Hellfire Pass – Eye Witness Account

Pacific Paratrooper

A memorial in Hellfire Pass

Out in the jungles of Thailand, far from home and far from the Singapore base where they had been captured, thousands of men now found themselves working as slave labour for the Japanese army. Work on clearing the jungle to lay a railway track was now in full swing. Now based in remote camps in the forest with the most basic facilities, every single man was now suffering from the effects of malnutrition and starvation. The death toll was mounting, As Dr Hardie had recorded at another camp on Christmas Day, even before the men began their hard physical labour.

Alistair Urquhart was working on one of the most notorious sections of the railway, one that would later be dubbed ‘Hellfire Pass’ by the Australian troops who worked on it. The early stages meant clearing a path though the trees, with a designated width…

View original post 645 more words