The Burma-Thai Railway

Nobody knew how long they would spend as a POW and what the
Japanese intended to do with them. There was no contact with the outside
world, no letters from home, no news, and no way of knowing how the war
was going. In 1942 construction took place on what would be a
devastating year to complete the Burma-Thai Railway. In this year over
12,000 Australian allies were assigned jobs to help the construction of the
railway. In this report I will be highlighting some of the key features that a
POW (Prisoner Of War) would have had to deal with during World War 2,
while working on the Burma-Thai Railway.
The Japanese soldiers have been remembered as cruel and brutal. Many
men that worked on the railway witnessed the pitilessness of the guards.
The guards were not taught discipline and could harm the prisoners in any
way that they pleased with whatever they had at hand. The prisoners
were hit anywhere and everywhere- in the groin, on ulcers and wounds,
broken bones, faces, necks and backs. They were often hit for the tiniest
reason.
The prisoners food was very hard to obtain, let alone it being safe to eat.
They mostly survived on rice and whatever protein they could find. Boxed
meat was rarely sent in, it being often half rotten and covered with flies.
Cattle were also sent although they were almost always undernourished,
small and often diseased. Most men lost 1/3 of their body weight and
slowly starved to death. Working on less than 2000 calories on 24 hour
shifts, the very few doctors declared 1 in 3 men unfit for work.
Many prisoners suffered from a lack of Vitamin B, found in foods
containing wheat and meat. Lack of Vitamin B eventually developed into
beriberi, it caused swelling in their feet and legs. Some prisoners also
suffered from malaria which caused violent shivering attacks. Any cuts
and wounds the prisoners came across would not heal due to the humid
environment which later turned into infections and diseases which was
often spread throughout the camp. Prisoners would try to clean out any
wound by using a spoon to scrape out the puss and to bleed out the
infection. Another option included standing in any nearby river or creek
and letting the fish eat away at the dead flesh and wounds. Tropical ulcers
were common and could develop into gangrene which would mean certain
death. There were some allied doctors in each camp but were restricted
due to the lack of medical equipment and unhygienic circumstances. If the
doctors could not declare more than 85% of men fit for work they would
be punished or bashed.

The prisoners were organised into several different parties, ranging from
1,200 to 12,000 men. Each party would begin on one end of the track and
slowly work their way into the middle, making a total length of 415
kilometres of railway line. The men continued to work, while the railway
was being endlessly bombed. The Japanese set a very tight deadline for
the train track to be completed which would be in August 1943. Over
60,000 allied prisoners worked the railway with 12,000 of them being
Australian.

In June 1943, the monsoonal rains arrived. Clothes rotted, shoes fell apart
and latrines overflowed. Flies bred rapidly and maggots were found
everywhere. The rotting bodies which lay in open or shallow graves were
brought to the surface, because of the rain, spilling into the shelters of the
prisoners. The never ending rain, humidity and heat were all perfect
breeding place for a range of tropical diseases.
Even though the prisoners were going through a horrific time in their life,
they would often sing songs that reminded them of home, trade whatever
they managed to smuggle into the camp and tell stories to lift the spirits
in the camps. As everything had to be done on the low, they couldnt do
anything major as if they were caught would be beaten.
The attitude towards the prisoners by the guards would be superiority and
them thinking that they are more valuable. The attitude of prisoners
towards the guards would be mostly scared but sometimes bravery
For the POWs who return, captivity is never ending this striking quote
from an interview by A Current Affair shows that even though they may
have made it out alive they still cannot be the way they were previous to
the war and are constantly being reminded of the harsh, cruel and
inhumane things they witnessed during the war.
The effects on families would be tragic. Either the men didnt come home
or if they did they were clearly not the same person you would have
remembered. The quote those who had survived would have wished they
hadnt from the movie The Railway Man clearly states the devastating
and never ending effects of war and being a POW.
Words to describe the acts of the guards towards the prisoners would be
devilish and inhumane, for everything the prisoners would have had
to go through and to make it out alive would have to be described as
heroic and brave. For the many lives lost during the making of the
railway, they will never be forgotten. No one should ever have to go

through such cruelty the prisoners went through and for that they will
never be forgotten and will always be looked up to.

Primary source:

Secondary source:

Primary source:

Primary source:

Report
1. Describe the source you have chosen.
The source I have chosen is a map of where the Burma-Thai railway
is and where the track leads to and the location of it. It is an artists

impression of the railway and not a satalite image. It also does not
show the range of hights in the land which would of given the
prisoners so much trouble to clear and level out.
Image:

2. Outline how that source was helpful to your research.

This source was helpful to my research as it helped to give me an
understandig of how long and difficult it would have been to build and how
long the track really was. It also helped me to pinpoint the location of it on
any world map for me to compare the length of the track.
3. Is your source reliable?
This souce is not very reliable as the imageis not a satalite image and may
not be an exact representation of the track and the direction it is going
and am unsure on who it is that created the map.

Bibliography:
Movie- Sister of War
Movie- The Railway Man

http://hellfire-pass.commemoration.gov.au/map-resources/maps.php
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/PVD76JeJE3s/TybtpZGm77I/AAAAAAAAHRE/FZyWEY6a2WU/s320/railway
%2Bprisoners.jpg
https://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/stolenyears/images/maps/ww2burma.
gif
http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-56_u-91_t-199_c-666/australian-prisoners-ofwar-changi-and-the-burma-thailand-railway/nsw/australian-prisoners-ofwar-changi-and-the-burma-thailand-railway/australia-and-world-war-ii/wartime-experiences
https://www.awm.gov.au/