Speedo | Death Railway

The Allied prisoners of war destined for the labour camps of the Thai-Burma railway had no idea of what lay ahead of them. Japanese propaganda films indicated they were going to a land of milk and honey – the truth did not take long to sink in From Ban Pong prisoners would be force-marched to camps all along the route of the railway. Because Japanese high command had decreed that to finish the railway quickly, all 260 miles of it would be built simultaneously. Wherever possible the Japanese planned the railway along the course of the River Kwai, but at one point, 90 miles up-river the terrain defeated them. A sheer 400 foot cliff at Tampi gave them no choice, instead of an easier route along the river valley floor the railway would need to be built on a long slow gradient to a point where it could cut through the mountain. This point became known as “Hellfire Pass”, one of the most notorious places on the entire length of the railway. One of the longest and deepest cuttings anywhere on the railway, it took 3 months for Australian and British prisoners to cut through an outcrop of solid rock. Hundreds died during construction. The Japanese could afford to make such cold calculations as there was a huge supply of slave labour, but here and everywhere else on the line the prisoners were increasingly sick and malnourished. The consequences were terrible, with the sick not even excused from the exhausting work of stone breaking Deep in the jungles of Thailand and Burma, and cut-off completely from the outside world, the prisoners had no idea how World War II was unfolding. In fact even as the prisoners started work on the railway the war was turning against Japan. In June 1942 the Japanese launched and air and sea attack on the tiny Pacific atoll of Midway, expecting like Pearl Harbour to take the Americans by surprise. This time though the United States Navy was waiting for them. In a fierce battle that raged for 3 days the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbour. With their victory at Midway the United States and her Allies were gaining air and sea superiority, resupplying Japanese troops in Burma was now even more dependent on the completion of the railway. In January 1943 the Japanese issued a new order, it came to be known as ”Speedo”. Clip form the documentary in which engineer Bashar Altabba looks at the building of the Thai-Burma railway during World War II. Besides the engineering side it also covers the appalling treatment and conditions of the Allied prisoners of war who forced to construct the railway line by the Japanese, and includes interviews with some of the survivors. Watch the complete documentary here –    • Bridge on the Kwai – Gateway to a Lost Rai...   Subscribe to Element 18 – https://bit.ly/337R2uO