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Appendix 2

Malayan Singapore Campaign

          Official figures show Allied losses during the Malayan Campaign amounted to 138,108. These included 38,496 British, 18,490 Australian, 61,340 Indian and 14,382 local volunteers. Over 130,000 of these were captured - mainly in Singapore.

 

                                                   Far East Campaign Against Japanese

           The Japanese took about 9,000 New Zealand prisoners during The Second World War in the Far East. In their official history books, the recounting of their story takes up a whole volume. The Australians with about 22,000 prisoners recounted their story in official history in 110 pages; but the British with about 136,000 prisoners of the Japanese could only fill 10 pages in five volumes of  The War Against Japan. That is a disgraceful and disrespectful account of the prisoners' sacrifice in inhumane conditions. Their experiences covered nearly four years of the war and were remarkable, truly amazing and a credit to their country.

 

The construction of the infamous Thailand to Burma railway began when the first POWs were taken from Singapore by train to Nong Pladuk in Thailand in the month of June 1942. After first constructing primitive shelters for living and cooking, then cover for work tools, work got under way to construct the railway up to the Burma border, a distance of 263kms. Other POWs taken mainly from Sumatra and Java were later to begin constructing the railway to join the existing station to the Moulmein- Ye line at Thanbyuzayat, working south towards the Thailand border to join up with the Thailand workforce. Under Japanese railway engineers' supervision the POW workers were selected into parties according to their trade or skills.

 

The Japanese soldiers, as guards, took orders from the engineers to enforce the daily tasks set. Work at first entailed clearing the jungle of trees or bamboo where the railroad was marked out. The embankment where required was marked with profiles to show the exact ground level, rake and height. Parties of workers were split into small groups to collect, carry and dump earth to conform to the profiles. At first the embankment was low, but in places it rose up to as much as 15-20 feet. Each few feet were consolidated by all parties walking up and down.

 

Bridges large and small were constructed with newly hewn timber and bamboo on the spot. The prisoners blasted through rock formations to form cuttings.

 

The Thailand workforce constructed 263 km of track of the 415km long Burma­-Thailand Railway. According to Japanese estimates the building of the railway involved digging carrying and dumping 4,000,000 cubic metres of earth; drilling for blasting and moving 3,000,000 cubic metres of rock; constructing 14 km of bridgework; using 60,000 cubic feet of timber and 650,000 cubic feet of poles. The blasting of rock to form cuttings used 300 tons of explosives. Several hundred lorries and motor boats were used to carry materials and 400 elephants to work moving trees. Prisoners moved many trees into place when the elephants refused.

 

There were 688 bridges constructed on the railway, all except 8 were wooden.

 

By May 1943 major obstacles at Tamarkan Chungkai and Wampo were overcome and the railway was operational as far as Tarsao, 130 km from Nong Plad Duk.

 

On 22nd May 1943 the monsoon broke the bridge at Hintok which was 1/4 of a mile long and 80 feet high. The track was finished and joined with ceremony on 17th October 1943.

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