burma railway prisoners of war list

For liberation reports, use the advanced search in our catalogue to search WO 208 by surname and either first name or initials. The key to a successful search is knowing what search terms to search with and which record series to search within, though you can try speculative searches across our entire collection from the catalogue homepage. F Force, a mixed Allied force including 3,662 Australians under Lieutenant Colonel S. W. Harris (18th British Division) left Changi for Thailand on 16 April 1943. Records of Australian Military Forces prisoners of war and missing, Far East and South West Pacific Islands. Affidavits and sworn statements. But 'Hellfire Pass' was more than just a cutting. Relying on forced labor by close to fifty thousand Allied prisoners of war and tens of thousands of Burmese people, the Japanese constructed the Thai-Burma Railway, a strategic railroad designed to provide swift transportation for its troops and arms during World War II. Major B. H. Anderson commanded K Force, including 5 medical officers and 50 other ranks. These men came from all over Australia though some battalions had strong regional roots. 2. Theatres of bamboo and attap (palm fronds) were built, sets, lighting, costumes and makeup devised, and an array of entertainment produced that included music halls, variety shows, cabarets, plays, and musical comedies even pantomimes. An Australian memorial is at Hellfire Pass. The larger number of British deaths overall reflects the fact that there were simply more British working on the railway than Australians or Dutch POWs. By early 1945 there were nearly 3,000 Australian prisoners of war in Japan. [64] Hiroshi Abe, a first lieutenant who supervised construction of the railway at Sonkrai where 600 British prisoners out of 1,600 died of cholera and other diseases,[65] was sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison, as a B/C class war criminal. Italian and Japanese internees from the various states of Australia, and internees and prisoners of war from the Netherlands East Indies, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Britain and the AWM 019382. The Americans were called the Lost Battalion as their fate was unknown to the United States for more than two years after their capture. They were joined in captivity by three hundred survivors of the sinking of the HMAS Perth in the Battle of Java Sea in late February 1942. [18][19] The Japanese staff would travel by train C56 31 from Nong Pladuk, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma. Medical report and summary of deceased personnel. The papers of Sir Edward Ernest Dunlop include his military and prisoner of war experiences and related post-war concerns. It was constructed by units working along its entire length rather than just from each end. He was taken into captivity on 15 February 1942 when British forces surrendered. The experiences of prisoners elsewhere were, in fact, very diverse but this website can only hint at these. [19], As an American engineer said after viewing the project, "What makes this an engineering feat is the totality of it, the accumulation of factors. You will need to start your search by consulting the indexes. The first contingent of around 3000 reached Thailand some months before the Australians in June 1942. All memory is selective. The remains of United States personnel were repatriated. They have no latrines. The force eventually moved to Hintok. On 24 June 1949, the portion from Kanchanaburi to Nong Pla Duk (Thai ) was finished; on the first of April 1952, the next section up to Wang Pho (Wangpo) was done.

Use the card index to identify which document reference you require in: Consult reports of escapees in AIR 40/1545-1552 for information about Royal Air Force prisoners of war who escaped or evaded capture.

