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The Bridge over the River Kwai
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the
Thailand-Burma Railway and similar names, is a 415 km
(258 mile) railway between Bangkok, Thailand and
Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), built by the Empire of
Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the
Burma campaign.
Forced labour was used in its construction. About 180,000
Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs)
worked on the railway. Of these, around 90,000 Asian
labourers and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of
the project. The dead POWs included 6,318 British
personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356
Americans and a smaller number of Canadians.
History
Map of the Burma Railway
A railway route between Thailand and Burma had been
surveyed at the beginning of the 20th century, by the
British government of Burma, but the proposed course of
the line -through hilly jungle terrain divided by many
rivers - was considered too difficult to complete.
In 1942, Japanese forces invaded Burma from Thailand and
seized it from British control. To maintain their forces in
Burma, the Japanese had to bring supplies and troops to
Burma by sea, through the Strait of Malacca and the
Andaman Sea. This route was vulnerable to attack by Allied
submarines, and a different means of transport was needed.
The obvious alternative was a railway. The Japanese
started the project in June 1942.
They intended to connect Ban Pong with Thanbyuzayat,
through the Three Pagodas Pass. Construction started at
the Thai end on 22 June 1942 and in Burma at roughly the
same time.
Most of the construction materials for the line,
including tracks and sleepers, were brought from
dismantled branches of the Federated Malay States
Railway network and from the Netherlands East
Indies.
On 17 October 1943, the two sections of the line met
about 18 km (11 miles) south of the Three Pagodas Pass
at, (Sangkhla Buri district, Kanchanaburi Province).
Most of the POWs were then transferred to Japan. Those
left to maintain the line still suffered from the appalling
living conditions as well as Allied air raids.
The most famous portion of the railway is probably
Bridge 277 over the Khwae Yai River . (The river was
originally known as the Mae Klong and was renamed
Khwae Yai in 1960.) It was immortalized by Pierre
Boulle in his book and the film based on it: The Bridge
on the River Kwai.
Post-war
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. On 24 June 1949, the first part
from Kanchanaburi to was finished; on 1 April 1952,
the next section up to and finally on 1 July 1958, up to
Nam Tok The portion of the railway still in use
measures about 130 km.
(80 miles) Beyond Nam Tok, the line has been abandoned.
Steel rails have been removed for reuse in expanding the
Bangsue railway yard, reinforcing the BKK-Banphachi
double track, rehabilitating the track from Thung Song to
Trang, and constructing both the -Suphanburi and - branch
lines. 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.Tamarkan, Thailand. c. 1945. Train
crossing the wooden bridge which spanned the Mae
Klong River (renamed Kwai Yai River in 1960).
Begun in October 1942, using prisoner of war (POW)
labour, it was completed and operational by early February
1943. Both the wooden and the adjacent steel bridge were
subjected to numerous air raids between January and June
1945.
However, there are many who say that the movie is
utterly unrealistic and does not show what the conditions
and treatment of prisoners was really like. The first wooden
bridge over the Khwae Noi was finished in February 1943,
followed by a concrete and steel bridge in June 1943.
The Allies made several attempts to destroy the bridges,
but succeeded only in damaging them in their first
attempts. On 2 April 1945, AZON bomber crews from
the U.S. destroyed Bridge 277. After the war, two
squarish central sections were made in Japan to repair the
bridge, and were donated to Thailand.
Tamarkan, Thailand. c. October 1945. Located fifty
five kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as
Non Pladuk), 359 kilometres south of Thanbyuzayat,
and five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi
(Kanburi).
The photograph shows the two bridges built by the
Japanese, using prisoner of war (POW) labour,
which spanned the Mae Klong river (renamed Kwa
Yai river in 1960).
The wooden trestle bridge was completed in February
1943, and the steel bridge in April 1943. This eleven
span bridge had been dismantled by the Japanese and
brought to Tamarkan from Java in 1942. Both bridges
wee subjected to numerous attacks by
Allied aircraft during the period
December 1944 to June 1945.
POW labour was used to repair the wooden bridge
on each occasion. Tamarkan is fifty five kilometres
north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk),
or five kilometres north of Kanchanaburi.
(Donor A. Mackinnon)
One span of the steel bridge was destroyed in a raid mid
February 1945. Two more spans were dropped during
raids between April and June 1945. (cont'd below)
Aerial photograph of the Bridge over the River Kwai,
Thailand, severely damaged by aerial bombing.
By
Natchaya
Charoensin
No.10
Sarunya
Sakarunchai
No.15
Sukpreya
Chokbunprasong
No.16
Hatairat
Supakarn
No.18
Natvadee
Maneprasat
No.22