I was able to download 12068 records of the POWs buried in the three CWGC cemeteries. By nationality, they break down as 6547 UK, 2825 Dutch, 2694 Australian and 36 others. I then embarked on a quest to find causes of death (CODs) of these men. Due to the vagaries of both accurate record keeping and survival of those records I was able to find data sets that provided over 6300 registered causes of death. Unfortunately (?), the vast majority of these (68%) are for the UK POWs. It seems that most of the available records were compiled by the UK officers and only incidentally included AUS (27 %) and Dutch (4%) POWs who were collocated with them.
All that follows then is primarily based on the 4500 UK CODs with a few others added. It would seem, however, that having data on just over 50% of the POWs would provide a reasonable reflection of the reality of the situation. As such, gastrointestinal diseases (less cholera) were the largest group of causes accounting for 36% of all deaths. This was followed by dietary issues with 20%. Taken separately, cholera caused 16% of the deaths [largely in F Force; see below]. Malaria alone caused 14% and other infections added 3.6%. Seventeen different types of injuries were responsible for 5% with Tropical Ulcers alone causing the vast majority (270/317) of those. The remaining 2.3% I have characterized as ‘natural causes’ that could easily have pre-dated the captivity of these men. Here in we find heart failure to have caused 25 (of 142) deaths but diseases like epilepsy, diabetes, and stroke are in this group of 38 different conditions. Surely, the circumstances in which the POWs lived must have exacerbated these conditions but they cannot be solely connected to the POW situation. Among the other infectious diseases are Diphtheria (46), TB (26), Typhus (21), Smallpox (6), Leptospirosis (3) and 83 cases of pneumonia.
Once again, it must be pointed out that only available and surviving records were identified. Of those, 52% (3483/6750) were from the members of the H & F Forces who were late arrivals on the TBR [see their story below]. There is no question that the experience of these 10,000 men was different in many ways from the other 50,000 who worked the TBR. For the most part, cholera impacted F Force more than any other. It accounted for nearly 25% of their deaths in these two groups. Per AIF Med Off Kappe, about one-third of the cholera cases died. Cholera spilled over into the other groups as well but not in nearly as great a percentage of casualties. 80% of all the cholera deaths (878) occurred in just these two groups. So in this respect it is over-represented as a COD with regard to the other TBR groups. There is another complicating factor is that until F Force arrived in Thailand with about 3600 Australians, the vast majority of the POWs from that nation had been working in the Burmese sector. Yet we have very little data on AUS deaths for those Burma-side workers. Yet the generally accepted numbers say that 3666 of the 7000 F Force members were Australian. The existing COD data is on 2000 of the 3300 UK members of that work force. It must also be noted that there is incredibly little information about CODs within the Dutch contingent. We have data on only about 5% of the 2800 Dutch burials in these cemeteries and most of that involved their deaths during Allied bombing raids that inadvertently killed POWs.
It should also be noted that attempting to account for deaths by noting burials is fraught with errors. Notably in his memoirs, LtCol Kappe (medical officer AIF F Force) notes that in early June, 11 men ‘escaped’ from the Shimo SongKurai camp and were never heard of again. Word later spread that all had been captured and executed by they were never named nor recovered.
24.2b By the numbers (added NOV 2024)
By my latest count there are 14,806 separate individuals whose deaths are related in some way to their time on the TBR. 315 of them (2.1%) died prior actually working on the TBR. 10,544 (71%) died during the construction period or in the immediate months thereafter. Another 1358 (9%) died in 1944-45 after consolidation to the Kanchanaburi area. 357 (2.4%) died in other places post-TBR; some were members of F or H Forces who died after their return to Singapore. A total of 12,257 men are shown to have died as a direct result of their TBR time. In early 1944, approximately 10,000 TBR veterans were marked for transport to Japan. Of those, 2200 died when their Hellships were sunk en route. They account for nearly 18% of the deaths. These in-transit deaths rank second behind Gastro-intestinal diseases as the cause of death.
