Music :

1
The Bridge Over the River Kwai
Music Malcolm Arnold
2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)
13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23
(No Transcript)
24
(No Transcript)
25
(No Transcript)
26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)
34
(No Transcript)
35
(No Transcript)
36
(No Transcript)
37
(No Transcript)
38
(No Transcript)
39
(No Transcript)
40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
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.
ENTER
45
The need to build a crossing over the River Kwai
Yai, in the north of the place called
Kanchanaburi Makkham, was one of the biggest
obstacles in the construction of the railway. The
steel bridge components were imported from Java,
and assembled only by means of blocks and ropes.
Right next to the steel bridge a temporary wooden
bridge was built, and the first train crossed in
1943. Steel construction was completed three
months later. Both bridges were severely damaged
by Allied bombers in 1944 and 1945. Only pilons
of the wooden bridge remained, while the steel
bridge was repaired after the war and is used
today.
In what conditions the Allied prisoners of war
lived and worked, you can see at the the War
Museum located near the bridge. The museum is a
copy of the barracks of death. Crudely cobbled
together bunks, dozens of photographs showing
prisoners of the allied zombies standing in a
line next to the arrogant Japanese officers. The
interesting exhibition also consists of newspaper
articles and photos. When the conditions in the
camp deteriorated, the Japanese banned drawings
depicting camp life and these had to be done in
secret on stolen scraps of toilet paper. On the
basis of a few of them, made by a British
prisoner of war, Jack Chalker, paintings were
later done. The most shocking parts of the
exhibition are drawings and pictures showing the
torture.
ENTER
46
Why did this incredibly cruel treatment of
prisoners by the Japanese begin? Well, their
brutality was a consequence of samurai bushido
code, according to which the soldier should not
surrender, rather choosing ritual suicide. As
people devoid of honor, allied prisoners were
denied any rights. Rations were very small, the
work lasted for eighteen hours, after which often
followed the march to the next camp. Many
prisoners died of beri-beri, while others fell
victim to exhaustion caused by dysentery. The
coming of the monsoon season started the spread
of cholera and malaria. It is said that each
sleeper on the Thai - Burmese railway cost the
death of one man.
Kanchanaburi cemetery, where most of the dead
Allied POWs are buried is a depressing sight. The
immaculately manicured lawns and gardens can be
found here. The graves of 6,982 prisoners of war
are arranged in even rows, For many of the
unknown soldiers the stone tablets read only,
"the man who gave his life for his country." The
others bear the names, dates and names of their
units. You can see that most of the people buried
here died at the age of 25 years.
The history of construction of the "death
railway" inspired a former prisoner, Frenchman
Pierre Boulle, to write the novel "The Bridge on
the River Kwai." Based on this novel, David Lean
in 1957, made a film that really made the bridge
in Kanchanaburi so frequently visited by
tourists.
ENTER
47
ENTER
48
ENTER
49
ENTER
50
ENTER
51
ENTER
52
ENTER
53
ENTER
54
ENTER
55
ENTER
56
ENTER
57
ENTER
58
ENTER
59
ENTER
60
BG
ENTER
www.rotfl.com.pl