Saturday, November 23, 2024
11.3 C
Bhunter
₹0.0

No products in the cart.

The Death Railway.

Tarsau, Thailand. Burma-Thailand Railroad. World War II. 1943

Photographer: Unknown
Tarsau, Thailand. Japanese P.O.W. camp.

With skin stretched tight over bones from prolonged malnutrition and mistreatment, four emaciated soldiers of Australian and Dutch origin present a grim picture in this photo of 1943 – taken at the Japanese prisoner of war camp located at Tarsau in present-day Thailand.

Suffering from Beriberi, a severe deficiency of Vitamin B, which left untreated causes loss of muscle strength and paralysis. The soldiers were but a small part of the 61,000 men who were captured after the fall of Singapore in 1942, and send to work on the Thailand Burma Link Railway. Pushed by the Japanese between 1942 to 1943 to ferry troops and equipment speedily across a 415 kilometer stretch that fell in between present day Ban pong in Thailand and the city of Yangon in Burma.

Recalled by survivors to be a hell hole of horror. At Tarsau, British, Australian, Dutch and other allied prisoners of war were starved, punished and forced to work in the most deplorable and inhuman conditions. Out of the 61,000 enlisted men assigned to the project, 19,000 died from starvation, cholera, beatings or torture. Out of an additional 250,000 Asian workers who worked alongside, 90,000 perished.

The construction of the railroad is considered as one of the many war crimes committed by Japan during World War II. After her surrender on the 2nd of September, 1945.  Thirty-two Japanese military personnel responsible for the atrocities were court-martialed and sentenced to death.

This brutal episode of the war later inspiring the semi-historical movie: Bridge on the river Kwai released in 1957, and in more recent time, The Railway Man, released in 2013. An estimated 330,000 men are believed to have worked on the construction of the railroad. To the enlisted men, it was known as the Death Railway.

Popular in Vintage Years

Did he make it back home?

An unknown Indian soldier makes a gesture at Singapore Docks, 1941.

What's new

Indulge
Farbound.Net Shop Banner
Farbound.Net Shop Banner
Farbound.Net Shop Banner

Browse and Buy

More Stories

A Felice Beato photo of Chandi Chawk: Once upon a moonlit square.

A Felice Beato photo reveals what Chandi Chowk in old Delhi was like in 1858.

Two torpedoes from the deep.

The submarine that sunk the USS Indianapolis, participates in a trial run inside Tokyo Bay, 1944.

Had to be a Jeep.

A World War II Jeep pulls railcars in Borneo, 1945.

Through the lens of a touring yank.

The Howrah Bridge spans across the Hooghly, 1947

What’s God spelled backwards?

Willie the English Bull Terrier lies morose next to General George S. Patton's personal belongings, 1946
Siddhartha Mukherjee
Siddhartha Mukherjeehttps://farbound.net
I believe in the wisdom of self-reliance, the moral philosophy of liberalism, and in individualism. When not researching and writing editorial content or creating digital products, I spend my time with my dogs and live a life of solitude.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Captcha verification failed!
CAPTCHA user score failed. Please contact us!

Featured Stories

How the Bengal army came to be an army of robust Sepoys.

Delving into the fascination of populating the Bengal army with impressive Prussian type native Sepoys.
Select your currency
INR Indian rupee