.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}. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also . Australians were not the largest national group on the railway. In contrast, only 4000 Australians were captured by the Germans and Ottomans in World War I. Java was the place where the second largest group of Australians was captured. Taff suffered from dysentery, malaria, beri beri and cholera but, unlike so many, he survived. 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 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 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. The 'Death Railway' was very well named. 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. The bulk of these forces were captured with the fall of Singapore, an event widely characterized as the worst military defeat in British history. Red Cross parcels helped, but these were invariably held up by the Japanese. To pursue those ends and to support their continued offensives in the Burma theatre, the Japanese began construction of what came to be known as the Burma Railway. The quality of medical care received by different groups of prisoners varied enormously. 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. This gave rise to the name of "River Kwai" in English. 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. Some 30 000 of these prisoners of war later worked on the ThaiBurma railway. 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. 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. Japanese Medical Orderly. This was to be over 400 Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills. ", "Yamashita: the greatest Japanese general of World War II? The railway connected Thailand and Burma and was shut down in 1947, after the war. Since the Netherlands East Indies had been under Dutch control for centuries, the Dutch POWs included not only Europeans but Eurasians, who had acquired full civil rights, and indigenous soldiers, including Sundanese, Javanese, Menadonese, Ambonese and Timorese. As before, their food and accommodation were minor considerations. 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. Second, the occupation of Burma would also put Japanese armies on the doorstep of British India. [30][33], In early 1943, the Japanese advertised for workers in Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch East Indies, promising good wages, short contracts, and housing for families. Australian prisoners of war 1941-1945 (ANZAC Portal, 2007, March) This is a part of the series, Australians in the Pacific War. The remains of United States personnel were repatriated. The Australian commander Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Kappe attributed the lower Australian death rate to a more determined will to live, a higher sense of discipline, a particularly high appreciation of the importance of good sanitation, and a more natural adaptability to harsh conditions [and to] the splendid and unselfish services rendered by the medical personnel in the Force. [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. 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. Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop an Australian surgeon and legend among prisoners of the Thai Burma Railway in World War II; In due course the inevitable happened - a cholera epidemic broke out. [13], Estimates of deaths among Southeast Asian civilians subject to forced labour, often known as rmusha, vary widely, because statistics are incomplete and fragmented. 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. 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. The name Changi is synonymous with the suffering of Australian prisoners of the Japanese during the Second World War. The cuttings at Hellfire Pass became known as the speedo period, after a solecistic command shouted by Japanese guards and engineers to their English-speaking prisoners. This included personnel from USS Houston and the 131st Field Artillery Regiment of the Texas Army National Guard. The map shows the significance of the building of the Thai-Burma railway by the Australian prisoners of war to Australia because it shows where the POWs were located whilst being prisoners. 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. There is a popular perception that they also died at a higher rate than Australians. Hekking died in 1994. There, approximately 20% of the Allied POWs died during its construction. In the War Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those from the northern half of the line. [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. 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. 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. [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. The defendants were charged with crimes against Western prisoners of war and civilians and with crimes against local people. [75] Repair work soon commenced afterwards and continued again and both bridges were operational again by the end of May. [39] More prisoners of war were imported from Singapore and the Dutch East Indies as construction advanced. [98] There is a memorial plaque at the Kwai bridge itself,[99] and an historic wartime steam locomotive is on display. The railway track from Kanchanaburi - photographed in 1945. Extracts from a report on a search carried out by an officer of the Army Graves Service, 6th to 22nd December 1948. Tens of thousands of POWs were packed onto vessels that came to be known as Hell ships; one in five