Is The Bridge on the River Kwai a true story?

Is The Bridge on the River Kwai a true story?

Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, the plot and characters of Boulle’s novel and the screenplay are almost entirely fictional.

Why is it called the Death Railway?

It originated in Thailand and cut across to the Burmese war front to aid in the Japanese invasion of India. Originally called the Thailand-Burma Railway, it earned the nickname “Death Railway” because over one hundred thousand laborers died during its 16 month construction between 1942 and 1943.

What happened to the Thai Burma Railway?

In the 1980s Australian ex-POWs returned to Thailand and reclaimed Hellfire Pass from the jungle which had swallowed it when the Burma-Thailand railway was demolished after World War II. The cutting soon became a site of memory for many Australians, particularly on Anzac Day.

Who destroyed the bridge over the River Kwai?

By May 1945 the British and American air forces had destroyed both bridges over the River Khwae-Noi (or Kwai as it is popularly known). The Japanese army’s vital supply line between Burma and Malaya had been cut, but by then the atomic bomb had made surrender inevitable.

What happened at Kanchanaburi?

More than 10,000 prisoners of war, who died on the Thai-Burma railway, are laid to rest in three war cemeteries with two in Kanchanaburi and another one in Myanmar. Over the years, many prisoners of war or their descendants, mainly from Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK, came here to pay tribute to the war dead.

How many people died during the Death Railway?

100,000 people
The workers were maltreated, malnourished and exhausted, and as a result it’s thought that in excess of 100,000 people died during the construction of the railway – showing precisely why it came to be known as the Death Railway.

How many prisoners died on the Burma Railway?

16,000 POWs
The railway was completed in October 1943. The Japanese were able to use it to supply their troops in Burma despite the repeated destruction of bridges by Allied bombing. More than 90,000 Asian civilians died on the railway, as well as 16,000 POWs, of whom about 2800 were Australian.

How did the Japanese treat POWS?

The treatment of American and allied prisoners by the Japanese is one of the abiding horrors of World War II. Prisoners were routinely beaten, starved and abused and forced to work in mines and war-related factories in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Was bridge Over the River Kwai filmed in Colour?

The first of director David Lean’s (Lawrence of Arabia) ) multimillion dollar, wide-screen spectaculars, it is as engrossing and provocative today as when it first appeared: It’s “that rare film about something as seemingly black-and-white as World War II that is colored entirely in shades of gray, and the better for …

Is Kanchanaburi worth visiting?

Kanchanaburi serves a slice of anthropogenic history with the sides of nature’s beauty, the contrast of the gruesome and the marvelous. Thus, it is definitely a place worth a visit. Book your trip to Thailand with Traveltriangle and have a great time as you take a tour of the places to visit in Kanchanaburi.