Railwaymen in the War: Tales by Japanese Railway Soldiers in Burma and Thailand 1941-47

by K. Tamayama

Overview

The Japanese railway soldiers, who built the notorious Burma-Thailand railway in 1942-43, earned an unenviable reputation for brutality, but they have not hitherto told their own story. This is the first book to bring to light the testimonies of the soldiers of the Emperor, who worked with 55,200 British, Australian and Dutch prisoners of war in the construction of the 415 kilometre railway.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403932242
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	11/30/2004
Edition description:	2005
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

KAZUO TAMAYAMA, MBE, was born in 1919. After working for a synthetic oil company, the Japanese government, and an American pharmaceutical company, he became President for eight years of a British company, a subsidiary of Beechams. It was during his last appointment that he began his study of the military operation in Burma. On his retirement he became secretary of the Japan British Society, actively involving himself in the reconciliation of the Japanese and British people, and was awarded an honorary MBE (1998). His published works include Burma 1942 - The Japanese Invasion, co-authored with Ian Lyall Grant, and Tales by Japanese Soldiers with John Nunneley.

Table of Contents

Introduction PART I: THE TRAINING OF RAILWAY SOLDIERS A New Conscript Military Civilians The British View: Railways in the Burma Campaign PART II: ADVANCE IN BURMA Assault Landing on Singora The First Battle Advance to Malaya Advance to Moulmein Advance to Rangoon Start the Train Service Diary of a Company Commander The British View: Railway Demolitions in Burma PART III: CONSTRUCTION OF THE BURMA-THAILAND RAILWAY The Zero Mile Post The Volga Boat Song and the Bridge My Touchstone - The Chunghai Cutting Painter A New Company Commander at Konyu and Hintok The Konyu Cutting Cholera The Hirota Platoon at Hintok Lt-Colonel Banno and the POWs A Hard Sruggle in the Remote Jungle Matoma, the Hardest Time of All Celebrating the Completion of the Railway A Thief of Tins A Private and Prisoners Korean Guards The Relationship between the Railway Regiment and the POW Camps View of the POWs The British View The Featherstone Incident and its Effects on POWs PART IV: STRUGGLE AT THE MYITKYINA LINE Myitkyina Line Fight with Chindits at Mawlu The Battle Near Ponchan Keep the Trains Running Transportation of Provisions Annihilated at Myitkyina The Retreat from the Myitkyina Line Maintenance of Locomotives The British View: The Battle at White City (Henu) on 17 March 1944 PART V: RETREAT Move to Lashio Line Defending Mandalay Retreat on the Mandalay Line Destroy the c56 Locomotive Evacuation from Rangoon The Last Train from Rangoon Over the Burma-Thailand Railway to Malaya To Sumatra Trans Sumatra Railway The British View: Advance to Rangoon PART VI: JAPANESE SURRENDERED PERSONNEL AND THE MILITARY COURT We Were Defeated Days Without Pride Report to the Gaol A Korean War Criminal and a Japanese Officer Sacrificed Men Petition for a Reduced Penalty A British View: 'March to the Scaffold' Appendix