News-Info-Alerts

Re: Thai-Burma Railway Dedication

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: August 15, 2002

"
Veterans scatter poppies over section of track at public memorial

LONDON - More than 300 veterans of World War II who worked on the Thai-Burma railway scattered poppies across a section of the notorious track at the opening of a new memorial on Thursday.


The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire had the 30-meter (100-foot) stretch of track, complete with sleepers and spikes, from the so-called Railway of Death shipped to Britain earlier this year.

It is the first time a piece of the track has gone on display to the public and forms the centerpiece of a memorial to the thousands of Allied prisoners forced to build it during World War II.

Ex-servicemen attending the opening of the accompanying exhibition laid wreaths and scattered poppies by the track.

The Rev. Ray Rossiter, 80, a former POW who spent more than three years in Japanese-controlled camps in Thailand and Indochina, said the dedication service was a very emotional moment for those who worked on the line.

"Those who worked on the railway endured humiliation, hunger, disease and cruelty," he said.

"(The track) will remain as a permanent reminder to future generations of the dreadful cost of war. "Today we are remembering war and praying for peace."

An estimated 18,000 British, Australian and Allied prisoners of war died constructing the 415-kilometer (257-mile) railway, including those killed by the Japanese army or who died of malnutrition and disease.

A collection of paintings by former POW Fred Seiker depicting his three years of forced labor on the railway is already housed at the memorial, some 160 kilometers (100 miles) from London.


Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press"