Bridge On The River Kwai: The True Story MP4 Video Download Or DVD
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The True Story Of The Building Of Bridge 277, Best Known In The West As the Bridge Over The River Kwai, Perhaps Better Known As The Death Railway, Built For The Japanese Imperial Army By The Forced Labor Of Southeast Asian Civilians And Captured Allied Soldiers Beaten And Starved Into Working For Them, Presented In The Highest DVD Quality MPG Video Format Of 9.1 MBPS As An MP4 Video Download Or Archival Quality All Regions Format DVD! (Color, 1992, 49 Minutes.)
The Burma Railway (The Siam-Burma Railway, The Thai-Burma Railway, The Death Railway): Bridge 277: Bridge On The River Khwae (Bridge On The River Kwai): -- The Burma Railway is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 by Southeast Asian civilians abducted and forced to work by the Japanese and a smaller group of captured Allied soldiers, to supply troops and weapons to the Japanese in The Burma Campaign of World War II. It completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Imperial Japanese Government was Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudo, which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway. At least 250,000 Southeast Asian civilians were subjected to forced labour to ensure the construction of The Death Railway, and more than 90,000 civilians died building it, as did around 12,000 Allied soldiers. The workers on the Thai side of the railway were Tamils, Malays, and fewer Chinese civilians from Malaya. Most of these civilians were moved to so-called "rest camps" after October 1943; they remained in these camps after the end of the war as they watched the Allied POWs being evacuated. Survivors were still living in the camps in 1947. They were British subjects who, without access to food or medical care, continued to die of malaria, dysentery and malnutrition. They had survived the ordeal of the Railway only to die in the "rest camps". While Allied POWs were recompensed after the war from funds received by the British from the sale of the railway to the Thai government, no compensation or reparations have been provided to the Southeast Asian victims. Most of the railway was dismantled shortly after the war. Only the first 130 kilometres (81 mi) of the line in Thailand remained, with trains still running as far north as Nam Tok. A key feature of the line is Bridge 277 section of the railway, made famous by the 1957 epic war film The Bridge Over The River Kwai directed by David Lean. and based on the novel The Bridge Over The River Kwai written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional, but use the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942–1943, as their historical setting. Bridge 277 is built over a stretch of the river then known as part of the Mae Klong River. The greater part of the Thai section of the river's route followed the valley of the Khwae Noi River (Thai: "Small Stream" [Khwae, "Stream", "River" or Tributary"; Noi, "Small"]). Khwae was frequently mispronounced by the British as "Kwai", which is "Buffalo" in Thai. This gave rise to the name of "River Kwai" amongst the British. In 1960, the portion of the Mae Klong which passes under the bridge was renamed the Khwae Yai (Thai: "Big Tributary"). On October 26, 1942, British prisoners of war arrived at Tamarkan to construct the bridge. Initially, 1,000 prisoners worked on the bridge, led by Colonel Philip Toosey. In February 1943, 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war were added to Tamarkan. Chinese, Malay and Tamil civilians also worked on the bridge. The first wooden railroad bridge over the Khwae Yai was finished in February 1943, which was soon accompanied by a more modern ferro-concrete bridge in June 1943, with both bridges running in a NNE–SSW direction across the river. The steel and concrete bridge consisted of eleven curved-truss bridge spans brought by the Japanese from Java in 1942. This is the bridge that still remains today. In 1945 a planned US attack was cancelled due to bad weather. The two bridges were bombed on February 13, 1945 by RAF aircraft. The forced labourers repaired the bridge and by April the wooden bridge was back in operation. In April 3, 1945, a USAAF Liberator attack damaged the wooden railroad bridge. Repair work continued and both bridges were operational again by the end of May. On June 24, 1945 the RAF destroyed the railroad bridges, putting the railway line out of commission for the rest of the war. The railway line did not fully connect with the Burmese railroad network as no railroad bridges were built that crossed the river between Moulmein and Martaban.