Of the 14K, we have known causes of death recorded for 11,945 (80%). From these we can confidently rank those causes. Gastro-intestinal diseases killed 30% with malnutrition and other dietary deficiencies killing 17%. Cholera accounted for 11%, malaria 11%, Tropical Ulcer 3% and a variety of other infections 3.5%. Overall, infectious diseases took the lives 72% of the men during their TBR time.
Other causes of death were injuries 4%, KIA or executed 3% and a variety of natural causes 2%. These latter were generally preexisting conditions that although undoubtedly exacerbated by their time on the TBR were not likely caused by that time.
For those who survived their time in the jungle, conditions improved greatly with their consolidation to Kanchanaburi. Yet men continued to succumb to their maladies. In the immediate post-war months, almost all the Allied POWs were en route home. Political upheaval in both Europe and the DEI (later Indonesia) meant that many of the Dutch POWs remained in Thailand. 32 of them were known to have died in 1946 but the causes were not recorded.
We can easily divide the TBR construction time into 4 distinct periods. 176 deaths were recorded in 1942 – early days of construction. The period of the most intense physical labor is known as the speedo period from about May 43 until construction was completed in October. 662 deaths were recorded in 1943 prior to speedo and 7730 during that period. Another 1974 deaths were recorded in 1943 following the completion of the Railway as consolidation was occurring. Therefore 10542 (71%) of the TBR-related deaths occurred during or immediately following the construction. Then 1358 died in Thailand in 1944-45.
An additional 315 men (mostly Dutch) died in Burma prior to reaching the TBR. And 53 died elsewhere; most were F & H Force members (47) who were returned to Singapore. Of the thousands of men transferred to Japan only 65 died there.
In tallying causes of death it must be remembered that malaria, dysentery and the insidious effects of malnutrition were universal. Most men died with all three (and more) conditions present. Those recording these deaths often listed more than one condition. In order to code this data only one COD could be attributed per man. For this, I recorded the first cause listed. One must consider the larger picture in that all of these conditions conspired together to diminish and overwhelm the immune system. With few drugs available, this is all most men could rely on to fight an infection. Most of the men were infected by the recurrent type of malaria. This was rarely fatal but an attack lasting 3-7 days could worsen any other condition that he was suffering from concurrently. It is worth repeating that 72% of the deaths were due to infectious diseases.
I also find it interesting that the POW medical staff put so much emphasis on the administration of cholera vaccine during the outbreak. Unlike antibiotics, vaccines are never a useful treatment for an infection. All vaccines take time for their effects to develop; 1-2 weeks is the usual period of delay. But this assumes that the recipient has a healthy immune system. Plus the vaccine in use at the time was crude and had an efficacy of only 50-80%. Yet much effort was expended by the medicos to procure and administer it in the midst of the outbreak. Perhaps this was more a case of ‘doing something’ even if the ultimate effect was limited and may have been more psychological (placebo effect) than a true medical intervention.
War-related deaths:
| cause of death | dcd | ||
| wounds/bombings | 269 | 72.5% | |
| KIA Moji Maru | 3 | 0.8% | 41 |
| KIA Nichimei Maru | 25 | 6.7% | 11.1% |
| WIA Nichimei Maru | 13 | 3.5% | |
| executed / escape | 52 | 14.3% | |
| Beating | 3 | 0.5% | |
| suicide | 4 | 1.1% | |
| GSW | 2 | 0.5% | |
| total | 371 |
It is well documented that 72% of the POW deaths were due to numerous infectious diseases. Also over 2200 TBR veterans died en route to Japan when their Hellships were sunk. I have coded the latter as war deaths. But there were more. Also 400 more men died by war-related causes. The majority (269) were killed by friendly fire in Allied bombing raids. Most of these (197) occurred in 1945 as the Allies stepped up efforts to interdict the Railway. Another 41 (11%) died in the JAN 43 attack by US B-24s on the convoy carrying POWs (to include the Tharp Party) to Burma. Those listed as WIA (wounded) subsequently died in Moulmein. Most were Dutch or Australian; no US POWs were seriously injured although LTC Tharp himself was said to have incurred a head wound.
