World War Two - Burma Railway

The Burma Railway was a 415 kilometres railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma, built by the Empire of Japan in 1943, to support its forces in the Burma campaign and of World War II. This railway completed the railroad link between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon). Forced labour was used in its construction. More than 180,000 possibly many more Asian civilian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war worked on the railway. Of these, estimates of civillian deaths are little more than guesses, but probably about 90,000 died. 12,621 Allied POWs died during the construction. The dead POWs included 6,904 British personnel, 2,802 Australians, 2,782 Dutch, and 133 Americans. The construction of the railway has been the subject of a novel and an award-winning film, The Bridge on the River Kwai.