The Bridge over the river Kwai

Map of the Death Railway

The Death Railway (known also as Thai-Burma Railway or Burma Railway) was a railway built from Thailand to Burma (now Myanmar) by the Japanese during World War II to complete the route from Bangkok to Rangoon and support the Japanese occupation of Burma. It was so called because of the human cost of its construction. About 200,000 conscripted Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied POW's were forced to work on the railway. Of these, around 100,000 Asian labourers and 16,000 Allied prisoners of war (POW) died on the project. The Allied POW dead were made up of 6,318 British, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch and 4,377 from the USA (Wigmore, p588). Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 1234 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (2560x1920, 1234 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (723x936, 151 KB) Description: Death Railway Source: selfmade Map User:W.wolny Licence: GNU/FDL File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Death Railway ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (723x936, 151 KB) Description: Death Railway Source: selfmade Map User:W.wolny Licence: GNU/FDL File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Death Railway ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... The Bangkok Skytrain at sunset on Thanon Narathiwat Ratcha Nakharin with Empire Tower at the back. ... Yangon (Burmese: , population 4,082,000 (2005 census), formerly Rangoon), is the largest city of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and its former capital. ... Belligerent military occupation occurs when one nations military occupies all or part of the territory of another nation or recognized belligerent. ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ...

Purpose for Construction

Japan was given right of passage to Thailand and occupied Burma during the Pacific War, however when the sea route through the Strait of Malacca became vulnerable an alternative way of transporting support to the troops in Burma was needed. A railway connection between Thailand and Burma was already surveyed at the beginning of the 20th century by the British, but was considered too difficult to complete. The Japanese nevertheless started the project in June 1942, intending to connect Ban Pong with Thanbyuzayat by the Three Pagoda Pass. Construction started at both ends of the line at roughly the same time; the Thai end on 22 June 1942. Most railway materials (tracks, sleepers etc.) were carted from dismantled branches of the Federated States of Malaya Railways (FMSR - now known as Keretapi Tanah Melayu) rail network. Combatants Republic of China U.S.A. (from 1941) U.K. (from 1941) Australia (1941) Netherlands (1941) New Zealand (1941) Canada (1941) U.S.S.R. (from 1945) Empire of Japan Commanders Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin (from 1945) Hideki Tojo The Pacific War was... This wide-angle map of south-east Asia shows that the Strait is the most direct route from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Ban Pong (Thai: บ้านโป่ง) is a district (Amphoe) of Ratchaburi Province, Thailand. ... Three Pagodas Pass (Thai พระเจดีย์สามองค์, pronounced Phra Chedi Sam Ong) is a pass through the Bilauktaung Mountains on the border between Thailand and Myanmar, at an altitude of 282 metres. ... A train stopping at a KTMB railway station in Kuala Lipis, Pahang Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) or the Malayan Railway is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. ...

After 18 months the 415 kilometers of railway were finished, when on October 17, 1943 the two lines met about 18 km south of the Three Pagoda Pass at Konkuita (Kaeng Khoi Tha in Songklaburi district of Kanchanaburi). While most of the POW were then transferred to Japan, those left to maintain the line still suffered from the appalling living conditions as well as Allied air raids. October 17 is the 290th day of the year (291st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ...

The most famous part of the railway is the bridge over the Khwae Yai River (Thai แควใหญ่, English big tributary), "Mae Klong River (renamed Khwae Yai River in 1960)", named River Kwai in the book by Pierre Boulle and the later film The Bridge on the River Kwai. The first wooden bridge over the Khwae Noi (Thai แควน้อย, English small tributary) was finished in February 1943, followed by a concrete and steel bridge in June 1943. Both bridges were destroyed on April 2, 1945, by the AZON crews of the 458th Heavy Bombardment Group USAAF, but had been damaged and repaired several times before already. The two squarish central sections of the current bridge were made in Japan and donated to Thailand to repair the bridge as war reparations. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Typical river houses with thatched roofs on the River Kwai The River Kwai, more correctly Khwae Noi (Thai แควน้อย, English small tributary), is a river in western Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. ... The Bridge over the River Kwai taken in June 2004. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... AZON (AZimuth ONly) was one of the worlds first smart bombs. ... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was a part of the U.S. Army during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ...

