Members of the US Merchant Mariners were truly the forgotten members of the US POW contingent, some of whom also worked the TBR at the Hintok area.
Beyond to the famous bridge, there are two somewhat less recognized portions of the Death Railway: The WangPo viaduct and Hellfire Pass. The former is still in use by the train that departs the River Kwai Station for NamTok. The latter is a bit farther west (about 80 Km from the Bridge) and has a Memorial Museum operated by the Australian gov’t. The Pass itself is accessed via a massive set of stairs. It is possible to do a multi-hour trek along the former path of the railway. (see URL below for a tour)
Although Hellfire Pass itself was worked mainly by Aussie POWs, The H Force based at Hintok was the home of a small group of the American POWs. These consisted of 7 Merchant Mariners who survived the sinking of the SS Sawolka freighter and a few of the TXNG 131 members who had initially been left behind in Singapore due to illness as the main body of the 131 was transported to Burma.
I am only aware of one survivor account that addresses the plight of the Mariners: DEATH’S RAILWAY by Gerald Reminick. He relates that the US POWs worked on what became termed the “Pack of Cards” bridge/ trestle. So named because it collapsed a number of times during its construction. It was dismantled after the war and at present there are no known photos of that section of the railway.
The work groups assigned to make this long, deep cutting were primarily from D Force working alongside a large number of romusha. But as illness and injury depleted that group, newly arrived members of H Force from the nearby Malay Hamlet camp were drafted to work this cutting as well. Since we have no first-hand survivor accounts, we do not know if any of the Americans worked there. My best guess is that this is unlikely.
[Also see Section 28.5 & .6]
Follow these URLs to learn more about their stories:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120324150821/http://www.usmm.org/duffy.html
Merchant Marine rosters and story:
AMERICAN LEADER :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_American_Leader
https://web.archive.org/web/20120207085933/http://www.usmm.org/duffyamerlead.html
http://www.usmm.org/duffyamerlead.html
Tamahoko sinking:
http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/fukuoka/fuk-14-nagasaki/tamahoku_maru.html
Another companion story is that of the SS RICHARD HOVEY:
http://www.usmm.org/felknorhovey.html
Here are the names of the Merchant Mariners and US NAVY crew of the SS SAWOLKA related to this saga:
| Houk, Norman William Jr | 3rd Engineer | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-Sg | Changi |
| Jalet, Sylvian | Radio Officer | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-Sg | Changi |
| Moreno, Adolpho | 3rd Mate/3rd Off | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-Sg | Changi |
| Roland, Dennis A. | 2nd Mate/3rd Off | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-Sg | Changi |
| Willner, Stanley | 3rd Mate/2nd Off | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-Sg | Changi |
| Kelleher, Charles Rea | Radio Officer | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-J | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Torres, Xavier Joaquin | 1st Engineer | SW-MM | TBR/HSw-J | Osaka Main Camp Chikko Osaka 34-135 |
| Mackney, John N | Steward | SW-MM | OTH-SwSg | Changi |
| Nilsson, Henry Edvin Alexander | Messman | SW-MM | OTH-SwSg | Changi |
| AGRO, Harry Charles | SM 2nd Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| ALBERTS, Joseph Edward | SM 2nd Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Fukuoka POW #3 (Yawata) |
| ANDERSON, Harvey Turie | SM 1st Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Atkociunas, Joseph John | Able Seaman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| BABCOCK, Benjamin Wayne | SM 1st Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Becker, Erich | Messman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| BIAGINI, Joseph John | SM 2nd Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Bryson, Walter Alan | Able Seaman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Buckley, Irwin Francis | Able Seaman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| BURGER, Jr, James Spence | SM 1st Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Cebollero, Charles “Carlos” Humberto | Ordinary Seaman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Colmyer, William Theodore | Carpenter | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Coppenrath, Alfred Manoarii “Mano” | 2nd Eng | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Cruickshank, Richard Paul | Messman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Cudd, Lewis Edward | 2nd Cook | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Dickman (Dreckman), Otto H | Wiper | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Evart, Alfred | Deck Maintenance Man | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| GARGANO, Anthony Michael “Tony” | SM 1st Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Haglund, Elmer Walfid | Deck Maintenance Man | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| HARTMAN, Frank William | SM 2nd Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Henderson, George Robert | Bosun | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Knudsen, John Fallensen | Able Seaman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
| Nieves, Ricardo Moreno | Wiper | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hak-01B-Main (Bibai) |
| Pisarczyk, Andrew | Oiler | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hak-01B-Main (Bibai) |
| Ruiz, Alfonso Castillo | Oiler | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hak-01B-Main (Bibai) |
| Saar, Elmar | Chief Mate | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Rokuroshi |
| Sechak, Paul | Able Seaman | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hak-01B-Main (Bibai) |
| Wardell, Clarence J “Dudley” | Utility | SW-MM | OTH-SwJ | Hak-01B-Main (Bibai) |
| ZANDER, William Otto | SM 2nd Class | SW-USN | OTH-SwJ | Hakodate POW Camp-Babai – Machi |
I do not count these men among the 988 who were more closely associated with the TBR POWs. Only a few members of the SS Sowalka crew found their way to the TBR as part of H Force. Most of the Merchant Mariners served their POW in Japan and a few never left Java. They were POWs none the less and therefore deserving of mention in this saga.