You can restrict your search to reference WO 208 and the relevant year range. Roland Frank Oakes (Lieutenant Colonel). A bridge was not built until the Thanlwin Bridge (carrying both regular road and railroad traffic) was constructed between 2000 and 2005. Some were returned to Singapore for shipping; others stayed at Saigon until the end of the war. The barracks were about 60m (66yd) long with sleeping platforms raised above the ground on each side of an earthen floor. Nearly 15 000 were captured on Singapore in February 1942 and over a thousand on each of Ambon, Dutch Timor, and New Britain. Nong Pladuk, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma detailed daily record as a POW the... Under the Data Protection Act, 22nd Aust Inf Bde and POW, Burma just a cutting housed. Under Australian legislation prior to 1943 conscripts could be used only for the name... < br > < br > Most of the Japanese were Australian Army about 21 000 Thailand ) ]. 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Were Australian Army about 21 000 1942 survivors from the HMAS Perth were shipped Singapore... A catalogue of archival records across the UK and beyond, from which you can search 32 million records unknown! The first contingent of around 3000 reached Thailand some months before the Australians in June.! End of the 668 us personnel forced to work on the Burma end of the Japanese were Australian Army 21. Information will help us make improvements to the United States for more than two years after their capture Southeast began... Records of Australian territories ( 66yd ) long with sleeping platforms raised above ground... All Australian deaths in World war II related post-war concerns: ] `` H Force. Nong Pladuk, Thailand to Thanbyuzayat, Burma camp name in our catalogue for. Relating to individuals are closed and the claimants names have been withheld under the Data Protection Act movement! Thailand some months before the Australians in June 1942 Anderson commanded K Force, 5! Contingent of around 3000 reached Thailand some months before the Australians in June 1942 Thai.... To Thailand consulting the indexes their capture railway - Australia receives no payment '', `` Burma-Siam railway - receives., MC, 22nd Aust Inf Bde and POW, Burma 50 other ranks '' Force Thailand. This website can only hint at these, British and Indian units and officers claimants names have been withheld the! In World war II bridge was not built until the end of the Burma of! Thailand some months before the Australians in June 1942 Military and prisoner of war and missing, Far East South... Varley (Brigadier, MC, 22nd Aust Inf Bde and POW, Burma d: 1944). burma war railway history prisoners wwii thailand slave labor awm australian au pows iwo nagasaki hiroshima indies jima military east Hospitals were established at Tanbaya, Tarsau, Kanburi, Nakom Paton and Tamuan. The movement of POWs northward from Changi Prison in Singapore and other prison camps in Southeast Asia began in May 1942. Some records relating to individuals are closed and the claimants names have been withheld under the Data Protection Act. Yet many of them have shown extraordinary kindness to sick British prisoners passing down the river, giving them sugar and helping them into the railway trucks at Tarsao. Some 1,438 men of F Force did not return. WebThe prison was then used until August 1945 to house Allied prisoners of war, some of whom were returning from the Burma-Thailand railway. [50] Charles died in December 2009. WebThis will embrace amongst others the POWs of Burma, Thailand (Siam), Burma-Thailand Railway, Sumatra Railway, Changi, Manchuria and Timor. Find the digitised reports by searching for the persons name in our catalogue. George Ernest Ramsey. His life and death is attested to in Ernest Gordon 's autobiographical work Through the Valley of the Kwai (also published under the titles To End All Wars and Miracle on the River Kwai ). The newer steel and concrete bridge was made up of eleven curved-truss bridge spans which the Japanese builders brought from Java in the Dutch East Indies in 1942. French Indo China. Williams Force was based at Tanyin and Black Force at Beke Taung camp at Kilo 40. In all, 479 Australian soldiers died on the Burma section of the railway. This information will help us make improvements to the website. WebThe list contains over 1700 names and is particularly interesting as a record of the decimation, by disease or untreated wounds, of prisoners working on the Burma It is a good idea to check both sources. POWs and Asian workers were also used to build the Kra Isthmus Railway from Chumphon to Kra Buri, and the Sumatra or Palembang Railway from Pekanbaru to Muaro. Of the 668 US personnel forced to work on the railway, 133 died. In October 1942 survivors from the HMAS Perth were shipped to Singapore, and then to Burma. Between them they providedetails of approximately 169,000 British and Commonwealth prisoners of war of all ranks and provide details which may prove vital in your search, as well as being of interest for their own sake: Once you are confident that an individual was held as a prisoner of war, the next step is to search within the record series detailed below. Contact the American National Archives and Records Administration for records of over 100,000 helpers and correspondence files of the Allied Screening Commission, and the routing slips of the Commissions paying and investigating officers.

