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Chunkai
As expected, at
dawn the next day we were counted, and formed into small parties, after having
had some rice and vegetable juice which we couldn't see to eat. We were marched
off to collect picks, shovels and chunkals, and some
wicker baskets; and then onto the railway embankment, passing some sections
which were partly built. We halted at the section of the embankment which we
were to construct. The direction and profile of this was indicated by bamboo. showing the height and rake of each side of the bank. The
heights, we were to find, varied from two feet to twenty or more, according to the
level of the land. Our first allotted section of embankment averaged between
two to three feet. Small parties of six men worked together. Two men picked or
shovelled the earth into the baskets of the other four men who carried and
dumped the earth on the ground between the bamboos. This monotonous process was
carried on in bad weather until the required daily task was done, which was
estimated by the Jap engineers who were then in charge. We had been forewarned
by our officer in charge to pace ourselves, so that our task was not finished
too early in the day, otherwise the daily task would be increased. Seeing that
the work was behind schedule the guards prodded and slapped men to work harder,
saying "When finish, go home." These engineers were clearly pressured
into getting their section of the railway done at all costs. From now on, it
was punishment if only the Japs were referred to as
such. They were now to be referred to as
The guards must
have received orders that the daily measured task had to be completed however
long it took. When it became dark, some men tried to indicate the fact that it
was too dark to see. They got angry answers of "Dami
dami" and "Buggero!"
In a short while, lamps were erected on the spot, to indicate the task had to
be completed. Having failed in the effort to cut the daily task, we all worked
harder to get back to camp. Exhausted, tired, wet, and irritated by mosquitoes,
we trudged back to our rice meal in camp, eaten in the dark; and a well earned
rest. Following this, we learnt the lesson, to finish the required task at a
reasonable time.
The monsoon rains
continued for a while, causing flooding in the camp. The river rose so much it came up to bedspace
level in many huts, and the camp became a filthy mess. Some were evacuated to
higher ground. This state of things brought on illnesses, malaria, dysentry, and typhoid, to add to the agony of hard work and
poor food. The night's rest was disturbed by itching and scratching, caused by
bugs, lice and mosquitoes. The medical officers and orderlies worked hard and
skilfully in primitive conditions, and lack of proper medicine. Improvisation
with tools and treatment for operations had to be admired; which no doubt saved
many lives. Even so, many suffered and died who need not have done, if the Nips
had been more humane and supplied medical supplies which they did have in
stores.
Each day, if the
required height was only partly finished, the section being formed had to be
trodden in by all men. So we strode wearily up and down until firm; thus we
became human rollers. I was thankful that I had a fairly good pair of shoes
then, but it was only a matter of time before they were ruined in the
conditions. When a section was completed we had to start all over again, but
each time it was farther away from camp. Occasionally we would have to clear
anthills away, which sent ants crawling hastily around in their thousands. That
was bad enough, but when a tree was disturbed which had big red ants busily at
work above, they dropped onto our naked, sweating bodies and bit like hell.
Each day was one big torment; no wonder some men lost the will to live when
they became sick.
The work became
harder as we progressed because the earth had to be taken from farther away at
each side of the track. Hence the carriers had farther to walk as the day went
on. Also, when the height of the track had to be more than two or three feet,
it was done in layers. A day's task of two to three feet was trodden down as
usual, and each following day another layer in the same way. The obvious
difference was that the loads of earth had to be carried and dumped higher each
day. That was never considered in the daily task by the Japs.
By the middle of
December 1942 many men became victims of malaria, dysentery, beri-beri, skin disorders, tropical ulcers and typhoid. The
worst cases were taken into the care of medical men in separate huts, which
were no different to the other huts. The now depleted number of available fit
men made it difficult to make up the required number for work parties. The Jap
Commandant therefore ordered the officers out to work. At first they refused,
but when threatened that they would be shot, they obeyed under protest. The Japs delighted in humiliating the officers, and gave them a
hard time. Set to work in a party of officers only, of which very few were used
to hard work, they had to do the same jobs as the men. It was usual for some to
get a beating for not working hard enough, or found to be skiving.
In camp there was a
Thai canteen split into separate parts, one for the Japs
and one for the prisoners. It was mostly used by the Japs
because they had the money. A private's pay was about a penny a day, N.C.O.'s pay was a little more, while officer's pay was
quite a bit more. The officers therefore were able to buy food to supplement
their poor diet. They did make some contribution to the other rank's mess fund,
and with a small contribution from the men's pay, it was used to buy extra for
Christmas Day. A small cow on its last legs was bought from the Thais outside
the camp. The rest of the mess fund bought sugar, eggs, cooking oil, salt and
spices.
The Japs gave us a day off work, for what was our first
Christmas as prisoners of war. The cooks did a good job in the circumstances.
With sugar in our tea, and meat flavouring our stew we thought it was lovely.
They also produced a fried meat ball or as we called it, a "doo-fur." The day began with a service and ended with
a concert, which got rid of the blues for a time. The concert was well staged,
one act being a female impersonator called Bobby Spong.
The lads loved him, and to us he looked like a real dolly bird. Everyone joined
in with the favourite war songs accompanied by an accordianist
and whatever musical instruments were possessed or had been made.
It was back to work
the following day, but with a little higher spirits. One evening after work we
were surprisingly called out on the parade ground to line up. Already feeling tired,
we were called to attention. The Jap engineer officer in charge spoke in
English to announce that many tools were missing, so until they were found we
would have to stay there. On that dark chilly night, standing to attention,
with only some small part of our bodies covered, he said "All men, stand
still and not talk and if mosquito come don't move." We stood there for
what seemed hours, tormented by insects, unable to move. Then eventually we
were dismissed after it appeared that the tools had been found. We thought it
was a case of not being able to count.
I had been lucky up
to now really, with perhaps one or two bouts of malaria and dysentery. The
dysentery was more distressing because it was impossible to keep clean. Without
paper of any sort we made use of the broad leaves on the camp trees. Early in
the month of January, our section of the railway embankment was finished, so a
party was formed to move further up country. I was passed fit enough to go, so
we paraded one day with our kit and some stores, to march to our next camp. The
weather had improved by now, as we marched along the track which we had worked
upon. The track followed the River Kwai Noi, a busy river where often we saw large bamboo rafts
skilfully navigated downstream by, at the most, two men. We passed others
working their section of railway track which took us through cuttings in the
rocks which other prisoners had blasted. Theirs was a hard job, having to
chisel a hole a metre deep by hand for an explosive
charge to blast away the rocks. Others broke the debris into small ballast for
the track. Continuing through paddy fields and bamboo jungle in the hot
sunshine, we arrived at the next camp, called Wun
Lung.