Kanchanaburi and the Death Railway

Having crossed into Thailand, we were almost at the end of our Dragoman trip; Kanchanaburi was our only stop before reaching our final destination of Bangkok.

The town itself was nice enough, with some reasonable places to eat, but the main reason to go to the Death Railway Museum, and to visit the nearby and infamous Bridge over the River Kwai.

If you've seen the film of the same name, you'll probably know that the bridge was built during World War II under the command of the Japanese, using the labour of the allied forces prisoners of war. You may also know how terribly badly these men were treated, with many dying from such things as malnutrition, exhaustion cholera, malaria and dysentery, as well as those killed directly by the Japanese.

What you may not know, is that in fact the POWs were much fewer, and better treated, compared to the rest of the labourers who had been brought in from nearby countries.

Reported numbers vary a little, but around 61,811 POWs (30,131 British, 13,004 Australian, 17,990 Dutch and 680 US) were forced to work on the Death Railway, and 12,621 of them (6,904 British, 2,802 Australian, 2,782 Dutch and 133 US) died before the war was over. Many of the Dutch were in fact from the Dutch East Indies, and so they - and importantly the medics amongst them - were more used to the tropical diseases encountered here, which helped their survival rate compared to other nationalities.

The number of POWs though was dwarfed though by that of the Romusha. The Japanese brought in Asian workers from Burma, Thailand other areas such as The Malay Peninsula and Singapore. Some of these men volunteered, having been promised good conditions and good wages, but many were coerced or even simply rounded up and taken. Either way, their working conditions were even worse that that of the POWs.

The number of romusha workers used is unknown, but many sources estimates around 150,000, with 90,000 of them having died; however some sources suggest that numbers may have been as high as 300,000, with as many as half of them dying.

The construction of the 285 mile (415km) length railway, stretching from Ban Pong in Thailand to Thanbyuzayat in Burma, went across incredibly difficult terrain. It was built to provide an alternative route to take supplies into Burma, which had recently been taken by the Japanese. Work commenced, using just hand tools and hard labour, in June 1942 and finished ahead of schedule, on 17 October 1943.

We visited the Death Railway Museum, the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, and Bridge 277, or the 'Bridge Over the River Kwai', which more accurately spans the Mae Klong river.

The railway was decommissioned after the war, and the bridge itself was partly destroyed by the Allied forces in 1945, but it has been rebuilt, enabling us to walk across it. I like the idea of it being kept as a memorial to the men who died building the railway, so I was pleased that we would be visiting here.


Unfortunately, as with too many places, there is too much focus on tourism, where it should be on memorial. There is a restaurant overlooking the bridge, and countless souvenir shops peddling all sorts of tacky items. Personally, I would have preferred that this be a place of quiet contemplation, with the emphasis on remembrance.

Goose Green, Darwin and San Carlos

View over Goose Green battlegrounds

It is a sad fact that the only reason that most people in the UK have even heard of the Falklands is the 1982 Conflict.  I was at school at the time and I remember watching the news and hearing the names like Goose Green and Tumbledown, and seeing the images of infantry 'yomping' across the moors.  Whilst I have no crazy notions about war being glorious, and beyond being glad that the islanders were freed, I have no interest in celebrating the events of 1982, what occurred is an integral part of the history of the islands and the people who live here.  So although we hadn't originally planned to specifically visit any of the war sites, after being here for a while we changed our minds and decided to take a tour to Darwin, Goose Green and San Carlos.

British Cemetery at San Carlos

Our first stop was San Carlos bay, which was the landing site for the British forces and the location of Blue Beach British cemetery.  Up until this Conflict, British servicemen killed in war were buried close to the location where they fell, but after this war, families were offered the opportunity to have them repatriated.  Of the 255 servicemen killed in the war, the majority did not have their remains recovered as they were buried at sea or lost with their aircraft, and of the bodies recovered, most were repatriated.  Only sixteen families preferred to follow the tradition of leaving their dead where they fell.  Two of those are buried in single graves at Goose Green and Port Howard, and the other fourteen are interred here.

Items left at the Blue Beach Cemetery

It is a small and simple cemetery, in a beautiful location, but the most compelling aspect was amongst the items left by visitors. Alongside the berets and flowers was a simple round stone with the word 'Always' scratched onto the surface.  I have no idea who it was left for or by, but it speaks volumes to remind us that however big or small the war is, however just the cause, and whatever the outcome, at the end of it there are always some people left mourning the loss of someone that they loved.

Settlement at Goose Green

After the cemetery we stopped at the little museum on the way to Goose Green.  Goose Green is a farming settlement and at the time of the Conflict had a reasonable sized community.  Its numbers were boosted when some parents in Stanley figured it would be safest to send their children there out of the way of the occupation of the town.  At that time there was no road so it took quite a journey for them to get there, and of course they were under occupation there too.

Village Hall at Goose Green

Some 140 people were held in the hall until the surrender.  We spoke to someone who had been held at Goose Green as a child and they shared some of their memories of it with us.  Obviously this is personal for them, so I won't be writing about it but it is of course not an experience that any person, let alone any child, should have to go through.

Shearing sheds at Goose Green

At Goose Green we ate in the cafeteria and looked around the settlement.  As well the village hall, we saw the shearing sheds that at one time were believed to be the largest in the world.  After the conflict ended, they were used to hold the Argentine forces until they could be returned to Argentina, and the letters POW are still visible on the side of the buildings.

Darwin settlement

Our next stop was Darwin, which many years ago was where the settlement gentry lived, rather than with their workers in Goose Green.  There is still an old stone corral, complete with its small escape holes in case a person was trapped by an angry animal.

Memorial to 2 Para

Close to here is the memorial to the men from 2 Para who died in the battles here, and then a short walk away, overlooking an area that is peaceful now but must have been a horrendous place to have had to try to capture in a battle, is the memorial to Colonel H Jones, the other person awarded the Victoria Cross, who was killed when he stormed a position at a vital point in the battle at Goose Green.

Memorial to Capt H Jones

The white stones next to the memorial apparently mark the exact spot that he fell.  He was the most senior officer to die in the Conflict and, like Sgt McKay, he has a street named after him in Stanley. There was some controversy about the VC at the time because it was questionable whether, as the officer in command he should have been so personally involved in the action rather than just leading it, but regardless of that, his personal actions were obviously considered heroic, and it appears that they did precipitate a breakthrough.

Argentine Cemetery

Our last stop was at the Argentine cemetery.  There are around 240 bodies of Argentine servicement here, many of which sadly are unidentified as they were not wearing dogtags, so those graves are marked 'Argentine soldier known only to God'.  The UK Government did offer to repatriate the bodies to Argentina, but were refused.  It is suggested that they did so to ensure that there was a continuing Argentine presence on the islands, but I have no idea whether that is true.  It would certainly be quite a cynical stance if so, and makes it more difficult for the families to visit their dead, especially if the flights to the islands are stopped or reduced.

Unknown Argentine grave

This cemetery is far larger than the British one, but is also very well kept.  All of the graves here have rosaries around them, some more than one, and they blow against the headstones in the wind.  It creates a soft gentle sound that is very peaceful and quite fitting for a cemetery.