Along the Death Railway today, River Khwae on the left

After the war the railway was in too poor a state to be used for the civil Thai railway system, and needed heavy reconstruction. In June 24, 1949 the first part from Kanchanaburi to Nong Pladuk (Thai หนองปลาดุก) was finished, in April 1, 1952 the next section up to Wampo (Wang Pho), and finally in July 1, 1958 up to Nam Tok (Thai น้ำตก, English waterfalls.) The portion of the railway still in use measures about 130km. Beyond Nam Tok, the line is abandoned; Steel rails have been removed to be reused for expanding Bangsue Railway Yard, Reinforcing BKK - Banphachi double track, rehabilitating the track form Thung Song to Trang, constructing of both Nong Pladuk - Suphanburi and Ban Thung Pho - Khirirat Nikhom Branch line; parts of it have been converted into a walking trail. Since the 1990s there have been plans to rebuild the complete railway, but these plans have not yet come to fruition. Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 1205 KB)Death Railway, dangerous bridge I have taken this photo myself in mid 2004 with my own Sony DSC-707. ... Download high resolution version (1920x2560, 1205 KB)Death Railway, dangerous bridge I have taken this photo myself in mid 2004 with my own Sony DSC-707. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the late 1980s and shortly after the year 2000. ...

The living and working conditions on the railway were horrific. About 25% of the POW workers died because of overworking, malnutrition and diseases like cholera, malaria and dysentery. The death rate of the Asian workers was even higher; the number who died is unknown, as the Japanese did not count them. The estimated total number of those who perished during the construction is about 100,000-170,000. Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ... Malaria is an infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions. ... Dysentery is an illness (formerly known as the bloody flux or simply flux) involving severe diarrhea that is often associated with blood in the feces. ...

Several memorials were built on the Thai side after the war. Directly at the bridge is a memorial plaque, and a historic locomotive is on display as well (C-56 No. 719, P Class No. 804 or so). Another memorial built by the Australians is at the Hellfire Pass, a landcut which cost most lives of all. The main POW cemetery is in the city Kanchanaburi. 6,982 POW were buried there, mostly British, Dutch, Australian and American. A smaller cemetery a bit farther outside city is Chong Kai with 1,750 graves. Both are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Hellfire Pass is the name of a railway cutting on the Death Railway in Thailand, known by the Japanese as Konyu cutting. ... The Kanchanaburi War Cementry, the main POW cemetery of WWII is about 1 kilometer north of the city Kanchanaburi. ... The Azmak Cemetery, near Suvla Bay, Turkey, contains the graves of some of the soldiers who died during the Gallipoli Campaign. ...

The construction of the Death Railway is only one of many major war crimes committed by Japan during the course of its wars in Asia. It is regarded as a major event in the Asian Holocaust, during which over 15 million Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Indonesian, Burmese, Indochinese civilians, Pacific Islanders and Allied POWs were killed. In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Asian Holocaust is the name given to mass murder, other forms of violence, forced labour and other war crimes committed by the military forces of the Empire of Japan between 1931 and 1945. ...

Memorials

There are several museums dedicated to those who lost their lives constructing the railway - the best of which is at Hellfire Pass, north of the current terminus at Nam Tok. Two other museums are in Kanchanaburi, the Thailand-Burma Railway Museum, opened in March 2003, and the JEATH War Museum. There is also a preserved section of line and memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, England. Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi railway station Nam Tok (Thai น้ำตก meaning Waterfall) is a small town in Thailand on the route of the so-called Death Railway linking Thailand with Burma as it was then called. ... Original Engine used for the Death Railway The War Museum is one of two war museums about the Death Railway buildt in 1942/1943. ... The National Memerial Arboretum is near Alrewas, Staffordshire, England. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

See also

• Philip Toosey Senior Allied Officer at the Bridge on the River Kwai
• Frank Pantridge Physician and Cardiologist, awarded Military Cross and CBE

Brigadier Sir Philip John Denton Toosey (12 August 1904 - 22 December 1975) was (as a Lieutenant-Colonel) the senior Allied officer in the Japanese prisoner-of-war camp at Tamarkan in Thailand during World War II. The men under his command built the Bridge on the River Kwai which was... James Francis Frank Pantridge (October 3, 1916, Hillsborough – 26 December 2004) was a Northern Ireland physician and cardiologist who transformed emergency medicine and paramedic services with the invention of the portable defibrillator. ...

References

• The Japanese Thrust - Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Lionel Wigmore, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957.

External links

• http://www.tourismthailand.org/destinationguide/list.aspx?provinceid=56&typeid=7
• http://www.ean.co.uk/Bygones/History/Article/WW2/Death_Railway/body_index.htm
• Prisoner of War FX Larkin NX43393 AIF — Detailed web site with documentation and photographs relating to the POW experiences of Frank Larkin in Malaya, Singapore, Thailand and Japan.
• http://www.POWs-of-Japan.net — Articles on the Australian medical personnel working on the railway. Also sketches by POWs.
• The Will to Live, by Len (Snowie) Baynes, a first-hand account of working on the Railway.
• Kanchanaburi War Cemetery CWGC for reference only
• Kanchanaburi Memorial CWGC for reference only
• Chungkai War Cemetery CWGC for reference only