Spirit of the Railway
Siren Visual Entertainment
Volume 11, No. 43, May 18, 2006

"THE triumph of the human spirit in the face of terrible adversity."

That's how one former PoW describes his survival while building the Thai-Burma railway, in this newly released-to-DVD documentary, Spirit of the Railway.

Built by Australian and Allied PoWs and Asian labour after the fall of Singapore in 1942, the Thai-Burma railway is a well-known part of Australia's World War II history. But having the story told by former PoWs has brought it to life in this moving documentary, which sets out to tell "the true story".

And, as many of the former PoWs give emotive and frank accounts of their treatment at the hands of their Japanese captors, the truths are laid bare.

Hearing what conditions were like and of the abuse - being kicked or beaten with rifle butts or bamboo - were shocking. As one former digger remembers, "There wouldn't be a week go past that you wouldn't get a bashing", as he talked of being tied-up with wire and locked in a box.

The tales of the abuse, the beatings and of working excessive hours on the short-ration of half a cup of rice a day that reduced men to half their body-weight, are at times difficult to hear. Especially as when diggers recal, "It was the big men that died first", or when another talked of eating a dog or a snake or a frog - and being glad for it.

Drawn from Australian, US and Japanese archives, the film provides rarely seen footage, including both Australian and Allied PoWs and Japanese troops.

Some of this includs graphic vision of executions or dead PoWs and Asian workers, or of perilously thin Australian soldiers. Many of these smile at the camera with youthful faces, but with emaciated bodies that show protruding joints and every rib.
But, in the midst of this misery, there were some who captured glimpses of the rare beauty to be found in the experience, and interspersed throughout the documentary is a stunning collection of paintings and drawings of prison life by artists Jack Chalker, Ray Parkin, Ronald Searle and Fred Ransome Smith, which are truly remarkable.

In its criticisms of the Japanese, the documentary attempts to delve into the Japanese psyche and demonstrates their appalling attitude not only towards the PoWs, but also toward their own troops and Korean soldiers. Some of the former PoWs talk of how the experience challenged their faith in God. Others talk of the spirituality they felt at the places they revisited, of their paths to finding acceptance for what happened and in being able to forgive.

But, throughout the film, and despite the confronting truth behind the distressing images, there lies a proud underlying sentiment. The one the documentary first states - the triumph of human spirit - as one former PoW asks viewers to focus on, "Not that 100,000 people died, but that 250,000 survived".

Surviving PoWs attribute their remarkable survival to their determination to live and their reliance on each-other. It was truly inspirational to hear of the spirit that saw the survivors live through the oppressive treatment and workload. One former PoW said, "There's one lesson to learn from it. Even though the picture's grim, just have faith, have faith in yourself and your mates."

- Sgt Damian Shovell.

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