Thai-Burma Railway (Death Railway) Start Point Marker
Details:
Adjacent to the museum, along the old railway line. Marker A large metal sign attached next to the railway.
This memorial marks the start of the Burma Railway (1942-1943).
In order to try to ensure supplies could reach the Japanese troops fighting in Burma, the Imperial Japanese Army decided to build a railway to link the port of Bangkok to Burma. They revived a plan that had been considered but rejected decades earlier by the British. In June 1942, they began work at both ends of the proposed line. The Thai end was at NongPlaDuk (Ratchburi) and the Burmese end at Thanbyuzayat. These two met in October 1943 at KonKoita in Thailand.
The Thai-Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, operated until it was severed by British Royal Air Force bombers in June 1945.
Today, a museum dedicated to the Railway and the workers – Allied POWs and Asian Forced Laborers – who worked on this project marks the start point in Burma.
Many of the American POWs were survivors of the sinking of the USS Houston and members of the "Lost Battalion" - 2nd Battalion 131 Field Artillery of the Texas National Guard.
The Lost Battalion (Association) is composed of the men of the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery and those men who swam ashore from the Cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) when it was sunk. Those who survived 42 months of "hell" as prisoners of the Japanese during World War II formed the Lost Battalion Association.
Source: www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org
Traces of War
Monument Text:
The text on the sign is written in English and Burmese. The English reads:
MYANMAR THAILAND JAPANESE
DEATH RAILWAY LINE
STARTS HERE
1942 1943
Commemorates:
Units:
131st Field Artillery
131st Field Artillery Battalion, 36th Infantry Division
U.S. Merchant Marine
U.S.S. Houston (CA-30)
United States Army National Guard
United States Navy
Battles:
China India Burma Campaign (CBI)
Pacific Theater
Other images :
