![Hellfire Pass memorial tablet](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Hellfire_Pass_memorial_tablet.JPG)
Hellfire Pass ( th, ช่องเขาขาด, known by the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
as ''Konyu Cutting'') is the name of a
railway cutting
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...
on the former
Burma Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...
("Death Railway") in
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
which was built with
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, in part by
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
. The pass is noted for the harsh conditions and heavy loss of life suffered by its labourers during construction. It was called Hellfire Pass because the sight of emaciated prisoners labouring by burning
torch
A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. In ...
light resembled a scene from
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
.
History
Hellfire Pass in the
Tenasserim Hills
The Tenasserim Hills or Tenasserim Range ( my, တနင်္သာရီ တောင်တန်း, ; th, ทิวเขาตะนาวศรี, , ; ms, Banjaran Tanah Seri/Banjaran Tenang Sari) is the geographical name of a r ...
was a particularly difficult section of the line to build. It was the largest rock cutting on the railway, coupled with its general remoteness and the lack of proper construction tools during building. A tunnel would have been possible to build instead of a cutting, but this could only be constructed at the two ends at any one time, whereas the cutting could be constructed at all points simultaneously despite the excess effort required by the POWs. The Australian, British, Dutch and other allied prisoners of war were required by the Japanese to work 18 hours a day to complete the cutting. Sixty-nine men were beaten to death by Japanese guards in the six weeks it took to build the cutting, and many more died from
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
,
dysentery
Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...
,
starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, dea ...
, and
exhaustion
Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...
(Wigmore 568).
However, the majority of deaths occurred amongst labourers whom the Japanese enticed to come to help build the line with false promises of good jobs. These labourers, mostly Malayans (Chinese, Malays and Tamils from Malaya), suffered mostly the same as the POWs at the hands of the Japanese.
The railway was never built to a level of lasting permanence and was frequently bombed by the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
during the
Burma Campaign. After the war, all but the present section was closed and the line is now only in service between Bangkok and Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi.
Present day
![Hellfire pass](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Hellfire_pass.jpg)
There are no longer any trains running on this stretch of the line. The nearest railway station is at
Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi, where trains of the
State Railway of Thailand
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) ( th, การรถไฟแห่งประเทศไทย, abbrev. รฟท., ) is the state-owned rail operator under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport in Thailand.
History
The SRT was ...
can be taken for a trip over the
Wang Pho Viaduct
The Wang Pho Viaduct, (also: Wampo Viaduct) is a railway bridge made of wooden trestles which follow the cliff along the Khwae Noi River. The Wang Pho viaduct was constructed by allied prisoners of war of the Japanese during World War II as part ...
and across the
bridge over the River Kwai
''The Bridge over the River Kwai'' (french: Le Pont de la rivière Kwaï) is a novel by the French novelist Pierre Boulle, published in French in 1952 and English translation by Xan Fielding in 1954. The story is fictional but uses the construct ...
to
Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi ( th, กาญจนบุรี, ) is a town municipality (''thesaban mueang'') in the west of Thailand and part of Kanchanaburi Province. In 2006 it had a population of 31,327. That number was reduced to 25,651 in 2017. The town ...
, which is the nearest major town and tourist base. Visitors to the
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
usually base themselves in Kanchanaburi.
Historical preservation and museum
The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum and the preservation of the Hellfire Pass itself had its origins in 1983 when former POW J.G. (Tom) Morris toured the area in Thailand and resolved to convince the Australian Government that portions of the Thai-Burma Death Railway should be preserved as an historical site. As a result of his efforts, the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) was commissioned in 1984 to make a survey of the railway to choose a suitable site. Jim Appleby, a SMEC engineer at the Khao Laem dam site on the upper Kwai Noi, did much of the ground work and passed his reports to the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce in 1985. The first dawn service was held at the Hellfire Pass on
Anzac Day
, image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg
, caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary.
, observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands New ...
1990, and the preservation and museum developed through efforts by both the Thai and Australian governments.
The museum is co-sponsored by the
Royal Thai Armed Forces
The Royal Thai Armed Forces (RTARF) ( th, กองทัพไทย; ) are the armed forces of the Kingdom of Thailand.
The nominal head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย; ) is the King of Thailand. The armed forces are ...
Development Command and the
Australian government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...
at the site to commemorate the suffering of those involved in the construction of the railway. It was built by the
Office of Australian War Graves
The Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG) is a branch within the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. The branch was initially a stand-alone agency, formed 1 January 1975. In 1980, the ''War Graves Act 1980 (Cth)'' formalised t ...
and opened by the then Prime Minister of Australia,
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
. As a part of the museum experience, it is possible to walk through the cutting itself and along a section of the former railway track bed. An audio tour including recorded memories of surviving POWs is available at the museum.
Recent developments
In 2006, proposals to create a railway network linking eight south-east Asia countries would see a railway link restored between Thailand and Myanmar. It is not clear if this would follow the original
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...
route through Hellfire Pass, since this route was necessarily built quickly and to low standard of curves and gradients.
Trans-Asia railway planned
VietNamNet Bridge
Hintok
Hintok (also: Hintock) was an area just beyond Hellfire Pass. It was the beginning of the highlands, and the railway line needed a gradual gradient to climb. There were four camps: river camp which was subdivided into British, Australian and Tamil camps, and a mountain camp which housed Australian, British and Dutch prisoners. The mountain camp was commanded by Weary Dunlop
Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop, (12 July 1907 – 2 July 1993) was an Australian surgeon who was renowned for his leadership while being held prisoner by the Japanese during World War II.
Early life and family
Dunlop was born in Wan ...
, and had a bamboo fence to protect against tigers.
The first prisoners arrived on 26 January 1943 and were tasked to clear the forest and construct the camps. By March 1943, there were 800 prisoners in the camps. Beyond the Hellfire pass was the Three-Tiered Bridge, a trestle bridge
A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles trian ...
to gain height. followed by a 400-metre-long and 25-metre-high trestle bridge which was later named the Pack of Cards Bridge, because it collapsed three times during construction, and was later abandoned in favour of an embankment
Embankment may refer to:
Geology and geography
* A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea
* Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...
.
On 19 June 1943, there was an outbreak of cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
at the Hintok mountain camp, killing 57 Australian prisoners. 31 prisoners died during the Pack of Cards collapses, and 29 died from brutality of the guards. 130 sick prisoners were sent to Tarsao
Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi ( th, น้ำตกไทรโยคน้อย, lit. 'small Sai Yok waterfall') is a small town (''thesaban tambon'') in Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand, along the route of the Death Railway linking Thai ...
. Construction of the bridges was finished in August 1943. The Three-Tiered Bridge was often photographed after the war, but is now lost in the jungle.
References
Further reading
* ''The Japanese Thrust — Australia in the War of 1939–1945'', Lionel Wigmore, AWM, Canberra, 1957.
* Authenticated Records from Japanese POW camps along the Thai-Burmese railway 1942–45, second floor, Research library, Thai-Burma Railway Centre, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 2008.
* Prisoners of the Japanese - POWs of World War II in the Pacific, Gavan Daws
{{authority control
1940s in Thailand
Geography of Kanchanaburi province
World War II prisoner of war camps
Japanese war crimes
Railway cuttings
History of rail transport in Thailand
World War II museums
Australian military memorials
Military and war museums in Thailand
Railway museums in Thailand
History museums in Thailand
Tourist attractions in Kanchanaburi province
Buildings and structures in Kanchanaburi province
Burma Railway