For most Allied prisoners of war, the journey to the Burma-Thailand Railway was the first taste of the gruelling life that awaited them. Many finished their journey sick, exhausted and malnourished.
All groups sent to Thailand from Singapore travelled by rail for the first part of their journey. Those travelling to Burma (now Myanmar) were transported aboard the infamous 'hell ships'.
The Japanese began transporting prisoners by rail to Thailand in June 1942. The conditions on the 5-day train journey were appalling. Between 30 and 40 men were crowded into small railway trucks. Despite the intense heat and the length of the journey, the Japanese provided little food or water.
Conditions for Asian forced labourers (rōmusha) travelling by train were worse. These workers were often transported in open cattle trucks, exposed to the elements. Many died of heat stroke.
Once at their destination, prisoners rarely had any rest. Often the first task that faced them was building their own camps. But Japanese engineers were impatient to get the prisoners working on the railway as soon as possible. They allowed little time for camp duties.
Getting to the railway
By day steel carriages scorched with the heat of the sun: by night they were like ice boxes. Perhaps once a day the men were allowed out of the trucks to stretch their legs and attend to the demands of nature. Nature, unfortunately, did not understand this arrangement and made her demands much more frequently.
[Russell Braddon, The Naked Island, Edinburgh, Birlinn, 2005, p 169]
For most Allied prisoners of war, the journey to the Burma-Thailand Railway was the first taste of the gruelling life that awaited them as workers for the Japanese. No prisoner arrived at their worksite healthier than when they left Singapore, and many finished their journey sick, exhausted and malnourished.
All groups sent to Thailand from Singapore travelled by rail for their first leg of their journey. Those travelling to Burma were transported aboard the infamous 'hell ships'.
The Japanese started transporting prisoners by rail to Thailand in June 1942.
Dunlop Force and D Force
The men of Dunlop Force were the first Australians to arrive at Nong Pladuk in early 1943.
Conditions on the 5-day train journey were appalling. The Japanese had assured prisoners that they would enjoy a better life than they had since being captured.
Between 30 and 40 men were crowded into railway trucks measuring 5.5 m by 2.5 m. Despite the intense heat and the length of the journey, the Japanese provided little food or water. Prisoners in D Force were only given one pint (less than 0.5 L) of water each day. They were punished if they tried to get more.
Prisoners often had to survive on what food they brought with them. If they could buy supplies from local traders, they were usually forced to pay very high prices.
Conditions were made even worse because prisoners were only allowed to relieve themselves infrequently, including those who had dysentery.
Conditions for rōmusha travelling by train were worse. These workers were often transported in open cattle trucks, exposed to the elements. Many died of sunstroke, including women and children accompanying the rōmusha.
Once deposited at the terminus of the functioning railway, the workers travelled to their allocated worksites by a variety of means.
Dunlop Force disembarked at Ban Pong, the point where the railway ended, in January 1943.
By March 1943, since the line had progressed, D Force was taken as far as Kanchanaburi.
Both Dunlop and D forces were relatively lucky because they were then taken by truck to their worksites further up the line.
F Force and H Force
Later forces had to march from Ban Pong to worksites far up-country. F Force, who arrived at Ban Pong in April 1943, had to complete an exhausting march of up to 300 km to remote camps near the Thailand-Burma border.
This march was completed in 15 stages of 20 km each. If prisoners fell out in exhaustion, they were beaten and abused.
One concession the Japanese made was to allow the prisoners to march at night and rest during the heat of the day.
As the days passed, prisoners were forced to rid themselves of excess weight in their packs. Some sold valuables to Thai traders. Others simply threw away items such as blankets, books and bulky equipment.
Stan Arneil, a member of F Force, remembered the hardships facing prisoners even when they stopped for a rest:
A frightful night march brought us to a 'desert camp' at daybreak. We stop here for the night, the camp is a dry, stony, thorny half acre, as hot as frying pan and the kindly Thai natives sell us filthy water at ten cents a bucket and are prepared to rob us, hand over fist at every opportunity. Everybody is against us in this country.
[Stan Arneil, One Man's War, Melbourne: Sun Books, 1983, p 75]
When the monsoon started in late April, the later parties of F Force experienced even worse conditions on the journey. During the day the prisoners were forced to rest in the open, often simply sitting in the mud.
H Force, which arrived in Thailand in May, was also made to march up the railway during the wet season. Their worksites were closer than those allocated to F Force. But the march still took a horrible toll on the prisoners.
Once at their destination, the prisoners rarely had any rest. The first task they usually faced was building their own camps. Japanese engineers were impatient to get the prisoners working on the railway as soon as possible. They allocated little time to prepare their camp or undertake other camp duties. Prisoners soon found themselves hard at work on railway projects like building the infamous Hellfire Pass.
Glossary
- prisoners of war