You have arrived at a website that tries to tell the story of the Thai-Burma Railway (TBR).
It began as an attempt to preserve the story of the 1000 US military men who became POWs in 1942. About 700 of them eventually worked on the TBR. Their story is told in detail in Sections 3-7 with rosters naming them in Section 28.
Section 8 is the longest and details the building of the TBR. Section 17 is its companion in photos. Section 8.20 is particularly useful in listing the camps along the route as well as the composition and dates of arrival of the various work groups.
Section 10 addresses the interaction between the Japanese military and the Thai government that gave them access to build the railway.
Sections 11 – 14 explore the current status of many of the points of interest related to the TBR. A particularly interesting but confusing story is related in sub-Section 14.3
Sections 16 – 18 are galleries of photos that define this story and help to bring it to life.
Section 20 addresses the plight of the Asian Forced Laborers who worked alongside the Allied POWs and had an even more horrendous experience overall.
Sections 24 and 25 enumerate the cost in human terms of this project.
Section 26 addresses the social sciences concerns about who and how to relate the TBR saga.
Section 27 tells the story of the crew of the HMAS PERTH who fought and died along with the men of the USS HOUSTON.
Section 29 provides recognition of those who have written accounts of portions of this saga and to the recognized dilemma of perpetuating it.
The other Sections are relatively self-explanatory and simply expand the basic story to deeper levels. Of interest to some may be the TIMELINE posted in Section 5.
In Section 34, I will attempt to reorganize much of the content of this site into a series of essays that will present the TRUE STORY of the TBR.
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I would like to direct your attention to a companion website that details the plight of the Asian Forced Laborers and the attempts to establish a memorial to them in Kanchanaburi.
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I have come to referring to piecing together this complex saga as akin to a jig-saw puzzle where every piece when fitted properly makes the overall picture more complete. And like the interlocking nature of these puzzle pieces, portions of this story are deeply inter-related. I have often included references in the text directing the reader to other Sections of this narrative inter-connected to the one being read.
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There are so many stupendously useless and incorrect videos about the Bridge and the Railway that I implore anyone seeking information via the internet and especially YOUTUBE to be extremely cautious and cynical of what is on offer. I have tried to give credit where credit is due and have incorporated many of the better YT videos in the appropriate section. Some have gone to great effort to make their posts factual and accurate; others spout nonsense.