"Death Railway" in Thailand proposed to be new Wor

[Norseman]

BANGKOK, Feb 12 (TNA)

A historic railway in western Thailand constructed by Allied Prisoners of Wars (POWs) during the World War II is proposed to be a new "World Heritage".

A former Japanese military interpreter who was involved in interrogations of World War II prisoners during the construction of the railway linking Thailand with Burma, now Myanmar, is scheduled to visit Thailand this week, beginning on February 15, to urge the Thai government to seek to have the ruins of the railway designated as a World Heritage site.

''I want to make the railway an antiwar symbol in order to remind the Japanese of the need to reflect on their past conduct,'' the 87-year-old former Japanese military interpreter, Takashi Nagase, who is now an English teacher in Kurashiki, Japan's Okayama Prefecture, was quoted by a news report of Kyodo News Agency as saying on Saturday.

Kumiko Hashimoto, the wife of former Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, would accompany him as her husband, whose constituency was in Okayama, has supported his longstanding efforts to promote reconciliation between former Allied POWs and Japanese
soldiers, said the Kyodo news reports disseminated to TNA on Sunday.

He is scheduled to meet with a Thai member of parliament (MP) from the western Kanchanaburi bordering Myanmar, where museums related to the railway and a cemetery for Allied POWs are located.

On February. 20, Nagase will visit the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to lobby for the site's registration by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Nagase witnessed Japanese troops torture POWs in Kanchanaburi in the last years of World War II.

Shortly after the war, he was deployed by the Allied Forces on a mission to search for bodies of Allied soldiers who perished while building the railroad and confirmed the remains of more than 13,000 POWs.

The notorious railway is known as the ''Death Railway'' as about 16,000 Allied POWs, including British, Dutch and Australian nationals, as well as 80,000 to 100,000 Asians perished while they were forced to build it.

The 415-kilometer railway linking Thailand and Myanmar, was completed in October 1943 after about 18 months of construction work with a labor force of some 400,000.

But most of it was abandoned due partly to high maintenance costs after the war and currently the railway operates along a portion of only about 130 kilometres in Thailand.

To atone for his wartime activities, Nagase has visited Thailand more than 120 times since 1964.

In 1976, he organized a meeting of reconciliation between the former Japanese army members and POWs and together with them Nagase crossed over the ''Death Railroad" bridge on the River Kwai in western Thailand.

He has also engaged in philanthropic work for local Thai people.

''A lot of tourists visit the railway, but I hope there will be more and more people who come to the site to mourn the war dead,'' he said.

His campaign is also aimed at issuing a warning to Japanese society, which he perceives as ''increasingly heading toward war'' again.

Nagase said he has been concerned about attempts by some Japanese to whitewash wartime atrocities.

The man, who believes the World Heritage designation of the railway is his last mission in his lifetime, said that since he first unveiled the idea last summer he has received no objections.

''When I introduced my plan at an annual memorial service to commemorate POWs at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Yokohama last August, representatives of Britain and other Allied countries all welcomed the idea,'' Nagase said.

He organizes a memorial service every year for Commonwealth soldiers who died in detention in Japan during World War II.

The British government honored him in 2002 for his role in making efforts to reconcile Japan with its former British POWs.

Some former Japanese soldiers told him that even though they cannot openly campaign for the World Heritage status because they abused the POWs and Asian workers, they would be glad if the railway which they built is recognized by UNESCO, according to Nagase.

''Many infamous war-related sites, including the A-bomb Dome in Hiroshima, have been registered as World Heritage sites; so why not this railway?'' Nagase said.

''Former POWs would not tolerate lobbying for UNESCO designation by ordinary Japanese, but some of them acknowledge my postwar activities.
That is why I can be proactive,'' he said.

Nagase said he could ask museums related to the railway in Kanchanaburi to collect signatures from visitors who support the idea of the World Heritage registration.

The railway was the subject of the famous 1957 film ''The Bridge on the River Kwai.

[lomuamart]

I was up there for a few days last year for the 60th anniversary of the bombing of the bridge.
The idea of reconciliation is a good one. I won't forget an old Japanese chap who was staying at the same bungalows on his own saying goodbye to me as he left one morning. We'd never spoken, but the gesture was well meant, I'm sure.

[Guess]

Good stuff Norseman and well researched.

I feel very bad about the treatment that the "losers" of WW2 were treated.

Some lessons were learnt from WW1 but some were missed.

