Konyu (Hellfire Pass)(Also known as K3 or Kenyu), Thailand. c. September 1945. Construction of ...

Places
Accession Number 157859
Collection type Photograph
Object type Negative
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Konyu (Hellfire Pass)(Also known as K3 or Kenyu), Thailand. c. September 1945. Construction of the cutting commenced on 25 April 1943 (Anzac Day), using 400 Australian prisoners of war (POWs) from T Battalion of D Force. By June the work was behind schedule, and in July an additional work party of 600 (Australians from O, P and U Battalions of D Force and some British) was employed in an attempt to complete the section on schedule. For the next six weeks the prisoners were forced to work 12 to 18 hour shifts around the clock, without a rest day, until its completion in mid August. The cutting is in two sections. The first is approximately 450m long and 7m deep. The second or main cutting is approximately 75m long and 25m deep. The excavation of soil and rock was carried out using 8lb hammers, steel tap drills, explosives, pinch bars, picks, shovels and chunkels (a wide hoe). For a short time an air compressor and jack hammers were used. The bulk of the waste rock was removed by hand, using cane baskets and rice sacks slung on two poles. The Konyu section of the Burma-Thailand railway cost the lives of at least 700 Allied POWs, including 69 beaten to death by Japanese engineers or Korean guards. Konyu cuttings (Hellfire Pass) are approximately 152 kilometres north of Nong Pladuk (also known as Non Pladuk), or 262 kilometres south of Thanbyuzayat.