Burma-Thailand Railway

A railway to Burma

In December 1941 the Pacific War began with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, and the invasion of Malaya. By mid-1942 Japanese forces were fighting the British in Burma, their ultimate aim being an offensive against India. To maintain their armies in Burma the Japanese needed a more secure supply route than the vulnerable sea-lanes between Singapore and Rangoon. They decided to construct a railway, 415 km long, through the jungle and mountain from Ban Pong in Thailand to Thanbyuzayat in Burma.

Building the railway

To build the railway the Japanese assembled a multinational workforce of approximately 250,000 Asian labourers and over 60,000 Australian, British, Dutch and American Prisoners of War (POWs). Work on the line began in southern Burma in October 1942 while at the same time construction also started in Thailand. On 16 October 1943, the two ends of the Burma-Thailand railway were joined at Konikoita in Thailand.

Little modern equipment was made available for railway work. Earth and rock were broken by shovels, picks and chunkels (hoes), and carried away in baskets or sacks. Embankments of stone and earth were heaped up by human endeavour. Cuttings were driven through rock by hand; metal taps and sledgehammers being used to drill holes for explosives. Most of the bridges along the railway were timber trestle bridges made from timber cut in the surrounding jungle.

From April 1943, the work pace increased greatly as the Japanese strove to meet a proposed August deadline for completion. This was the notorious 'speedo' period. POWs and Asian labourers worked punishing hours well into the night. At Konyu Cutting the flickering bonfire light on the emaciated workers gave the place its name - Hellfire Pass. The 'speedo', coinciding with the wet season and outbreaks of cholera, claimed thousands of lives.

Between December 1943 and August 1945 some 220,000 tons of military supplies were carried over the railway. Allied air raids hindered the railway's operation yet the Japanese continued to move supplies along the route. Today, 130 km of the line remains in use, from Non Pladuk to Namtok.

Cost

Of the 60,000 Aliied POWs who worked on the railway, 12,399 (20%) died. Between 70,000 and 90,000 civilian labourers are also believed to have died. The reasons for this appalling death toll were lack of proper food, totally inadequate medical facilities and, at times, the brutal treatment from guards and railway supervisors.

Rice, with a little dried vegetable and dried fish, was the POWs' basic food. This meagre diet provided by the Japanese was supplemented to some extent through trade with local people. Starvation led to a range of diseases, including beriberi and pellagra. Weakened POWs living in appalling conditions commonly fell ill to malaria, dysentery, cholera and tropical ulcers.

POWs lived in attap (woven palm thatch) and bamboo huts. Huts were overcrowded and the cooking and sanitary arrangements at camps were primitive. Lack of clothing and footwear increased the risk of illness.

Physical punishment was a feature of Japanese military discipline and POWs were often given severe beatings as well as other forms of punishment. This was at its worst during the 'speedo'.

If anything the Asian labourers, or 'rumusha' as they were known, fared even worse. Unlike the POWs, they had no army doctors to give them basic medical treatment.

'V' Organisation

Thailand was a reluctant ally of Japan, and Allied interned citizens were well treated by the Thais. Internees became aware of the POWs' plight. An internee group known as the 'V' Organisation, aided by neutral businessmen and sympathetic Thais, smuggled food and medicines to POWs.

Peace and after

After the completion of the railway the POWs were either kept in Thailand or sent back to Singapore. When the war ended the POW survivors were repatriated and with proper food and medical treatment many quickly recovered. However, most carried the mental scars of their experience with them for the rest of their lives.

The POWs who died along the railway were reinterred at Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries at Thanbyuzayat, Kanchanaburi and Chung Kai. American dead were returned to the USA.

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