Kwai - a river in western Thailand
Kwai (Khwae Noi) - a river in western Thailand near the border with Burma, flows into the Gulf of Thailand. During the Second World War two bridges were built across the river. During the building many Allied prisoners of war were killed. The river and the events of the war was made famous by the film The Bridge on the River Kwai. The David Lean film was based on the novel by Pierre Boulle of the same title.
When the Japanese entered the Second World War, they immediately began to wonder how to avoid the blocking the Bay of Bengal by the Allies. The search for a different way between the gained lands, stretched from Singapore to the northern border of Burma. Theydecided that the best solution would be to build a railway - linking stations in Burma and Thailand. They marked trail through the valley of the River Kwai, although the area was almost inaccessible to man
Work on both ends of the railway line began in June 1942. It's hard to believe that up to 60 thousand slaves were forced to work. Allied prisoners of war, later expanded the number to 200 thousand. Allied prisoners and Asian forced laborers, with the help of primitive tools, cut through three million cubic meters of rock and built nearly fifteen kilometers of bridges. When, after fifteen months the line was completed, it fully deserved to be called the "Railway of Death." The cost of lives rose to 16 thousand prisoners and 100 thousand. Asian workers.
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