From "The Incidental Tourist: The Bridge On The River Kwai":
"You may not have heard of Kanchanaburi, but there's a strong chance that you're familiar with the 1957 Academy Award-winning dramatic film "The Bridge Over the River Kwai", which was set there. A couple of hours from Bangkok in western Thailand, Kanchanaburi province holds a graver message than most of Thailand's tourist destinations. It may today hold a thriving tourist scene, but Kanchanaburi town is steeped in difficult history. During WWII, Japanese forces used Allied prisoners of war and conscripted Asian labourers to build a rail route between Thailand and Burma. The harrowing story became famous after the publication of Pierre Boulle's book The Bridge Over the River Kwai, and the film that followed. Thailand was still known as Siam when Japan invaded it in December 1941, until then the country had been officially neutral. The invasion meant that Japanese troops could pass through the country en route to invade Malaya, modern-day Malaysia and Singapore, and Burma, now Myanmar, both British colonies. Of all the war history in Thailand today, those in Kanchanaburi are probably the most significant and poignant. Following their invasion, with free access to Siam's infrastructure, Japan sought to create a transportation route through Siam into Burma, which is also occupied between 1942 and 1944. This took the form of the now-infamous Death Railway, constructed by the Japanese using the forced labour of hundreds of thousands of civilians from Southeast Asia and prisoners of war from the Allied forces. The Death Railway earned its name from the sheer number of lives lost during its construction. Estimates vary but of more than 60 000 prisoners of war enslaved on the Death Railway, almost 13 000 are believed to have died, in addition to an estimated 90 000 southeast Asian enforced civilian labourers. Many people died from accidents, starvation, sickness and murder. Statistics indicate that one person died for every sleeper along the 415-kilometre railway. At an unspeakable human cost, Japan's Death Railway was completed in October 1943. For a time it was operational, although damage caused by British and American air raids rendered it unworkable in June 1945. It wasn't until the war's end in 1945 that Allied forces liberated the Death Railway's remaining prisoners. The railway itself was fully closed in 1947. The Bridge on the River Kwai escaped planned destruction and remains in place in Kanchanaburi as a tourist attraction and functioning railway bridge over which trains pass daily. The majority of its smaller components are originals, while others have been used in restorations over the years. Although the Death Railway has never again reached the Myanmar border, a shorter stretch was reopened by Thailand's railway authorities between 1949 and 1958 and trains on this modern-day line cross the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai. An even more significant war-related site, located off the train tracks today but originally part of the Death Railway's construction, is Hellfire Pass. Since it involved cutting through sheer mountain face, this was among the most demanding parts for the forced labourers and where large numbers perished. The site has been preserved as a memorial museum and walking trail. It is a sobering but worthwhile destination. The infamous railway line reaches Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi station, another war-related attraction. It is around a two-kilometre walk from the Sai Yok Noi waterfalls, and as far west to the Myanmar border as is possible to get by rail. Trains from here trace their way back over the Bridge on the River Kwai, before heading through the provincial capital's Kanchanaburi station one stop southeast, all the way to the Death Railway's original starting point at Nong Pla Duk in neighbouring Ratchaburi. There, the track connects with Thailand's main southern line from Bangkok, allowing trains to continue to the Thai capital's old Thonburi station. Today the stunning River Kwai is an ideal destination for a holiday with luxurious resorts and fine-dining restaurants clustered along its banks, providing an amazing selection of cuisine and accommodation. You can opt to dine on one of the waterway's famous floating restaurants."
The True Story Of The Building Of Bridge 277, Best Known In The West As the Bridge Over The River Kwai, Perhaps Better Known As The Death Railway, Built For The Japanese Imperial Army By The Forced Labor Of Southeast Asian Civilians And Captured Allied Soldiers Beaten And Starved Into Working For Them, Presented In The Highest DVD Quality MPG Video Format Of 9.1 MBPS As An MP4 Video Download Or Archival Quality All Regions Format DVD! (Color, 1992, 49 Minutes.)
The Burma Railway (The Siam-Burma Railway, The Thai-Burma Railway, The Death Railway): Bridge 277: Bridge On The River Khwae (Bridge On The River Kwai): -- The Burma Railway is a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 by Southeast Asian civilians abducted and forced to work by the Japanese and a smaller group of captured Allied soldiers, to supply troops and weapons to the Japanese in The Burma Campaign of World War II. It completed the rail link between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma. The name used by the Imperial Japanese Government was Tai–Men Rensetsu Tetsudo, which means Thailand-Burma-Link-Railway. At least 250,000 Southeast Asian civilians were subjected to forced labour to ensure the construction of The Death Railway, and more than 90,000 civilians died building it, as did around 12,000 Allied soldiers. The workers on the Thai side of the railway were Tamils, Malays, and fewer Chinese civilians from Malaya. Most of these civilians were moved to so-called "rest camps" after October 1943; they remained in these camps after the end of the war as they watched the Allied POWs being evacuated. Survivors were still living in the camps in 1947. They were British subjects who, without access to food or medical care, continued to die of malaria, dysentery and malnutrition. They had survived the ordeal of the Railway only to die in the "rest camps". While Allied POWs were recompensed after the war from funds received by the British from the sale of the railway to the Thai government, no compensation or reparations have been provided to the Southeast Asian victims. Most of the railway was dismantled shortly after the war. Only the first 130 kilometres (81 mi) of the line in Thailand remained, with trains still running as far north as Nam Tok. A key feature of the line is Bridge 277 section of the railway, made famous by the 1957 epic war film The Bridge Over The River Kwai directed by David Lean. and based on the novel The Bridge Over The River Kwai written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional, but use the construction of the Burma Railway, in 1942–1943, as their historical setting. Bridge 277 is built over a stretch of the river then known as part of the Mae Klong River. The greater part of the Thai section of the river's route followed the valley of the Khwae Noi River (Thai: "Small Stream" [Khwae, "Stream", "River" or Tributary"; Noi, "Small"]). Khwae was frequently mispronounced by the British as "Kwai", which is "Buffalo" in Thai. This gave rise to the name of "River Kwai" amongst the British. In 1960, the portion of the Mae Klong which passes under the bridge was renamed the Khwae Yai (Thai: "Big Tributary"). On October 26, 1942, British prisoners of war arrived at Tamarkan to construct the bridge. Initially, 1,000 prisoners worked on the bridge, led by Colonel Philip Toosey. In February 1943, 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war were added to Tamarkan. Chinese, Malay and Tamil civilians also worked on the bridge. The first wooden railroad bridge over the Khwae Yai was finished in February 1943, which was soon accompanied by a more modern ferro-concrete bridge in June 1943, with both bridges running in a NNE–SSW direction across the river. The steel and concrete bridge consisted of eleven curved-truss bridge spans brought by the Japanese from Java in 1942. This is the bridge that still remains today. In 1945 a planned US attack was cancelled due to bad weather. The two bridges were bombed on February 13, 1945 by RAF aircraft. The forced labourers repaired the bridge and by April the wooden bridge was back in operation. In April 3, 1945, a USAAF Liberator attack damaged the wooden railroad bridge. Repair work continued and both bridges were operational again by the end of May. On June 24, 1945 the RAF destroyed the railroad bridges, putting the railway line out of commission for the rest of the war. The railway line did not fully connect with the Burmese railroad network as no railroad bridges were built that crossed the river between Moulmein and Martaban.