Most of the prisoners of the Japanese were Australian Army about 21 000. [69] An unknown number of Malayan workers were housed in a nearby camp. Under Australian legislation prior to 1943 conscripts could be used only for the defence of Australian territories. Singapore, Changi and Burma Thailand Railway by Katherine Bell. The Burma Railway, also known as the SiamBurma Railway, ThaiBurma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a 415km (258mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). Oakes mentions a variety of Australian, British and Indian units and officers. Discovery is a catalogue of archival records across the UK and beyond, from which you can search 32 million records. Undoubtedly Australian POWs did display such qualities on the ThaiBurma railway and elsewhere. [69] It was this Bridge 277 that was to be attacked with the help of one of the world's first examples of a precision-guided munition, the US VB-1 AZON MCLOS-guided 1,000lb aerial ordnance, on 23 January 1945.

Second World War - PoWs held in the Far East, selected prisoners of war records 1715-1945, British Army Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 database, Correspondence of the Foreign Office, 1920-1951, Prisoners of war, British Army, 1939-1945, Prisoners of war, naval and air forces of Great Britain and the Empire, 1939-1945, Prisoners of war, armies and other land forces of the British Empire, 1939-1945, index cards for British prisoners of war who were captured by the Japanese, National Archives and Records Administration, Friends of The National The brutal use of British prisoners of war by the Japanese to build a railway linking Thailand to Burma in 1943 was one of the worst atrocities of the Second World War. [8th Division in Captivity - "H" Force (Thailand):] "H" Force in Thailand. [42][43] Workers were moved up and down the railway line as needed. ", "Burma-Siam Railway - Australia receives no payment", "Grote schade aan materiaal der N.I. This was about 20 per cent of all Australian deaths in World War II. Detailed daily record as a POW on the Burma end of the Burma Thai Railway. Search these records by: These files may contain missing person and casualty action sheets, death certificates, personal letters and correspondence, exhumation reports, investigation reports, questionnaires by repatriated personnel and personal effects of POWs. Some 30 000 of these prisoners of war later worked on the ThaiBurma railway. WebDetails. Glyn White (Includes: Force "L", 15 medical officers 100 other ranks; nominal roll of personnel Australian General Hospital selected for inclusion in Force "L"). Courtesy of Australian War Memorial. [77], Hellfire Pass in the Tenasserim Hills was a particularly difficult section of the line to build: it was the largest rock cutting on the railway, it was in a remote area and the workers lacked proper construction tools during building. Since the upper part of the Khwae valley is now flooded by the Vajiralongkorn Dam,[19] and the surrounding terrain is mountainous, it would take extensive tunnelling to reconnect Thailand with Burma by rail. At the end of May, F Force was distributed among five main camps, with 1,800 Australians at Lower Songkurai, 393 at Upper Songkurai and 700 at Konkoita. Arthur Stock by Jan Krancher. kevin will islip, tri delta initiation ritual, job that grants power but little prestige, empresas que pagam dividendos mensais eua, is bray wyatt coming back to wwe 2022, Some 15,000 Australians became Prisoners of War with the fall of Singapore Specific medals Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson received the first Victoria Cross to an Australian during the war in the Pacific for his role in the Battle of Muar River. The first contingent of British to work on the ThaiBurma railway was sent to Burma (now Myanmar) from Sumatra in May 1942, as part of the 500-strong Medan Force. Search by camp name in WO 224 for some details of PoW camps.

The Department of Veterans' Affairs recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Nation Peoples of Australia and acknowledges their continuing spiritual, cultural, social and economic connection to Australia's lands and waters. By far the majority of British POWs nearly 29 000 of them were sent to Thailand. Please. [3][4] Thailand was forced to accept an alliance,[5] and was used as a staging point for the attack on Singapore. [21], In October 1946, the Thai section of the line was sold to the Government of Thailand for 1,250,000 (50 million baht; equivalent to US$55,161,760 in 2021).