The Death Railway

‘Working in swampy wet conditions, men dying from cholera, malaria. I’ve experienced hunger, sickness and torture. Working 18 hours long and hard shifts. Night marches from early evening to dawn.’

The Burma-Thailand ‘death railway’ was built by captured prisoners of war and voluntary Asian labourers. It was said that one man died for every sleeper laid.

In 1941 Japan entered World War 2. It rapidly took over most of south-east Asia, but, fearing an allied blockade of the Bay of Bengal, it looked for an alternative supply route for its troops in Burma. The solution was to build a 415 kilometre-long railway through the jungle and across the mountains between Thailand and Burma, starting at Nong Pladuk in Thailand and ending at Thanbuyzat in Burma. They shipped 60,000 POWs (prisoners of war) up from captured territories, and later 200,000 Asian labourers were recruited/forced to join them. One later recalled:

‘I was studying at a nearby university and I had a Sunday off. I went to a market when two Japanese soldiers came up to me and told me to come with them. They said I was to be sent to help with the Burma railway. I said I was in the middle of a course at the local university, so I couldn’t go, but they said you need to come right now. I started to cry, but they took me off in their van and I didn’t see my parents or friends for 3 years.’

Work began for POWs in June 1942 and Asians at the beginning of 1943. They were working in wet and marshy conditions and were forced to work 18-hour long shifts with sometimes long night marches to the next camp. They suffered a range of diseases, but the biggest killers were cholera and malaria, especially during the monsoon season. The worst casualties came in 1943, with cholera killing tens of thousands.

‘I remember men skinny enough to be skeletons and the faces of men screaming in pain and agony from surgery and disease,’ recalled an Australian POW.

The railway was finally finished in 1944 and the Asian labourers were free to go, but POWs were sent to other prison camps until 15 August 1945 when the Japanese finally surrendered.

I found out about all this when we went to Hellfire Pass (so-called because it was the most gruelling part of the railway to build, being the longest and deepest cutting on the line) near Kanchanaburi. There was a small museum there, which gave loads of information about it. We were then given audio guides, and there is a walk you can do along the original path of the railway.

The actual railway no longer exists here, as after the war a large section of the railway was torn up so as to destroy the Thailand-Burma link forever. Along the way there are signposts with audio guide numbers, which tell you about Hellfire Pass, the building of the railway and includes quotes from POWs who worked on it. It was extremely interesting, but very moving and emotional.

 

There is still one section of the railway that has been left intact – from Nam Tok to Kanchanaburi. We left Hellfire Pass and took the 20 minute bus ride to Nam Tok (which is south of Hellfire Pass) and did the journey – although nearly 3 hours long, it was amazing and we saw some beautiful views and stunning wildlife. It was brilliant.

The journey ended with the train crawling over the famous Bridge on the River Kwai. Well, sort of.

    

There were actually two bridges, neither over the nearby river Kwae (not Kwai), but the Thais got round the inconvenience by rebuilding the bridge here and renaming the river the Kwai.

Around 16,000 allied POWs died (mostly British, Australian and Dutch) building the Death Railway, and up to 100,000 Asian labourers (mostly Malay and Thai) are also thought to have perished. In Kanchanaburi, I visited the cemetery where around 5,000 allied soldiers are buried. Not one single grave exists for the Asian victims.

It was very emotional and sad, but I’m extremely glad we did it.

RIP, your bravery and courage will never be forgotten.