| Place | Asia: Thailand, Phetburi |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | 117942 |
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white |
| Physical description | Black & white |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Phetburi (Petchaburi), Thailand. 23 September 1945. Private Horstman, of the 2/26th Infantry ...
Description
Phetburi (Petchaburi), Thailand. 23 September 1945. Private Horstman, of the 2/26th Infantry Battalion playing the camp drum (made from a calf skin and a soya bean barrel) during a parade and march past of the 8th Division ex-POWs of the Japanese at the Phetburi POW camp. Phetburi lies approximately 160 kilometres south of Bangkok on the Singapore-Thailand railway. Following the completion of the Burma-Thailand railway in 1943, the surviving prisoners of war (POWs) were concentrated in the Kanchanaburi area. From there, numerous working parties were dispatched in 1944-45 to various locations in Burma, Thailand and Indo China. One of these groups was sent to Phetburi to work on the construction of an aerodrome near Kashu (Katchu) Mountain camp. At the end of the war Allied aircraft used this aerodrome for the evacuation of surviving POWs in the area.