The Railway Of Death

The Burma Railway

In early 1942, the Japanese Empire invaded and occupied Burma(now Myanmar)in Southeast Asia. The land was densely forested land that was a nightmare to fight in. So the Japanese  decided that a railway would need to be completed to supply their forces. This became known as the Burma Railway, or Death Railway.

It was built during World War II, from Thailand to Burma in order to complete the route from Bangkok to Rangoon. Over 180,000 civilian South Asian laborers and about 61,000 Allied prisoners of war subjected to forced labor were drafted to build the 258 mile railway. Conditions for the prisoners were extremely bad. About a hundred thousand civilian laborers and 16,000 Allied prisoners of war died on the project. 

The project is considered a war crime and after the war 111 Japanese officials were tried for crimes related to the Death Railway. 31 of them were executed.