Railway of Hell : War, Captivity and Forced Labour at the Arms of the Japanese

Without the illustrations of Ronald SearleWhen I originally wrote this book, which then appeared under the title The Road to Three Pagodas, I was a serving officer. I therefore had to submit my manuscript to the War Office for scrutiny and approval. Unfortunately, some of the grimmer aspects of Japanese brutality and atrocity had to be ‘diluted’ in the original edition. The Staff Officer who interviewed me explained that it was not advisable, in the prevailing spirit of reconciliation, that the book be published as I had written it, since under the circumstances it might be construed as official British Army policy. He mentioned the help that the Japanese had given us in the Korean War. He also mentioned the amount of trade we did with them and how important it was that this should not be adversely affected.Nevertheless, now that I have retired, I am at liberty to present the truth as it unfolded, without any embellishment or constraint, hence this new edition. I was very grateful to Captain B. H. Liddell Hart for writing to me and giving me encouragement. He was one of our foremost military historians and his history of World War I is still required reading at Sandhurst.When General Percival, our Commander-in-Chief, surrendered to General Yamashita, the Japanese Commander-in-Chief, the latter was completely amazed at the number of non-combatant troops handed over. As Singapore was General Headquarters Far East, there was an enormous establishment of Ancillary Troops, namely Administrative Units, which took no part in the actual fighting. The Japanese Army, by contrast, dispensed with the luxury of large medical supply and maintenance units, and was trained to live off the land and fend for itself. A first-hand account from a British POW, “not so much about the building of the Burma-Siam railway as it is about the existence of the men who built it” (BiblioBuffet.com). A young captain in the Royal Norfolk Regiment, Reggie Burton was wounded in the closing stages of the disastrous defense of Malaya and Singapore. He vividly, yet calmly and with great dignity, describes the horror of captivity at the hands of the Japanese. After initial confusion, the true nature of their captors emerged as, increasingly debilitated, the POWs were forced into backbreaking work. This was only a taste of what was to come. Following a horrific journey in overcrowded cattle trucks, Burton and his dwindling band of colleagues were put to work building the notorious Burma Railway. Somehow, he survived to tell this moving and shocking story. “Burton’s willingness to examine the reason for his treatment make this a particularly valuable piece of work, as well as being a harrowing account of his time in captivity and the appalling cruelty that he and his comrades suffered.” —History of War