Kanchanaburi is 129 kilometers west-northwest of Bangkok. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is located in the northwestern part of the town along Saeng Chuto Road. A Commission signpost faces the cemetery on the opposite side of the road.
The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died during the project, chiefly forced from Peninsular Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two workers, one in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line to the center.
The Japanese aimed at completing the railway station in the 14 months and work began in October 1942. The line 424 kilometers long, was completed in December 1943. Graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except for Americans who were repatriated) were transferred from camp burial grounds and isolated sites along the railway into three cemeteries in Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is only a short distance from the place of the former "Kanburi ', the prisoner of war base camp through which most of the prisoners through on their way to other camps. It was created by the Army Graves Service that all excavated along the Southern railway, from Bangkok to Niek. Around 300 men who died during the epidemic on basic camp were cremated and their ashes now lie in two graves in the churchyard.
The names of these men are shown on panels in the shelter pavilion. There are now 5084 Commonwealth victims of the Second World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. There are also 1,896 Dutch war graves. In the entrance building of the cemetery are Kanchanaburi Memorial recording the names of 11 men of the army of undivided India buried in Muslim cemeteries in Thailand, where their graves are not could be maintained. churchyard was designed by Colin St Clair Oakes.
The notorious Burma-Siam railway, built by Commonwealth, Dutch and American prisoners of war, was a Japanese project driven by the need for improved communications to support the large Japanese army in Burma. During its construction, approximately 13,000 prisoners of war died and were buried along the railway. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 civilians also died during the project, chiefly forced from Peninsular Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies, or conscripted in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar). Two workers, one in Siam and the other in Burma worked from opposite ends of the line to the center.
The Japanese aimed at completing the railway station in the 14 months and work began in October 1942. The line 424 kilometers long, was completed in December 1943. Graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma-Siam railway (except for Americans who were repatriated) were transferred from camp burial grounds and isolated sites along the railway into three cemeteries in Chungkai and Kanchanaburi in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat in Myanmar. Kanchanaburi War Cemetery is only a short distance from the place of the former "Kanburi ', the prisoner of war base camp through which most of the prisoners through on their way to other camps. It was created by the Army Graves Service that all excavated along the Southern railway, from Bangkok to Niek. Around 300 men who died during the epidemic on basic camp were cremated and their ashes now lie in two graves in the churchyard.
The names of these men are shown on panels in the shelter pavilion. There are now 5084 Commonwealth victims of the Second World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. There are also 1,896 Dutch war graves. In the entrance building of the cemetery are Kanchanaburi Memorial recording the names of 11 men of the army of undivided India buried in Muslim cemeteries in Thailand, where their graves are not could be maintained. churchyard was designed by Colin St Clair Oakes.
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