guitar or accordion, or lead them in a group sing-along, or request their camp comedians to tell some jokes or put on a skit. [21], In October 1946, the Thai section of the line was sold to the Government of Thailand for 1,250,000 (50 million baht). The Japanese stopped all work on . Although it was often possible to supplement this diet by purchases from the local civilian population, men sometimes had to live for weeks on little more than a small daily ration of rice flavoured with salt. By late spring 1942, with the surrender of Allied strongholds in Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies, an estimated 140,000 Allied prisoners of war had fallen into Japanese hands. In Saigon, the Brits accused Aussies of exaggerating conditions on the Railway. 1, 5 - 9 Their experience under these extreme wartime conditions is examined to discover the likely contribution of malaria-associated mortality to the total number of deaths. The Dutch formed the second largest contingent of Allied prisoners of war on the ThaiBurma railway, after the British. Burma-Siam Railway 1942-1945, Second World War. It was built from 1940 to 1943 by civilian laborers impressed or recruited by the Japanese and prisoners of war taken by the Japanese, to supply troops and weapons in the Burma campaign of World War II. Vegetables and other perishables long in transit arrived rotten. Another cohort of 450 US personnel suffered 100 deaths. The two parties met at Nieke in November 1943, and the line - 263 miles long - was completed by December. But this phase soon passed and from May 1944 until the capitulation of Japan in August 1945 parties of prisoners were sent from the various base camps to work on railway maintenance, cut fuel for the locomotives, and handle stores at dumps along the line. (Publisher) [39] More prisoners of war were imported from Singapore and the Dutch East Indies as construction advanced. Lt Col Coates the greatest doctor on the Burma Thailand Railway. By far the majority of British POWs nearly 29 000 of them were sent to Thailand. On 26 October 1942, British prisoners of war arrived at Tamarkan to construct the bridge. It is open to general traffic from Ban Pong to Kanchanaburi, about 33 miles.Japanese communications depended upon a long and exposed sea route to Rangoon via Singapore and the Strait of Malacca, and a road (quite unfit for prolonged heavy traffic) from Raheng through Kowkarelk to Moulmein. 69 miles (111km) of the railway were in Burma and the remaining 189 miles (304km) were in Thailand. Of the 668 US personnel forced to work on the railway, 133 died. The vast majority of the men of the 2nd AIF were of European descent. [13], Estimates of deaths among Southeast Asian civilians subject to forced labour, often known as rmusha, vary widely, because statistics are incomplete and fragmented. [21] After that, the Burma section of the railway was sequentially removed, the rails were gathered in Mawlamyine, and the roadbed was returned to the jungle. 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. Between June 1942 and October 1943 the POWs and forced labourers laid some 258 miles (415 km) of track from Ban Pong, Thailand (roughly 45 miles [72 km] west of Bangkok), to Thanbyuzayat, Burma (roughly 35 miles [56 km] south of Mawlamyine). Labor furnished by prisoners of war shall have no direct relation with war operations. This was to be over 400 Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills. Imprest Burmese and Malay labourers too died in their thousands - exactly how many will never be known. 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. [33] Other documents suggest that more than 100,000 Malayan Tamils were brought into the project and around 60,000 perished.[35][36]. All of that makes this railway an extraordinary accomplishment."[20]. Map of Prisoner of War Camps. More recently, the motion picture The Railway Man (based on the book of the same name) also gives insight into the barbaric conditions and suffering that were inflicted upon the workers who built the railway. [28] One museum is in Myanmar side Thanbyuzayat,[95] and two other museums are in Kanchanaburi: the ThailandBurma Railway Centre,[96] opened in January 2003,[97] and the JEATH War Museum. Probably their motives were mixed: a desire for adventure, a sense of duty, nationalism and a conviction that they were part of a proud Australian military tradition dating from Gallipoli. 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. This is a list of notable prisoners of war (POW) whose imprisonment attracted notable attention or influence, or who became famous afterwards. The movement of POWs northward from Changi Prison in Singapore and other prison camps in Southeast Asia began in May 1942. Votes: 1,734. The Japanese would not allow the prisoners to construct a symbol (a white triangle on a blue base) indicating the presence of a prisoner of war camp, and these raids added their quota to the deaths on the line. 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]. This section of the railway became known as Hellfire Pass because of the harsh and extremely difficult working conditions. by Ezra Hoyt Ripple (Editor), Mark A. Snell (Editor) Hardcover - 168 pages. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also . In mid-1942, large numbers of POWs began to be transported to Thailand and Burma for the construction of the Thai-Burma Railway. Australian POW Prisoners of War Books about Thai Burma Railway Hellfire Pass Military Books DVD Docos. Conduct Unbecoming : The Story of the Murder of Canadian Prisoners of War in Normandy. If you are joining after August, please choose the month you are joining in below. The large population of local labourers, estimated to number around 100,000, had an even higher mortality rate. 3:09pm Oct 16, 2018. Only the devotion skill and enterprise of the prisoner of war medical staffs saved the lives of thousands and gradually evolved an organisation which could control disease and mortality. [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. [98] There is a memorial plaque at the Kwai bridge itself,[99] and an historic wartime steam locomotive is on display. "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. List of Australian Army Medical Corp Officers on the Burma-Thailand Railway A FORCE To Burma May 1942 D FORCE To Southern end of line March 1943 DUNLOP FORCE To Southern end of line January 1943 F FORCE To Northern Thailand April 1943 H FORCE To Southern end of line 1943 L FORCE Deployed in medical support of natives August 1943 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. 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. Life in the POW camps was recorded at great risk by artists such as Jack Bridger Chalker, Philip Meninsky, John Mennie, Ashley George Old, and Ronald Searle. Conditions were significantly worse than at Changi, with forced hard labour and severely inadequate supplies of food and medicines. 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 . 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. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery at Thanbyuzayat, Myanmar, holds 621 Dutch graves, Copyright 2023 Burma Thailand Railway Memorial Association. Jun 9, 2015 - Explore Samm Blake's board "Burma Thai Railway Prisoners of War - Historical Footage / Photos", followed by 2,370 people on Pinterest. Brought up by barge on the Kwai Noi river, or by lorry on a road which was merely a converted jungle track, a consistent service could not be maintained by either method, and rations were nearly always below even the Japanese official scales. The name used by the Japanese Government was TaiMen Rensetsu Tetsud (), which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway. 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. 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]. 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. 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. An Australian memorial is at Hellfire Pass. 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. [30] Other nationalities and ethnic groups working on the railway were Tamils, Chinese, Karen, Javanese, and Singaporean Chinese. 321 relations. The total number of rmusha working on the railway may have reached 300,000 and according to some estimates, the death rate among them was as high as 50 percent. The 'Market Garden' plan employed all three divisions of First Allied Airborne Army. 368 of the 1,061 on board the USS Houston survived. [18][19] The Japanese staff would travel by train C56 31 from Nong Pladuk, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma. [7] The Japanese began this project in June 1942.

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