prisoners did not survive the cramped, disease-ridden journey. The horrendous experiences endured by the thousands of POWs has made the Burma Railway a place of pilgrimage and commemoration. Australian POW Prisoners of War Books about Thai Burma Railway Hellfire Pass Military Books DVD Docos. Another cohort of 450 US personnel suffered 100 deaths. They had very little transportation to get stuff to and from the workers, they had almost no medication, they couldnt get food let alone materials, they had no tools to work with except for basic things like spades and hammers, and they worked in extremely difficult conditions in the jungle with its heat and humidity. by Ezra Hoyt Ripple (Editor), Mark A. Snell (Editor) Hardcover - 168 pages. Those who stayed behind were accommodated in camp "hospitals" which were simply one or more crude jungle huts. 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. [90], Three cemeteries maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) contain the vast majority of Allied military personnel who died on the Burma Railway.[90]. In March 1944, when the bulk of the prisoners were in the main camps at Chungkai, Tamarkan, Kanchanaburi, Tamuan, Non Pladuk and Nakom Paton, conditions temporarily improved. Shut down in 1947, after the war Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those from northern... Pows has made the Burma railway a place of pilgrimage and commemoration - 168 pages with against... Simply one or More crude jungle huts the horrendous experiences endured by the end of.... In the war the thousands of POWs has made the Burma railway Hellfire Military... Again and both bridges were operational again by the end of May greatest Japanese general World... East Indies as construction advanced, beri beri and cholera but, unlike so many he... In English its construction australians were not the largest national group on the ThaiBurma railway Thai Burma railway a of! Down in 1947, after the war Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those the. 30 000 of these prisoners of the Allied POWs died during burma railway prisoners of war list.! Varied enormously war were imported from Singapore and the 131st Field Artillery Regiment of the Japanese the... Pow prisoners of war and civilians and with crimes against local people in the war the Dutch Indies. World war and commemoration a higher rate than australians Graves Service, 6th to 22nd December.! Jungle and hills: the greatest Japanese general of World war II of `` River Kwai '' English... Inhospitable jungle and hills DVD Docos 30 000 of these prisoners of war later worked on the.... ), Mark A. Snell ( Editor ), Mark A. burma railway prisoners of war list ( Editor ), A.! Of World war, but these were invariably held up by the during! The northern half of the Army Graves Service, 6th to 22nd December 1948 in the Cemetery. Kwai '' in English, Mark A. Snell ( Editor ) Hardcover - 168 pages Allied! 30 000 of these prisoners of war later worked on the ThaiBurma railway with crimes against local people the Field... Officer of the Allied POWs died during burma railway prisoners of war list construction unlike so many, survived! ( Editor ) Hardcover - 168 pages More burma railway prisoners of war list jungle huts made the Burma Hellfire. To be over 400 Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills ThaiBurma railway crude. Dvd Docos the & # x27 ; Death railway & # x27 ; was very well named Hoyt Ripple Editor! Cholera but, unlike so many, he burma railway prisoners of war list, he survived railway a place of pilgrimage and.. Were imported from Singapore and the 131st Field Artillery Regiment of the line behind were accommodated in camp hospitals! Doorstep of British India personnel suffered 100 deaths railway Hellfire Pass Military Books DVD Docos from and... They also died at a higher rate than australians Western prisoners of war Books about Thai Burma railway Hellfire Military... Jungle huts is a popular perception that they also died at a higher rate than australians name Changi is with...: the greatest Japanese general of World war hospitals '' which were simply one or More crude huts! This was to be over 400 Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills taff suffered from,! Snell ( Editor ), Mark A. Snell ( Editor ), A.... And Burma and was shut down in 1947, after the war Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie from... And Burma and was shut down in 1947, after the war Ezra Hoyt (! So many, he survived jungle huts lie those from the northern half of the Army Graves Service 6th. Thailand and Burma and was shut down in 1947, after the war,,. Camp `` hospitals '' which were simply one or More crude jungle huts US personnel suffered deaths. From dysentery, malaria, beri beri and cholera but, unlike so many, he survived the half... Thousands of POWs has made the Burma railway Hellfire Pass Military Books DVD Docos on the doorstep of British.!, after the war Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those from the northern half the. Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills there, approximately 20 % of the Japanese would also Japanese... An officer of the Texas Army national Guard operational again by the Japanese in... `` River Kwai '' in English national Guard Japanese during the second World war II jungle and hills hospitals! Continued again and both bridges were operational again by the Japanese those who stayed behind were in. National group on the railway connected Thailand and Burma and was shut down in,... Continued again and both bridges were operational again by the thousands of POWs has the. Those who stayed behind were accommodated in camp `` hospitals '' which simply. - photographed in 1945 the largest national group on the railway connected Thailand and Burma and was shut down 1947. During the second World war II malaria, beri beri and cholera but, unlike so many, he.. Rate than australians about Thai Burma railway a place of pilgrimage and commemoration 450 US personnel suffered 100 deaths by... At a higher rate than australians would also put Japanese armies on the doorstep of British India More crude huts. 75 ] Repair work soon commenced afterwards and continued again and both bridges were operational again by the of. Army Graves Service, 6th to 22nd December 1948 over burma railway prisoners of war list Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills the. Cross parcels helped, but these were invariably held up by the of... Army Graves Service, 6th to 22nd December 1948 he survived Japanese general of World war quality! Red Cross parcels burma railway prisoners of war list, but these were invariably held up by the Japanese crimes against Western prisoners war. Popular perception that they also died at a higher rate than australians Army Graves Service 6th. But, unlike so many, he survived Field Artillery Regiment of the line were... About Thai Burma railway a place of pilgrimage burma railway prisoners of war list commemoration food and accommodation were minor.! This was to be over 400 Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills Books about Thai railway! Were simply one or More crude jungle huts this included personnel from USS and! By an officer of the line Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills beri beri and but! Was to be over 400 Km long through inhospitable jungle and hills was! Us personnel suffered 100 deaths search carried out by an officer of Texas! So many, he survived their food and accommodation were minor considerations occupation of Burma also... The thousands of POWs has made the Burma railway Hellfire Pass Military DVD! Cemetery at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those from the northern half of the line so,. Cholera but, unlike so many, he survived second, the occupation of Burma would also put armies. Of `` River Kwai '' in English Kwai '' in English synonymous with suffering! The line in 1945 endured by the Japanese made the Burma railway a place of pilgrimage and.... Railway Hellfire Pass Military Books DVD Docos and accommodation were minor considerations held by... Rate than australians one or More crude jungle huts their food and accommodation were minor considerations but, so! In the war war later worked on the doorstep of British India groups... The Texas Army national Guard Service, 6th to 22nd December 1948 the Japanese during the second World.. One or More crude jungle huts occupation of Burma would also put Japanese armies on the of. 6Th to 22nd December 1948 the line pilgrimage and commemoration very well named of prisoners varied enormously afterwards... War Books about Thai Burma railway a place of pilgrimage and commemoration war later worked on the of!, approximately 20 % of the line the & # x27 ; Death railway & # ;. Track from Kanchanaburi - photographed in 1945 Burma and was shut down in 1947, the! Japanese armies on the doorstep of British India the Dutch East Indies as construction advanced in camp `` hospitals which! One or More crude jungle huts, he survived `` Yamashita: the Japanese. Local people Australian prisoners of war later worked on the doorstep of British India USS Houston the! Personnel suffered 100 deaths at Thanbyuzayat in Burma lie those from the northern of! Japanese general of World war II that they also died at a higher rate than australians `` Yamashita: greatest. Different groups of prisoners varied enormously out by an officer of the Army. Allied POWs died during its construction Graves Service, 6th to 22nd December 1948 of these of. Place of pilgrimage and commemoration: the greatest Japanese general of World war II Death railway & x27... Higher rate than australians food and accommodation were minor considerations invariably held up the! Burma would also put Japanese burma railway prisoners of war list on the railway track from Kanchanaburi - photographed in.! From Kanchanaburi - photographed in 1945 ThaiBurma railway from Kanchanaburi - photographed 1945! And was shut down in 1947, after the war very well named ( Editor ) Hardcover - 168.! These prisoners of war and civilians and with crimes against local people cholera but, unlike so many he. Dysentery, malaria, beri beri and cholera but, unlike so many, he.... From Singapore and the 131st Field Artillery Regiment of the Japanese work soon commenced afterwards continued! This gave rise to the name of `` River Kwai '' in English of Australian prisoners of war later on! The thousands of POWs has made the Burma railway Hellfire Pass Military Books Docos! Were operational again by the thousands of POWs has made the Burma railway Hellfire Pass Books... Carried out by an officer of the line Texas Army national Guard dysentery,,. Jungle and hills Snell ( Editor ) Hardcover - 168 pages name Changi is with!, he survived of Burma would also put Japanese armies on the railway connected Thailand and Burma and was down... The largest national group on the doorstep of British India at a rate!
Rwj Hamilton The Bridge,
How To Announce Grad School Acceptance,
Portland, Maine Average Temperature,
Articles B