From "The Incidental Tourist: The Bridge On The River Kwai":
"You may not have heard of Kanchanaburi, but there's a strong chance that you're familiar with the 1957 Academy Award-winning dramatic film "The Bridge Over the River Kwai", which was set there. A couple of hours from Bangkok in western Thailand, Kanchanaburi province holds a graver message than most of Thailand's tourist destinations. It may today hold a thriving tourist scene, but Kanchanaburi town is steeped in difficult history. During WWII, Japanese forces used Allied prisoners of war and conscripted Asian labourers to build a rail route between Thailand and Burma. The harrowing story became famous after the publication of Pierre Boulle's book The Bridge Over the River Kwai, and the film that followed. Thailand was still known as Siam when Japan invaded it in December 1941, until then the country had been officially neutral. The invasion meant that Japanese troops could pass through the country en route to invade Malaya, modern-day Malaysia and Singapore, and Burma, now Myanmar, both British colonies. Of all the war history in Thailand today, those in Kanchanaburi are probably the most significant and poignant. Following their invasion, with free access to Siam's infrastructure, Japan sought to create a transportation route through Siam into Burma, which is also occupied between 1942 and 1944. This took the form of the now-infamous Death Railway, constructed by the Japanese using the forced labour of hundreds of thousands of civilians from Southeast Asia and prisoners of war from the Allied forces. The Death Railway earned its name from the sheer number of lives lost during its construction. Estimates vary but of more than 60 000 prisoners of war enslaved on the Death Railway, almost 13 000 are believed to have died, in addition to an estimated 90 000 southeast Asian enforced civilian labourers. Many people died from accidents, starvation, sickness and murder. Statistics indicate that one person died for every sleeper along the 415-kilometre railway. At an unspeakable human cost, Japan's Death Railway was completed in October 1943. For a time it was operational, although damage caused by British and American air raids rendered it unworkable in June 1945. It wasn't until the war's end in 1945 that Allied forces liberated the Death Railway's remaining prisoners. The railway itself was fully closed in 1947. The Bridge on the River Kwai escaped planned destruction and remains in place in Kanchanaburi as a tourist attraction and functioning railway bridge over which trains pass daily. The majority of its smaller components are originals, while others have been used in restorations over the years. Although the Death Railway has never again reached the Myanmar border, a shorter stretch was reopened by Thailand's railway authorities between 1949 and 1958 and trains on this modern-day line cross the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai. An even more significant war-related site, located off the train tracks today but originally part of the Death Railway's construction, is Hellfire Pass. Since it involved cutting through sheer mountain face, this was among the most demanding parts for the forced labourers and where large numbers perished. The site has been preserved as a memorial museum and walking trail. It is a sobering but worthwhile destination. The infamous railway line reaches Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi station, another war-related attraction. It is around a two-kilometre walk from the Sai Yok Noi waterfalls, and as far west to the Myanmar border as is possible to get by rail. Trains from here trace their way back over the Bridge on the River Kwai, before heading through the provincial capital's Kanchanaburi station one stop southeast, all the way to the Death Railway's original starting point at Nong Pla Duk in neighbouring Ratchaburi. There, the track connects with Thailand's main southern line from Bangkok, allowing trains to continue to the Thai capital's old Thonburi station. Today the stunning River Kwai is an ideal destination for a holiday with luxurious resorts and fine-dining restaurants clustered along its banks, providing an amazing selection of cuisine and accommodation. You can opt to dine on one of the waterway's famous floating restaurants."