Long Way Back to the River Kwai by Loet Velmans

Author:Loet Velmans
Language: nld
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2003-06-16T04:00:00+00:00

5

Death Camp

WE HAD WALKED EIGHTY-SIX MILES but were put to work as soon as we arrived. First, we finished the construction of our huts, made of bamboo and roofed with atap palm leaves. The interior of the huts was divided into two low platforms made of split bamboo. We had practically no space on either side. Then we were ordered to clear the jungle from the muddy overgrown path that was used as a service road for the railroad under construction. On this badly potholed road, burlap bags of rice for the prisoners, food and other supplies for the Japanese guards, and rails and railroad ties could be delivered by truck.

The hardest and most dangerous part of the job, which kept us busy for several weeks, was cutting down trees. The Japanese in charge kept giving contradictory orders. At one time we were ordered to pull the ropes on a tree that was to fall in a certain direction; then our guards yelled at us to run back through thick underbrush to the other side, and pull hard in the opposite direction. No one actually got crushed, but there were several close calls. We grumbled incessantly; our sour mood was not improved by a Japanese command that we were to complete work on our own officers’ tent in the middle of the camp first before tackling what our British mates called “digs.” In general, though, the crews assigned to construct the rickety structures that would put a leaky roof over our heads displayed significantly more diligence than the road-building teams.

After the trees had been chopped down, I remained part of the crew that maintained our section of the road. It was a never-ending battle, as the heavy daily rains and the rapidly growing tropical vegetation made the road barely passable, even on the best of days. We were responsible for approximately three miles of road. There were flanking POW labor camps on either side (generally, the camps along our section of the Burma Road were from one to six miles apart). We were on the southeastern side of the Thai-Burma border, where at least thirty POW camps were located. In that broad area, the construction activity imposed on the Western military captives was intense. The Japanese plan called for us to be moved later to tackle other parts of the line farther to the northeast. My work with Spring Camp's road crew lasted about two months.

After the access road had reached a passable stage, I was assigned to a unit that chiseled and hammered away at rocks that obstructed the railroad bed. We slaved nine hours a day, with just three short breaks. We were allowed less than an hour of free time, in the late afternoon, after work, and before supper. During the first few weeks, the Japanese, at unpredictable and unexpected intervals, might decide to give half the workers some time off on a Sunday morning or afternoon. In making the brusque announcement that some of us were

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