Enduring spirit of mateship

By WOFF Steven Reid

Former POWs Bill Haskell, Ernie Redman and Neil MacPherson with ADF members, including Warrant Officer Steven Reid of the Australian Embassy in Thailand.

IN THAILAND, the Anzac spirit is commemorated each year at a dawn service at a remote site charged with significance.

That place is Hellfire Pass, located in the province of Kanchanaburi, north-west of the capital Bangkok.

Hellfire Pass is one of many evocative places along the notorious Burma-Thailand Railway, a line constructed using the forced labour of thousands of Allied and Asian prisoners by the Japanese during World War II.

More than 450 people from all corners of the globe who attended this year’s service were honoured with the presence of several former POWs.

The POWs also attended a commemorative wreath-laying service at the Kanchanaburi Allied War Cemetery. One of them, Neil MacPherson, delivered a captivating speech that focused on the bonds of trust and mateship among the prisoners.

Members of Rifle Company Butterworth and No. 324 Combat Support Squadron formed the catafalque party.

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