Building the Death Railway: How POWs constructed the Burma Railway
The Burma Railway is one of many grim legacies of the horrors of WWII. Discover the story of how it was constructed and its immense human toll.
Image: A memorial at Hellfire Pass | amnat30 / Shutterstock.com
The Burma Railway, also known by its sinister moniker 'The Death Railway', is one of many grim legacies of the horrors of WWII. Its construction is also a remarkable story of human endurance.
It’s a story that continues to resonate and is now being brought back to in a new Amazon miniseries, The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
At Sky HISTORY, we love exploring topics like this. Our team has been taking a closer look into the brutal reality faced by Allied prisoners of war (POWs) who were forced to build it.
The men who became prisoners
After the fall of Singapore in February 1942, tens of thousands of Allied troops, including British, Australian, Dutch and American soldiers, were captured by Japanese forces.
Many would be transported to work camps along the proposed railway route, where they’d face inhumane conditions, malnutrition and relentless forced labour.
The Japanese conceived the 415-kilometre railway to connect Thailand and Burma, which would provide a supply chain for their military operations. But this grand ambition came at a horrific cost.
More than 60,000 Allied POWs and around 200,000 Asian labourers (known as Romusha) were forced into service under unimaginably harsh conditions. Tens of thousands would lose their lives.
Hell on earth: the working conditions they faced
Work on the railway commenced in October 1942, but the pace intensified in early 1943 as the Japanese demanded faster progress. POWs faced exhausting labour of up to 18 hours a day, clearing dense jungle, carving rock and laying tracks with basic tools.
Malnutrition was rampant, with prisoners surviving on a meagre diet of rice and whatever they could scavenge. Diseases such as dysentery, malaria and beriberi were widespread, and medical supplies were virtually non-existent.
In late May 1943, the arrival of the monsoon season brought even greater suffering. Torrential rains turned work sites into mud pits, while standing water became a breeding ground for disease. The worst of these was cholera, which spread rapidly through camps, claiming countless lives.
Even those fortunate enough to avoid disease didn’t survive. Cut off from supplies, many POWs starved while being worked to death by their captors.
The Hellfire Pass atrocity
Among the most notorious sections of railway was the Konyu Cutting, otherwise known as 'Hellfire Pass'. The pass stretched over 500 metres and reached a height of 24 metres.
Work on this section began in April 1943, with around 1,000 POWs assigned to the task. To meet Japanese-imposed deadlines, prisoners were forced to work around the clock. The men spent gruelling days chipping away at the rock under the glow of torches – giving the cutting its ominous name.
By the time the pass had been completed in August 1943, only 100 of the original 1,000 POWs were still alive. The rest had perished from disease, exhaustion or the brutal treatment by their captors, where beatings and whippings were frequent.
The Bridge on the River Kwai
One of the most famous landmarks of the Burma Railway was the bridge over the River Kwai. Made famous by the novel and subsequent film, The Bridge on the River Kwai, the real bridge was a vital transport link for the Japanese.
Allied prisoners constructed it using wooden trestles and steel spans taken from dismantled British and Dutch bridges in Malaya and Java.
However, the bridge became a prime target for Allied forces. Throughout 1945, it was repeatedly bombed by the Royal Air Force, eventually leading to its destruction. Today, a rebuilt version of the bridge exists as a memorial to the thousands who suffered and died during its construction.
A legacy of sacrifice
The Burma Railway was completed in October 1943, but at an appalling human cost. Of the 60,000 Allied POWs forced to work on it, over 12,000 had died. The suffering of the Romusha labourers was even greater, with estimates suggesting that up to 90,000 of them had died.
Today, the railway remains a symbol of endurance, sacrifice and the brutality of war. Memorials such as the Hellfire Pass Museum and the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery serve as lasting reminders of the men who endured such unimaginable hardship.
Want to explore more fascinating stories from WW2? Sign up to the Sky HISTORY newsletter today. Every week, you’ll receive exclusive articles, interviews and news about upcoming Sky HISTORY shows delivered straight to your inbox. Whether you’re interested in modern history, mysteries or popular culture, there’s something for you.