Fifty-three men (14%) are listed as having been executed; most due to failed escape attempts. These occurred in every phase of the project to include 4 who were re-captured after they attempted to escape near the Tadan Bridge while in transit from Ban Pong. Four others in NOV 44 made it as far as Chiang Mai before being recaptured. Ten occurred prior to the beginning of the TBR in Tavoy Burma among Australian A Force members belonging to the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment. Also all of these executions and beating took place in the Thai Sector.
I suspect that other causes such as beatings and shootings as well as suicides are under reported; particularly the latter. Only 1 AUS POW of D Force was recorded to have died subsequent to a beating. It is commonly reported that about 75 men were killed in this way while working the Konyu Cutting (HellFire Pass). But these injuries were not recorded as such. Whether their deaths were recorded as due to another cause or they are among the 2800 (669 AUS) for whom no cause has been found, is not known. Similarly, we have few deceased men known to have worked on the bridges. LtCol. Toosey is only thought to have lost a few men on that project. Common folklore says that he lost most men to injuries and beatings but this is not well documented. One survivor of the sinking of the Rakuyo Maru was beaten and essentially tortured to death in Yokohama.
Overall, these 371 war-related deaths account for only 3% of the 12,000 of 14800 deaths with recorded causes of death.
Their graves:
The CWGC lists 12063 TBR graves in their three cemeteries[i]. Don Rak has 6786, ChungKai 1688 and Thanbuzayat 3589. 2148 men are listed by name in various memorials –primarily in Singapore (1624) and Labuan Malaysia (500). 53 are buried in other countries (Japan and Singapore). But I have been unable to locate a grave citation for 541 of the known death. But these include the 133 US POWs who were repatriated. Had they remained and been buried under the same allocation, 115 would be in Burma, 15 at Don Rak and 1 each at ChangKai, Saigon and Singapore. Most of the remaining 408 are Dutch who died in Rangoon en route to the TBR (176) or were lost at sea (138) en route to Japan post-TBR.
Of the 14K deaths, 10921 are buried in individual marked graves – most in the 3 three CWGC cemeteries. But other graves there are joint (172) or multiple (587) graves, meaning that the remains therein are known by name but they are co-mingled. 378 others are buried at Don Rak in two common graves. Most of these are F Force members who died of cholera and were cremated. A few (8) graves are listed twice by number but with different names; it is hard to know if this is simply a registration error or that both sets of remains are beneath one headstone.
At the cemetery in Burma, 41 graves are denoted as Special Memorials. The exact meaning of this is unclear. All are Australians who died at the Kilo299-Kami SongKuri F Force camp. Many, but not all, are thought to have died of cholera. Cholera victims were often cremated, but that alone wouldn’t seem to warrant a ‘special’ designation. Perhaps these are graves with a name but do not contain actual remains. There is one such vacant grave at Don Rak; grave 2-P-63 belonging to a New Zealander.
Somewhat surprisingly, I can only account for 8 graves that contain remains whose identity is unknown[ii]. None of the three CWGC cemeteries contains a memorial dedicated to this whose remains were not recovered. Almost all of the names at the Singapore memorial are of those lost at sea, but I show 138 Dutch who are listed as lost at sea whose names do not appear on any memorial. 270 sets of remains were seemingly not recovered; most are also Dutch. Of those, 176 were halted in Rangoon while in transit to Burma in late 1942. Most are said to have died there of dysentery, but no individual graves are listed for them. I suspect that since I am dealing primarily with on-line records of the CWGC, there may very well be cemeteries that are simply not yet digitized. I found none of these names via searches on the Global-Find-a-Grave website.
[i] There are a few dozen other graves in these cemeteries that are not TBR-related
[ii] The CWGC website does not list these graves of UNKNOWNs separately; so then cannot be searched for.