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Cemeteries
Taken from a booklet by Sirichai Press
The names of the dead, especialy those who died in camps, were carefully recorded. Sometimes prisoners gave Thais tiny rolls of paper listing the dead. The rolls of paper were buried underground in jars as an extra precaution. Alter the war, former prisoners attempted to recover the dead from the small upcounlry camps, hunting out the already decayed wooden crosses.
The graves of those who died during the construction and maintenance of the Burma - Siam Railway, with the exception of the seven Americans, who were repatriated, were transferred to the Chong Kai War Cemetery and Kanchanaburi (Donrak) Cemetery in Thailand and the Thanbyusyat War Cemetery in Burma.
The land for both cemeteries in Thailand was donated by Thais in Kanchanaburi who had become close to the prisoners during the war. The two cemeteries are maintained by the Commonwealth War Grave Commission with headquarters in London. The Australians and New Zealand dead are honoured on April 25, ANZAC Day, the Dutch on, May 5, Armistice Day; and the British on November 11 Remembrance Day.
The Japanese Monument located near the bridge. commemorates all who died during the construction of the Burma - Siam Railway : Japanese, prisoners of war and impressed laborers. The monument was erected at the completion of the railway. The remains of the Japanese dead were not buried here but were flown to Tokyo for burial.
Plaques in Japanese. Thai, English. Vietnamese. Malay. Tamil and Chinese honour the dead. On the English Plaque the rose symbolizes the British war dead; the tulip, the Dutch: the wattle the Australian; and the thistle the Scottish.
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