The Old Movie, the New Movie, the Reality of the Bridge

I doubt there's anyone in the US (of a certain age) who hasn't seen or at least heard of The Bridge on the River Kwai.  In fact, the first few bars of the iconic marching song are right up there with the 

all-time familiar tunes. The jauntiness of that melody is in stark contrast to the abysmal conditions endured by the POWs and local conscripts (read slave labor) who built not only 'the' bridge but much of the Thai-Burma Railway.  Estimates are that 100,000 (that's not a typo) men died building this railway - many of them in unmarked graves. The overwhelming majority (85%+) of those workers were Tamil Indians.

However, approximately 7,000 Allied POWs were exhumed from the POW camp gravesites and buried at this cemetery in Kanchanaburi.  A majority of them are Dutch.

One of the Dutch survivors established the Death Railway Museum and Research Center so that descendants of the death railway workers could learn of the fate of their loved ones.  It's also become a place for families to donate items they've kept safe for years.  We saw a Scottish full-dress uniform, diaries written by POWs, contraband radio parts, painstakingly drawn illustrations of the work parties, tattered portions of uniforms.  All very sobering . . .

In the opposite direction from these two sites is the actual bridge, well not 'the' bridge but a realistic replica.  However, on the walk there we stop at a most perplexing monument.  Built in 1944 (the War is still on) by the Japanese, it honors the POWs who worked on the Thai-Burma Railway.  Given the wretched treatment of the POWs, this monument is a puzzler (to borrow a Tom and Ray designation).

And, lo and behold, a Peace Pole!  It is exactly like the one in our backyard in Tucson.

The actual memorial - while we were there two Japanese tour groups were placing incense sticks at the base.

The River Kwai (it's actually pronouned 'quay,' the ai sounded as in 'straight').  This is one of the many 'step outs' along the bridge span.  That's to allow the Toonerville trolley-like train to pass on its trip back and forth across the bridge.

View from the opposite side of the river.  Note the two distinct tracks of different gauge.  The Japanese designed this rail to carry a hybrid form of rail-truck (or truck-rail) car which could easily be off-loaded, fitted with wheels and put on the road - no off-loading of cargo required.  One gauge was for regular train cars, the other for this hybrid.

The war ended before it could be completed.  Now it's the Toonerville trolley.

View from the dock.

Okay, now 'the new movie' . . . Railway Man starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.  This is a British film, released in 2013, oddly not in the US.  Puzzled both of us . . . I urge you to try and find this movie and I won't do a spoiler alert as to why we thought it wasn't released in the US.

Based on a true story, it tells of a group of British servicemen who worked on the death railway.  Parts of this movie are terribly brutal . . . but hang in there; the end is more than worth it.  And, remarkably, while we visited the Kwai Museum near the bridge we were able to read parts of the memoir by the Japanese commander who plays such an important role in Railway Man.  This is an astonishing story of courage, repentance, forgiveness, and ultimately, love.

And I have to include this remarkable photo of an orchid (our local fave coffee shop) - growing on air!  Joe, this one's for you!!