A few things I would like to point out about this terrible episode in WW2.

Many of the camp guards were actually Korean. A Japanese soldier would never be taken prisoner of his own free will. He would rather commit Sepuku. Therefore to be a camp guard would be an unnecessary duty.

The Thai, although officially on the side of the Japanese (under duress), were actively helping the POWs to stay alive. In fact, in the Christmas of 1943, Thai people risked their lives to provide POWs with the odd bottle of Lao Khao for Christmas. They risked ther lives to help Allied troops in many aother ways and had a movement known as Sri Thai which was akin to the French Resistance.

Many Dutch, English (both of which were ordered to surrender by their commanders) were working on this project along with NZ, Canada, Austraila and the US sailors that were captured in my home town by the Japanese. I believe that there were also troops from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India. South Africa and Bangladesh captured and put into forced labour.

What has to be recognized is that the vast majority of the casualties were Indian Coolies who were originally brought to Malaysia by the British to work in the rubber plantations in Malaysia (Malaya as it was then).

The other thing that needs to be said here is that the film "Bridge Over the River Kwai" was based on a novel by a Frenchman and it is a complete work of fiction.

BTW, most of the track is now under water. Both legs of the River Kwae (correct spelling) have been dammed. At the end of WW2 the Thais had absolutely no intention of having a railway link with the country that had been attacking them in force for about eight hundred years.

Anyway to finish this deep subject, a bit of trivia for you all.

Towards the end of the War the Brits and US gained air superiority in the region.

On the agenda was to bomb the railway. The Brits found that their bombs were missing the target by ten metres and only causing minor damage that the Japanese (or rather their prisoners) could repair in a few hours.

Then some British SmatArse came up with a solution. Put a couple of wings on the bomb and control them by radio activated by the bomber.
This enabled th Brits to steer the bomb right on to the tracks.

This was the first ever Smart Bomb.

[ianc66]

In view of your rant this morning at

http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/vi ... php?t=2863

I was reluctant to post this in case it sent you over the edge but what the hell free speech and all that. I'm usual pleased to see British Smartarses credited with first invention Penicillin, Colossus, Cavity Magnetron and etc. but in this instance see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henschel_Hs_293

which extract 'On August 27, 1943, an Hs 293 was used in the first successful attack by a guided missile, sinking the British sloop HMS Egret.'

[Norseman]

The germans might be the first to sink a ship, but nevertheless allied smart bombs destroyed 27 bridges along the outrageous death railway.
Bridges built by pow's.

[Guess]

Ian,

Thank you for that. I had not heard that story before althought was aware of the sinking of the Egret which was 18 months before the bombing of the Burma Railway.

I got the information from one of the museums at Kanchanburi. I may have read "the first use of a smart bomb by allied airforces.

I am also aware of the development of self guiding missiles by the Germans. Both the V1 and V2 had very basic inertia guidance systems.

But what we have to be aware of though is at that time ther were lies being told by both sides so that diversions could be created.

The classic two that spring to mind was firstly by the British with their discovery that carrots enabled there pilots and bomb aimers to see at night when in actual fact they had developed a radar technique that was superior to anything the Germans had.

Secondly was the "Jazz Music", "Schrage Muzic" I think in German. The Germans led the british to believe that they developed a paint that when painted on a fighter aircraft made it almost impossible to see at night. The truth was much more simple. The fighters were just bog standard off the line 109s with 30mm upwardly pointing cannons fitted either side of the pilot. The pilot after spotting the Lancaster or other suitable prey would approach from the bomber from behind at a critical angle. when close enough but not to close to get damaged their own aircraft the pilot would let rip. Ten rounds of 30mm would brop anything araound at the time right out of the air. The Brits believed the story and became more vigilent and used evasive tactics. The Canadians were not so gullible, they fitted a turret under the Lanc so that could see anything that was coming in their direction. It slowed the aircraft down by about ten knots but saved many lives. (Courtesy of Martin Middlebrooke).

As for the rant bit on another topic that you have referenced I have to make two points.

1. The spirit was "tongue in cheek" and a dig at uneducated unread morons who had been dogging my day. Not on HHAD I might add. It will have reached my intended audience by now.

2. A rant only applies to speech and not to the written word so can not possibly be used in this context.

Best wishes and thank you for the pointer to the Egret episode.

BTW you will not find a person further in character from a lemming than myself. Over the edge? Not even at gunpoint.